Belt Heater

[rick81]

Hi i bought one of those belt heaters to control my home brew temp. I've wrapped it around the fermenter and have had it on for half the day. Seems to keep the wort around 28'c
Do i leave the heater on all the time, its really hot, suprised it hasnt melted the plastic on my fermenter yet.
Or are these just meant to be turned on every now and again?

 

[Renegade]

Yes, turn on & off periodically. Or use a timer.

28c is much too high for most ales.

 

[rick81]

sorry its on about 26 degrees celcius.
i thought 18-28 was ideal?

 

[bum]

Ignore the instructions. They are designed to make beer fast and easy - as opposed to good beer.

Read as much as you can around the board and look at the articles section up top. Lots of great info.

 

[manticle]

sorry its on about 26 degrees celcius.
i thought 18-28 was ideal?

18-22. 18 - 20 is better but you could get away with 22. Beer will ferment faster at higher temps but it will also produce unwanted flavours - a bit like roasting something at 250 might cook it quickly but also dry it out. Drop the heat down to 20ish if you can and just try keeping it as consistent as you can for the fermentation period.

 

[Eyelusion]

I've found most kits brew best at around 18-20 degrees.
Anything higher gives off unwanted fruity flavours.
Well this is my experience, if anyone eles has a different opinion please step in.

I sometimes use a heat pad (thinking it would have the same effect as the belt) and use it on a timer as to keep it between 18-20 degrees.
I'd prefer it to go down to 16-18 degrees then let it up to 22-24 degrees.

 

[Dave70]

I run mine through one of these jiggers. Works like a charm.

http://mashmaster.com.au/p/365439/fridgema...roller-kit.html

I realy would'nt be leaving one of those things unattended for any stretch of time, with no thermostat to control it, you may end up coming home to 23L of boiling wort..

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

Rick81 ,
You need to update your profile to let people know what area you are in . I am in Melbourne and I have a Belgium that I've had a belt on for 9 days now and the temp stick about 18 degrees . I have a few temp controller that I've built at work but have not had need to use for that . The ambient in the brew shed is a cosy 14 degrees .

Buster

 

[Renegade]

You've had a belt on for nine days.. constantly!? The one I use very occasionally is clearly a different build, becuase there's no way I could leave this on for more than about 5 hours before the wort it starts creeping to mid 20's. If I left it on constantly I have no doubt it would push through into the 30's in a day or two.

 

[mookiedoi]

Whats the preferred heating system for keeping your fermentation a stable temp? I use the Burker submersible heater with the temp setting.
the belt heater sounds like a pain if you have to manually turn off and on to maintain stable temp

 

[Dave70]

Whats the preferred heating system for keeping your fermentation a stable temp? I use the Burker submersible heater with the temp setting.
the belt heater sounds like a pain if you have to manually turn off and on to maintain stable temp

Like I said:
http://mashmaster.com.au/p/365439/fridgema...roller-kit.html

Run the fridge through it in summer, the belt through it in winter. Money well spent.

I did the old 'fish tank' heater thing years ago but was never comfortable plonking it into my brew, just one more contamination risk and another thing to clean / sterilize.
Call me paranoid.
And lazy..

 

[breadenhound]

I found the easiest way to keep a constant temp is to put the fermenter in my laundry sink with a small aquarium heater. With this method I can keep my brews at a constant 19 degrees Celsius, and the heater will turn itself off and on so there is not real need to keep an eye on it. The only downside to this method is that I am somewhat limited to Ales as most aquarium heaters don't go down to lager temps. I don't mind though, by the time I am sick of Ales I'm sure I will either have a brewing fridge or by some miracle I will have convinced the missus to not heat the house :lol:

The main reason I steered away from heating belts is because they don't turn themselves off - I smell a fire!