Maintaining temperature for fermentation

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bhethcote

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I am going to be forced to use my garage for my brewing activities. In the winter, the temperature can get quite chilly.Does anyone have a way to maintain temperature to keep fermentation happy?

I have been considering using a small enclosure with some head room (about 2' over the top of the carboy), a light bulb (or two) for a heat source and a thermostat about level with the mid point of the carboy.

Before I start building this, I wanted to see if this wheel had already been invented.

Thanks - BH
 
Most likely it has been done. I'd look in the "DIY" section. At any rate, you'll probably want to shift to Lagers when the temps get cold like that, just my $0.02. :D

Here is an example

Just slap a (safe) heat source in there and you should be good to go. You'd be surprised in how little it takes to heat a small space just into the fermentation range. I'd consider something that doesn't produce light if you want to ferment or age in a clear carboy to prevent any possibility of skunking.
 
I don't like the idea of the light. I ferment in my basement, which can get into the 50's in the winter sometimes, and when I need to warm an ale up, I use a heating pad. You can get them at your local CVS or WalMart or whatever for about $15. Tie the pad around the side of the carboy with string, and turn it on. I don't really know how you could go about rigging it to a thermostat, though. I just monitor mine as closely as I can. Works pretty well.
 
I don't really know how you could go about rigging it to a thermostat, though. I just monitor mine as closely as I can. Works pretty well.

I was thinking that it probably isn't too hard to regulate it, especially if you don't get huge swings in temp.

The garage might be a little harder if it is above ground and even more so if it is stand alone. What I would do is make a small adjustable vent in the side of the box to allow more or less outside air to migrate more freely.
 
you'll probably want to shift to Lagers when the temps get cold

But there is a lot more to lagering then that. Like cooling for 8 weeks at 35 and so forth. I WISH it was that easy bit I don't have room for 8 to 10 lagering carboys! LOL
 
What if you have a "Son of fermentation chiller" built. Could you use a heat lamp or light bulb instead of ice? You'd have to have a thermostat that would work for cold and heat. Having the light in the ice chamber would keep it off the fermenting brew.
 
This is what I did last winter before I discovered that my fridge would stay at a perfect 50F if I turned it on the least cool setting.

Go ahead and brew lagers, just use WLP810 San Francisco Lager yeast since it tolerates warmer temperatures quite well. That way if you get too warm from neglecting the beer all will not be lost. Then I just kept the beer out on the back porch in the shade where it stayed in the mid 40s, and about midnight before bed I would set it indoors to keep it from getting too cold. It would only get a chance to warm up to maybe mid 50s by morning which is well within the appropriate temps for WLP810, and then I would set it out on the back porch in the shade again.

Oh and I never did what you might call a true lagering - after I was sure the ferment was done, I brought it indoors racked it over to a seconday and left it there for a couple of days - then back to the back porch in the shade till I was ready to bottle. Once it got in the bottles and carbed, I put it in the fridge as cold as it would go and just waited as long as I could and let that do for my lagering. Beer turned out fine.
 
I built the 38DD Mother of Fermentation Chiller.

Fermentation Chiller

Great for keeping things cool, why not hot as well? Thermostat can also be used to control heat source as well as the fan for cooling. Have the thermostat control a relay for a 112v brew belt and you can keep the brew happy in a relatively small space.
 
But there is a lot more to lagering then that. Like cooling for 8 weeks at 35 and so forth. I WISH it was that easy bit I don't have room for 8 to 10 lagering carboys! LOL

That is not entirely true. You don't have to do that!

"# The temperature difference between the primary phase and the lager phase should be roughly 10°F.
# Nominal lagering times are 3 - 4 weeks at 45°F, 5 - 6 weeks at 40°F, or 7 - 8 weeks at 35°F.
# Stronger beers need to be lagered longer.
# Nothing is absolute. Brewing is both a science and an art. "

(taken from how to brew).

My lagers get fermented around 50, then lagered at mid-40ish in the fridge. The main thing is that the beer comes out 'clean' and mellow.
 
I don't like the idea of the light. I

Same here.

I wonder if one could make a waterbath and put an aquarium heater in it since it already has a thermostat on it. The "underbed storage" rubbermaid containers hold two carboys/buckets in several inches of water. Hmmm.

Might take an impractically large aquarium heater but could be a relatively cheap workaround for those in cool temps. I don't have cold problems here in Texas but it's something to think about.
 
Thanks for all the input - I may have been over-thinking it a bit. I realized I have an electric oil-filled radiator (similar to: ShopDeLonghi.com ComforTemp Oil-Filled Radiator ). It won't keep the whole garage warm, but it will easily keep a 6' x 8' area at a pretty steady temperature. It has multiple settings, so I'll just need to experiment with it a little before hand.
 
What about brew belt? it suppose to keep the heat @75F.
I saw them in my LHBS... I don't know if it works well when the ambient is really really cold.
 
I saw one of the belts in a catalog a co-worker shared with me. I think if I can keep the ambient temperature (at least around the carboy) from getting stupidly cold, that looks like the best option.
 
Same here.

I wonder if one could make a waterbath and put an aquarium heater in it since it already has a thermostat on it. The "underbed storage" rubbermaid containers hold two carboys/buckets in several inches of water. Hmmm.

Might take an impractically large aquarium heater but could be a relatively cheap workaround for those in cool temps. I don't have cold problems here in Texas but it's something to think about.

I'd be careful using an aquarium heater....I use them to keep my DS water warm for my reef aquarium and if the come in contact with plastic (ie rubbermaid) they will melt a hole right through it.....Sometimes they lean a little or come off their suction cups for whatever reason. Not a fun time...
 
This time of year it stays below 50 degrees F here in Montana. I just did a little dump scavenging and nabbed a broken chest freezer. Tossed in a 40 watt bulb controlled by a ranco and presto I have a fermentation cabinet. To keep light off my carboy I put a tin can over the bulb. So far so good, but I do worry about the bulb getting too hot and burning out. Anyone know a simple heat source? Maybe one that can plug into a bulb socket but not produce light.
 
I was having similar problems, to the point that my yeasties were starting to take a little nap.

I solved this by placing the carboy in a thermos "cube", fill with water (70*) to the wort line, and place a $25 aquarium heater in there. The Yeasties are all awake and hungry now!
 
But there is a lot more to lagering then that. Like cooling for 8 weeks at 35 and so forth. I WISH it was that easy bit I don't have room for 8 to 10 lagering carboys! LOL

I never lager my lagers and they come out great. I treat them just like ales but allow 2x for the primary fermentation time I would for ales (4 weeks vs 2 weeks). I ferment at 52*F and then condition in the kegerator at 42*F after a D-rest.

I'm sure lots of folks go through the whole lagering process and take 8-10 weeks to make their beer, but I don't want to dedicate a bunch of equipment just to lagering. Besides, I like my beer, and that's the important thing! :rockin:
 
This time of year it stays below 50 degrees F here in Montana. I just did a little dump scavenging and nabbed a broken chest freezer. Tossed in a 40 watt bulb controlled by a ranco and presto I have a fermentation cabinet. To keep light off my carboy I put a tin can over the bulb. So far so good, but I do worry about the bulb getting too hot and burning out. Anyone know a simple heat source? Maybe one that can plug into a bulb socket but not produce light.

Hmmmm how about a ceramic reptile heater from your pet shop....

Infrared Ceramic Heat Emitters | Heat Rocks | Reptile Heating | Reptile - ThatPetPlace.com

Now you have me thinking.....thermo on a light socket in an insulated box.....hmmmmmm
 
I am new and have not had to worry about major temp changes. But the ol' ball and chain doesn't like having the fermenter in the kitchen where I like to keep it, so I just put it in a utility closet, and wrap a blanket around it. My sticky says 70 F so it does a pretty good job, and really doesn't take up that much space (with a 5 gal at least)
 

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