Brewing in winter months..

murphyebass

Myself and a mate started brewing beer this year. Got a bit of help here already.

It's all gone fine so far.
Pale ale was our first although it came out more like a red ale which was fine with us.
Stout came out really well and we bottle an IPA a couple of weeks ago so fingers crossed there.

The problem we're facing now is the cold months ahead as we brew in a very large shed.

So far we've just wrapped the fermentation bucket in a big thick curtain I think it is and all has been well.

It's not going to do the job during the winter though.

What devices or tips would he have for keeping the beer at the right temp now in the coming months or is it just beer brewing season over?

Bringing the fermentation bucket inside isn't an option here.

So I've heard something about heat wraps and someone mentioned aquarium heating stuff can be cheaper but you'd have to mod it or something.

Anyway thanks in advance.

PhiliousPhogg

What are you on about brewing season over??

Your options are a heatpad or heat belt. They should be available from any HB shop. You can see them in this section of the homebrewwest website.
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/fermenters-heaters-vinotainersbib-taps-19-c.asp

The drawback is if you have a heatpad or heatbelt constantly on heating the fermenter it could push the temps up too high. This is where I'd have preference for a heatbelt because you can move it up towards the top of the liquid level so that it wouldn't heat the fermenting beer as much as if it was around the centre of the liquid. So you might be able to manage the temps somewhat like this.

The aquarium temperature controller you heard about is probably the trusty STC 1000. It is cheap as chips to buy on ebay but you do need to get wiring and sockets and a plug separately and wire it up (you might find a fully prepared one on a homebrew website somewhere but they're not very common). I would say it's worth it as many a brew can be damaged by wrong temperatures. Also down the line think about getting an old fridge which you can hook up to the temp controller to regulate temps really well and also crash chill to improve beer clarity.

Temperature control and light-strike were two things I wasn't tuned into when I started brewing first and once I copped onto them it made a big difference to that nice malty aftertaste you get from well fermented & conditioned beer.

A very useful writeup on the STC 1000 is here:
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/index.php/topic,7491.msg94022.html#msg94022

murphyebass

Thanks philius.

Tbh me saying the brewing season over was a joke.
I knew it was a belt of pad that we need but don't know which ones are best.
Thanks for the info though and I'll look at the link too.

Cheers.

Hingo

I find it better to brew in the colder months as I prefer slight slower fermentation (17'-18'c). Easier to warm up Fermenter with brew belt etc. Harder to keep cool in the summer unless you have a modded fridge or that.

Plenty of options out there to keep your yeast toasty during the winter months, and if there's room in that shed, grab a hold of a second hand fridge and look into a fermentation chamber (to warm up and cool down depending on the weather). You'll always be in "brewing season" and you can lager.

dukeellington

Agree with Hingo, I've found there's more to worry about heat than cold. Fermentation is an exothermic reaction so the process will certainly look after it's own heating needs, and if your shed naturally provides a cold crash after, it'll probably make the beer better. I've head of people accidentally freezing and thawing beer to good affect, and if it's always very cold... lager!

Liamo08

You can make a simple water bath to keep your fermentation at the right temp in winter. Just get a large plastic container (I used an old water butt that I sawed in half for this) that your fermenter can sit into, then add some water and heat the water with an aquarium heater (You can pick up one cheap on Amazon or in a pet shop) and set your water temp to say 20c. Once your fermenter is ready to go just put it into the container and it'll keep the temp pretty well- I usually cover with some foil and and a blanket so as the heat doesn't escape too much out the top.

As other people have said it's no use to keeping temperatures down but it'll work great in winter, give you plenty of time to get a cheap fridge to so you can make a fermentation chamber

Eule

Switch to a bottom fermenting lager yeast, they do well in the range of 5-15C.

Hingo

Eule wrote: »

Switch to a bottom fermenting lager yeast, they do well in the range of 5-15C.

Enjoy those esters, especially at the higher end of that range.. You're basically making a different beer with Lager Yeast, lagered at low temps will make lager believe it or not, higher temps go into California common territory. .

Probably discussion for another topic, but if you're aiming for a certain out come in a recipe, yeast shouldn't be classified into just top & bottom fermenting for use based on what temps you can hold. .

etoughguy

I put on stout on Sunday and the instructions say in cold weather brew at the higher end of the scale and in warm weather the colder end (so say 26 in winter and 19 in summer for an example)
I use a blanket and hot water bottles myself

Eule

etoughguy wrote: »

I put on stout on Sunday and the instructions say in cold weather brew at the higher end of the scale and in warm weather the colder end (so say 26 in winter and 19 in summer for an example)
I use a blanket and hot water bottles myself

Your fermenter actually moves the brew around due to the yeast doing it's thing once it gets going, but if you have 'hot spots' you will entice the yeast to generate fusel alcohols there, which may or may not affect the taste (depending how sensitive you are).

Those instructions seem bogus to me --- there is a wheat brewer trick that adjusts pitching temperature to (n - ambient temps)C [I think n = 27 but I don't have the book handy) but that is for a big commercial open fermenter which I think does not scale very well to a puny 5-10G brew.

I'd stick to 18-19C here personally. unless you want wheat type bubble gum flavours ;-)

Eule

Hingo wrote: »

Enjoy those esters, especially at the higher end of that range.. You're basically making a different beer with Lager Yeast, lagered at low temps will make lager believe it or not, higher temps go into California common territory. .

Probably discussion for another topic, but if you're aiming for a certain out come in a recipe, yeast shouldn't be classified into just top & bottom fermenting for use based on what temps you can hold. .

The problem ale yeast has is that it goes to sleep at low temps. I don't think heating the fermenter with brew belt or a hot water bottle works that well, so, unless you have a temperature controlled brew chamber, lager yeast is the best bet I think.

That said, I'm usually not very good with sticking to a recipe and not too critical, my trick is to make hoppy 6-8%'ers and that tends to be always nice, unless you have your heart set on a particular style. Beats bought beer any day, although, I've been known to stick hop oil drops into el cheapo commercial brews, just to make the stuff palatable :-)

etoughguy

Eule wrote: »

Your fermenter actually moves the brew around due to the yeast doing it's thing once it gets going, but if you have 'hot spots' you will entice the yeast to generate fusel alcohols there, which may or may not affect the taste (depending how sensitive you are).

Those instructions seem bogus to me --- there is a wheat brewer trick that adjusts pitching temperature to (n - ambient temps)C [I think n = 27 but I don't have the book handy) but that is for a big commercial open fermenter which I think does not scale very well to a puny 5-10G brew.

I'd stick to 18-19C here personally. unless you want wheat type bubble gum flavours ;-)

Thanks for the tips