syd138

Recipes 

I just can't get my apartment warm enough. I don't have anyone living below me, so the floors are freezing.. its about 7 degrees in Chicago right now.

I kept my heater on last month so my apartment would stay at about 65 during the day.. and my bill was $250. So now I turn it down before I leave for work and its probably in the 50's. Have a batch of Apfel Wein in the primary that is not doing anything because its too cold.

Sucks, but I'll have to wait.

flyangler18

Recipes 

Get yourself a Rubbermaid bin and an aquarium heater. A swamp cooler in reverse.

Lil' Sparky

Recipes 

Or a brew belt

or a small electric blanket / heating pad

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Laughing_Gnome_Invisible

Recipes 

Or a brew belt

Temperature Control :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

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Does this dress make my willy look big? ~ Ben Franklin

nebben

Recipes 

Bump for the aquarium heater immersed in a cooler or rubbermaid . I left my house over Christmas for a week at 55F. My 3 gallons of fermenting port never strayed from +/- 3 degrees from 68 because of my fish heater.

Madman

Recipes 

Wee keep our house heat low, and as a person who also does aquariums for a hobby, I can vouch that a $15 aquarium heater will do the trick.

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conpewter

Recipes 

What area of Chicago? Could always brew with someone else and ferment at their place.

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"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V

Primary: Nothin
Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead
Kegged: Crappy infected mild
Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash

Boerderij_Kabouter

Recipes 

or brew a lager.... there are sooooo many solutions. When I was in college our house was at 50 all winter and that never stopped us. I used a brew belt for ales.

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2P-Twent-E Simple Brew DITCHES 1 DITCHES 2 Fermentolagertaporator side-by-side ferm Twelve Hopostles Labels

Homercidal

Recipes 

Yeah, I'd work it out. Get a cooler to fit the fermenter and add a cheap aquarium heater. Or buy a brew belt (heated fermenter wrap) for around $20. I'm actually thinking of doing this myself, because my available rooms all fluctuate between day/work/evening/night.

Evan!

Recipes 

I'll toss one in the hat for using an el-cheapo heating pad from CVS, etc. Tie that sumbitch to your carboy/bucket with a piece of string, and you should be able to get it up above 70f if you want. What's the ambient temp right now in your apartment? My brewhouse (slash basement laundry room) stays around 57f this time of year. Right now, I have my heating pad on high, tied around a fermenting batch of Cidre Saison, and the fermometer says 74. So that's a rise of 17 degrees, and cider isn't even one of those high-activity fermenters either. Just the other week I had an IIPA that unfortunately got above 80 at one point because of the combination of the heating pad and the heat generated by the aerobic activity of fermentation. Plus, this is much less space-consuming and less effort (and cheaper too) than the old "rubbermaid filled with water with aquarium heater" trick.

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MOSS HOLLOW BREWING CO.
Aristocratic Ales, Lascivious Lagers

.planned:
•Scottish 80/- •Sweet Stout •Roggenbier
.primary | bright:
98: Moss Hollow Soured '09 72: Oude Kriek 99: B-Weisse 102: Brett'd BDSA 104: Feat of Strength Helles Bock 105: Merkin Brown
.on tap | kegged:
XX: Moss Hollow Springs Sparkling Water 95: Gott Mit Uns German Pils 91b: Brown Willie's Oaked Abbey Ale 103: Merkin Stout
98: Yorkshire Special 100: Maple Porter 89: Cidre Saison 101: Steffiweizen '09 (#3)