Fermenting vessel temperature/heaters

lagerlout

The recommended fermenting temperature for my lager kit is 21-27C, but my house sits at around 18-19C so i need to add a little heat. I have seen the "brew belt" type heaters and wondered if an aquarium heater would do the same job if it was bound to the side of the vessel? I have one sized for a 25 litre tank which is the size of the fermenter. Any advice appreciated!

HBO_Staff

Hi Lagerlout. I couldnt say if your aquarium heater would be suitable for fermentation, not sure how effective it would be or how hot it would get on the side of your vessel. It might do the job but i would deffinetly recommend using a brew belt instead.

lagerlout

Thanks for the reply. The aquarium heater is designed to give 5-10C above ambient for a 25 litre tank so in theory it should work, i will keep an eye on it and wrap the vessel too if needed.

lagerlout

Aquarium heater seems to be working perfectly, keeping a steady 23C while the kitchen sits from 15-19C.

Another question, after initial fermentation when the beer is bottled is temperature as important? Should it be kept up as it is now or is normal room temperature ok?

MaddMatt

I've always left them at room temperature for a couple of days before moving them to the garage. Never had a problem. Good luck with the brew!

firsttwodie

I regularly use a aquarium heater to keep my brew warm as it has to be banished to the garage (the boss doesn't like the beer smell). I usually sterilise it and place into the fermenting liquid in the bucket but this then means the fermenting bucket doesn't have a seal, as yet haven't had any problems with brew quality or contamination. On my current brew because I was worried about contamination, I placed the fermenting bucket into a black bin which was filled with water up to the neck of the bucket which I then placed the aquarium heater into. (Glass aquarium heaters have to be immersed to ensure they don't overheat and crack) this has worked fine for me for a couple of years if anybody doesn't (like me) of having their fermenting bucket in the house. You can also see if your brew isn't getting up to temperature if the heater light doesn't go off as they usually have a thermometer.