Can I heat my beer with fish tank heater? - Page 3

**Homercidal** · 12-16-2008, 12:31 PM

Looks like it would work, but for simplicity of cleaning, I'd prefer the cooler method. I'd want was little touching the beer as possible.

Also, the fermiwrap device that brewing stores sell is just a heated wrap with a thermostat. Seems pretty easy to use IMO, although I've never used one.

Dave R · 12-16-2008, 06:02 PM

Hmmmm. I also have tropical fish and have for 40 years or so. I have burnt my fingers trying to move a heater when it was on and have had them shatter when cold water hits them if I forgot to turn them off during a water change.
I eventually removed my heaters from the aquarium and put them in my sump which is a wet/dry filter, after my Plecos got burned several times resting against the heaters.

Just because you can hold a heater in your hand doesn't mean it's not killing your yeast that comes in contact with or is near the heater. Most yeast can't survive in temps more than about 114° or 115° or so and I can hold that temp in my hand with no problem.

I really don't think carmelizaton would be a problem but why chance it?

Put the heater in a cooler of water and put your fermenter in that. That way you will avoid all the sanitization problems and can not possibly harm your yeast.

FlyGuy · 12-16-2008, 06:29 PM

My brewing partner and I have started using an aquarium heater to maintain temps in a water bath, into which we submerge our fermenters (glass carboys). I REALLY like this method, and believe it would be preferable to submerging the heater directly in the wort for a few reasons:

1. Obvious sanitation (and oxidation) concerns mentioned above.

2. A water bath provides a VERY consistent environment for the yeast. In fact, it will buffer both drops in ambient air temperature AND it will buffer rises in temperature associated with heat expelled from active yeast fermentation. This is the biggest benefit of a water bath, IMO.

3. Temperature monitoring and control is easier with a water bath. Just float a thermometer in the bath, and it will read the same temperature as your fermenting beer. And there are no concerns with localized heating inside the beer when using a water bath.

4. If you use a large cooler, you can use one heater to maintain a water bath for multiple fermenters (in our case, we do two at a time -- typically from a 10 gal batch that was split into two carboys).

Honestly, if I were to recommend the top 3 things that most brewers could do to improve the quality of their finished products, I would recommend some form of temperature control as one of them. This is the most precise method, and I even prefer it now to a refrigerator and temperature controller, which is what I used to use for ales.

Tripod · 12-17-2008, 01:26 AM

The water bath and aquarium heater is the method I am planning to use from here on out when I brew in winter conditions.

My honey porter was brewed in the middle of November when the ambient temperature was nearly ideal (ideal in GA, at least...). But right at about the third day into fermentation we suddenly were hit with a cold front and all I could do was watch in agony as the sticky "fermometer" on the side of the carboy plummeted from around 68*F to almost 55*F!

I'm sure that wild of a swing is not the way to have a happy yeast party. So I've been gathering the equipment to do the aqurium heater method Like in Yooper's pics. I'm hoping that my cooler will be big enough for the carboy but if it isn't, I'll use the big rubbermaid tub I used for the ice baths in the summer. Not too concerned with melting the tub since we are only talking about 65 to 70*F.

Even though I've never done it, a red flag goes of in my brain when I read about people putting the heater IN the wort. Maybe it works for them but I think I'll keep mine in the water bath instead.

-Tripod

Tripod · 12-17-2008, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyGuy

Honestly, if I were to recommend the top 3 things that most brewers could do to improve the quality of their finished products, I would recommend some form of temperature control as one of them. This is the most precise method, and I even prefer it now to a refrigerator and temperature controller, which is what I used to use for ales.

Just curious...besides temperature control, what are the other two things you would recommend?

-Tripod

FlyGuy · 12-17-2008, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tripod

Just curious...besides temperature control, what are the other two things you would recommend?

-Tripod

Assuming you have a good recipe and good process creating your wort, pitching an appropriate amount of healthy, aerated yeast, and impeccable sanitation.

I say this because (besides recipe problems) the most common problems I have encountered in homebrew are off-flavours related to fermentation or sanitation. The common issues are under-attenuation (beer too sweet), production of higher alcohols or phenols (solvent, hot-alcohol, or medicinal off-flavours), or off-flavours associated with infection. If you pay attention to the three things I mention, you can easily avoid all these issues.

**olllllo** · 12-17-2008, 05:26 AM

and 1.5a
Ability to rapidly cool hot wort.

Fred_Nerk · 12-17-2008, 08:56 AM

I promise not to drag this on any further except to say that the reason "I do it my way" is because I bottle from a spigot and a bottling tube. I would need to lift the fermenter out of the water bath and risk stirring up the settled yeast if I used the water bath method. This is not relevant to those who siphon and/or keg their beer.

I just want you to know that it is possible to do this and despite the fears of others, it works. The yeast does not die. The sugars do not caramelise. I have not suffered an infection.

So by all means choose not to use this method, but don't let the academics or the theorists put you off based on pure speculation rather than experience.

PS I found the book that mentions this use of a heater. Understanding Beer Making Vol 2 by Grant Sampson. It is a little paper-back Published in 1987.

Tripod · 12-18-2008, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyGuy

Assuming you have a good recipe and good process creating your wort, pitching an appropriate amount of healthy, aerated yeast, and impeccable sanitation.

I say this because (besides recipe problems) the most common problems I have encountered in homebrew are off-flavours related to fermentation or sanitation. The common issues are under-attenuation (beer too sweet), production of higher alcohols or phenols (solvent, hot-alcohol, or medicinal off-flavours), or off-flavours associated with infection. If you pay attention to the three things I mention, you can easily avoid all these issues.

Thanks, FlyGuy (and olllllo)!

I had a feeling that proper yeast pitching would be one of those. The more I am studying the whole process, the more I see under-pitching playing a role in problems that new brewers are reporting.

My biggest problem at the moment is temp control but I think I'll be able to get a handle on that by the next batch. My honey porter is still carbing but I tried one the other night for quality control.

The flavor was exacly what I wanted but I think my dip in temperature during fermentation slowed the yeasts down too much. I'm carbing in the bottle right at 70*F and it has been 21 days, but I've only got about half of the carb as on past batches where the temperature was stable during the fermentation stages.

The ice-bath method worked great in the summer so I'll alter that method to an aquarium-heater-bath method for winter temps. I'm betting I'll see improvement if I can keep the wild temp swings under control.

-Tripod

**selivem** · 10-28-2010, 06:12 PM

I know I'm resurrecting a very old thread here. I just wanted to share my experience. I fermented a Belgian Saison with a cheap aquarium heater inside the fermenter. The fermentation went very well with a steady 85F. The gravity went from 1.076 to 1.015 and the resulting beer tastes very good.

Still, I'm considering dumping the whole thing. I fnoticed that the heater smells strongly of my brew even after I washed it in the dish washer.This means that my brew penetrated the plastic of the heater. My concern is that the symmetric is true, and the plastic of the heater released chemicals into the brew.

I will never put anything other than yeast and wort into my fermenter again.