Pages: 1 2
Too cold to ferment.
So heres the deal. My basement gets down to 56 degrees at night and about 67 during the day. I don't want to keep my heat throughout the house up during the night and I don't want to spend $30 on a Fermwrap Heater and I can't keep my carboy upstairs where it's warmer because of a 2 year old daughter.. Is there a better way to maintain a temp of 65 or so? Any homemade options? Any Ideas would be helpful. Aaron Molina (Duluth, MN)
One simple thing you could do is try raising it off the floor, either with a towel, blanket, or on a wooden palate. Wrapping some warm blankets or towel around the carboy might help as well. Also, try to keep it away from windows/doors/or hutches where cold air may be coming in. Do you have a boiler room? Boiler rooms tend to be warmer that the rest of the basement... if none of that works, why not throw on a space heater near your carboy?
I think the main thing is to keep the fermenter away from drafts and off the floor. Otherwise you will be fermenting for weeks, maybe even months with an ale yeast.
I have it off the ground and have thought about wrapping it in a sleeping bag. I think Ill give that a try first. I just worry about running a space heater all night? Thanks for the ideas. Aaron Molina
I think the sleeping bag is a great idea.
Yes, running a space heater might not be the safest idea, but it you clear the area of all flammable items and have one of those heaters that shuts down if it tips over, you might be in good shape.
Or, if you dont mind some lugging, bring it upstairs for the night?
Good luck! I feel your pain.. I live in New England!
There are some nice cheap space heaters out there now. The one we got is from Holmes and you can set it to a certain temperature range and it only comes on when the temp drops low. It's also got the tip sensor in case something/someone knocks it over it turns off.
You can try wrapping it in a sleeping bag, but it's going to be hard to monitor the temps throughout the night, unless you get up a few times to check on it one night and see how it does. That and you are going to have to remove it everyday if it will getting into the high 60's.
DT
make lagers. do some natural lagering. i wish i had a basement. that's what i'd do.
You can try a cheap electric blanket too. These are probably cheaper than a space heater. Sleeping bag may or may not work fermentation is a exothermic process so it actually creats heat.
cheers
Im so delighted I found this site.
...I too have a cold house and have had stuck fermentation problems because of it. Another brewer just suggested that I fill a cooler or other large basin with warm water and add sytrofoam peanuts, then put in a fish tank heater. Im going to give it a try.
I use a electric heating pad for your back. has 3 settings. Maybe 18" square. Then a sleeping bag over it like a tent. Keeps it at 70
Do you place the heating pad directly on the carboy?
Pages: 1 2