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

"Matt Shepherd" > wrote in message
...
> 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 the most part, I do not put tight lids on my primary. I will just cover
them good with cloth that will keep dust and bugs out.

> 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.
>
You do have a concern here. It is going slow enough to be of concern. A
better rule for when to rack is to rack when the fermentation slows enough
that it can be safely put in secondary. This is usually 3 to 8 days. It is
time to rack in into secondary now. Obviously it is not fermenting strong
enough to be a problem in secondary.

> 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?
>
What you are doing is fine. But just go ahead an rack now.

Ray

"Matt Shepherd" > wrote in message
...
> 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

Matt,

You could use the 'Son of Fermentation Chiller' to heat your must rather
than cooling it.

http://home.elp.rr.com/brewbeer/chiller/chiller.html

You'd need to modify the fan controller, and perhaps to add an on/off
controller for the aquarium heater. X-10 could possibly help you there,
depending on how handy you are with your computer.

http://www.x10.com/home/offer.cgi?!TS3,../techtoysts3.htm

(This site has a lot of flash and glitter, but if you look deeply enough and
past the X10 cameras, you can find some great X10 controllers)

Of course, you'd need to be particularly careful about heating a foamcore
box.


--
Cheers,
Ken

Matt,
Why not just use a brew belt that wraps around the outside of a carboy or
bucket. At about $20, its cheaper than a reliable aquarium heater and does
not have to be placed inside the must.
Al

"Matt Shepherd" > wrote in message
...
> 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
>
>

"Alfonse" > wrote in message
...
> Matt,
> Why not just use a brew belt that wraps around the outside of a carboy or
> bucket. At about $20, its cheaper than a reliable aquarium heater and does
> not have to be placed inside the must.
> Al
>
Non-bitter answer: I like the control over the must temperature I can get
with an aquarium heater -- it's in the liquid and automatically regulates to
64-80F, depending on where you set it, +/- one degree. I can drop it in and
leave it for a few days without having to check to see if I'm
over/underheating.

Bitter answer: I live in Sherbrooke, Quebec, where there's one brew shop
that leaves a bit to be desired. Great guys, but not what you'd call
well-stocked.

Practical answer: I already have the heater.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

- Matt

Matt,
My apologies, I missed the part when you said you already had an aquarium
heater. I'll try to slow down my reading.....:-)
Al

"Matt Shepherd" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Alfonse" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Matt,
> > Why not just use a brew belt that wraps around the outside of a carboy
or
> > bucket. At about $20, its cheaper than a reliable aquarium heater and
does
> > not have to be placed inside the must.
> > Al
> >
> Non-bitter answer: I like the control over the must temperature I can get
> with an aquarium heater -- it's in the liquid and automatically regulates
to
> 64-80F, depending on where you set it, +/- one degree. I can drop it in
and
> leave it for a few days without having to check to see if I'm
> over/underheating.
>
> Bitter answer: I live in Sherbrooke, Quebec, where there's one brew shop
> that leaves a bit to be desired. Great guys, but not what you'd call
> well-stocked.
>
> Practical answer: I already have the heater.
>
> Thanks for the suggestion, though.
>
> - Matt
>
>

>
> Any innovative tips on how to use this heater in a carboy while preserving
> airlock integrity?

You could use a heater belt instead and rig it up with a
rheostat so you can vary the amount of heat. But in most
cases I'm looking to cool down the must more than heat
it up. Except perhaps in the first day or two or perhaps
if I have a stuck fermentation.

Don

Don,
Do you have any instructions on rigging up a rheostat to a brew belt? Would
that make it function similar to a thermostat?
Al

"Don S" > wrote in message
m...
> >
> > Any innovative tips on how to use this heater in a carboy while
preserving
> > airlock integrity?
>
> You could use a heater belt instead and rig it up with a
> rheostat so you can vary the amount of heat. But in most
> cases I'm looking to cool down the must more than heat
> it up. Except perhaps in the first day or two or perhaps
> if I have a stuck fermentation.
>
> Don

"Don S" > wrote in message
m...

> You could use a heater belt instead and rig it up with a
> rheostat so you can vary the amount of heat. But in most
> cases I'm looking to cool down the must more than heat
> it up. Except perhaps in the first day or two or perhaps
> if I have a stuck fermentation.

I'm not the fastest swimmer on the beach. To me, the Rheostatics are a great
Canadian band with rhythm guitarist/hockey enthusiast Dave Bidini.

Would a dimmer switch be a rheostat?

- Matt

Why Yes!

Controls the amount of power going through the circuit. Would a heat belt
have that much control? Most are either on or off depending on the setting
of the non-adjustable thermostat.

Sean

"Matt Shepherd" > wrote in message
...
>
> I'm not the fastest swimmer on the beach. To me, the Rheostatics are a
great
> Canadian band with rhythm guitarist/hockey enthusiast Dave Bidini.
>
> Would a dimmer switch be a rheostat?
>
> - Matt
>
>

Matt Shepherd > wrote:

> Non-bitter answer: I like the control over the must temperature I can get
> with an aquarium heater -- it's in the liquid and automatically regulates to
> 64-80F, depending on where you set it, +/- one degree. I can drop it in and
> leave it for a few days without having to check to see if I'm
> over/underheating.

I'd be worried about using an aquarium heater, they operate thermostatically
in an on-off manner, i.e. when they're on, they're on full power. While this
might result in good regulation of the temerature of the bulk must, the
temperature around the heater will be quite high when it's on.

I'd be happier with the temperature moderated by a bulk [like a chunk of
concrete] outside the must, rather than using the must itself.

Geoff,
North Loburn
New Zealand

--
Space is big.
Space is dark.
It's hard to find,
A place to park.

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