Heating a 200l fermenter

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brewpete
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Heating a 200l fermenter

Post by brewpete » Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:11 pm

Hi I have a 200ll brewbuilder fermenter what I have been heating with an aquarium heater but want to ferment under pressure so need to heat it externally any ideas don't really want to use 8 brewbelts ??

brewpete
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Re: Heating a 200l fermenter

Post by brewpete » Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:27 pm

Just had a lightbulb thought about a electric blanket ????

TheSumOfAllBeers
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Re: Heating a 200l fermenter

Post by TheSumOfAllBeers » Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:08 pm

Soil heating cable is what you want

Secla
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Re: Heating a 200l fermenter

Post by Secla » Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:38 pm

can the brewbuilder fermenter hold enough pressure ?

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LeeH
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Re: Heating a 200l fermenter

Post by LeeH » Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:56 pm

Didn’t think they did a pressure vessel!!!


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brewpete
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Re: Heating a 200l fermenter

Post by brewpete » Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:00 am

It's only about 3 psi but will keep the beer safe and enough pressure to draw it off through a beer gun

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Kev888
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Re: Heating a 200l fermenter

Post by Kev888 » Fri Dec 20, 2019 5:41 pm

You probably won't need all that much power unless it is uninsulated and in an unheated room. My personal preference (for electric heating) is self-regulating trace-heating cable, but you can get it in non regulating types, or soil heating cable, or silicone or vivarium heating mats that cover a bigger area - all of these will work.

If there aren't protrusions in the way then coils of pipe can be wrapped around (microbore, layflay hose, hose pipe etc) that gives you the option of passing either warm or cool water through it if you wanted to combine it with a cooling function too.

I'm not sure if just a couple of PSI might actually be the worst of both worlds for the fermentation, ironically it is not far off the kind of thing I actually try to avoid, but presumably you'll have based the idea on sound information. If protection is the main aim though, the pressure might wait until after the fermentation has died down, personally I just pressurise gently if cooling and for transferring afterwards.
Kev

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