Infrared Lamp - Temperature Control

[Straightedge_Guy]

Hey guys.
Is an Infrared lamp suitable for heating homebrew while it is fermenting?
I've currently got a brew fridge, controlled by the Mashmaster DEI-105, which can hold two fermenters and am trying to think of a way to heat the fridge to 21 Degrees in these colder months. I'd rather not have to buy a heating belt for each fermenter.
Any suggestions/answers are much appreciated.
Thank you,
Straightedge Guy

[Kevnlis]

Why do you want to ferment at 21 degrees? Do you make only wheat beers?

[Straightedge_Guy]

18 - 21 Degrees (Celcius) seems to be the temperature recommended for brewing most Ale's.

[Kevnlis]

Depends on the style and yeast used, but I ferment anywhere from 15-17C and only go to 20C for wheat beers.

I guess if your taste is for an ale fermented at 21C then by all means use that temp, I see no reason to heat the wort or fridge though.

The wort should be warmer than that when you pitch your yeast, so the wort needs to cool initialy and fermentation should produce enough heat to keep it at proper ale temps even if the ambient averages say 12C, but because of the insulation on the fridge I imagine this average could be much lower.

[Straightedge_Guy]

According to the temp controller I've got, the temp of the fridge is about 12 degrees. Outside of the fridge would get much, much colder (Fridge is kept in an uninsulated shed and days have been pretty cold lately).
At the moment, I'm brewing a stout. Original gravity was 1060 and it is now down to 1030 in seven days. Usually, I'd expect the gravity to be lower by now and figure that it could be too cold for it to ferment effectively (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).
I pitch the yeast at around 25 - 27 degrees usually and try to keep the fridge's temp at 21 Degrees.

[Kevnlis]

Most ale yeast will ferment down to 14-15C with no worries. By the time the wort cools from 25C to the ambient of 12C the yeast should have had sufficient time to do their work.

I dare say if your stout has not gotten below 1.030 after 7 days at 21C there must have been a high amount of unfermentables in the recipe.

[Straightedge_Guy]

You could be right.
I'm using an ESB Special Stout Kit and an Irish Stout mix I got from my local brew shop (Brewer's Den, Boronia).
If I check the gravity again tomorrow and it hasn't changed, would you say it'd be safe to bottle?

I tasted some. It's tasting great.

[Kevnlis]

If you have a stable gravity, and it has really been fermenting for 8 days at 21C then I see no reason not to bottle.

I do have one quick question... Is the probe from the temp controller in a thermalwell? Or are you reading the ambient temp inside the fridge?

I am just confused as to how you can have 23L of wort at 21C inside of a fridge with an ambient temp of 12C?

Also I did say "average" ambient temp, it may get to 8C at night, but if it is getting to 20C during the day the average is porbably something like 15C. Also depends how much sun hits the garage etc.

Most places in Australia would be able to ferment an ale at room temp year round inside.

[Straightedge_Guy]

The probe is measuring the fridge's ambient temperature (12 degrees celcius at the moment).

Temperature during the day hasn't been very warm lately and I'm guessing it'd be even colder at night.

I don't actually have my wort at 21 Degrees... I'm guessing it'd be somewhere around 12 - 15 degrees (though I'm not positive). I'm trying to find a way to make the ambient temperature (in the fridge) reach 21 degrees (or whatever is best recommended) so that the wort can reach somewhere near 21 Degrees. Next time I go to the brew shop, I'll buy another stick on thermometer thing to check the actual fermenters temperature.

[Kevnlis]

I understand now. I think I went off on a bit of a tangent and lost track of what you were doing.

Using the lamp will be fine, though depending on the style I would shoot for an ambient temp inside the fridge of 16C (+/- 1C). This will give you the best overall result.

[Straightedge_Guy]

Cool. Thanks for the help Kevnlis.

When it's set up, I'll set it for 16 degrees. I only chose 21 previously, because most kits seemed to recommend it.

[Ross]

No problem brewing an ale at 20/21c If you want the true character of a british ale yeast to come through - 16c is too cool IMHO. I'm not aware of any commercial brewery in Britain fermenting that cool either. US-05 promotes citrus at low temps (my preference when making APA's), but would lift to 20c if not wanting this character. I've tasted several pseudo lagers fermented with US-05 at low temps & the citrus had over powered them.

cheers Ross

[James L]

i think wheat beers are better suited to a lower temp fermentation of about 17C...

[sonictruth]

why is a straight edge guy brewing beer anyway?

i think it's possible that im the only one on here that gets your little joke

[Kevnlis]

Thurston Moore was X, but I am not sure the band was.

[sonictruth]

well i guess im not the only one, but you're American arent you Kevnlis? That means you dont count

I didnt know about xThurstonMoorex , i just assumed that you had to be on drugs to play like sonic youth.

Anyway, even if straightedge guy is really edge i dont think he will be for long if he hangs around here. There are too many yummy recipes flying around, how could he resist?