Brewpad or Brew belt with Ranco controller?

[bobbytuck]

My basement is in the low 50's, and I'm looking to ferment in the mid-60's for an amber ale I'm making tomorrow.

I bought a brewpad -- one of those blue-plastic heating-pad type things -- and I'd like to hook it up to a spare Ranco temp controller I have. I also bought a brew belt. (Don't plan to use both at the same time, but I'm not sure which is more effective.)

Couple questions:

- Brewpad or brewbelt? Which is more effective? I assume they're both about the same.

- Is it reasonable to expect the brewpad to raise the temp 8-10 degrees or so?

- I'm aiming for 65F fermentation temp. Should I set the Ranco to, say, 62 or so -- and figure that the temp will lift on its own a few degrees after the Ranco flips the brewpad off?

- I don't have a thermowell for the stopper, so I'm just gonna tape the ranco probe to the side of the fermenter. Not ideal, I know -- but does this mean that the side will get hotter than the liquid? Should I adjust accordingly the Ranco temp?

 

[stratslinger]

No experience with brewpads as yet, but I've used my brew belt a couple times this winter.

First time, it took a little experimentation - ambient temps in my basement were around 52-54F, and I found that if I hooked it up to a timer and tweaked the schedule (I found 4hrs on, 4 hrs off worked well), I could maintain 62-64F pretty well (going by the fermometer on my carboy).

The next time around, I had replaced my furnace with one that put out a lot less "waste" heat in the basement. Not sure what the ambient temps were, but they were noticeably cooler. The brewbelt was able to maintain 64F turned on around the clock.

So, particularly if you pair it up with a real controller instead of my trial-and-error timer method, I'd think the belt can get you where you need to be.

 

[jfowler1]

Bobby,

I think I can help you. I have been a huge supporter of using the temp controller with my fermwrap (sounds similar to your brewpad) for about a year now. It is a lot more efficient and accurate than hooking the controller up to a fridge, and cycling your fridge based on ambient temperature. Never understood that one. I do not have a basement, so I just put my carboy in a minifridge in the garage and turn the fridge's dial to it's warmest temperature. I secure my fermwrap around the carboy just as you are planning to do. I would say that the fridge temperature is around 50 F, and I easily maintain a carboy temperature of 66/67 degrees with the wrap. My rule of thumb is to set it at the desired temperature, and set the controller to allow a 1 degree differential. Say you set it for 68 for an ale. As soon as the wort hits 68, it kills the power to the heat wrap. It will settle to 67, and as soon as it drops to 66, it kicks the heater back on, bringing it back up to 68. Because of the bulk of liquid you are dealing with, this cycle happens less than you would think. It is a lot less taxing on your equipment to turn on a heater than constantly cycling your fridge (in your case; your basement). If I read correctly, you were planning to set it around 62, with the hope of it raising naturally to 68. This is a mistake. The heat that you are anticipating from fermentation will not out muscle the cold basement. The heat generated by fermentation is a concern for people who ferment based on ambient/room temperature. You made a good investment, and you have eliminated the need to worry about such a thing. The basement is cold enough to retard huge swings into higher temperatures. You have the heater; you will need to use it.

To address your second concern, I initially layered several small squares of bubble wrap as insulation for the probe, and taped the whole thing to the side of my better bottle (kind of making a pocket for the probe). As far as I could tell, this method worked fine, less the one time that the probe assembly fell off the side of the carboy, and my fermentation temperature rose to about 95 degrees. Belgian-style American Brown will not be part of the BJCP program any time soon. That is the one thing you have to watch for. When in doubt, use extra tape.

Because of that one disaster, I decided to invest in a carboy cap thermowell from B3. I am using it for the first time on a stout, and it seems to be working great. The carboy cap will also be a lot easier to remove at bottling time than the old drilled plug I used to use as a blowoff assembly.

Let me know if you have any other questions about your new fermentation set up.

Joe

 

[bobbytuck]

Awesome. Thanks for the tips and great posts. Looks like I'll go with the brewbelt first, set the Ranco at my target temp with a 1 degree differential, and tape the probe carefully to the side of my fermenter.

Many thanks!