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Brew belt or heat tray?

  • 05-05-2021 12:01PM
    #1
    Supercell
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,771 ✭✭✭✭


    Looking to order a cider making kit from Homebrew West and they have a choice of a brew belt or a wooden "BB Heat Tray".

    Any reason I should go with one over the other, the wooden one is a few more euro but not so much that it screams out that i'm paying more for better so thought I'd ask.
    https://www.loughlinstown.ie/

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Comments

  • #2
    rje66
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,360 ✭✭✭rje66


    Not sure what your set up is and how much brewing you do, but if you have space an old fridge with an Inkbird temp controller and heat lamp would give you very stable temperatures resulting in better fermenting.


  • #3
    BeerNut
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 12,096 Mod ✭✭✭✭BeerNut


    I don't see the point of either. If you live in Ireland and are fermenting indoors you don't need to be adding more heat. Seems more likely to cause problems than improve the end product.

    My beer blog | Bluesky | My other beer blog



  • #4
    Supercell
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,771 ✭✭✭✭Supercell


    Thanks, have been reading around and it seems the fermenting temperatures needed are pretty much the normal home range here, will leave out for now.
    https://www.loughlinstown.ie/

    Have a weather station?, why not join the Ireland Weather Network - http://irelandweather.eu/



  • #5
    loyatemu
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 15,966 ✭✭✭✭loyatemu


    anything from 17-21C should be fine. In general slightly lower is better as at worst it will slow the fermentation down, whereas high temperatures can lead to unwanted off-flavours (probably a bigger risk with beer than cider though).

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  • #6
    rubadub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,386 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    That page mentioned
    Bear in mind that fermentation is an "exothermic" process, which is a long winded way of saying that it creates heat. This can be enough to raise the temperature of the fermenter by up to 2 oC

    I have both a brew belt & mat which were given to me, I use neither. I will often put blankets or old jumpers over a fermeneter so the heat it is generating itself is retained a bit more.


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