Using aquarium heater to maintain temperature

[JDesquire]

I'm in the process of trying to renovate my brew set up to keep all my brewing activities contained in my garage. In this regard, space is not an issue but maintaining a constant temperature for fermentation is. I've got a full size refrigerator and kegerator in the garage, so if and when I decide to start lagering I'm set. In the meantime, however, I'm looking into creative solutions to maintain the slightly higher constant temp that an ale will need.

My idea right now is: my neighbor gave me an old heavy duty plastic basin about the size of a small bath tub which would comfortably fit 3 carboys (5 or 6 gal size). I'm toying with the idea of fermenting in carboys in the basin by filling the basin with water (sufficient to nearly cover the carboy), mounting an aquarium heater in the basin to maintain the temp (and affixing a digital thermoset), and covering the basin with a heavy blanket (to keep out sunlight and help maintain temp).

My questions: has anyone done something similar and, if so, how did it work out? Does anyone foresee any problems with this set up? Have any suggestions, either to improve the set up or go another way? Any idea how high my electric bill is going to skyrocket if I have a 300 watt or 500 watt aquarium heater hooked up 24/7 for 3-4 weeks at a time?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[beergolf]

It depends on how cold your garage is. I use a big cooler full of water and an Aqueon pro 150 to heat the water. I can hold about 20-25 egrees above ambient temp with my set up. Tis allows me to brew beers that like warmer temps in the winter. My basement stays around 60 degrees and I can get up to 85 ish using the heater.

The bigger the container and the cooler the temps may require a lot of heat to hold temp.


I like to brew several saisons during the winter so they are ready as it warms up here. I have one sitting at 84 degrees right now.

 

[Rhumbline]

I do that on a smaller scale, I use a plastic planter that holds one primary. With a 150watt heater and proper insulation I can maintain a twenty degree boost.

The heater I use has a thermostat built in. Cost is neglible, it doesn't run full time and isn't too much draw anyway.

 

[Cardinal_Vintage]

I was thinking the same and am initially brewing IPAs so a fridge would be unable to raise temps high enough. I'm going to pick up some stick on thermostats for the fermenter and possible an air temp thermostat for the area I am storing in.

I've heard several people mention Rubbermaid tubs filled with water and that sounds like the best idea so far.

 

[JDesquire]

Thanks for all the great info! I have ordered a couple 300 watt aquarium heaters, a pump and a cheap electric thermometer. Hopefully will have them in week or so and be ready to brew! Once set up I will take pic and post.



This winter my garage temps got down pretty low (probably in the 30 degrees F), and the container I'm planning on using is pretty large (I figure start with one carboy but this has the space to expand to fit 3 or 4) so, rather than getting a 50 watt or 150 watt, I got the 2 300 watt b/c thought I may need the extra wattage (only plan on hooking up the 1 initially and saving the other as a back up or in case need some more heat if gets extra cold).



I'm wondering if the fact that I use a BetterBottle may be a problem for this setup though ... Ever since I shattered my first glass carboy I'm done with glass carboys, but am concerned about the effect on the BetterBottle and fermenting beer inside that 3+ weeks in a heated water bath will have. Especially considering I was told I should be putting a capful or so of bleach every week or so in the water to keep everything sanitized.



Will the BetterBottle or bleach be a problem?

 

[freisste]

Not sure about the bleach.

Regarding the warm water, you're just keeping it as warm as it would have been on the INSIDE if you were fermenting in the summer. Beer at 80 deg on the inside doesn't hurt the bottle, so water on the outside won't either. (I only mention 80 as an example. Too warm for all but a select few beers.)


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[r81stl1n]

In my basement,I use a 50 Watts aquarium heater. I had it in a tub of water, but it didn't couldn't keep up. I moved to a 50QT cooler, and it was able to keep the temperature no problem. My basement was ~50-55' temp, and I was able to keep it at 68', and am sure I could have gone higher. (My Cooler had its lid off, and only 1/2 the carboy was covered with water.)

My suggestion would be to make sure what ever you use to hold your carboy is insulated. It helped a lot, otherwise go with a much higher heater.

 

[Queequeg]

If you have a fridge why don't you wire a heat pad and dual function stat to it?

I use a water bath in my larder and its 70L and it works fine. I have 1 heater and 2 pumps. Whats key is the thermal massive of water and the circulation of it.

Bleach might damage the metal parts on your heaters, use starsan

 

[Rhumbline]

I never used bleach or anything else in the water and had no problems over the month or so.

It sounds like your setup might be more difficult to change the water but I'd suggest doing it with every new batch. Starsan might be a better choice than bleach if you choose to go that route.

 

[JDesquire]

So I set up my fermentator and (so far) all is going well. I have a Maharaja clone that I brewed yesterday fermenting in my 50 degree garage at a constant 68 degrees (give or take a few tenths of a degree). Pictures of the set up are attached. Wrapped in the black trash bags surrounding the water chamber and blanket/lid is insulation. Didn't go with any starsan or bleach in the water. Hopefully will be alright, though I may change out the water before I dry hop (if it smells or looks funny)


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[rahmdog]

Just finishing a ferment with an aquarium heater to control temp and my only advice is to double check that the temp you set the thermometer to is the temperature it ramps up to in real life. My first ferment was way to hot because I did not check beforehand with a reliable thermometer. Set at 68 °F my temp was at 78 °F the next morning.


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[JDesquire]

@Rahmdog. Thanks for the suggestion. I have been checking. So far the temp of the water has only been fluctuating a few tenths of a degree. I also noticed that the temp on my heater doesn't not correspond to the temp of the water (heater tends to run a couple degrees cooler).

My question, however, is that it appears the temp of the beer in the carboy is significantly warmer than the water in the fermentation chamber. Is this normal? A problem? Do I need to reduce the water temp in the chamber to compensate? Basically, water temp in chamber is approx 68 degrees. The thermometer strip I have on the better bottle says the temp of brew is approx 72 degrees. I'm fermenting a Maharaja clone (DIPA) which Avery recommends be fermented at 68 degrees. Thoughts?


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[electrolight]

Get this. Jester King Brewery (small local brewery) lets their temps fall to as low as 35. The heaters don't kick in until 33 and the ac doesn't kick on till 60. They don't care about the fluctuation... My understanding is, as long as you pitched enough yeast, that colder temps just slow the yeast down... but if the temps are low enough (less than 60)... no off flavors should come about... just beer that takes longer to ferment. (Which may or may not be a problem)

 

[Cardinal_Vintage]

Get this. Jester King Brewery (small local brewery) lets their temps fall to as low as 35. The heaters don't kick in until 33 and the ac doesn't kick on till 60. They don't care about the fluctuation... My understanding is, as long as you pitched enough yeast, that colder temps just slow the yeast down... but if the temps are low enough (less than 60)... no off flavors should come about... just beer that takes longer to ferment. (Which may or may not be a problem)

Even with an IPA? I thought they ideally need the warmer temps.

 

[Hfxhomebrewer]

I use a small aquarium heater directly in the fermenter, I find this gives great temp control and have never had an issue with it.

I use plastic fermenters and simply made a hole in the lid for the power cord and make sure I clean and sanitize the heater and power cord along with everything else. I had been using the rubber suction cups and sticking the heater to the inside of the fermenter but I found that when I was removing it at bottling time, the heater had been dislodged from the suction cup holders. I assumed this was a result of the rapid movement of the wort during fermentation, so now I just let it dangle in the centre of the wort without using the suction cups at all.

I agree with the previous posts about calibrating whatever heater you do use, I did this by putting water in the fermenter and letting the heater warm up to a specific temperature I set, then checking that against two other thermometers, to make sure I actually get the temp I want.

My basement is 50-55f in the winter and I have no problems whatsoever fermenting at 68f. I wrap the fermenter in cardboard as a precaution, to help keep the temperature constant. And given there is a built in thermostat in the heater, I know when the fermentation causes the temp to rise to 70f the heater is off and not adding any warmth.

The only warning I would give would be that I had a heck of a time getting a damn sealant to work and seal the hole I put in the lid for the power cable. This meant for the first few batches I didn't have a perfect seal on my fermenter, however I had no problems with infection.

Cheers!