Heating pad?

How many of you use heating pads to help brew. This cooler days make my batches take twice as long to get the right ph.

I just bought one to try it out.

Thanks for any input.

telebrewer said:

How many of you use heating pads to help brew. This cooler days make my batches take twice as long to get the right ph.

I just bought one to try it out.

Thanks for any input.

Click to expand...

I generally use one. It has two heat settings. I use the lower setting and it keeps it around 78°F even if I run it 24/7. It's an older pad. All the newer ones that I've seen have an auto shut off after a couple of hours that wouldn't work well to keep the temperature even. My old pad seems to work OK, but lately I've been wondering if I can do better.

I'm thinking I could use my DIY fermwrap for kombucha, but I'd have to rig up another temp controller. (Not a big deal, just lazy, I guess)

Edit: I just saw your other post. A reptile heating pad should work great. My DIY fermwrap is the same thing, just controlled with a STC-1000 temp controller.

I use a reptile heating pad on a dimmer type switch. Careful heating from bottom or top; they could un-balance your brew by promoting yeast over bacteria and vice versa

Don't you just put your vessel on top of the heating pad?

telebrewer said:

Don't you just put your vessel on top of the heating pad?

Click to expand...

I wrap my pad around the sides held in place with a bungie cord. I don't have any fermentation problems and seems to be temperature stable.

Hi All,

First post

Do you put the probe from the thermostat into the kombucha inside the container?

bravo4 said:

Hi All,

First post

Do you put the probe from the thermostat into the kombucha inside the container?

Click to expand...

That's how I do my beer, but I'm not sure how I'm going to do the kombucha. Probably I will do it the same way. I'm just not sure now I will secure a thermowell.