Heating in Primary Fermentation

[Namaste]

Hey guys,


I'm new to wine making and the forum and this is my first post. I started my first batch of wine last night and realized when I woke up this morning that the temp of the wine dipped down to as low as 63 degrees F during the night. So far there has been no signs of fermentation and I didn't expect any at these temps.


My house is kept at 68F during the day but gets cooler at night. I'm looking for ways to keep the temp of my wine at around 75F during fermentation. So far I'vebeen given a couple suggestions. I was wondering if you could way in on them and tell me what you think would be the best solution.


1. Heat the entire house to 70-75F (I don't really like that option)
2. Use a space heater to heat only thatroom (that's okay but I'd rather not use a space heater for prolonged amts of time without being monitored).
3. Use an aquarium heater (possible contamination risk?)
4. Put a heating pad under the fermentation bucket.


Any other suggestions?


Thanks,
Bryan

 

[grapeman]

Use the time tested Brew Belt to go around the primary and keep the temps a bit higher with it.
http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=5008

 

[Wade E]

In an emergency I have used a light placed very close to the primary bucket but dont recommend it for 2 long as light is not great for wine. If you can safely get it close to a heat source like where the fridge exhausts its heat from its motor that would help. Once the fermentation starts going good you most likely wont need any additional heating sources as the fermentation will produce its own heat and as long as your house is at those temps you will be fine till the fermentation starts slowing down. welcome to the forum and hope you stay with us and share your winemaking and life experiences with this big family!
Edited by: wade

 

[NorthernWinos]

Welcome to the Forum....Hope you enjoy your stay...

I keep my primary buckets in the kitchen....next to the fridge....

Our fridge has a constant supply of heat coming out from under it....The floor is always warm there.

Looks kind of tacky and in the way...But, it works for me...

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[marcnadine]

We use a manual heating pad underneath the primary with a thermostat that controls when the heating pad gets turned on or off and wrap the whole thing in a sleeping bag to help keep ours warm.

 

[Wade E]

Oh, forgot to say that I have Brew Belts now and love them. I use them on my carboys a;lso even though it says not to. The reason that they say this is that someone either had a carboy with a crack or put in on a very cold carboy and the carboy cracked and may have hurt someone and that person sued the maker of the carboy. They blamed the breakage on the company that makes the Brew Belt and it went back and forth, dont know what happened after that or if this is all hear say but thats what I heard about this disclaimer. I have had mine on carboys through 2 winters in cold basement with no problems at all. It is made to use on plastic Carboys so that you know cause ome people get scared cause it does seem to feel pretty hot but it is very safe.

 

[hannabarn]

Welcome to the forum. As you can see you will get a lot of good answers to your questions. I use a heating pad tied around my bucket or carboy. I keep the heat set at low or medium. I have in floor heating in the basement and I keep the room temp at 68* and it works well for me!

 

[Namaste]

Thanks for all the info guys. I went ahead and bought a brew belt and everything is going great. By the time I put it on the bucket I could already tell fermentation had begun despite the lower temps.
I put the lid on the bucketand attached an airlock and when I woke up this morning there was a bit of wine on the walls which led me to beleive I wasn't using the twin bubble airlock properly. I filled it with water to the lines and then placed it in the grommet. Does the red cap at the top come off or stayon?

 

[Wade E]

Stays on to help prevent creepy crawlies out. Did the ine come up through the airlock, if so what size primary bucket are you using and what size batch is this.

 

[grapeman]

I keep the airlock off the primary to prevent this type of thing from happening. Just take an old towel or something similar and place it over the hole for the first couple days of active fermentation. When it settles down some you can put the airlock back on if you want. Don't push it in a lot- only 3/8-1/2 inch is enough.

 

[Namaste]

From what I can see the CO2 came from the seal between the lid and the bucket. Maybe I didn't have it on as good as I thought. The bucket is 7.9 gallons and I'm making a 6 gallon batch.





Tonight I'm going to keep the lid on but not as tight. Just kidn laying it on there as George recommends. No big deal, everything cleaned up quite easily. I was just wondering if I was using the airlock wrong.


Bryan