Keeping your fermentation warm

How do you keep your fermenting buckets warm during the winter? I live in minnesota and my basement might be in the 50's. I was thinking about filling a tub with water and using a fish tank heater in it.

Make some lager if you can get temps that low. Or you can wrap some blankets around your brew to trap the heat and help keep it warm. Or put it closer to your furnace.

You can lager in the 50's? I thought it had to be much colder.

Brew Belt, $16.95, midwestsupplies.com

I plan on using my garage fridge for keeping things warm in the winter. I have an external thermostat that allows whatever is plugged into it to turn on when the temp gets too high. I am going to modify that thermostat to kick on when the temp gets too low, and plug a 75 watt light bulb into it.

Then I can just put the light bulb into the fridge, flip the switch I add to reverse the behavior of the thermostat and use my fridge as a warmer in the winter.

My electrical engineering degree might actually pay off at home finally.

-walker

Walker said:

My electrical engineering degree might actually pay off at home finally.

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Yes, but now you have to factor the cost of your education into your brewing costs. When you do that it's clear that you've spent way more on your homebrews than you would of just buying it in stores.

I went to college on a full ride.

I be a fart smeller.... I mean.. smart feller.

-walker

Walker said:

I went to college on a full ride.

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Doesn't matter, scholarship money is still considered income. Protocol demands that you either factor those amounts into your brewing costs, or stop using your education in your brewing.

I use a small ceramic space heater. I had a fermentation cabinet in California, but had to leave it behind. Got the makings for a new one, but haven't cleared out the room.

Fermentation cabinet? Interesting, tell me more....

I bought an in-brew heater (basically a glass stick with an element inside and a thermostat).

I can sit my ales bang on 20 deg Celcius in the winter.