how to raise air temps during fermentation

[pdickerson]

Hope this post is appropriate for this specific forum. I plan on getting back into brewing after 2 years. Just moved to a house so I have plenty of space for things now. i am concerned about my basement temps though. The temp right now is 55. Holds pretty steady there. Sometimes hits 59. i know a lot of ale yeasts like 63 - 70 for temps. I would like to hit about 65 degrees. what can i do to bump up the temp for fermentating. open to any suggestions.

Thanks, Pat

 

[hezagenius]

You could try an aquarium heater. Put your fermenter and the heater in a tub of water and you are off to the races. They are pretty cheap, too, so it isn't a big expense. And you could do a thermowell and a temp controller if you really want to get fancy.

To heat the air, I guess you could buy a heater fan, but getting it set just right is tricky.

Or build a fermentation chamber and put heat source inside.

Lots of options.

 

[pdickerson]

i like the idea of using the aquarium heater. not really looking to heat the basement up, just the fermenter. trying to do things on the cheap! If i remember right, fermentation always causes the temp to spike a couple degrees, so maybe set the aquarium heater up for 62 or 63 and let the fermenter raise it up to mid 60's range?

 

[PitRow]

maybe set the fermenter on one of those electric heating pads? might get too hot that way. Or maybe just partially wrap it in the heating pad?

Then again most of those pads I've seen have timers to turn them off after a while so maybe that won't work. Just thinking out loud.

 

[pdickerson]

i like thinking out loud! I've looked at the heat belts for fermenting but they look cheap, and i dont know how well they would work.

 

[BrotherGrim]

An STC controller rigged to a light bulb in a paint can with the whole mess in a cardboard box around your fermenter will get you there pretty cheap and effectively. With summer rolling around I would love to have a spot that cool. Here in Mississippi we are always trying to cool things down. I haven't used a heater since I left Maine.

 

[GlassForest]

I use a basic Johnson's controller to control the temp on my heating pad, the FermWrap. I wrap the heater around my fermenters, with a little electrical tape to hold. Then I attach the probe on the other side of the carboy where not touching heater, then I tape there. Then I attached some bubble wrap insulation I made over the probe to keep the temp directly reading from the side of vessel. No wind or anything to interfere from the reading.

I can easily hold my beer fermenting anywhere between 64 and up with this method, as where I ferment is cold, just like the original posters situation. And when it's the winter, i can get much colder then that. Last winter I held my lager at 59 (SF Lager strain so it's a little more forgiving...) and it came out perfect.

Just my .02 on the matter. Very cheap and easy to control, currently I run two fermwraps on my one controller. I plan on purchasing another controller though so I can have my two vessels going different temps. But like I said, cheap and easy. cheers!!

 

[GlassForest]

These are the products I use if your curious!

http://www.morebeer.com/products/fermwrap-heater.html

http://www.morebeer.com/products/johnson-digital-temperature-controller-wired.html?site_id=7

Enjoy :fro:

 

[gratefulfloyd]

I've used a space heater, it worked well but the huge downside comes when you get that electric bill at the end of the month.

 

[Calder]

i like the idea of using the aquarium heater. not really looking to heat the basement up, just the fermenter. trying to do things on the cheap! If i remember right, fermentation always causes the temp to spike a couple degrees, so maybe set the aquarium heater up for 62 or 63 and let the fermenter raise it up to mid 60's range?

I use a big plastic bucket and aquarium heater. Works great. One advantage the swamp cooler has over other temp control methods is that all the water in the tub acts as a big heat sink. Water is way better than air in this respect. This prevents the temperature of the fermenting beer from running away. Beer temp should be within 1 degree off the water temp throughout fermentation.

Even when not heating my beer, I still put it in the water bath to control internal fermentation temps.

Also useful for brewing those Belgians. I have one sitting in a 85 F water bath right now in a 62 F basement.

 

[pdickerson]

@Calder, what specific heater should i look for? wattage? digital? I have a nice big tub I use to soak bottles that will work perfect. I like this idea. My only problem is trying to find a big enough container to hold multiple fermenters half submerged in water!!

 

[Calder]

@Calder, what specific heater should i look for? wattage? digital? I have a nice big tub I use to soak bottles that will work perfect. I like this idea. My only problem is trying to find a big enough container to hold multiple fermenters half submerged in water!!

I got mine years ago. I really don't know much about what I have. A couple of things you should think about.

- Make sure it has the temperature range you are looking for. Some only have 1 temperature, or only a small range. Mine goes from ~63 F to ~93 F.

- Mine is 75 Watts. It struggles at higher temperatures. As I noted earlier I have the water at 85 F, but the heater is dialed in above 90, so I'm loosing heat quicker than I'm adding it. If I bought one again, I think I would go for a higher wattage. As an estimate, I think I have 10 gallons of water in my water bath (never actually measured it).

Remember you only need to hold temperature for the period of fermentation, and maybe a few days after. Maybe 7 to 10 days.

 

[Kent88]

I've seen a guy make a plywood box big enough for the fermenters he needs and then hook up a temp controller to a hair-dryer. I would imagine that you could add some insulation to it some using some styrofoam, and/or maybe some old blankets.

Those temps would be almost perfect for Wyeast's German ale yeast. Not sure what you usually brew or if you are picky about your yeasts, but it might be worth looking into. I haven't used that strain yet, but I'm planning on trying it out pretty soon.

 

[pdickerson]

Thanks for all of the info. i think this will be a great set up for me until summer comes. I think my basement will probably be mid 60's in mid summer.

 

[pdickerson]

@Kent88 I mostly enjoy IPA and stouts so I'm not sure what the yeast would do for those style of brews. Guess it wouldn't hurt to try it once.

 

[Kent88]

What's the worst that can happen? You'll get some beer.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone who wasn't looking to enter their beer in a contest complain that using the wrong yeast ruined their brew. I imagine that they're out there, people accidentally pitching saison yeast into wort that they want to be a different style.

I'm far from an expert on IPAs and stouts, but I would imagine that most of their flavor comes from hops and black & roasted malts, respectively, so that *should* overpower any off-style flavors that might develop from an off-style yeast. Certainly worth a try, IMHO, perhaps in a dry irish stout just to test it?

 

[ChelisHubby]

I would think that nottingham would love 60 degrees !