brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

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lancsSteve

brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

Post by lancsSteve » Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:04 pm

I' thought I'd gotten right clever by using a brewbelt with an ATC800+ to control it and give me nice stable fermentation temps.

Brewing a roggenbier - which has been a tad problematic throughout and the brewbelt has been last 'mare-prone stage. Using wyeast weiheinstephen weizen yeast with temp range of 64-75° F (18-24° C).

I dropped the beer into the FV at fermenting temp (20C), moved it to my cellar (stable temps but COLD - 8-10C at the mo) and wrapped it in towels with the AATC800+ probe suspended in the middle of the bucket controlling the brewbelt. I put the brewbelt around the middle of the FV...

All seemed OK - temps registered perfect stable 19C all the time.

But fermentation stuck at 1020 (expected finishing gravity was 1015) and I noticed my samples were pretty cool...

Tried rousing and temps shot up to 24.4 after a stir. Went back next day and felt the FV - cold cold cold at the bottom and HOT at the top. Didn't take exact temp readings but I'd say this was 10c difference bottom of FV to top - am amazed this didn't knacker yeast completely in fact.

So - evidently this is NOT a good way of maintaining stable temps - and I'd do better keeping it in a warm room and accepting some temp variation over this method which I'd thought would be nice and stable.

But - anythoughts from those more experienced on bast ways to use brewbelts (positioning/controlling/abandoning?)


Also need to consider more reliable ways to maintain stable fermentation temps: I could use a heater (recommendations?) in my insulated brew cupboard in the cellar to raise temps to say 15C from the 8-10 ambient (for lagers etc) but think stable 18 or 20 could be expensive. For ales / wheat beers I can just keep in a room though temps do fluctuate with heating as house is old.

ANother one to chalk up to 'experience' on this.

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simple one
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Re: brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

Post by simple one » Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:27 pm

Put the brew belt in a knackered fridge at bottom, fv on a grill in middle and sensor at top. Close fridge door. Small stable temperature environment.

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tangoman
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Re: brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

Post by tangoman » Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:27 pm

I'd agree with a knackered fridge as this saves you having to build a fermentation cupboard.Just rip the workings out and remove the inside ledge which covers the compressor,making the inside one big square cupboard,enough room for a 60 litre bin,stick a light bulb in controlled by your temp probe and bob's your wotsit,works ok for me.

lancsSteve

Re: brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

Post by lancsSteve » Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:07 pm

simple one wrote:Put the brew belt in a knackered fridge at bottom, fv on a grill in middle and sensor at top. Close fridge door. Small stable temperature environment.
So brew belt in use as a capacity/space heater but NOT round the FV? Wow can it heat space like that!

Have a pretty knackered fridge that only keeps temps a little below the cellar will have to see what it can be warmed up to.

Have heard of using irridescent filament lightbulbs as they kick out so much heat - which could work in the insulated cabinet... but isn't their a potential prob with light striking the fermenter and skunking the beer, or does that only happen with UV from the sun or a compact flourescent / energy ssaving (and no heat so not useful). I know you can grow under energy saving bulbs but not iriidescent...

Steve

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simple one
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Re: brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

Post by simple one » Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:15 pm

lancsSteve wrote:So brew belt in use as a capacity/space heater but NOT round the FV? Wow can it heat space like that!
Yes! :lol:

Hoodlum

Re: brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

Post by Hoodlum » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:10 am

alternatively, drop the brew belt to the bottom of your FV. If your temp sensor is at the bottom of the FV in a cold environment, it will signal tp heat up to the belt - the warmed wort rises, but cools before dropping below the belt do you don't get an aggregate warming through the whole beer.

Moving the belt lower must be easier than finding a bust fridge....

kennyboy

Re: brew belt problems - thoughts and ideas on use?

Post by kennyboy » Sat Jan 16, 2010 6:03 pm

I made a brewing setup based on a siemans RAA20 gas bellows roomstat (£10 from screwfix) coupled to the higher wattage brewbelt (120w). This is in an insulated section of an old wardrobe in a shed. There are a few rules to follow though; leave the brewbelt round the bottom of the FV but not touching it. Set the fermenting temp on the tstat by trial and error, mine reads 18C when the brew is at 20C. I use snap-on lidded FV's with airlocks as this stops any chance of condensation in the insulated chamber. You must check gravity regularly as I have found that the kitbrews I have been using (woodefords wherry, various Ibrews, and geordie will ferment down to 1000 in a week. I now tend to switch off the system at 1010 - 1012, which is usually after 3-4 days, and leave the door open on the wardrobe to cool the brew and stun the yeast. I then leave it for another 3 or 4 days before kegging or bottling.It usually drops a further point or two by then. The latest brew done in this setup was a woodefords wherry kit which went down to 1009 in 3 days, when the temp in the shed was averaging -3C. I hope this may be of some help.

ATB Kennyboy

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