Too cold for the kit?

[Hawksmith]

Got some pear cider on the go at the moment, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of activity. I'm on day 4 so far, it's been a fair while since my last kit but when should I be seeing krausen?

On a side note, does anyone know the rough running cost of a belt heater for my barrel?

 

[Roddy]

Cider doesn’t tend to generate much krausen, have you got a hydrometer? that would tell you for sure

 

[Hawksmith]

last cider produced quite a lot, its still bubbling away slowly though.

How much impact will being too low temperature have on the cider though?

 

[LarryF]

I put a brew on last Saturday and it's not been seen to do much over the week but I tested it today and it's gone from and OG of 1048 to and SG of 1006 today. My FV's been at about 20-21 all week and it seems the yeast have been happily doing it's thing all week.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

If you are going to use a heat source try a water bath instead of belt, belts can be a pain as you have to move them up and down to get the heat right.

Members use fish tank heater with a thermostat and something they can stand the DJ or FV in.

 

[Roddy]

Will just take a bit longer at lower temps I reckon

 

[Hawksmith]

Not too bad then, as for the heating belt? Any rough ideas of running costs? If its fairly small it might be worth it given where I live is always pretty cold

 

[Chippy_Tea]

See post 5.

 

[Racinsnake]

I'm a tight get and I use fish tank heater/water bath, wish I'd tried it first instead of a heat pad, it's far more controllable.
(I noticed trugs are 2 for £6 today at bee and coo)

 

[Redron]

I'm a tight get and I use fish tank heater/water bath, wish I'd tried it first instead of a heat pad, it's far more controllable.
(I noticed trugs are 2 for £6 today at bee and coo)

Not knowing what a 'trug' is I looked it up....

It's either a weaved basket or according to the urban dictionary, 'the really ugly girl' .
So how do these help my beer ?

Or as the T shirt says, "Beer, helping ugly people have *** "

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The "ugly girl" made me :lol:


Have a look at this - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=b...X&ved=0CCEQsxhqFQoTCIbJ1fuC8scCFcHUGgodD-UMRg

 

[Redron]

The "ugly girl" made me :lol:


Have a look at this - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=b...X&ved=0CCEQsxhqFQoTCIbJ1fuC8scCFcHUGgodD-UMRg

Ha ha, gotcha !
I have a few of those. I use two of them for crash cooling my min/partial mashes instead of a wort chiller, though I have a chiller now so use that, not sure which is quicker TBH....

 

[Tony1951]

If you are going to use a heat source try a water bath instead of belt, belts can be a pain as you have to move them up and down to get the temperature right.

Members use fish tank heater with a thermostat and something they can stand the DJ or FV in.

+1 on the above.

Thirty some years ago, I bought a belt heater and thought I was doing the right thing in getting the temperature right up on my beer brewing. I had a series of really foul brews and stopped brewing for thirty years. I thought at the time that I had an infection, In fact I now think that the high temperatures I was fermenting at were ruining my beer.

Like Chippy says - set up a water bath. get a tub of some sort, put some water in it and put in a £7, 25 watt, thermostatic fish tank heater from ebay. Mine was about £7 delivered.

 

[Racinsnake]

Lol sorry maybe it's a local term....
Gorilla bucket?
Rubble bucket?
Or as advertised in B+Q - Active black plastic 40l multi purpose bucket :hat:

 

[pms67]

Lol sorry maybe it's a local term....
Gorilla bucket?
Rubble bucket?
Or as advertised in B+Q - Active black plastic 40l multi purpose bucket :hat:

What do you think of your Razorback ? How do you compare it against the Golden Stag or haven't you brewed that one before?

 

[Racinsnake]

Hi
Yes Iv done the occasional Golden stag :geek: (on my 5th) an unbiased opinion would be GS is my fav. It's got a slightly more pineapple/citrus aroma a vey clean refreshing brew. The IPA isn't far behind a slightly darker brew by comparison with the citrus aroma but a higher abv.
Hope this helps, I'm no Oz Clarke by an stretch lol.

Rob.