Brew belts

[PaulStat]

How do these work? Do you set them to specific temperature or something? Are they any good?

I'm considering getting one, at the moment I ferment my beer in the spare bedroom as that's the easiest place in my flat to keep warm all the time. The only downside is that it uses a fair bit of heating which SWMBO doesn't like too much.

[Jymbo]

They don't have a thermostat so you just turn them on and off manually - I don't use it very often but it can be handy in the winter for getting the FV up to temperature once a day. If you then throw a duvet cover or a fleece around it it'll only drop 1-2 degrees and you can top up the temp the next day again. I suppose if the room is very cold it might need to stay on all the time to keep in the right range.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

You may find a fish tank heater works better as it's got a thermostat built-in.

[mshergold]

We've got a brew belt and I've got mixed feelings. During the cold snap when the groundnut oil in our kitchen went opaque because it was so cold, it worked well to get both beer and wine up to a decent temperature where fermentation could continue. I then wrapped up our beer & wine in old sheets and used the brew belt on a plug in timer as it's easy to forget to turn them on or off. The timer was set to come on for about 30-45 minutes every four hours.

Negative points:
- They don't fit around all containers. They definitely fit all the way round the older style tall 5 gallon fermenting bins, but I can't remember if they fit around the newer squat and fatter bins.
- They're also too big to fit around single demijohns.

Positive points;

- They're perfectly adequate as long as don't forget to switch them on or off (that said, I left it switched on around a Woodforde's Wherry for about four days last November and it turned out OK) or expect miracles

I'd say If you don't already have a timer and/or a brew belt and can spare a bit more cash that it would be better to buy an aquarium heater with a thermostat. I'm sure that there's a thread somewhere on JBK about the power ratings etc to look out for. Oh, one other thing if you buy an aquarium heater, someone on the forum (I can't remember who) bought one on Ebay from a seller in Hong Kong and was disappointed with it as it was cheap because it was a cheap one made in China rather than a decent heater at a bargain price.

Caveat Emptor!

[lollypopp]

I have a brew belt, basically it works as described above, the idea is??? that the lower you place in on your bin, the warmer the liquid becomes, I usually put mine around the middle, I must say, that I prefer my aquarium heater, as said its easier to control the heat, mines a cheapy £12.00 +£2 p+p of fleabay, you only need a 25w, any bigger and their in danger of not fitting under your liquid in the Fv, having said that, a mate of mine runs a 50w!!!

[Titanium Tone]

I use a brewbelt with an ATC300 works great you set the temp you want on the ATC300 and it switches the belt on and off as required. I brew in a garage and found the fish tank heater just could not cope in the very cold weather but the belt no problem.

[trucker5774]

Brew belts can be fine, especially if you insulate the FV and experiment with a timer to control the temperature. A thermostatic control linked to the belt it's even better. The aquarium heater is the better option. It can be placed directly in the brew, or the FV can be placed in a larger bucket filled with water and the heater placed in the water. This can solve some sanitising problems, but remember the tap if you use it later.

[trucker5774]

I've just one brew with the FV placed in a large cardboard box (almost a cubic metre) wth a 40 watt table lamp. I simply turned it on during cold spells to build up the temperature. It's then ok for 8 to 12 hours unless really cold. Plenty of room in there for bottles carbonating during their 2nd fermentation too!

[Jymbo]

I hope you keep a fire extinguisher next to the box

[trucker5774]

Hi Jymbo.................I was waiting for the first fire joke! So to clarify for anyone new, this is a huge box and a tiny lamp, nowhere near to the sides and of course not even close to airtight. Its just enough to raise the temperature to about 22C over a few hours. It's an item most people have in their home and would work just the same in a cupboard if you have an empty one..........................anyway ....Isn't the FV a big CO2 fire extinguisher!!!!!

[pauljmuk]

Used to use one many moons ago when a student in a ridiculously cold house (woke one morning in bedroom to find glass of water left on windowsill had crust of ice on the top)

It worked fine to be honest, and I too can vouch for the moving of the belt up and down to control temp. A bit of trial and error and a trusty thermometer, and you get the feel of where to put it.