Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Discussion on brewing beer from malt extract, hops, and yeast.
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jameswipps

Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Post by jameswipps » Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:58 pm

Hi,

I'm having real problems keeping my bucket warm. If it is next to the radiator then it will ferment, if i turn off the heating it stops bubbling.

Problem is it is November here in England, it is raing and cold, so I have to keep it warm. i am a bit skint so I cannot afford to buy a heater or keep the radiator on!!! Does anyone have any ideas - something with boiling water perhaps or wrapping it in stuff!!!

I'd really appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

James
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trucker5774
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Re: Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Post by trucker5774 » Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:05 pm

Near the radiator is a good start if you are unable to heat it from another source. Get it warm and wrap it in a quilt or similar. If you can get hold of a cardboard box which is just a bit bigger than your FV, you can put a small table lamp in the box with the FV with just a 40W bulb to give you a pretty basic but quite effective fermenting cupboard :idea:
John

Drinking/Already drunk........ Trucker's Anti-Freeze (Turbo Cider), Truckers Delight, Night Trucker, Rose wine, Truckers Hitch, Truckers Revenge, Trucker's Lay-by, Trucker's Trailer, Flower Truck, Trucker's Gearshift, Trucker's Horn, Truck Crash, Fixby Gold!

Conditioning... Doing what? Get it down your neck! ........

FV 1............
FV 2............
FV 3............
Next Brews..... Trucker's Jack Knife
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jameswipps

Re: Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Post by jameswipps » Sat Nov 06, 2010 12:09 am

!YES! - i just tried this and it works!!! nice one, cheers!!!
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GrowlingDogBeer
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Re: Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Post by GrowlingDogBeer » Sat Nov 06, 2010 1:42 am

The other cheap option is an aquarium heater which you sanitise and drop in the FV. you can get them on fleebay for about a fiver including postage.
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Paulb

Re: Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Post by Paulb » Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:00 pm

Im thinking of going with the aquarium heater. I have found a stainless steel one but its 150w will it hurt my 23litre brew.... it seems a little over kill but all the others ive seen are glass and SS seems saver.
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antinomy

Re: Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Post by antinomy » Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:19 pm

I've got a 150w aquarium heater, but I do use it in a waterbath to help stabilise the temperature and stand-off the heater from the beer. In retrospect I'd buy a smaller one though!
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Flumps

Re: Keeping my fermentation bucket warm

Post by Flumps » Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:41 pm

i found a cheap way of helping to retain the warmth of the day in the beer was to (and it doesn't sound pretty!) put it in the cardboard box it came with, like has been said, and then to have that next to the radiator, and pile the clothes i wore that week on and around the box. Not arranged, just dumped, the random folds and such are great for trapping the warm air, and obviously any dirt is kept way away from the beer by being outside the FV, and outside the cardboard.
Poor student ingenuity!
HTH
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