Fermenting temperature

[rpt]

I'm trying to find a good place to put my FV. I was planning on the utility room as it has the boiler but I am worried it could be too warm. Last night I measured 24C and this morning it was 21C. So is 24C going to spoil my beer? I will also have a go at measuring the temperature at floor level as that should be cooler.

The alternative is to do the brewing in the garage but I will need some heating for that. Is a brew belt a good idea since it has no temperature control or is it easy to add that? I could put it on a timer to give it a burst every couple of hours.

The final option (apart from a fridge which may be a future project) is to put the FV in a big bucket of water with an aquarium heater. Argos do a 100W model for £11 with a 20-34C temperature range. Is this likely to work since the thermostat may not be very accurate? Or is it worth investing in a more sophisticated model which can be set from 18C at 0.5C intervals?

 

[Dave1970]

I'd say that 24C is too warm. During the early vigorous part of fermentation your brew generates its own heat so the temp inside the fermenter could easily get up to 27C which is hot enough to start generating fusel alcohols which will taste dodgy and give you a bad head.

I'd give the cheap aquarium heater a go, fish are pretty sensitive to temp change so if it's fit for use as an aquarium heater it should be good enough for your beer. There's loads of cheap ones on Ebay, it would be better if you can get one that'll set to 18C.

In the longer term your garage will get too hot in summer and this is where your future fridge project comes in.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

I got the Argos one which is not very accurate. It says it'll go from 20C upwards but when I measured it, the coolest it would go was 22C (add the temp rise from exothermic reaction and my brew was fermenting at too hot a temp)

I have now got an STC-1000 and eventually plan on putting it in a fridge but for the time being i'm guna hook it up to my argos heater and use the temp controler on the STC to monitor it. I'm hoping this will allow me to do the water bath approach fairly well. The only thing i'm concerned about is whether the aquarium heater will suffer from being turned on and off fairly regularly by the STC??

 

[rpt]

I'd say that 24C is too warm. During the early vigorous part of fermentation your brew generates its own heat so the temp inside the fermenter could easily get up to 27C which is hot enough to start generating fusel alcohols which will taste dodgy and give you a bad head.

I thought this would be the case.

I got the Argos one which is not very accurate. It says it'll go from 20C upwards but when I measured it, the coolest it would go was 22C (add the temp rise from exothermic reaction and my brew was fermenting at too hot a temp)

This was my worry.

I have now got an STC-1000 and eventually plan on putting it in a fridge but for the time being i'm guna hook it up to my argos heater and use the temp controler on the STC to monitor it. I'm hoping this will allow me to do the water bath approach fairly well. The only thing i'm concerned about is whether the aquarium heater will suffer from being turned on and off fairly regularly by the STC??

What do you use for the temperature probe?

 

[rpt]

I've taken some temperatures tonight. While the worktop near the boiler is 23 or 24C, on the opposite side of the room it varies from 17C at floor level to 20C on top of some drawers so I should be able to find a suitable position.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

quote]What do you use for the temperature probe?[/quote]

The STC comes with a basic temp probe so i recon that should be good enough to use. I think some people have upgraded to a better probe but i'll try the one it came with first.

 

[rpt]

The Forester's Arms Ale kits say to ferment at 28C. Is this because they use a different strain of yeast?