Hi, gang, sorry this is long but I don't get much chance to talk about some of this--
Seven or eight years ago I got interested in brewing, took an all-grain course at the local supplier's and had a great time-- bought a pile of crap, two carboys (one poly, one glass which I later gave away), big pot and immersion chiller, everything I thought I'd need to do the deed starting right into whole grain work. Then the sky started to fall, and continued falling for about six years. To make a very long story as short as possible, I was up to my hips in lawyers for several years, lost my brother and my Mom and the family home, which the court thought I could get half a century's worth of stuff out in two weeks-- things got tossed several times very thoroughly and a good bit of it destroyed by rat action in storage. The last straw was losing my job of fifteen years on Christmas Eve 2020 (co. went under). So after I locked myself in a closet and stopped screaming and shaking, I have been picking up pieces and reassessing-- and getting interested in beermaking again.
I just went through as much of the stuff as I can find, and it looks like most of the stuff is still in good shape, a lot of it still in the factory wrap, so thinking about running down to the shop and picking up a kit to get started. My main issue is going to be temperature control, or the lack of it. The only place I have to work is an unheated garage, so since the winters here in the Northwest ate usually about 40-45 degrees and raining, have been thinking about building a small enclosure for the fermenter, with a heating pad or something under the vessel and some kind of controller to keep the temp stable. I could cobble up a controller out of an Arduino, but it seems like overkill, so: BIG QUESTION and the reason for this post: Does anyone use some sort of controlled-temp in their fermenting? Probably asking that wrong, but would sure appreciate some help. I have the audacity to think that this is the only real problem I should have-- sanitation is a snap, I worked running sterilizers in hospitals for several years. Thanks for listening, I'll be back in when I've got something cooking-- Lee
I'm not entirely sure if your're asking if temperature control is important or if you're looking for suggestion on how to keep your fermentation temperature in range, so, I'll comment on both.
Temperature control during fermentation is very important. Different yeasts respond differently to different temperatures and it's typically best practice to keep each strain within its ideal temperature range for best results. It seems you're aware of that. So, yes, most brewers have solutions in place to control fermentation temperature to some extent.
A lot of people use mini fridges or chest freezers connected to an external temperature controller as fermentation chambers. Often you can find old dorm fridges on craigslist for $50 bucks or so that will fit a fermenter which work very well.
Obviously the fridge will keep things cool in the warm season, buy in winter, many will put something like a heating pad, or seedling mat in the fridge to keep the fridge warm, as you suggested. You could also use a heat lamp or a light bulb in a paint can, but those options are questionable from a safety standpoint. I also can't personally vouch for effectiveness of these devices because I've only ever needed to bring temps down, not up, and my fridge does that no problem.
If you don't want to buy a fridge and are somewhat handy, you might consider building an enclosure, as suggested. Look up son of a fermentation chamber. That might give you some ideas.
Another possibility might be putting the fermenter in a tub of water with an aquarium heater or bucket heater attached to a temperature controller to create a warm water bath. Maybe even a sous vide stick would work. For the cold version of this, freeze gallon water jugs and put them in the tub of water to create a swamp cooler.
Welcome back to the hobby.
Post time 2022-9-22 13:10:53