I live in Alaska, cold climate inside and out. We do not regularly keep the house at 70 deg so my beer is no kept warm enough for the yeast to work correctly. Does anyone have a carboy warmer to recommend? That seems to be the only way I am going to keep this warm enough during the fermentation time.
controling temp during fermentation
- Thread starter akpolaris
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timeasterday
Well-Known Member
I just bought a FermWrap along with an InkBird controller. It's working great to control the temperature in my cold basement.
springinloose1
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Not sure what's available to you in Alaska, but down here, there seems to always be someone dumping smaller chest freezers either free or cheap. Get one, buy this - https://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS-EDGE-SPACE-HEATER-P518.aspx and this https://www.williamsbrewing.com/UNI-STAT-IIa-COOLING-HEATING-CONTROL-P4038.aspx
You'll be good to ferment at whatever temperature you want, whenever you want. It'll control the freezers condenser so you can lager at 55, or hook up the heater and roll out a fruity Belgian at 75.
Good Luck!
Cheers!
You'll be good to ferment at whatever temperature you want, whenever you want. It'll control the freezers condenser so you can lager at 55, or hook up the heater and roll out a fruity Belgian at 75.
Good Luck!
Cheers!
What temperature do you attain. Mid sixties is best for most ales. You don't need to get to 70 degrees in most cases. I would do the Fermwrap and Inkbird controller.
Silver_Is_Money
Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
As stated by kh54s10, about 64 degrees F. is great for most ale yeasts. 70 degrees F. is actually too high. Be aware that at the peak of fermentation yeast activity alone will raise the internal temperature of the fermenter by about 5 degrees. Some have even recorded 10 degrees of rise for rapid yeast. With that in mind, 60-62 degrees may be a good ambient room temperature.
A guy in our local home brew club used a chest freezer with a 100w light bulb in it. The chest freezer was unplugged, and the light bulb was hooked up to a temperature controller. Make sure the light bulb isn't touching anything that it could melt. It needs to be in a mount, not touching the sides or bottom. Could be a fire hazard if not installed correctly, but very inexpensive way to get heat.
I use a heating mat similar to this one. To me, it's much safer than a light bulb, and produces a more gentle heat.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDQP0Q1/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDQP0Q1/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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flars
Well-Known Member
I just use a water bath with an aquarium heater controlled with a STC-1000 when I need heat. The water bath is also a swamp cooler when I need less heat.
Silver_Is_Money
Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
Does the light skunk his beer?
i did something similar to the chest freezers idea. I made a frame from 1 by 6 that is 2 foot by 4 foot and installed 2 70 watt light bulbs. I then put a 2 foot by 4 foot metal tray on top. This conducts the heat as well as keeps the beer away from the light. Then I put foam board sides and top on it. I keep my set up in my unheated basement and it works just fine for an inexpensive set up.
A cheaper controller alternative (that can control both heating and cooling, if necessary) is the InkBird ITC-308. This is a very popular fermentation temperature controller.
Brew on
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He didn't say it did. Perhaps he covered the carboy/bucket with something, or he blanketed the light with foil. He did mention that a 100w light bulb was too much (in terms of immediate heat).
I thought only UV light skunked beer anyway. Is that not true?
BrianDorry55
Well-Known Member
I almost always ferment in the 50s or low 60s...and I live in Florida! [emoji51]
Silver_Is_Money
Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
Yes, I believe it is true. Don't incandescent bulbs give off UV?
Incandescent bulbs give off very little UV, but the exposure time is "long" during fermentation. This is why most brewers who use light bulbs for heat put them in a coffee can (or similar.)
Brew on
Great ideas, thanks for the different views. I have been trying to keep it around or above 70 deg. The carboy is in a closet with the door closed. The closet also access the crawl space under the house. House temp is generally low to mid 60's. The batches during the summer month had very active fermentation/ yeast activity as evidenced by the krausen. When the ambient temps dropped so did the activity in the carboy. I attributed this to low temps (low 60 deg) resulting in low yeast activity. When I am out of town I know that my wife does not attend of fret of the beer like I will. But a heated box or fridge or the heat mat will work well. The firmwrap that needs a probe in the beer sounds good but I am not sure about this probe idea.
You don't have to put the probe IN the beer. Many of us get good results by taping the probe to the outside of the fermenter, and covering the probe with a little bit of insulation to mostly isolate the probe from the chamber temp. The incomplete isolation from the chamber temp actually works in our favor to keep the chamber temp from way over or undershooting the setpoint while waiting for the beer temp to catch up.
Brew on
Brew on
BrianDorry55
Well-Known Member
I would think about whether there could have been other factors hindering those fermentations that did not create the expected krausen. Maybe the yeast you pitched was old (do you make starters for all of these?). Or maybe you're using a yeast that likes warm conditions. I pitch very fresh yeast and almost never ferment higher than the low 60s and I have very active/aggressive/healthy fermentations...without making a starter. Low 60s as you described should not be a hindrance to most yeast strains.
I have something similar to this (I also have a FermWrap). Mine is 21 watts and it's surprising how well it can raise the temp of a fermenter.
Part of the key is having it in a relatively smaller enclosed area like a fridge or freezer.
Here's a pic showing each being used; the one on the left is the reptile mat, the one on the right is the FermWrap:
View attachment 420614
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I buy a package of yeast from the brew store along with the ingredients for that particular batch. This being only my 3rd batch I am going strictly by the recipes that I purchase. I learn much better by hands on rather than theory. Being away from home for a couple of weeks at a time causes me to not be there during the entire fermentation process. I try to start a batch mid break, about a week prior to leaving, so that I can watch the initial fermentation period. Once I am gone I have on control over temps. So it is stashed in a closet with my wife looking at it occasionally..
Silver_Is_Money
Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
Any opinions on the FermoTemp heat blanket sold by Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies?
It should work fine. It's essentially the same thing as the FermWrap. Fermwrap has 40 watts of warmth, the FermoTemp has 35 watts.
I also use a reptile heat mat to warm fermenters and it has only 21 watts and that works well too. As long as the fermenter is in an enclosed space (like a fridge) it seems to work very well.
When it gets cold in my garage (perhaps as low as 40F), the reptile mat needs a little insulation on the side facing out, so I put a towel over it to direct more of the heat into the fermenter rather than losing half of it to the space.
If you think you might have a pretty cold environment in which you're controlling ferm temp, the the higher wattage heating mats are probably a better idea. The Northern Brewer one will work.
BrianDorry55
Well-Known Member
Make sure you check the manufacturing date on your yeast. I'm just guessing here, but I bet you've got old yeast. Maybe supplies takes a little bit longer to get out to Alaska or your homebrew store doesn't move a lot of product. If older yeast is all you have to choose from, you'll need to make a yeast starter. Most people make yeast starters regularly. I don't really need to (unless I'm making a big beer) because my homebrew store moves a lot of product so I'm usually buying fresh yeast. I would be willing to bet that your issue is not related to fermentation temperature, as most yeast strains can do their thing just fine at the temperatures you explained. Most of us are trying to find the easiest way to ferment at the temperatures you're describing.
