Bl**dy Heatpads....

[Uncle Fester]

All,

Have a wheat beer on the go using WLP 300. Wanted a good banana result, so I borrowed a heatpad from a mate.

All good so far....

I placed a Tea Towel between the fermenter and the heat pad so it wouldnt get too warm.


Just had a look, and it was at 26 degrees :angry:

I was hoping for 24 for a good banana result. Have I killed it ???

I have switched the pad off (it has just passed the first 24 hours since pitching)

The wort was 16 degrees when I pitched, and has risen to 26 over the net 20 hours.


I will now let it go at ambient room (18) for the rest of the ferment.


Is the yeast slurry salvageble? Will I have to run this one through the still?



All answers appreciated.

Festa.

 

[Ross]

Stop stressing - 26c is not likely to have done it any harm...

cheers ross

 

[Screwtop]

My guess is it's fine Uncle,

When yeast fires it generates a bit of heat, have a big beer in the shed at present, pitched at 19 but it has gone ape, climbed out through the airlock so replaced it with a blow off tube. The Fridgemate probe in the wort (thermowell) says its 23 at present even though the ambient has dropped to 15.7.

So no need for a heat pad until fermentation dies off a bit to help the tail enders out.

Screwy

 

[matti]

vile move, heat pads, oh my god.
I had a brew with that went up to 28 degrees and I returned it to 18 degrees and had good memery from it.
The wortst you had done is to allow the yeast to kick off severly if you want banana IMO
matti
ps don't let it happen again hehehe

 

[DarkFaerytale]

i'm using one at the moment too, i thought seeing as it's so cold it wouldn't be to bad but nup, sitting on 26 as well. last year i was using an electric timer on it 15 mins off 15 mins on and it kept a pretty constant 22C, but i can't find the timer so gotta buy a new one befor i start the next brew. i suggest buying a timer and just play around with it till you get the temp you want, prolly half an hour off and 15 mins on would get you 18-20

-Phill

 

[mika]

The Fridgemate has a heating function, think it can be used to drive a heat pad, then you'll have digital thermstatic control.

 

[rwh]

I wouldn't let it drop back to ambient... temperature variation is worse for yeast than high temps. I'd let it drop back to your target temperature, and then try to keep it there. A timer sounds like a good option, or maybe put another towel in between the pad and the fermenter?

When I use my heat pad (actually a foot warmer that was passed down from my grandmother to my father, who used it for his brewing, to me) I turn it on only right at the start to get my pitching temp where I want it. From there, I maintain the temperature (generally as close to 18C as possible) using a sleeping bag, and only turn the heat pad on if it drops to 16C or so.

Hope I didn't bore y'all.

 

[Rod]

I use a fridgemate on the heat cycle (function) and a heat belt

works ,+/- ,1 degree

when my heat belt karks , going to get a heat pad

 

[tommy cooper]

heat pads work real well with a electronic tempcontroll and you don't need a 10 amp job either they draw very little current .and the fridge controller works ok with them just stick the probe in the wort and your off controlling actual temp of wort rather than the ambient temp of the whole fermenter.

food for thought.

tc

 

[Hutch]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with using a heat pad if you've got a half-decent thermostat controlling it!
Without a thermostat, I'm not in the least surprised that wort gets up to 28++ degrees.
There is reasonably good thermal contact with the fermeneter, heat rises, fermenting beer generates heat, the heat-pad is typically 50-100watts.
Where else is the heat going to go?

Get a $30 thermostat from Jaycar, or a fridgemate from one of the above sponsors, and you'll wonder how you ever managed without it!

 

[Uncle Fester]

Things have settled down nicely now... bubbling along at a barmy 22 degrees.

One thing though, it has been a fairly aggressive fermentation, and a fair bit of krausen has spewed through the airlock. I'm assuming that all inside the fermenter should still be contaminant free (assuming a good sterile environment to start with)

Is there any issue with leaving this one in primary for the weekend while I duck off to Sydney, or should I get it out of the fermenter at the earliest opportunity given that all walls, the inside of the lid and the airlock have all been caked with krausen?

Festa.

 

[Phil_the_ale_man]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with using a heat pad if you've got a half-decent thermostat controlling it!
Without a thermostat, I'm not in the least surprised that wort gets up to 28++ degrees.
There is reasonably good thermal contact with the fermeneter, heat rises, fermenting beer generates heat, the heat-pad is typically 50-100watts.
Where else is the heat going to go?

Get a $30 thermostat from Jaycar, or a fridgemate from one of the above sponsors, and you'll wonder how you ever managed without it!

I recently purchased a fish-aquarium heater for less than $20 which has a thermostat. I just put the heater in some water in a barrel and put the whole fermenter in. The lowest setting is like 20-22 C so you get ok temperatures for ales, and you don't need to check the temp all the time.

This works well for bottles as well - just chuck the bottles in the barrel and leave for a week at 22C - Carbonation is done!

 

[rwh]

Is there any issue with leaving this one in primary for the weekend while I duck off to Sydney, or should I get it out of the fermenter at the earliest opportunity given that all walls, the inside of the lid and the airlock have all been caked with krausen?

If the main event is over, just clean and refill your airlock and there should be no problem. The inside surfaces are sanitary, just covered in krausen. No problem there.

 

[afromaiko]

or maybe put another towel in between the pad and the fermenter?

I wouldn't be putting too many towels on your heat pad. I accidentally left mine on and covered overnight and when I checked in the morning the pad smelled like burning plastic and the elements inside had started to melt out through the case. :blink:

 

[pint of lager]

Use a couple of bits of square dowel to stand the fermenter off the heat pad. Or, just leave the heat pad leaning against the fermenter and wrap the lot in a blanket.

It is a balmy 8 degrees here, have two fermenters sharing a heatmat wrapped in a blanket. They are sitting at 20 degrees.

 

[bagnol]

I wouldn't be putting too many towels on your heat pad. I accidentally left mine on and covered overnight and when I checked in the morning the pad smelled like burning plastic and the elements inside had started to melt out through the case. :blink:

I done the same thing many years ago, however the pad was on the floor. I woke up in the middle of the night to the screaching sound of a smoke alarm. It had burnt through the carpet and made a start on the floor boards. Needless to say, I gave it the arse real quick.

 

[hoppyhead]

Yeah, don't put your heatpad on anything that could catch fire! I tiurn my pad on before I go to bed, and off in the morning- when the house warms up from having the heater on. Works a treat- around 20 degrees constant.

 

[Adzmax]

Quick question, I bought a fridgemate and heatpad from Ross (which are both ace btw, cheers Ross) and have it working perfectly with a probe in the wort.

My question is I've read on the box it says not to use within the first 24-48 hours.....why? I'm guessing it's because the fermentation process generates enough heat to sustain it's own temperature at first then may need heat to maintain it later? A heatpad alone would just make the wort hotter and hotter and coupled with the heat of fermentation this may be too hot?

So....am I right in thinking that if I've set my fridgemate to 20c and the heatpad maintained this over night (kinda cold in the room) that it should be ok to use it within the first 24-48 hours?

If not could someone explain why?

Cheers guys!

 

[Hutch]

So....am I right in thinking that if I've set my fridgemate to 20c and the heatpad maintained this over night (kinda cold in the room) that it should be ok to use it within the first 24-48 hours?

I guess the warning is meant for user's without a fridgemate, or other thermostat device.
Heating the wort directly from the start is guaranteed to result in a runaway temperature due to the heat generated by fermentation in the first 24 hours.

I can't see any reason why you shouldn't use it from the start, knowing that the fridgemate will only turn on the heat pad when the wort temp drops below your set temp.
One thing I found though is that if you insulate your ferementer with a blanket or similar, the brew can get quite warm on its own in the first day or 2. So I would probably use the fridgemate/heat-pad combo from the beginning, but avoid any insulation around the fermenter in the first 24-48 hours, to be sure that it's able to lose whatever excess heat it generates itself.

Hutch.

 

[Adzmax]

Yep thought as much but It's nice to be reassured

Pitched a nice sized stater last night (Wyeast 3944) and came out this morning to find it sitting on 19c and bubbling away already with a nice krausen forming.

I wish I had of lashed out an bough this gear earlier, SO much easier with the right equipment.