Keeping bottles warm (for aging/carbonating) in the winter?

[Ike]

SO... I started brewing in Arizona. There, even in winter, brewing was a "cooler than ambient temperature" kind of thing. Now that I'm in Boise, I'm being reminded of what winter really is. Temperatures in the house are routinely about 65 or less unless you're in a sunny spot. Rooms that were great for conditioning in other seasons because they didn't have an HVAC vent (the pantry for example) are now quite literally fridge-cold.

I have a batch of brown ale that is stubbornly refusing to carb up. I'm worried that the colder temps are making it hard for the yeast to work. I need a way to warm them up a bit, consistently.

One thought was to use my ferm chamber. Problem is, it's currently built for cooling only (refer back to the Arizona thing) and I also have a stout I want to get into primary this week.

Anybody have any MacGuyver-ish suggestions? Ones I'd considered so far included:

1.) Pulling out the big picnic cooler and filling it with the conditioning bottles and a couple gallon jugs of warm water. My concern here is keeping the temperature constant enough, and not having the beer cycle between temperatures when I don't have time to swap out the warming bottles.

OR

2.) Putting the milk crates that have the bottles in them directly over a heating register, then wrapping with a blanket. As the heat kicks on, it will blow heat directly up into the bottles, then trap the heat there. There will still be some up-and-down in the overall temp, but the heater's turning on so often that I'm betting it won't be too serious.


I'm thinking #2 is the best. That said, I'd love to hear if anyone had any other suggestions.

 

[unionrdr]

#2 might over-heat the bottles & kill/stop the yeast...or worse. We have a 2-story house, so I put them in the master bedroom in winter. It's the warmest room in the house.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

I'm having the same problem in Northern Michigan.

In the summer, I put my bottles in a plastic bin in the garage, and they'd carb up in 7 - 10 days.

Last month I put a batch in the same bin, but in the basement on top of a file cabinet, and they still haven't carbed up.

Interested in hearing advice.

 

[flars]

My brew room has an ambient temperature of 68°F year round. I bottled a petite saison today, that needs to be ready to drink Thanksgiving week.

I put the bottles in a 8 inch deep restaurant bussing tray filled with water and an aquarium heater which will hold 75°F. Should help the yeast eat up the priming sugar a little more quickly than at 68°F.

 

[ncbrewer]

This video shows one way to do it: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUcWADuFhTg[/ame]

I haven't tried it, so can't make a recommendation.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

I'd think a fish tank heater inside that cooler with a little water to distribute the heat to the bottles would do the trick.

-- Nathan

 

[Ike]

Definitely a couple of good ideas, here.

The fish tank heater idea seems quicker to implement, but it's Christmas time so there are plenty of lights to be had and wiring up the thermostat seems easy enough. Once up and running, this seems to be a bit less messy of a system.

THANKS TO ALL!

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

Does anyone see any potential negative effects from moving my bottles from my unheated laundry room that is on an exterior wall, into our hvac closet that is in the middle of the house?

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I have similar issues since we also keep our thermostat at 65 in the winter. I bought a small $20 ceramic space heater at Walmart and put it in a utility closet with the beer. I keep my long stem dial thermometer inserted into the case between the bottles. I check it every few hours for the first day and adjust the thermostat on the heater until the thermometer consistently reads a steady 72F. After that, I leave the thermostat where it is and I'm good for all my winter brews.

 

[sky4meplease]

Dark beers can take longer to carbonate/condition. Maybe give it some more time. How long has it been in the bottle?
On a side note is 30960 your D license number? I am D-30360

 

[unionrdr]

The one with the Christmas lights is from craigtube. He claimed it worked quite well. I remember that video. Decent idea.

 

[Ike]

#2 might over-heat the bottles & kill/stop the yeast...or worse. We have a 2-story house, so I put them in the master bedroom in winter. It's the warmest room in the house.

While I didn't get to the point of worrying about killing yeast, you are right in that it was overkill. The issue was that because it's colder at night, the heater is cycling on and off much faster. So, the first night, after laying in bed and listening to the heater cycle on and off, on and off, I finally got up to check on them and the thermometer hanging in the crates was at 88 degrees. Definitely not enough to kill everything, but still hotter than I wanted.

I moved the crates back from the register a bit, and draped the blanket so one corner catches about 1/3 of the heat register's output. This seems to be doing a good job of keeping things in the mid-70s, which makes me a bit happier.

 

[Ike]

Dark beers can take longer to carbonate/condition. Maybe give it some more time. How long has it been in the bottle?
On a side note is 30960 your D license number? I am D-30360

One of the two I'm aging has had almost two weeks. But, it was sitting in the pantry, which is now ice cold this time of year. I'll give it a couple more and see where were. The other one I just bottled Monday (when I discovered this issue) I am hoping will be carbed up for Turkey Day. If not, it will have to wait until Christmas.

Actually, I'm A-30960. Used to be I could rattle off all my license numbers. Anymore the only one other than that I can remember is D-23325.

 

[Ike]

This video shows one way to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUcWADuFhTg

SO, I whipped one of these up with about $17 worth of thermostat and a project box from the big orange store. I repurposed an extension cord and a set of Christmas lights I already had on hand. It's currently at work, I'll edit with results.

QUESTION: what is everyone's take on concern about light damage from the bulbs being in such close contact with the bottles? The two batches I'm currently trying to age are brown and green glass. Any fears? I wrapped the wad of lights in a black t-shirt, figuring they wouldn't get TOO hot with the thermostat in the box with them.

If I keep this system, I'll probably upgrade to a lightless ceramic reptile heater in a coffee can.

 

[flars]

SO, I whipped one of these up with about $17 worth of thermostat and a project box from the big orange store. I repurposed an extension cord and a set of Christmas lights I already had on hand. It's currently at work, I'll edit with results.

QUESTION: what is everyone's take on concern about light damage from the bulbs being in such close contact with the bottles? The two batches I'm currently trying to age are brown and green glass. Any fears? I wrapped the wad of lights in a black t-shirt, figuring they wouldn't get TOO hot with the thermostat in the box with them.

If I keep this system, I'll probably upgrade to a lightless ceramic reptile heater in a coffee can.

If you go with a lightless ceramic reptile heater, you won't need the can because there is no light. You will need a well insulated container though. That is why I'm using water, my reverse swamp cooler. Water holds even heat and is the same temperature throughout. Aquarium heaters are also very inexpensive.

Check the temperature inside the wadded t-shirt once in a while. A burning t-shirt wouldn't be good.

 

[Ike]

My "aging chamber" consiting of two milk crates holding 16 oz bottles, one stacked on top of the other, with the thermostat-controlled-Christmas-lights nestled into the bottom crate, and the whole shebang covered with a moving blanket... is actually doing pretty good. Temperatures are holding at 74-77 degrees pretty consistently, and the lights are rarely on, so it's holding temp without too much effort.

It's butt ugly, but it's doing the job!

 

[tgmartin000]

#2 works like a charm. Nice and easy, and free!

 

[Ike]

This video shows one way to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUcWADuFhTg

I haven't tried it, so can't make a recommendation.

UPDATE: It works!

I just popped the top on a brown ale that was refusing to carb up in the cold pantry and was greeted with a very nice degree of carbonation.

I picked up a 100W ceramic reptile heater from Amazon, and it works... maybe too well. I'm guessing just from plugging it in that it's going to be TOO hot. I think I'll save that one for the ferm chamber (may be too hot even for that) and will look at a 50W unit.

SOMETHING ELSE I FOUND: It's not cheap by any means, but seems to get good reviews and may be just what this situation calls for:

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002DIWMS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

25 feet of warming tape that you can wind in and out of your bottles in their aging container, providing diffuse light-free warmth. I have this on the way, and may order another to line the interior of the ferm chamber if the reptile heater I have is too strong for it.



Ike

 

[moreb33rplz]

Bump:

Anyone recommend a specific aquarium heater model they like?