Using an aquarium heater and water circulator to hold conditioning temp after bottlin

[drgonzo2k2]

So, first batch is in the climate controlled fermentation chamber now, and it is as happy as can be, bubbling away out in the garage. Living on California's Central Coast it can get quite cool overnight here in the winters. Nothing like my old midwest days, but we do see temps in the mid-30's. No worries for my beer in fermenters as my chamber has both heat and cool, so I'm all set, but now I'm thinking about bottling...

I know I want to keep them as close to 70-75 degrees for 2-3 weeks after bottling, but there is nowhere, either in the house or in the garage, that stays that temperature during winter. I really didn't want to have to setup another fermentation chamber, so I started looking at other alternatives.

Paint can heaters, space heaters, light bulbs in boxes, and all of that sort of stuff left unattended sound just a little bit on the dangerous side, so then I got to thinking about aquarium heaters. I'm going to be storing my bottles in big Rubbermaid bins anyway, so I thought why not just fill it up about half way with water and toss in an aquarium heater set to 70 degrees?

I was thinking something like this for the heater and then something like this to keep the water moving to avoid any hot/cold spots. It almost seems to good to be true...

- Water is a better conductor/insulator than plain old air, so should be simple to keep the bottles at temp

- Water should help add more protection against shrapnel should a bottle turn into a bomb

- At $27 for the pair you've got great bottle conditioning temp control for less than anything else I could put together (some sort of heater attached to some sort of temp control)

- You can easily mount the aquarium heater to the Rubbermaid tote by drilling a couple of small holes and using zip ties

Am I missing something? Has anyone tried this before?

 

[youngdh]

I do this for my fermentation temp controller. I put my 3G fermenter in the water bath in an 18G Rubbermaid tub and use a small pond pump to recirc the water and hang the aquarium heater over the side. All controlled by an ohmbrewautomations.com controller.

 

[Cyclman]

I would go with a higher wattage, better to have a little too much heating capacity, but overall I think a great plan.

I have no worries with a space heater (mini) in my fermentation chamber, but even if there was a fire, worst case, I don't think it'd spread. But, nothing like a good ol bucket of water and temp control- this is how I started lagering (frozen water bottles) and how I started raising ferm temps for belgos.

 

[user 141939]

+1 on the higher wattage, maybe a 100 watt?. I have a 200W (I think) which may be overkill (I got it on sale). But I easily was able to use it to heat my saison to mid 80's in a 60 degree room with it.

What do you mean drill holes and zip ties? I need a better way to anchor mine. Would you seal with silicone or something?

I would also add I had a hard time controlling that temp that well with the heater alone. I ended up building an STC-1000 to control it, but for a batch or two before that I used a timer. It was kind of a pain but I just dialed in the on/off times until I found the temp I wanted. It was one of those timers that you can change the on/off every half/hour.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

Thanks, guys, I definitely think this is the way I'll go to keep my bottles at the right temp for conditioning once I get them bottled.

Basically I will be using these totes, which I already use to keep empties in. I've settled on this heater and this water circulator.

I'll mount the heater by placing it inside the tote and then drilling two small holes on each side, up at the top, above where the water line will be. Then I'll just run a zip tie around the heater, through one of the holes on each side and zip it tight. I figure doing this twice should keep it pretty secure. It shouldn't be a problem like that since the heating element will be under water anyway.

I'll mount the circulator down by the underwater part of the heater and secure it with either the suction cup or some sort of water proof glue like gorilla glue.

Then I'll drill a large enough hole up at the top of the side of the tote to pull the power cables through. This will allow me to put the lid on tight and keep everything nice and secure and be able to stack totes on top of each other.

I hope that explains it.

 

[youngdh]

I'm not sure the weight of your bottles plus the water will allow stacking totes. A gallon of water weighs roughly 7#. My gray Rubbermaid tote is 18 gallons and I fill with about 10 gallons of water for my 3G fermentor.

 

[MindenMan]

OP, are you planning on stacking loaded totes on top of each other? Water plus glass could hit almost 100 pounds, and I haven't seen any Rubbermaid totes I would be comfortable stacking with that much weight on top of each other. Just my $0.02

 

[JohnSand]

I like your initiative. My house is never over 70 in winter and frequently below 65. I carbonate my bottles by putting them in cases next to the kitchen baseboard heat. When I remember, I turn them around daily to warm the other side. While the air in the house is cool, proximity to the heat keeps the beer warm. After one week I take them into the 58* basement and stack them new to the furnace. When the next batch goes downstairs, I move them to the floor. They carb just fine.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

Yeah, on second thought I probably shouldn't stack the totes when they're full. I keep them stacked up now with empties, but full that might not be such a good idea. I purchased the heater and circulator already, so when I bottle in a couple of weeks I'll get it setup and let you know how it goes!

 

[rlmiller10]

I am sure it will work. But just for science, put a case in your living room for the same amount of time. I bet you will not be able to notice a difference in the temp control carbed bottled and those just sitting in the living room.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

I am sure it will work. But just for science, put a case in your living room for the same amount of time. I bet you will not be able to notice a difference in the temp control carbed bottled and those just sitting in the living room.

There in lies the rub... SWMBO would not allow a case of fermenting bottles to stay in the living room. She's pretty concerned about bottle bombs and there's a newborn in the house.

Plus, if that worked, then I'd have to admit I wasted the money on the heater and water circulator