To brew belt or not to brew belt

Macy0161

Put my first kit on Monday night, and the air lock was bubbling away grand. However, the temp in the utility dropped a fair bit last night with the frost (13 degrees according to the max min thermometer beside the bucket), and the fermentation was a bit slower this morning. The stick on thermometer was showing around 15ish.

I have the bin wrapped in blankets, however the kit came with a brew belt - would I be as well off using that these cold nights rather than the blankets, or would fermentation be slowing by this stage anyway? The Kits the Coopers Canadian Blonde, if that matters.

BeerNut

It's up to yourself, but I'd do it slow and cool, without the brewbelt. Especially since it's a pale beer.

n97 mini

Maybe just move it to a warmer (18-22) room?

Macy0161

Warmer room isn't really an option, as warmer room means increased chances of the children "playing" with it. I wrapped another couple of blankets around it, and it seems to be holding at around 16 degrees, even first thing this morning. Struggling to resist tinkering appears to be the hardest part of the process so far!

Khannie

Macy0161 wrote: »

Struggling to resist tinkering appears to be the hardest part of the process so far!

It should be called "waiting" instead of brewing. Certainly helps improve patience levels.

sharingan

With a beer, I would leave it ferment naturally. The cold will only slow it down, whereas too warm and it can impart off flavours.

I have used a brew belt to finish off a wine that I suspected was fully fermented, but I would never use it with a beer.

Davkinse

I have a brew belt and it keeps a temp of about 25 degrees, I used to always put it on for every ferment but for the last few brews I haven't bothered and the temp in my brew cupboard keeps around 15 to 18 degrees. The Coopers kits I have been doing have come out really well at this lower fermentation temperature. I usually leave them to ferment out for at least two weeks and then Corny keg them. I think a steady lower temp is better than a higher temp when it comes down to taste, it will just take a little longer to ferment out so be patient.

rubadub

Davkinse wrote: »

I have a brew belt and it keeps a temp of about 25 degrees,

25 is very high. The advantage of a brew belt over a pad is you can move the belt up towards the top of the container so it heats it less. It is still outputting the same power but it will not heat it the same.

Your brew is typically a few degrees higher than the room it is in, since it generates its own heat. In some countries where people use turbo yeasts they have to cool down the fermenter since it generates so much heat. If you have your fermenter insulated it will get a bit warmer again, as it retains the heat it is generating.

I have also put pad & belts on plug in timers to control temps.

Davkinse

rubadub wrote: »

25 is very high.

You are right and since I have stopped using it and just brew at a lower temperature but for longer I have definitely noticed a better tasting end result. Plus a longer fermentation gives me a fairly clear beer which is ideal to go straight into the corny.

joctcl

Davkinse wrote: »

I have a brew belt and it keeps a temp of about 25 degrees, I used to always put it on for every ferment but for the last few brews I haven't bothered and the temp in my brew cupboard keeps around 15 to 18 degrees. The Coopers kits I have been doing have come out really well at this lower fermentation temperature. I usually leave them to ferment out for at least two weeks and then Corny keg them. I think a steady lower temp is better than a higher temp when it comes down to taste, it will just take a little longer to ferment out so be patient.

If your ambient is high at certain times of the day consider a thermostat plug off ebay works the same way as timers but by temp.
You can also take heat off your bucket contact area using strategically placed corks between the bucket and the band.