Need to heat up my fermenter

[paulied65]

My basement sits around 60* during the winter. My last brew, I tried setting my fermentation bucket on a thick towel to get it off the cold tile, and I wrapped it in a blanket, but it didn't help much. It is hard to get my temperature above 62*.

What are some ways to increase the temperature of my fermentation? I plan on eventually building a fermentation chamber, but don't have the means right now. Has anyone every used on of these? https://www.homebrewing.org/Carboy-Heater_p_1732.html

 

[ancientmariner52]

That carboy heater, or any of the many others out there, will do the job. Just be aware it is meant to be used with a thermostatic control of some sort. Inkbird is very popular right now, but there are others available. If you use it without the control, it will just heat continuously. If you are intending to build a fermentation chamber later on, you could buy a dual control for heating and cooling for just a little more money that a single control.

 

[bigdawg86]

1.) Get a box
2.) Insulate said box
3.) Place insulation on floor
4.) Put seedling heat mat on said insulation on the floor
5.) Place bucket on mat
6.) Place box over fermentor
7.) Connect Inkbird, set temp.
8.) Go drink a beer.

 

[govner1]

Either of these should work but I’d use sort a of a hybrid approach.
1st-a temp contrloller is important and I think the wrap gives you a more consistent coverage of your fermenter. 2nd- you need to erasure & control the amount of heating. This can be accomplished with a Thermo well I your wort or taped to the side of your vessel. Since you indicated that you’re using buckets a Thermo well in the wort would be more accurate and responsive.
Adding an insulated box to cover The Whole setup gives you the advantage of eliminating light exposure to your wort and will help reduce temperature fluctuations.

 

[DU99]

reptile heater mat they come with a controller,inside a box ...

 

[Coontail]

I'm a newbie to home brewing but I'm using a 15 gallon plastic tub and filling it about halfway with water and using a fish tank heater. I'm using a 50 watt but if i were to buy again I would buy something bigger. Make sure you check how low the heater goes because some only go down ~68ish degrees. It's been working great for me! I'm only fermenting 5 gallon batches in a bucket at the moment though

 

[Jayjay1976]

I'm a newbie to home brewing but I'm using a 15 gallon plastic tub and filling it about halfway with water and using a fish tank heater. I'm using a 50 watt but if i were to buy again I would buy something bigger. Make sure you check how low the heater goes because some only go down ~68ish degrees. It's been working great for me! I'm only fermenting 5 gallon batches in a bucket at the moment though

Using a fish tank heater is a great idea, they are super steady and very precise. 50 watts should be plenty if you can insulate it, I can hold 75 degrees in my garage @ around 40 with only 18 watts from a heat wrap, but its inside an insulated red bull can fridge. Insulation is the key.

 

[Coontail]

Using a fish tank heater is a great idea, they are super steady and very precise. 50 watts should be plenty if you can insulate it, I can hold 75 degrees in my garage @ around 40 with only 18 watts from a heat wrap, but its inside an insulated red bull can fridge. Insulation is the key.

Go figure I have a broken red bull can fridge laying around, looks like I found a new use for it lol. At the moment I only have a towel over it. Next brew I'll definitely do this. Thanks!

 

[secondbase]

My brew closet is very cold in the winter (~60ºF). I have an old cooler that I keep my carboy in during primary fermentation. I fill it halfway with water and use a cheap aquarium heater to warm it up. The settings go from 66º-82º and it works beautifully to warm fermentation up and is indispensable for performing diacetyl rests when using English yeasts.

 

[Sadu]

Heating is pretty easy so this is a good problem to have. Cooling is much harder.
I would suggest an inkbird or stc1000 temp controller - these are so good to have, as you will want to brew different beers at different temperatures.
Then you need some heating device. I would recommend a heat belt to wrap around the fermentor. Cheap and simple, no fancy chamber needed. Tape the probe to the side of the fermentor then throw some towels or blankets over the whole thing as required to insulate and protect the beer from light.

 

[RM-MN]

While you have had some excellent suggestions for warming your fermenter, I'd like to know what yeast you are using as some of the ale yeasts do really well at 60 degrees.

 

[paulied65]

I'm using London Ale III. My oatmeal stout has been in primary for about 15 days right now. Pretty sure fermentation is complete, I'll take another gravity reading tomorrow, but wasn't sure if fermenting that cool the whole time was ok

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I've been having this same problem with a Saison I have going. I put the bucket on top of a heat register in the spare bedroom and loosely wrapped the bucket in a towel. FYI Normally keep my heat low (set at 66-67 degrees) but I have it set at 69 now. It was 60 degrees when in the basement; it's at 72 degrees now, and fermentation is back underway.

 

[Jtk78]

I've used the tub of water with a fish tank cooler and it works great. May do it again this winter. I still used a temp controller and did not rely on the heater t-stat

I also ordered the wraps from reptilebasics.com and also use a temp controller with them. Both of these work very well.

 

[JohnSand]

A controller with a heater is best, but there are plenty of other options. My basement floor is 62 right now, but 66 next to the furnace. I can also put it by the baseboard in the kitchen for upper 60s. When I did small batches I could put them on top of the hutch. The air is warmer near the ceiling. Testing to find warm spot is easy with a remote laser thermometer, but not hard with a cheap hardware store wall thermometer. Just move it around and give it time to register.

 

[DU99]

i use reptile heating cord hanging in an old small sized fridge.and a thermostat..holds a about a 7gal fermenter

 

[paulied65]

i use reptile heating cord hanging in an old small sized fridge.and a thermostat..holds a about a 7gal fermenter

I feel like I need to assemble something like this

 

[z-bob]

I brewed a strong porter 2 weeks ago (1.074) and used T-58 yeast and fermented it in a cold basement. I was afraid it was too cool, so when the krausen fell I put a neoprene jacket around the carboy, and tucked an electric blanket inside the jacket. Hooked the whole thing up to an Inkbird temperature controller and set it in a bucket. It has been staying very steady between 71 and 72 degrees (the controller is set for 1 degree of hysteresis) It is working much better than I expected, and I should be able to bottle it soon. Last time I brewed a beer like this without a heater, it stalled and took forever.

A thick towel would serve the same purpose as the neoprene carboy jacket, I just had the jacket already because my daughter gave it to me for Christmas last year.

My next beer might be a saison instead of a lager...

 

[SoCal-Doug]

For my saisons, I use a tub like the one in the picture (wally world, tractor supply, ace hardware, or wherever) and an aquarium heater to make a water bath. In the summer I can reach my high 80's target by fermenting in the garage, but once the weather cools, i'm screwed without it