Heating Fermenter

[Wheels5]

Hi All

I am new to the brewing game, received the ideal fathers day gift, a brew kit.

After reading all instructions, I decided to make myself a hot box to keep my brew at the ideal temperature.

Box is made out of 100mm foam (more like a fridge actually). To heat my brew I have rigged up a low voltage light and a thermostat to regulate the temperature. So far practice run appears to keep liquid at approx 24degrees.

My question is, will the light affect the brew in anyway as I have heard that you should keep it away from light.

Thanks
Wheels

 

[barls]

try dropping the temp down to at least 18-20 degrees. by doing this will reduce the alcohol that cause head aches. and the light will only affect beer when it has direct exposure hence why the fermentor is opaque

 

[Wheels5]

Thanks barls, will reduce the temp.

Why do they recommend 21-27 degrees in the instructions, just by reading comments in the forum, this appears to be high.

 

[0M39A]

as already said, 24C is too warm...

18-20 and your brew will be far better off. the instructions that come with the kit really arent worth the paper they are written on...

kudos on your work trying to make a better beer though

 

[devo]

Another simple and cheap method is to make a fermbath.




Basically it's a plastic tub of water with a 300w fish tank heater.

 

[barls]

they make it high so that it seems easier to do ie you dont have to worry about the temp as much. the more you read you will find out that ales should be 18-20 and lagers 8-12 degrees. welcome to the fold as well

 

[Wheels5]

Thanks guys for your quick response.

Hopefully this works, here is a pic of my rig.

 

[tk75]

Another simple and cheap method is to make a fermbath.

View attachment 14817


Basically it's a plastic tub of water with a 300w fish tank heater.

Devo, quite ingenius! What temp does the water sit at? Or rather what do you keep the fermentors temp. at? Could be something I may look at rigging up in a non-working fridge...maybe a small pump to come on and circ. the water occasionally too?? Hmm... :unsure:

 

[microbe]

Hopefully this works, here is a pic of my rig.

Looks like a pretty good setup - would it be too hard to convert it to keeping your brew cool instead? What's the ambient temp where you are?

cheers,

microbe

EDIT - included relevant quote

 

[Wheels5]

In Melbourne, so it is fluctuating a lot at present, some warm days followed by cool days as per next couple of days. typical melbourne weather really.

 

[Weizguy]

Thanks barls, will reduce the temp.

Why do they recommend 21-27 degrees in the instructions, just by reading comments in the forum, this appears to be high.

G'day Wheels5,

The instructions ensure quick fermentation, which translates to quick turnover of the beer.

In turn, the rapid turnover has the benefit that bugs have less time to take hold, so cleanliness is not so important (unlike most beers mentioned on this forum), and the time between return trips to the supermarket for homebrewing supplies is also decreased ( i.e. more money for the kit makers).

The downside? All the beers you make, regardless of the kit type, will taste similar. They will also be less pleasant-tasting than cooler fermented beers, if all other factors (most importantly, cleanliness) are equal.

Seth out

 

[Tony]

i have a few pieces of advice for a new brewer!

on the subject of youe heat box...... its tops but not really needed. All i do is wrap the brew in a cheap lecky blanket and wrap that in an old woolen blanket. In the winter this is very efectice and efficient.

ATM..... i have a beer firmenting in my garage using US-05 at 16.8 deg c liquid temp and its going mad.

that leads to the next advice point.

take the kit yeast and chuck it in the bin!!!!!!!!!

get some dry US-05 from your HBS. get 1 cup of boiling water and put it in a clean glass jug.... one of those pyrex ones. let it cool to 20 deg with some glad wrap over the top to keep nasties out.

put the dried yeast in the cooled boiled water and let it rehydrate over an hour or two. if any sticks on the side..... swish it gently to get it all.

pitch this into your brew and firment it at betwrrn 17 and 20 deg but no more.

will make a big difference.

cheers

 

[devo]

Devo, quite ingenius! What temp does the water sit at? Or rather what do you keep the fermentors temp. at? Could be something I may look at rigging up in a non-working fridge...maybe a small pump to come on and circ. the water occasionally too?? Hmm... :unsure:

it depends on the time of year but it works generally well all year except for summer. It's not pin point precision but you can get good Ale temps of b/w 18 to 24 c. If I find it get too warm I just have some frozen PET bottles handy in the freezer and drop em in the tub to bring it back into line.

 

[dr K]

On top of all the other excellent replies:

If you are going to use a light source, and you are worried about lightstrike, either paint the globe black or shroud your (not light opaque) plastic or glass fermentors in black garbage bags.
The actual temp of your fermenting wort can be 6 or more C above the "ambient" temp, fermentation is a very exothermic process.
I have never been to Yorkshire but I imagine it gets rather cold and has done for some time but the traditional ales produced there are considered some of the best in the world and thats without central heating, warm blankets or aircraft landing lights..and using yeasts that may prefer warmer climes, certainly warmer climes than their IceMaiden Bavarian cousins!!
The fermentation will produce enough heat in an insulated environment such as what you have built to happily produce a beer..adding energy will only screw things up.

K

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

Thanks guys for your quick response.

Hopefully this works, here is a pic of my rig.

A little more advice Wheels5...get out of kit brews ASAP. Try a mini mash/partial (which will involve slightly more equipment) and the brew will improve 1000000000%. I nearly called it quits after 4 kit attempts, If it weren't for an All Grain brewer friend, i'd be lost to the art entirely. I prey this does not happen to you. As has been said, chuck the instructions out the window immediately, god, did they f$*#@ me up from the start. You're miles ahead of where I began.

Grab a book like "How to Brew" by John Palmer and that'll get you up to speed pretty quickly. This forum is also a great resource, although take advice with a grain of salt as everyone here has an opinion, and it is not necessarily fact.

Best of luck!!!!

BB

 

[Wheels5]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am glad I have found this site.