How to maintain heat during fermentation - Applying Heat to Fermenting Beer

[@mmgunner]

I have no experience with anything else, but a heat belt in a mini fridge with an STC1000 has greatly improved my brewing experience. I only ever have had one fermentation at a time, but it has improved my brewing immensely.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

How well does the belt work overall? I've never used one but as you may have seen my massive fermentor which does a great job for Ales sadly can't get below 58 F to do lagers so I'm going to try it with an immersion pro to see if that extra boost can help drop the temps otherwise I'll need another small chest freezer just for lagers.

[@idsullymichaels]

is the fridge on or is it on a temp control along with the heat belt?

[@idsullymichaels]

I'm in Texas brewing in a garage - easily 90-110. BUT I have a full size fridge. I am looking to add a CO2 line in there for kegs. BUT I'll need to ferment in there as well... I am thinking of a small power line along with the CO2 line (female in the fridge/male on outside). I can set up the Inkbird (temp control) outside the fridge. When I have beer in kegs I can plug in a heat blanket inside the fridge - that plugged into the temp controller. on fermentation. If I don't have any kegged beer, I'll plug the fridge into the thermostat control. How concerning is a power source/plug in the fridge? How do you put you temp probe into the fridge - through the door? Worth it to drill a hole - create some type of 'port'? Then I get to decide if I continue doing a glass carboy (saves $), or is it worth buying something like a Fermzilla and allowing me to ferment under pressure, eliminate O2 on the beer, punch beer into kegs, etc.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

First, it sounds like you need to score a chest freezer off Craig's List or FB Marketplace for a fermenter. Using an Inkbird with a fridge is really easy, just make sure to set a nice delay on the Inkbird so it doesn't try to turn the fridge on too soon after shutting it off to avoid damaging the compressor. As for chest freezers, sometimes you have to disable an alarm system which can be a bit of a pain, but KZbin or online instructions seem to be plentiful. As for the temp probe, I'd try through the door at first if the rubber is still fresh on the door seals. If not, I'd try to drill a small hole where it would be easy to plug if you ever decided to move your fermentation. As for the glass carboy, if you can fit a Fermzilla All Rouder, they were worth every penny! Easily my favorite fermenters.

[@ggutzzz]

Great videos. Being new to brewing, I think not controlling temp ruined my first brew. My fermentation stalled, I repitched more yeast , but I never reached FG. Lesson learned

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I read and article where they asked a bunch of professional brewers if there something they could have done differently when they were first learning to brew at home would it be and the majority said they wished they'd either spent more money, time, and/or focused more on fermentation temperatures. I fully understood as I think we all struggle a little to either maintain certain temps or at least monitor it enough so that we could repeat that same brew with the same temps. That is one of the reasons I love my tilts (wish they were cheaper and smaller) as I can see the actual wort temp as wort temp is huge during fermentation.

[@TheAmateursOriginalMusic]

Im thinking of going with the heat pad, very cheap on ebay, will these keep the heat constant or will it just get hotter and hotter if you leave it on too long? Just out of interest, can you brew cold? Will it just take longer as the wife wont let any of my beer stuff in the house and its nearly winter here in the uk😮

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

First, sadly you can't brew cold, although there are pure extract brews that don't have to be boiled. As for the heater, you will want to purchase an INKBIRD or like device to help avoid too much heat. If you choose to use a heating pad, wrap the fermenter in a few beach towels, or a really decent blanket. The probe would be best in a thermowell, but can also be strapped to the side of the fermenter with some painters tape. Avoid using too much heat, especially direct contact like a heating pad on anything plastic.

[@TheAmateursOriginalMusic]

@@BitterRealityBrewing ok thanks👍 I may just sneak it into the cellar when shes not looking!✌️😉🤣

[@codebowl]

Quick question regarding the Fermzilla canonical and heating pads. I found the circumference of the fermenter to be 43.6 inches. would a single heating pad wrapping half of the fermenter be fine or should I find one long enough to wrap more than 50% of the fermenter? I am creating my lists of what is required now :)

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Technically it wouldn't matter as it is all about the heat transfer but the bigger would probably be better at maintaining the heat more evenly. I have small heating pads but once I strap one on with bungy cords, I then wrap it with one or two beach towels to help maintain the temps a bit better.

[@brandonfisher241]

I live in Michigan band my basement is not heated and in the middle of winter it's 60f. If your basement get to 32f you have bigger problems

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Been a while since I filmed this but I've seen and heard from other brewers mentioning their basements can get to freezing temps (I am assuming they are the types that are built into hills where one side is exposed to the elements with the other side built into the earth.) I live in Florida, so all we ever really deal with is the heat.

[@theghostofsw6276]

@@BitterRealityBrewing Canadian here. Yes...all it takes is some shitty single pane windows, or doors without weather stripping, and you'll get your 0 deg C alright. Most people will have this taken care of though, and most people have some type of heating as well.