heat belt/tray

[cask is best]

Now the colder days are on the way i was thinking of getting one of these Belts or trays. Can anyone recomend a certain make or which is best a belt or a tray. I had a belt years ago and it looks like they have not changed in 20 odd years. I did not know were about to put it on the f.v so i use to put it around a third of the way up but i don't think it was much good considering a house that has been empty a lot during the main day in winter with no heating on. So would a tray be better.

 

[Pipey]

I use immersion heaters brilliant investment

 

[Aleman]

Fish tank heater stat in a water bath and stand the fermenter in the water bath :thumb:

Wouldn't use a belt or tray without an additional thermostat . .stuff gets too warm

 

[Hollow Legs]

Yep, I'm with Aleman (not literally that would be gay) Brewbelt with a heater controller and set to around 20degC, there are lots of ways to heat the wort but it needs some way to keep it constant throughout the day and night (a thermostat).

 

[Falconi]

Fish tank heater stat in a water bath and stand the fermenter in the water bath :thumb:

Wouldn't use a belt or tray without an additional thermostat . .stuff gets too warm

Would you not just sit the heater in the FV?

In the colder months in the garage would one of these be good enough?

Thanks
Dunc

 

[Hollow Legs]

you can just sit the heater in the FV (submerged in the wort) but you want it to be sterile of course, most fish tank heaters have a built in thermostat that you can set to what temp suits (within reason above 17degC) after all they are designed to heat water to keep tropical fish, so they will come on and heat the wort to the set temp and turn off when the desired temp is reached and back on when it drops below the set temp...........etc etc.

Unfortunately you need to seal the hole that you put the heater through if you use an airlock

hope this helps :

Colin

 

[cask is best]

What a good idea to use a fish heater. So you just put the sanitized heater in the brew and set the temp to around 21c and it turns on and off. Don't trays and belts have thermostats fitted to them?.
One other point is it a case with a fish heater to drill a hole through my f.v lid slide the heater cable through then seal with vaseline

 

[Aleman]

You just put the sanitized heater in the brew and set the temp to around 21c and it turns on and off. Don't trays and belts have thermostats fitted to them?.

You can, but I would not do so as there is no way of knowing if the sanitiser has got into all the nooks and crannies. I stand the fermenter in a container of water and put the heater in the water. That way the wort doesn't come into contact with the heater.

And no Belts and trays do not have thermostats . . .according to the manufacturers the heat is so gentle you don't need one . . . and with a belt you can just raise and lower the belt to moderate the temperature . . . Been there, Done that, Ruined the Beer

 

[joe1002]

Aleman, out of interest, how deep it the tray you stand you fv in?

Thanks,

Joe

 

[cask is best]

Thanks Ale man. ERR how noisy are these heaters as i ferment in the spare bedroom

 

[The Ginger Ninja]

Im a big fan for the heated water bath. Joey I go 8 inches deep

 

[Dave1970]

I've found I can get a really consistent temp with a heated tray attached to a timer plug, the analogue type where you just push little pegs in for on & out for off. In an unheated garage I found that about 50% of the time during the night and 30% during the day gave me a steady 20 degrees, if I checked and a bit warm push a few out, too cold push a few in.
Not as good as proper thermostatic temp control but a good way to use a tray to ferment in a cool garage.

 

[Darcey]

I have a 'brewbelt' and I tend to use it to kick start my kit beers.. once they are going at 20C i turn it off and they sustain themselves. I suspect I will be using it thermostatically in my next fridge conversion tho.

I have had 2 failed HOT beers using brewbelts...

 

[cask is best]

I was browsing the tinternet looking to see if there are any thermostatically heat trays [set temp eg 22c and it cuts on and off] and i found a f.v with a built in heater. That was on Friday and now no matter where i surf i cannot find it. I think it was around £79.99 anyone know of this. I just thought it would be ideal as opposed to a belt ,tray or fish tank heater.

:

 

[Farmbrew]

I've got a massive length of heat trace...basically it's the same stuff as they use for a brew belt but in not so stingey lengths. It wraps round and round and round my fermentor. It pretty much has the same effect as an industrial panel heater used in big fermentors.

I managed to scav mine from a local company for free but it is available online.

I use it in 2 ways: wrapped around my fermentor for direct heating where the TC of the temp controller is butted up to the heat trace - with the temp set a couple of degrees higher on the controller to get the target temp for the brew; I wrap it around one of my 100L stainless tanks and use it a waterbath (with the tc in the water) where I can fit a plastic 25L fermenter and some bottles in the bath so I can brew and bottle condition at the same time.

Seeing as I live in Scotland it's always sub arctic and I haven't overshot yet - fantastic for Saisons.

 

[cask is best]

Yeh i saw one of them on line. might have been yours

 

[Hollow Legs]

I was browsing the tinternet looking to see if there are any thermostatically heat trays [set temp eg 22c and it cuts on and off] and i found a f.v with a built in heater. That was on Friday and now no matter where i surf i cannot find it. I think it was around £79.99 anyone know of this. I just thought it would be ideal as opposed to a belt ,tray or fish tank heater.

:

There is an FV that has a built in heater but that's for doing extract brews(not kits).....i.e. it boils the wort etc like a kettle, not sure if it's the one you have seen?.

 

[cask is best]

[quote="cask is best":3qf2o2c8]I was browsing the tinternet looking to see if there are any thermostatically heat trays [set temp eg 22c and it cuts on and off] and i found a f.v with a built in heater. That was on Friday and now no matter where i surf i cannot find it. I think it was around £79.99 anyone know of this. I just thought it would be ideal as opposed to a belt ,tray or fish tank heater.

:

There is an FV that has a built in heater but that's for doing extract brews(not kits).....i.e. it boils the wort etc like a kettle, not sure if it's the one you have seen?.[/quote:3qf2o2c8]
Thanks for that Hollow legs. It most probably was the one i saw then. I'll just have to get a tray then. I did consider a aquarium heater put don't Fancie having to stand f.v in water every time i make a brew.

:

 

[adrianmole72]

My aquarium heater was £4 from eBay - -works just fine :thumb:

 

[philip5660]

here's a slightly irrelevant point but with the drop in temperature my spare room is sitting nicely in the 14-18 degrees bracket so I'm brewing some lager in there now (point being you can brew lager at a lower temperature). No heating or electric required, with energy prices these days.......
Apart from that it's a heated fridge in the garage.