Maintaining proper temperature

[neo2199a]

I have not even begun to attempt my first brew, but am just starting to dive into figuring out how its all done. I have noticed a few times that people who don't have adequate room temperature for the fermenting process, or perhaps the recipe requires a certain temperature. When people have these issues, I have seen them place some form of heat wrap or straps on their primary to help maintain temperature. I was just wondering if anyone had considered the possible use of aquarium heaters for this purpose? They seem that they would be functional for the need, but I'm not sure if they would be usable due to the fact that they are not designed food safe.

 

[buzbey]

You can use them. Don't put them in your beer but put your fermenter in a large bucket of water and use the aquarium heater to heat the water.. But for most yeast strains its better to keep them in the mid 60s, so unless you live somewhere really cold it would be better to invest in a cooling system rather than a heating system

 

[beergolf]

If you need to heat your brew then an aquarium heater in a tub of water is great. I use a big cooler full of water, place the fermenter in that and then add the aquarium heater.

I use the 150W version of this one. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042FSVQE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I can brew saisons that require a lot of heat even in the winter when my basement is 58-60 degrees.

The thing is that most brewers find that heating is rearely the problem, but the need to cool is much more of a problem, since most ale yeasts like it in the low 60's.

 

[J187]

I use the same one as BG... a nice 40 gallon tub from target full half way and the ferementer or fermenters in the bin, the heater will pin the temp at 68.