Methods for warming bottles

[thejerk]

Three flat batches...it's about 50 F on my basement floor right now, and they aren't carbonating. I've tried searching threads and the one recommendation I found was to put them in a tub of water with a submersible aquarium heater. Well that's gonna have to be a big tub of water with a very powerful submersible heater or three to warm up three or four batches (another one goes in bottles tonight) above 70 F for three weeks.
I don't want to just leave a space heater running in the basement, and I don't have room anywhere upstairs to stack that much beer, plus my upstairs never gets much above 65 F anyway.
Any ideas for my ales? Electric blanket or some sort of heatpad? I dunno. I want carbonated beer.

 

[dfohio]

Hmm...thats tricky. 65F will carbonate the beer, it will just take a little longer. If was you I would find some room in your upstairs. Maybe bring up a 12 of each instead and stack them in a tote in a corner or something. When they carbonate, chill them, and bring more upstairs. Everything else like tubs of water and heaters sounds like a huge hassle.

If you are truly against bringing them upstairs, the only other thing I can think of is using a space heater. Build a foam box and stick the heater in there. Once again sounds like a huge pain compared to just moving some upstairs.

Good luck!

 

[buzzkill]

I put them in a milk crate and just set it next to a heater vent. I have floor vents so it works out very well.

 

[Doc Robinson]

I kinda like the electric blanket idea.

 

[Buffman]

I've heard of using seedling heat mats to increase temps 10-20 degrees, but you'd need several for that much beer. I like the idea of an electric blanket, too. Personally, I move cases upstairs and to the fridge in shifts, as suggested above.

 

[dysco]

Nobody has asked how long you've had them in bottles. Eventually, at 50F they should carbonate, it'll just take longer than at 65F.

 

[thejerk]

Between 2-4 weeks. I've tested only the batches that have been down there 3 and 4 weeks, but I'm assuming the batch at 2 weeks isn't going to be carbonating either. The 4 week batch is still completely flat, and with temps out side below 10 F, I know this process is just going to get slower down there. The batch going into bottles today I am behind on and was brewed with the intention of giving as Christmas gifts. I'm going to have to give it a couple of weeks of warmth here and then just give out six packs with the instructions to keep it somewhere above 70 F for another couple of weeks. Or is that lame and cumbersome to the gift recipient? I figure I'll just tell them it's an extremely fresh product they're receiving.

 

[dysco]

I'm bottling a stout for my mom on Christmas eve. She keeps her house so warm it'll be drinkable in no time.
I think your best plan is to wait a lot longer, use a heater like an oil-radiator type with a blanket over it to insulate the whole stack, or find a creative place upstairs to put it. Under the bed? In the coat closet?

 

[rocketman768]

Nobody has asked how long you've had them in bottles. Eventually, at 50F they should carbonate, it'll just take longer than at 65F.

Not if his yeast is normal ale yeast and goes dormant at 60F.

 

[thejerk]

I dropped thirty bucks on a twin sized electric blanket at Target, brought a couple of batches upstairs, agitated the bottles, and sacrificed some space behind the bar near a heat vent where I wrapped them up in the blanket. Not too bad. A temp probe in the middle of one of the boxes reads 72, placed underneath a bottle inside a box right next to the blanket is 74, the other probe sitting up there on top of the bottles is reading 68. Yes, I keep my house very cold. I think this will work out well, except I do have two more batches in secondaries that I'd like to get into bottles still...

 

[khiddy]

That's a pretty good lookin' carb-station you got goin' there, jerk.

 

[Hardleft]

I have a couple six packs sitting on top of the cable box. I leave it on and it keeps the bottles around 80F in my 60F house. It would be more if I threw a blanket on top.