I bought a good aquarium heater on e-bay, and put the fermenter in a
tub of water with the heater in it. I sit the fermentor on small
pieces of wood to allow water circulation. The water evens out the
heat, and I can keep the must at 70 deg F. Put the fermentor in the
tub, add must, put in water maybe halfway up side of fermenter, turn
on heater. 24 hours later, the must is at temperature and you add
yeast. I think Brew belts get up to 90 deg F or more, so some people
think they apply high spot heat.

I used a floating thermomter to set my aquarium heater, and to check
the must before pitching yeast.


"Matt Shepherd" > wrote in message t>...
> Following the good advice found on this NG, I went out and invested in an
> aquarium heater for my primary. Cheaper than running a heater in the room
> all winter. Plugging it in and getting it in there, though, necessitates
> having the lid a touch open, and I'm wondering if that should be a matter
> for concern.
>
> For some reason, the rosé I'm working on now is fermenting very slowly (from
> kit, ten days now and the SG has dropped from 1.070 to 1.015, but not low
> enough to rack yet). My concern is obviously that the fermentation might not
> be vigorous enough to push the oxygen out.
>
> I'm contemplating making a notch in the side of the lid for the cord so I
> can snap the lid shut and seal around the cord with poster putty or
> something. Am I worrying too much?
>
> Any innovative tips on how to use this heater in a carboy while preserving
> airlock integrity?
>
> Thanks all,
>
> Matt