Create a constant temp brewing bath

[goodolpete]

Lidl have a thermostatic aquarium heater for £10 ATM. Fill a plastic box or bucket with water, put demijohn(s) / 25l FV in, adjust heater to temp you want,immerse in water and plug in, cover with old duvet, and you have a constant temp brewing box.

 

[terrym]

Very similar to this
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/how-to-set-up-a-water-bath-for-your-fv.66407/

 

[goodolpete]

Thanks for the redirect to your really helpful thread, which I hadn’t seen before. The main reason I posted was that I bought from fish fanciers shops before, which costs a lot more, so I was surprised at the low cost.
Lidl’s one is 100W by the way.

 

[Satellitemark]

I just got back from lidl and saw these heaters and was going to put a thread up about them but I'll ask here instead.

Any pros / cons using these instead of a heating pad / belt ?

Being 100 w does that mean it's quicker to reach temp but on less of the time ?

I'm thinking of submerging the heater directly in the brew, is it a good /bad idea ?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

I just got back from lidl and saw these heaters and was going to put a thread up about them but I'll ask here instead.

Any pros / cons using these instead of a heating pad / belt ?

Being 100 w does that mean it's quicker to reach temp but on less of the time ?

I'm thinking of submerging the heater directly in the brew, is it a good /bad idea ?

Cheers,

Mark

I've used the water bath method a few times, I have a fermenting fridge now though.

When I used the water bath I used a lower wattage aquarium heater so I can't comment on 100w one. In terms of heater in brew, it seems like too big an infection risk to me personally... but I know other people have / do.

 

[Satellitemark]

Thanks for your reply.

Mark

 

[terrym]

In my garage I use a water bath with a 50w heater. It copes well with temperatures down to 4/5*C (that section of my garage never gets any colder) maintaining a bath temperature of 19*C, and could probably go lower, although I do use several layers of old towels as insulation
More here
How to Set up a Water Bath for your FV - The HomeBrew Forum

 

[Victor Churchill]

I got a 50W one from eBay a while ago (here, £6.99 free postage) - I used it submerged directly in the wort for a couple of brews and it seemed fine. I also tried it with a builders trug water bath, less fine 'cos something or other got into the water and SWMBO complained about it being smelly. I wonder if there was some seepage from the bottom tap on the FV (yes, I know. Shouldn't use a bottom tapped FV in a water bath).

But this latest brew the temp control seems to have gone wonky. I found the tmeperature had reached 28 when it was set for 20. I am now just keeping an eye on the temperature and turning it on for short periodds manually occasionally. .


you get what you pay for I suppose.