Brewbelt

[rmp]

Hello

Quick (I hope!) question...

I have ordered a brewbelt as I want to do my next brew in the garage. I also have a garden thermostat (for use in the greenhouse) and thought I could use this to keep the brew at the right temperature. The thermostat can be set to 1 degree C, and has a little end with the sensor which you can position anywhere you like. Picture here:

http://www.keengardener.co.uk/heating-t ... tAodRkQALQ

My question is, where would be the best place to put the belt on the fermentor, and where would be the best place to put the thermostat sensor to keep the brew at the required temp? I don't think putting the sensor inside the fermenter is an option as I am not sure it is waterproof, so taped to the outside of the fermentor, but how high up above the belt?

Thanks for any help

Richard

[Ditch]

This could prove interesting .....

[Fil]

Thats a lot of money for a temp controller tho it looks ready to go out of the box, which is novel for a brew controller
You could make a more standard brew controller with an stc1000 a sandwich box and some cable glands for under £20. and also be ready for the brewfridge upgrade if it comes..

Though i expect it would work ok?? i would doubt the probe would be foodsafe..

as for probe placement imho behind a pad of insulation (bubblewrap?) taped to the FV outside close to the brewbelt based on the theory with the probe close to the change input you should avoid inadvertent overheating..

If you opt to take a punt on it good luck with the experiment

[Caddarn]

Why not experiment on positioning and temp control by just using water in the FV? That way there's zero chance of ruining a brew... Also, no need to sanitise anything while taking readings from inside the FV.

[Ditch]

Thats a lot of money for a temp controller

That's what I thought! Jesus wept! Though, I s'pose if he already had it laying around ....?

RMP; I was discussing very much a similar situation, quite recently. Could've been in the Tap Room? Someone said they taped their probe / sensor to the outside of the FV. Something about foam too. Blowed if I can remember now

Makes sense though. No need to sanitise it at all, that way. Ye'd just need to test the inside temperatures and calibrate it properly.

Spring boarding off the other guys idea? I'd use rubber bands. Tie enough rubber bands together to tightly encircle ye FV. Pop the probe under them. Save the bother of re fixing a bit of tape every time

[Fil]

fyi common gaffer tape will last 10+ brews when used to tape on a square of bubblewrap/insulation to an fv side in my damp brewfridge as long as u dont let it stick to itself

problems with centrally located in the FV probes can ocour when fermentation isnt active and the beer is still heat acn take a significant amount of time to penetrate a still liquid and will overheat the outside befor the correct temp penetrates to the centre.. with a probe close to the source it may switch off sooner and then switch back on when the buk has normalised to a lower than target temp but the risk of overheating is limited.

i did tests with external heating of a metal FV of stil water heated with a trace cable and
by the time the target temp reached the centre the outside was 4C over target!!

activly fermenting beer isnt a still liquid, but come the end of the fermentation it is more so.

[Ditch]

Ye f**kin near convinced me to give up brewing there, Fil!

I still just plonk a fish tank heater in the FV. I'm drinking the result as I type. Seems fine to me ~ despite, apparently, having defied all the laws of Fizix. (See what I just did there? )

One of these bloody days though, I hope to get one of these '800 things ~ a proper one ~ and get that electric blanket in use.

Guess I'll just do my usual, seat of my pants, route of least resistance, bit and see what happens

[rmp]

Some great ideas there, thanks. Will indeed try with water in the FV and see what readings I get. I’ll let you know…

I did indeed already have this thermostat in stock (for controlling heated mat in the Greenhouse) but I suspect that STC1000 would do that just as well – wish I’d heard of them before!

[6470zzy]

This could prove interesting .....

[rmp]

OK I said I would report back so here goes...

I took Caddarn's tip and filled the FV with water. I got a plastic money bag (the type you get from the bank) put the end of the sensor in that, and taped it to the outside of the FV about 3/4 of the way up (brewbelt at the bottom), the idea being it is easy to remove and replace the sensor. Set the temp on the controller at 20C and waited. A day later, the water in the FV was at 21C with ambient around 13C. On that basis I turned the controller down to 19C hoping for a water temperature of 20C.

At this point I wanted to start a brew, so did so and it is currently in the garage with the controller set to 19C. I put a blanket around the FV to keep the heat in and save the controller switching on and off more than necessary. Seems OK so far, a day later the yeast is doing it's stuff and the airlock bubbling away. I have resisted the temptation to stick a thermometer in the FV to check the temp of the wort as it seems to be going fine, and I seem to recall Ditch saying on another post better to be too cool than too warm, so I shall leave it alone...

I also brewed a Coopers Pilsner which uses lager yeast and claims not to need to be so warm - that's in the conservatory which is about 16C (less at night) and that seems to be doing it's stuff... will be interested to see how that turns out!

Cheers

[orlando]

A perennial subject this and vigorously debated with much humour from bystanders, hence Ditch's original comment.

The comment about "if you get a brew fridge" is actually when. The reason for this is you really also need to be able to cool because yeast is exothermic, that is it generates heat during fermentation, it is therefore easy to overshoot your target and fermenting too high does do a lot of damage, some of the worst HB you will ever drink is overheated yeast who, albeit love it as it suits them, it doesn't suit the beer drinker.