Can I heat my beer with fish tank heater?

I know this is a funny question but I am afraid that my as my house is not heated that it will be too cold/variable in temperature to make beer at this time of year. I could buy a heating pad but the ones I've seen are a bit expensive. I do however own loads of fish tank equipment, including several submergible heaters so I'm wondering if they will help to keep a more even temp. Of course I would be careful to sterilize!

Any thoughts, is it too crazy to try?

You can afford to brew your own beer but you can't afford to heat your own house? More power to you man. I guess your homebrewed beer keeps you warm at night.

yeah it will work, what you can do is put warm water in a cooler then stick a couple of the water heaters on the inside of the cooler via the suction cups. All you need to do then is put your carboy in the cooler and the rest is easy.. just adjust your heaters till you get the heat you need in the carboy.

Of course you can do that! I have a couple of suggestions, though, based on my method.

First, you don't want the heater actually inside the fermenter and in the beer. Beer is very sugary (that's what ferments) and I think a heater would be a bad idea. Sanitizing would be tough, temperature control would be tough, etc.

What I do is put my fermenter in an ice cube cooler. Then add water up to the level of the wort. I put my submersible aquarium heater in the water bath, and float an aquarium thermometer in that. The water bath keeps the temperature inside the fermenter as about the same temperature as the water. It works great!!!!!! It keeps the temperature stable, too, with no variations between day and night (when I turn the heat lower).

My house is in the high 50's/low 60s in the winter. I brewed my last batch at 68 degrees using this method. I don't feel like heating my house (which is 100 years old) when no one is home, just to keep my beer comfortable.

They also sell brew belts for $20. Supposed to keep your fermentor around 70-80 degrees. Never used one though.

NORTHERN BREWER: Fermentation Temperature Control

Here's a picture of the cooler I have (with a carboy in it):



I actually made a different lid, out of foam so that the airlock pokes out. Even I have to admit it's overkill, though!

Yeah, what Yoop and mirilis said. Don't try to immerse the heater directly in the wort and it will work just fine.

Thanks that's great. The pic was especially helpful. Why cant I stick the heater straight into my fermenting bucket? You say cos of the sugar, will that break the heater? I have a heater that was never used so contamination wouldn't be a big problem.

Those heater get hot enough to kill the yeast and caramelize the sugars that come in contact with it.

Nevermind that with the right sized cooler you can use one fishtank heater to keep two brews warm...

Though I've gotta admit that yooper's setup actually looks professionalish...

If I was a good HBTer I'd take pics of my redneck version...

Nurmey said:

Those heater get hot enough to kill the yeast and caramelize the sugars that come in contact with it.

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If the heater is okay to use with sensitive tropical fish I would of thought yeast would survive it okay. Of course you couldn't set it too high. Maybe if sugar started sticking to it it would cause a problem. Has anyone tried to put the heater in directly? I certainly can't claim to be an expert.

There are some fish that you are known for managing to burn themselves on heaters...

weevil said:

If the heater is okay to use with sensitive tropical fish I would of thought yeast would survive it okay. Of course you couldn't set it too high. Maybe if sugar started sticking to it it would cause a problem. Has anyone tried to put the heater in directly? I certainly can't claim to be an expert.

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weevil said:

If the heater is okay to use with sensitive tropical fish I would of thought yeast would survive it okay. Of course you couldn't set it too high. Maybe if sugar started sticking to it it would cause a problem. Has anyone tried to put the heater in directly? I certainly can't claim to be an expert.

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Well, we've given you our opinion on why it's not a good idea. Here's some more: How would you secure/seal it up? The cord would be through the lid somehow. How would you adjust it up or down, if it was too warm or too cold? How would you check the temperature inside? How about the carmelization possibilities, or the fact that the yeast can't take high temperatures. Not to mention the whole sanitation issue, assume you could completely sanitize it and the cord.

I guess those are a few of the reasons I wouldn't even attempt to do it directly. Water/salt water is one thing- wort with sugar content and active fermentation is another.

If you want to, though, give it a try.

I think you are probably right, I was just interested. In a fish tank most problems come from using a heater of a high wattage which is why I use more than one of a smaller size if the tank is big. Sanitization should not be much problem as most heaters are totally water tight so could be cleaned with a sterilising liquid. I'd make a hole in the lid and seal it with power tape or something. If you checked that the thermostat was set correctly beforehand the heater shouldn't need adjusting again. Yeast that came in direct contact with the heater might be killed but that would be a relatively small amount of the yeast present and given good conditions yeast reproduces at a very high rate. I think the sugar might be a problem. Anyway on the whole I think you guys have a better set up so I think I will go with that!

I use an aquarium heater in the wort.

To do this I've used a hole saw to cut a hole big enough to allow the passage of the heater thorough the lid of my fermenter. I cut the plug off the power cord and passed it through a rubber stopper that plugs the hole and used silicon to seal and fix the cord so that the rig is air tight and sets the heater to sit at the right depth in the wort. I have re-wired a new plug onto the cord and anyone doing this must be sure that they know how to rewire a power plug correctly. I have a spare rubber stopper that will also plug the hole on the lid when the heater is not in use.

The heater is a "cheapie" costing $12 Australian (about US$8). It is rated at 50 watts which is low and designated for the smallest aquariums. There is an adjustable thermostat and I set it at the low end of the desired range for the yeast I'm using. The submersible part of the heater is all glass. It is easy to clean and sanitise. I protect the upper parts of the heater from the froth of the krausen by wrapping it in a cone of cling film (plastic wrap). My external stick on thermometer seems to be very stable also at the low end of my desired temperature. I can not be certain about what the temperature is in the middle but I feel the the convection and effect of the yeast will be preventing the local overheating effects near the heater.

You may wonder why I need this living as I do in Australia. We only have heating in the living room. In the winter it does get cooler than yeasts need in my laundry where the magic of beer making has to be performed.

If anyone is interested I could take a few pics when I'm not brewing. It is summer at the moment and the current batch is without supplemental heat. I'll be bottling today and could photograph the set up after I have cleaned up if there is any interest.

hey, thanks, some pics would be interesting. How many many litres do you use the 50 watt heater on?

I use a basic home brew kit. The volume I make is 23 litres. I will get organised with some pictures for you. It might have to be tomorrow.

A rule of thumb for aquarium heaters in 1.5 watts for every liter (in an aquarium.) 50 watts is plenty for 23 litres of wort for my laundry environment.

Why not try a lager. My basement rental is very cold in the winter in wisconsin. My plan was to try a lager. set the fermenter on the actual concrete in the basement. Ill see what temps i can maintain.

Here are some pictures of my heater setup.



The first picture shows the stopper that I use when I don't need the heater. The red knob on the top of the heater unit is a dial for the thermostat range from 16 degrees Celsius to 32 degrees.

I have not shown how I apply the cling film but it is straight forward to wrap the top of the unit and seal it with a rubber-band.

To address the issues raised by YooperBrew and others:

I have not met any issue with caramelisation. Surely that would require "cooking" temperatures. It just doesn't get that hot. I can hold it in my hand when it is on. The unit is as easily cleaned as the rest of the fermenter. The height adjustment would be easy but for me it is not required as I always brew the same volume. The thermostat seems to work very well and accurately. There are none of the swings in temperature I used to see without the heater in place. I should add that the idea to use the heater was not my own as it was mentioned in a book (that I can't find now). The method to install the heater is "all my own idea" It ain't "rocket surgery" or "brain science" and did I mention that it works perfectly for my purposes. Please see this an option from which you may choose amongst the other suggestions made here.

Please note that I've reach my quota of images for this post and can't add the appropriate smilies. No offence to anyone is intended or implied.

thanks for the pics, they are very interesting.

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.

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.

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.

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

FlyGuy said:

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.

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

-Tripod

Tripod said:

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

-Tripod

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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.

and 1.5a
Ability to rapidly cool hot wort.

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.

FlyGuy said:

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.

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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

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.

Does anyone still do this method?

BIFRÖST brewery said:

Does anyone still do this method?

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Welcome to HBT! Very old thread, but like every method of brewing since brewing began, it will still work and there will be people doing it this way or that. There's a fair variety of temperature control techniques and each of us has to pick one that works for ourself. I encourage you to start a new thread and tell us a bit about where you're at in brewing and what you want to achieve and what resources you are inclined to expend... Is a temp controlled fridge a possibility, or would heating belt on a carboy be enough?
Again: Welcome to the fun!