Keeping fermenter warm over winter

[mondestrunken]

A couple of weeks ago Aldi had a washable fleece blanket with heating elements and controller, a snip at $30 Or so I thought.

The wife has nicked it.

So the big question is whether your wife is a better brewer than you? h34r:

 

[fletcher]

sorry to flog a dead horse but where do people normally place their heat belts? completely around the fermenter? or loosely around the base? i'm using a jerry can bunnings style one and am considering getting one for colder months.

 

[i-a-n]

My favourite spot was about 8 - 10 cm from the bottom of the fermenter. Above where the sediment would start to drop.

 

[Yob]

most people drape them in the back of the fridge, over the shelf or wherever, if using one that is... indirect heat is a preferable option to direct heating.

 

[i-a-n]

So the big question is whether your wife is a better brewer than you? h34r:

She's a chef by trade, so she sticks to the nose bag, ....... Thus far....

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I used put the fermenter in a tub of water with an aquarium heater. worked perfectly

 

[Shanta]

Cheers all, managed to wrap my sleeping bag around it and it easily jumped up a few degrees over the cooler nights

 

[djar007]

I have an old kambrook foot warmer in my fermenter fridge. On an stc 1000 it seems to cope with any situation. Fridge was free on gumtree and footwarmer came with one of those 20 dollar homebrew kits. Also included bottle tree and three tins of australian lager extract. Which got used for mates complaining my Pliny the elder clone was too strong and my saison too strange.

 

[Kingbrownbrewing]

I dont know why no one has suggested it yet, but I use a small K mart heating fan on its lowest setting, attached to the STC. It gently warms the space evenly and as long as you are measuring the wort temperature it will never be an uneven heat.

Works a treat.

 

[fletcher]

I dont know why no one has suggested it yet, but I use a small K mart heating fan on its lowest setting, attached to the STC. It gently warms the space evenly and as long as you are measuring the wort temperature it will never be an uneven heat.

Works a treat.

do you have a picture mate of one in action? i just ask because those things can be super expensive to run from my experiences.

 

[Nibbo]

I use an all fridge with an STC.

Fridge plugged into STC for the Cold side.
An aquarium heater submerged into a 10ltr container of sanitised water plugged into the heater side.

Works really well with no great fluctuations. Lives out in the shed which gets flamming hot in summer and all mighty cold in winter.

 

[Kingbrownbrewing]

do you have a picture mate of one in action? i just ask because those things can be super expensive to run from my experiences.

I'll get one for you... It is very rarely on so bugger all juice, and also has an auto shut off if it gets too warm. Takes care of circulation and heating all in one.

 

[bignath]

For a few years of AG brewing my temp control was as simple as a water bath with ice bricks during hot months and hot water bottled during cold.

<snip>

While you don't want massive swings at any point (including conditioning and maturation) the first few days at the right temp are integral to your flavour profile. Fermentation generates heat so getting the actual wort to the right temp at the start is crucial in my experience. That remains true regardless of heating or cooling methods.

Another +1 to the water bath method. Works a treat.
In summer a few years ago, it was stinking hot for a fortnight down here - over 38 for something like 12days in a row or some shit. Ended up buying a couple of storage crates, and putting the fermenters in them (4), and filling with water, stopping just before the fermenter started to float. Some of the best beer i've ever made.
Very stable temps with this sitting on the shed floor.

In reverse season, i reckon it should work quite well, if you "water bath" inside your house somewhere. Either in the bath, or in a storage crate in the laundry or somewhere similar. Rotate some hot water bottles if needed. The temperature of the water would be similar to the ambient temp inside your house once it settles, and most people as far as i know would be keeping their house in the high teens, or around 20deg. Nothing wrong with that...

 

[Edgebrew]

The mats don't put out a melting sort of heat… that said, I keep mine in the shelf in the fridge door, a nice gentle heat.

Hi yob,

When you put the mat into the door do you have any temperature overshoot? Does control well?

 

[tricache]

Winter is QLD is awesome, this is the most I have ever had to do to keep a brew warm...and it still sat at 20 degrees



Should just do more Lagers in winter

 

[witty]

Hey bud.
I made a heat box. Big enough to fit fermenter in it, with a low voltage ceramic lizard heat lamp fixed in the bottom, made of wood and lined with broccoli boxes... A flat baking tin or bit of al foil helps defuse heat. Get a cheap aquarium temp controller, and ya done. Mine keeps temps +/- 2deg.

 

[stm]

another option is to just brew with the seasons and knock out a few lagers.

+1

 

[mattdean4130]

Move to Qld

I'm not convinced it's worth it

 

[mattdean4130]

I used put the fermenter in a tub of water with an aquarium heater. worked perfectly

If you sterilised it appropriately, why couldn't the aquarium heater be inside the fermenter?