my shed or my bedroom ...

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hi my bedroom is at 22c most of the time ...
but i do have a well insulated shed..
see pic ...
001-74.jpg

it was my aviary for about 4 years ..but had to get rid of my birds becuse i was in and out of hospital alot ..

anyway my question is this...
in my bedroom i need no extra heat for brewing ....
as its at 22c almost all the time give or take 2c

i think im right i saying 22c is ok or am i wrong...???...

but i will need heat in my shed ...
hers my 25 Litre Fermenting Bucket

073-1.jpg


whats the cheapest and best way to heat it in my shed ...
please note the tap position ...
regards mick.... :hat: .
 
Hi there.

Your bedroom is at the absolute limits of temperature - ideally it should be somewhere between 18 and 20, as you might get off flavours and fusel alcohols brewing at those temps.

Don't forget that the ideal brew temperature is 18-22, and due to the exothermic nature of fermentation, a room at 22 could mean that the brew is nearer 25-26 - somewhere you really don't want it.

The shed would be better, you could get hold of an aquarium heater for a tenner or so (100w ones are better) and a big bucket - the big 80-100L ones from supermarkets. You could then fill that with water, put your FV in the water along with the heater - it would then keep the water warm, which will keep the FV warm.

Shouldn't cost you more than about £20-25 to sort...

That tap might be an issue, but you could always put the FV on bricks inside the big bucket which should allieviate that issue.
 
Hi..22c is a little high...if you want to use your shed, do you have electric in there?. If you have you could use a water bath, or get hold of a old fridge and use that for your FV. You have a number of ways to achieve keeping a brew at a set temp. :thumb: :thumb:
 
fbsf said:
Hi there.

Your bedroom is at the absolute limits of temperature - ideally it should be somewhere between 18 and 20, as you might get off flavours and fusel alcohols brewing at those temps.

Don't forget that the ideal brew temperature is 18-22, and due to the exothermic nature of fermentation, a room at 22 could mean that the brew is nearer 25-26 - somewhere you really don't want it.

The shed would be better, you could get hold of an aquarium heater for a tenner or so (100w ones are better) and a big bucket - the big 80-100L ones from supermarkets. You could then fill that with water, put your FV in the water along with the heater - it would then keep the water warm, which will keep the FV warm.

Shouldn't cost you more than about £20-25 to sort...

That tap might be an issue, but you could always put the FV on bricks inside the big bucket which should allieviate that issue.

wow im so glad i asked...
i thought because my brother used the airing cupboard years ago...
that it had to be very warm to ferment...

so the shed it is then ....
so if i set the aquarium heater at 18 c then that would be right as the brew goes up in temp...
when its fermenting on its own ...
but cant drop below 18 with the aquarium heater set at 18...have i got it right now ..

how warm does it have to be when its bottled ???
regards mick.. :hat: .
 
What temperature is the LCD strip showing when in your room? Where are you measuring 22 degrees from? If you are measuring it from the LCD temp strip then you are absolutely fine, if you are measuring the air temp then ideally it needs to be lower.

The LCD temp strip on the bucket will show the temperature of the brew, not the temperature of the room, thus taking the exothermic temp into account.

Also, can you not just turn the radiator down in the bedroom?
 
Dieseljockey said:
Hi..22c is a little high...if you want to use your shed, do you have electric in there?. If you have you could use a water bath, or get hold of a old fridge and use that for your FV. You have a number of ways to achieve keeping a brew at a set temp. :thumb: :thumb:
thank you Dieseljockey ...
i do have electic in my shed ...

the water bath sounds good ...
but im confueds as to the old fridge ....
i no im thick but
how does that kepp it warm lol.....???..
regards mick... :hat: .
 
Ah, with the fridge, you cheat. You put in a greenhouse heater (normally about £20) and connect that and the fridge's mains lead to a temperature controller (something like the STC1000 which is available on ebay for about £25).

The temp controller has a sensor that goes inside the fridge, and turns the fridge on if it gets too hot, and the heater if it gets too cold.

Neat...
 
fbsf said:
Ah, with the fridge, you cheat. You put in a greenhouse heater (normally about £20) and connect that and the fridge's mains lead to a temperature controller (something like the STC1000 which is available on ebay for about £25).

The temp controller has a sensor that goes inside the fridge, and turns the fridge on if it gets too hot, and the heater if it gets too cold.

Neat...
thank you fbsf ... :thumb:

that is neat ...
but i think ill go for the
bucket and the aquarium heater ..

i think this will be the cheepest way ...
:hat: ...
 
ScottM said:
What temperature is the LCD strip showing when in your room? Where are you measuring 22 degrees from? If you are measuring it from the LCD temp strip then you are absolutely fine, if you are measuring the air temp then ideally it needs to be lower.

The LCD temp strip on the bucket will show the temperature of the brew, not the temperature of the room, thus taking the exothermic temp into account.

Also, can you not just turn the radiator down in the bedroom?

thank you ScottM ... :thumb: .

its on the LCD temp strip..
that im getting the reading from ...
its on my fb its empty at the moment ...
but its now saying 21c....

if this is ok then ill do my brew up here ...
and move it to the shed after bottling ...

regards mick.... :hat: .
 
Yeah that's probably cutting it a little fine. Having said that it wouldn't stop me from at least trying it out. You aren't in any real danger until you see a steady temp over 25 degrees. The levels of alcohol you are at won't be dangerous anyway, just a little off and perhaps more inclined to give you a headache :D

Personally I would give it a go, to see exactly where you stand before messing around with the shed.

Is there really no variable way of controlling the temperature of your bedroom? I don't even turn my heater on in ours as I like it to be cool.
 
The problem with ambient temp is that the temp of the wort may well be higher, fermentation is exothermic especially early on in its more explosive stage, if the heat has nowhere to go ie the ambient is two high then the wort temp will stay high. It is in these early phases where the precursors to fusels are made. Idealy you want no more than about 20c as the wort will be higher than that.

IMHO a water bath in the shed would be your best option it gives you more scope for control. :thumb:
 
ScottM said:
Yeah that's probably cutting it a little fine. Having said that it wouldn't stop me from at least trying it out. You aren't in any real danger until you see a steady temp over 25 degrees. The levels of alcohol you are at won't be dangerous anyway, just a little off and perhaps more inclined to give you a headache :D

Personally I would give it a go, to see exactly where you stand before messing around with the shed.

Is there really no variable way of controlling the temperature of your bedroom? I don't even turn my heater on in ours as I like it to be cool.


thanks ScottM... :thumb:
but im not going to risk it if its that close ...ill do it in the shed ...

regards mick... :hat: .
 
graysalchemy said:
The problem with ambient temp is that the temp of the wort may well be higher, fermentation is exothermic especially early on in its more explosive stage, if the heat has nowhere to go ie the ambient is two high then the wort temp will stay high. It is in these early phases where the precursors to fusels are made. Idealy you want no more than about 20c as the wort will be higher than that.

IMHO a water bath in the shed would be your best option it gives you more scope for control. :thumb:


thank you graysalchemy ... :thumb: :thumb: .

i will be doing it in the shed ...iv just gone up bnq ..and got a bucket ....
just need to get the fish tank Submersible Heater...

regards mick... :hat: .
 
I use a brew belt that's connected to a timer, this means that I can have the belt on for an hour at a time (the timer I have can be set in 15min intervals). I only switched the brew belt after 3 days and the brew was at a constant 21c (that's wort temp not ambient temp).

Will be looking to get a fermenting fridge when I finally sort my shed out (might be a complet rebuild so no rush for that lol).
 
Will12283 said:
I use a brew belt that's connected to a timer, this means that I can have the belt on for an hour at a time...
Problem with this approach is that there is no feedback from the temp of the wort to the brew belt. You will therefore likely suffer temperature variations as the belt goes on and off - something to be avoided along with temps outside the 18-21 range.

An aquarium heater, or ideally a fermentation fridge is a much more elegant solution.
 
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