Heating pad

Just wondering if a heating pad will help kick start my dunkelweizen and tripel. They had very good fermentation for about a day the dropped out. I want to kick start these because both beer are below their FG range. Dunkelweizen is 5 days fermenting and tripel is 2 weeks in secondary.

H-Man said:

Just wondering if a heating pad will help kick start my dunkelweizen and tripel. They had very good fermentation for about a day the dropped out. I want to kick start these because both beer are below their FG range. Dunkelweizen is 5 days fermenting and tripel is 2 weeks in secondary.

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Do you mean the FG is still too high? Sometimes warming the vessel and rousing the yeast can get them going again but not always due to various factors.

What were the OGs and where are they now?

You can check attenuation by the following:
(OG-FG)/(OG-1) *100 and then check this against the anticipated range of attenuation by the manufacturer website for the specific strain

Rouse the yeast, put the fermenter in a keg bucket, fill with water, use a fish tank heater to get water to good fermenting temp.

duboman said:

Do you mean the FG is still too high? Sometimes warming the vessel and rousing the yeast can get them going again but not always due to various factors.

What were the OGs and where are they now?

You can check attenuation by the following:
(OG-FG)/(OG-1) *100 and then check this against the anticipated range of attenuation by the manufacturer website for the specific strain

Click to expand...

Yes, too high. Sorry.

Yes a heating pad works great, I picked up a cheap one from target fits 3/4 of the way around my carboy (I don't cover the strip thermometer) it has a 1 hour auto off feature and usually bumps it up close to 2 degress before turning off. I give it an hour before I go to bed an hour when I wake up and an hour before I leave for work 2pm only usually use it when we get a cold spell...

Seedling mats work great. Mats don't get too hot either. Just place your carboy on top of it and wrap the carboy in a blanket to keep the heat in.

dustinstriplin said:

Seedling mats work great. Mats don't get too hot either. Just place your carboy on top of it and wrap the carboy in a blanket to keep the heat in.

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What is this seedling mat you speak of??
Where can one be purchased, I can always use a second heat source when I've got multiple batches going

Just checked on my Pale Ale in the basement - temp is way too cold for the yeast, sitting around 58-60. Anyway, I just came back upstairs, fed my fish and realized - that's it!

For those of us with cold fermentation places, a simple ~$22 fish tank heater placed in a large container filled with water in which the carboy sits in, would be perfect!

You can also use a reptile heater or a brew belt as heat sources. They dont have the safety auto off feature like heating pads and ceramic heaters.