Fermenting question!

[Elton95]

Hey all,

I was just wondering what the results of my beer will be like if i leave to ferment out side in my shed, i dont really have the room in my house to keep it so got any ideas on how it'll turn out?

P.s. Its rather cold out where i am atm around like 10c ish give or take.

Thanks, Elts

 

[dennisking]

What are you brewing. To cold for Ale, OK for lager.

 

[Elton95]

was gonna try bitter, is larger much harder to brew than bitter? and what do you rekon if i keep it in my house? its not as cold but its still pretty cold

 

[dennisking]

For ales you want to keep around 18-20c.

 

[rpt]

You could brew an ale with a lager yeast. It won't have the fruity esters you can get from an ale yeast and may be a bit drier, but it will be better than not brewing.

 

[Elton95]

Okay thanks. Also. Does varying tempeature matter much? I could keep it in my grandads house as he usually has heating on but sometimes he isnt there for the weekend. Will this affect it much?

Thanks, Elta

 

[rpt]

Yes, the temperature is quite critical, at least for the first 48 hours or so. Too high and you will get off flavours. Too low and the yeast may not get going quick enough to out compete infection. Plus, ales benefit from fruity flavours if fermented warm enough (depending on the yeast used).

 

[marksa222]

Do you have any electricity in your shed? You could use a heat belt or aquarium heater if so. If you are able to wire up a temperature controller like an STC-1000, you could use that with a brew belt, which would be ideal.

 

[loady]

Do it right first time, the offside results may put you off of brewing, potentially missing out on something that can be rewarding and very tasty. As mentioned above, temp is critical, i learnt this when doing kits when i started off and in my first couple of AG..it was only perseverance that kept me going for the holy grail.

 

[Elton95]

erm yeah we do have electric in the shed, are they difficult to set up and running costs? my mum makes me pay for what i use :lol:

 

[nicknoxx]

A simple, if not especially cheap, solution would be a heater tray like this:-
http://www.home-brew-online.com/equipme ... -te25-p720

Wrap the fermenting vessel in a old sleeping bag or duvet and it'll be fine. It only uses 25 watts so is very cheap to run.

 

[rpt]

The info in that link says it maintains a temperature of 22-29C which is too warm for beer.

 

[nicknoxx]

Actually it says
"Thermostatically controlled to maintain a liquid temperature approximately 9 deg C above ambient room temperature, giving a fermenting temperature of 22-29 deg C in most domestic environments"

So in a shed it would be about right (at this time of year)

 

[rpt]

A shed will fluctuate in temperature far more than a house. At the moment it is getting to 15C so adding 9C is still too warm.

 

[brewtim]

About £25-30 will get you a DIY STC1000 build to control the heater, well worth the investment.

 

[Elton95]

What, so stick a stc1000 with an aquariam heating in a water bath be sufficent?

 

[jonnymorris]

You won't need an STC1000 and an aquarium heater. The latter has a built in thermostat and, along with the affore mentioned water bath, is all you'll need. Note: this won't work if the ambient temp goes above 20degC.

 

[brewtim]

You won't need an STC1000 and an aquarium heater. The latter has a built in thermostat and, along with the affore mentioned water bath, is all you'll need. Note: this won't work if the ambient temp goes above 20degC.

I think the OP has stated ambient to be 15 C which is why I suggested an STC. You run the risk of overshooting 20 C by just relying on the aquarium heater alone.

The STC would be set at ideally 18-19 C, only below this detected temperature would the STC switch the aquarium heater on until the temp reaches 18-19 C it would then switch the heater off..and so on.

The STC1000 has outputs for heating and cooling, there is an STC800 that has one output, not sure if it can be used for heating, cooling or both, but for the small extra expense it's worth the STC1000 just in case you want to upgrade to a fermenting fridge in the future :whistle:

EDIT: Apologies to Jonnymorris, you are correct an STC won't be needed with an aquarium heater with a thermostat, only with the heatpad in another post

 

[Elton95]

okay thanks, am i going to have to program this thing aswell?

I think i might see what my grandads doing with his spare bedroom and see if i can brew in there :pray: its fairly warm but temps cannot be garenteed

 

[brewtim]

okay thanks, am i going to have to program this thing aswell?

You have to set the temp yes, but it's not really programming, just pushing a couple of buttons in the correct order.

You do need basic electrical skills to wire it up though (if you can wire a plug, you'll be OK)

Note my apology to Jonnymorris on a previous post:

Apologies to Jonnymorris, you are correct an STC won't be needed with an aquarium heater with a thermostat, only with the heatpad in another post

An aquarium heater with thermostatic control is the simplest option