Temperature Control

[primusbrew]

Hey guys, I am new to brewing and currently having problems with maintaining the temperature of my brew, particularly for lagers where you need a low temp. I have recently purchased a belt heater as my brews where falling down to below ten degrees but with the belt heater it sends it up to 26 degrees. Which I've heard destroys a lager.

Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

 

[brettprevans]

only use the heat belt in short bursts. either manual switch on/off ow buy a cheap timer (usually used to turn TV etc on/off while your away). or get yourself a temp control from one the AHB sponsors.

I just manual use my heat mat and belt. turn on for a couple of hours then turn off. although ive never used if for a lager, only ales. my lagers stay nice and cold.

 

[jendres]

Hey guys, I am new to brewing and currently having problems with maintaining the temperature of my brew, particularly for lagers where you need a low temp. I have recently purchased a belt heater as my brews where falling down to below ten degrees but with the belt heater it sends it up to 26 degrees. Which I've heard destroys a lager.

Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

less than 10 degrees is good for a lager.

A trick for the heat belt is to move it up the fermenter. The higher up the less it will heat the whole brew. Well that is what I've been told by G&G. It seemed to work for me, but I only got about a 6-8 degree increase from it, not 16!

One of those $5 timers from bunnings might be a good idea. They have the wheel with 30min blocks you should be able to get some good control with that.

 

[Steve]

Primus what are you brewing? Is it a kit that says lager on the label? If so take the heat belt off as the yeast supplied (if you are using the yeast supplied) is probably an ale yeast.
Cheers
Steve

 

[primusbrew]

So if brewing a lager style kit should i use the supplied yeast or get a different one? Is there anyway to tell from the label what type of yeast is being supplied? I was under that impression that the yeast would die if the temperature was too low.

 

[apd]

So if brewing a lager style kit should i use the supplied yeast or get a different one? Is there anyway to tell from the label what type of yeast is being supplied? I was under that impression that the yeast would die if the temperature was too low.

Getting a different (real) lager yeast will be a huge improvement.

From memory, the package your kit yeast comes in is fairly generic and doesn't say "Lager yeast" or anything remotely helpful like that.

Yeast never dies. It just goes into hibernation Well, not quite. You'll probably kill your yeast if you freeze it but you're not going to do that now, are you.

 

[Steve]

Primus. Welcome to AHB. Not too sure of what stage you are with your brewing so I hope im not telling you to suck eggs. Next time when you are buying your kit ask the local home brew shop owner for some SO4, or US56 ale yeast. Take the packet of yeast from the kit and store it in the fridge in a container for emergencies. Basically there are two types of yeasts used for brewing beer. Lager yeasts which ferment best at 9-15 and ale yeasts from 16-20 (roughly). This is the first most important rule to understand. The kit you have probably bought says lager on the label but the suppliers dont actually supply a lager yeast (cold fermenting yeast) with the kit. Like I said take the heat belt off for the one you are currently brewing and see how you go. Have a read of this site: www.howtobrew.com its a great resource for all brewers from beginners to experienced.
Cheers
Steve

 

[primusbrew]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Very helpful.

 

[KGB]

One of those cheap 24hr timers should do the trick. Otherwise if you can spare some more cash get yourself a "fridgemate" temp controller from one of the sites sponsors, they are brilliant. It will set you back ~50 but you can use it for heating or cooling and any temp from something like -10 to +70 degrees. I've currently got mine set up on a fishtank heater in my fermenter maintaining my Coopers Pale Ale kit ( with S-04 yeast ) at 20 degrees, +/-1 degree.

EDIT: Woohoo! I made it to 2 beers in my avatar!

 

[loftboy]

+1 on the aquarium heater. I bought a 150w heater for about $27 from the local pet shop.

It has an adjustable range of 20 - 32 C. I have the heater in a 55l plastic storage tub, along with a small pond pump, which is connected to a timer set to turn on the pump for 15mins every hour to circulate the water bath. The water level is up to the 15 litre line in a 23 litre batch.

The temperature has stayed at a constant 21 - 22 C for 36 hours. Very happy with this alternative to a brew fridge.

 

[new2brew]

go to your local fruit shop and ask them for as many foam fruit boxs they can spare. then get a hold of a cupboard or the like and line the cupboard with the foam and put a small 40w globe over the brew in the cupboard.

The foam acts as an insulator, and so long as you have an accurate thermometor, you can control the temp of the brew by turning the light on and off.