# Room Temperature where you ferment?



## reefman (Feb 14, 2010)

I keep my house temperature at about 60F at night, and 63-64F during the day. How can I keep a reliable fermentation temperature of 70-76F under these conditions? I really can't turn up the house temp.


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## Runningwolf (Feb 14, 2010)

a simple brewbelt will work. http://www.finevinewines.com/Product_Match.asp

Brew Belt

Designed to wrap around most primary & secondary fermenters.
N/A $21.99 $21.99 Stocked


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## reefman (Feb 14, 2010)

that little thing really does the tricK? Looks too small.


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## Tom (Feb 14, 2010)

Yep It will work


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## millwright01 (Feb 14, 2010)

It works real well. My room is a bit cool as well and since I started using the belt no more issues. I wouldn't be without one now.

Jason


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## Green Mountains (Feb 14, 2010)

Once again, size is not the point. 

these belts will easily keep your primary temp ten degrees higher than the room .


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## Wade E (Feb 14, 2010)

Brew belt is what I use in my basement and yes I and many others use it on glass even though it states not to. Ive been using them on glass carboys for many many years with no incidents at all. I would not put one on a carboy that was 40* though as the severe temp change may cause it to crack like a windshield with a heater on it.


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## summersolstice (Feb 15, 2010)

Almost of the Lalvin yeast strains (D-47, K1V 1116, EC 1118, etc) I use for my wines and meads do well below 60F and, in fact, may benefit from cooler fermentation.


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## Sacalait (Feb 15, 2010)

In a pinch you can use a heating pad. Put the pad up next the fermenter vessel and tie it snugly with twine. I use an aquarium thermometer floating in the must to monitor the temp.


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## reefman (Feb 15, 2010)

My kit did not come with that yeast, can I substitute the (D-47, K1V 1116, EC 1118, etc)
in place of the yeast in my kit?


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## summersolstice (Feb 15, 2010)

The yeast that comes with a kit is the strain the kit manufacturers feel works best with their kit. However, they may well have an arrangement with a yeast supplier. I've seen generic, no-name, yeasts come with kits and I've also seen Red Star yeasts in kits in addition to Lalvin. What kind and variety is your kit?


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## reefman (Feb 15, 2010)

It's called Summer Breeze Wild Berry White Zinfandel.
I bought it from Fine Vine Wines, LLC.
Here's the link:
http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDet.asp?PartNumber=8230


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## summersolstice (Feb 15, 2010)

reefman said:


> It's called Summer Breeze Wild Berry White Zinfandel.



D-47 would be perfect for this wine and it has an ideal temperature range of 59F-68F. What kind of yeast came with the kit?


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## reefman (Feb 15, 2010)

My apologies, I had to dig through the trashcan to find the envelope, but it is Lavin EC 1118, but the directions are emphatic and say to ferment at 70-75F. So I don't need to worry about the temp??


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## Green Mountains (Feb 15, 2010)

You probably can, but you'll find a brew belt beneficial frequently going forward with future wines, kit or otherwise.


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## reefman (Feb 15, 2010)

I'm going to get a brew belt for sure, but the my local shop is not open till Wednesday, so hopefully they have it in stock.
Thanks!


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## summersolstice (Feb 15, 2010)

reefman said:


> My apologies, I had to dig through the trashcan to find the envelope, but it is Lavin EC 1118, but the directions are emphatic and say to ferment at 70-75F. So I don't need to worry about the temp??



EC 1118 is a very vigorous yeast and has a wide temperature range - 50F to 85F. It probably isn't the best yeast for your particular kit but it's very forgiving and will ferment in almost any conditions, and that's likely why it's used in the kit.


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## jdeere5220 (Feb 16, 2010)

summersolstice said:


> Almost of the Lalvin yeast strains (D-47, K1V 1116, EC 1118, etc) I use for my wines and meads do well below 60F and, in fact, may benefit from cooler fermentation.



Can you expand on that? Is there somewhere I can read more about this? Why do you say it may benefit?

My WE kits say to keep it between 65F-75F, and my basement is more like 64F, so my brewing has been held up by needing to use the brew belt and I don't want to spend another $20 for another + the electricity. My primaries have been getting done ( SG < 1.010) in 3-4 days. If I can safely do fermentation without the belt I could get my batches coming along faster!

One other question: If the ferment does get slowed or stopped by cool temps, is it stuck forever or will it pick right back up as soon as you warm things up? In other words, if I try running a bit cooler am I risking losing an entire batch?


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## Becks the Elder (Feb 16, 2010)

We too have problems with maintaining a high enough temperature to ferment our wine. In the end we put a tubular greenhouse heater a couple of inches behind our carboys (we have 20 gallons on the go at a time) and it worked like a charm. Brew belts would cost around £20 each here in the UK but the heater costs between £25-30 and heats all the wine from a single unit.


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## Torch404 (Feb 16, 2010)

Beck's what is the power consumption of your greenhouse heater? I believe brew belts are about 23w (if memory serves) about the same as a CFL. 

I've been using the Lavin yeast here with no problems. On cold nights the primary goes in front of the fire, temperatures range from 40-65F here so it's a little warmer then a lot of places.


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## Dugger (Feb 16, 2010)

jdeere 
Lower fermenting temps, especially for whites can retain more aromatics ( and other things) from what I understand and fermenting at higher temps can cause these to be lost. However, I also understand that this does not apply to kits wines; in order to not lose these aromatics, etc. the grapes/juice must be kept cool throughout the process from picking to fermentation. Since kit wine juice is heated during pasteurization, this "keep cool" process is interrupted and no benefit from lower fermenting temps is realized. 
Regarding stuck fermentations, I have no experience with one yet but I believe the lower the SG when you get stuck, the more difficult it will be to restart - presumably because the sugar content is lower and alcohol content is higher. I don't know if there is a cutoff point ( say 1.010 - 1.005) but others may have better info on this.
One suggestion for increasing your fermenting temp a little is to wrap the bucket/carboy with something ( I use an insulated shirt) - the must will generate its own heat when fermentation gets going and this helps to retain it.
Good luck .. Doug


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## Becks the Elder (Feb 16, 2010)

I think the greenhouse heater uses more power than a brew belt. The tube is 36" long and power consumption is given as 60w per foot. However, I believe this is it's maximum consumption and so once the tube is warmed up the power requirement drops. How far though I don't know. Our dining room has benefited from the tube heater as the extra heat generated has stopped the usually appalling mold problem the room suffers throughout the winter. It's the only room we can put the wine in so we don't have the option of moving it to a warmer place. Earlier a few batches stuck due to fluctuating temperatures but subsequent batches seem to ferment right out in 4-6 weeks when the tube is used. It's probably not the cheapest method but it works well in that room.


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## arcticsid (Feb 16, 2010)

If I remeber right the belts only use like 25W. Thats not bad, beats some of those who are using an electric heater to keep there "closet" warm.

Torch I am interested in your rose petal nastrusiiam. I made a rose petal last year with the petals from the rose hip plant. And my neighbor grows tons of nastrissiums. I have only used the nastissium leaves in salads. If you want. Please post your recipe for this wine. I'd like to see it personally and I am sure we would be glad to add it to the WMT recipe collection.


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## reefman (Feb 16, 2010)

Hi Becks,
Do you have a link to a picture or source for this heater?


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## Becks the Elder (Feb 16, 2010)

The tube I have is an old Philips one given to us a while ago. Here is the link to the Dimplex version. I can't seem to find any US sites selling them as I keep being redirected to UK sites. Maybe you'll have more luck. The wall mountings can be used as feet for a freestanding tube and they usually come with a standard plug attached.


http://www.alertelectrical.com/Electric-Heating-Fixed/Multi-Purpose-Heaters/Dimplex-Tubular-Heater-60W--DIMTUX60.asp?gclid=COWKyqqvsp0CFU0A4wodrBv5iQ


Cheers!


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## Midwest Vintner (Feb 16, 2010)

summersolstice said:


> Almost of the Lalvin yeast strains (D-47, K1V 1116, EC 1118, etc) I use for my wines and meads do well below 60F and, in fact, may benefit from cooler fermentation.



i use these same strains along with champagne yeast and the lalvin 1122. 

keller's site has a good description of the strains

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp


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## Tom (Feb 16, 2010)

summersolstice said:


> Almost of the Lalvin yeast strains (D-47, K1V 1116, EC 1118, etc) I use for my wines and meads do well below 60F and, in fact, may benefit from cooler fermentation.


Here is a link that will answer all ? on yeast and temps.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3554


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## Wade E (Feb 16, 2010)

The brew belt is just about the cheapest option unless you buy a terrain heater made for reptiles enclosures and just put a pce of plexiglass on that and then your bucket or carboy. Those use less electricty and a few people use them and say they work great.


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## arcticsid (Feb 16, 2010)

If you have forced air heat set a milk crate over the top of it and put your ferment vessel on top of the crate, sounds primitive, but I am kinda primitive, if you have small children or cats, forget that option and buy a brew belt.


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## Torch404 (Feb 16, 2010)

I was thinking your green house heaters was one of those 300-900w portable ones. Now I see you're talking about some thing totally different. I also forgot to add that my next gadget purchase was going to be a brew belt, although I haven't had any problems as of yet.

Arcticsid- I'll post the recipes over there so as not to distract from the thread


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## arcticsid (Feb 16, 2010)

300-900W is ridiculous to even consider. A brew belt is only like 25W and probably alot safer!!!!!! There was a discussion in here a while aback and said you could use several without worry on a multi plug. A typicall dual-receptacle (the kind in your wall) are normally 15 amps, (20 is better), but they can handle about 1000W before you reach the danger level. So you can have several belts going off the same plug. Don't mess around with these high watt heaters!! Not worth it, and not necessary. Don't care how much you like your Grandma.!! Buy a belt.


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## Becks the Elder (Feb 17, 2010)

Agreed... which is why no one was suggesting using heaters like that.


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## bruno (Feb 17, 2010)

I have a couple of heating pads I use that work good. If I recall, costs about $25 or so. If you get one, make sure it has the option of staying on continually. Some will shut off after 3 hours.


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## reefman (Feb 18, 2010)

Going out to buy my* brew belt *today, now that the roads are finally plowed and passable....more than a week after the last blizzard.n
More snow coming on Monday night.
Our normal snow fall for an entire season is 18 inches. We "officially" have had 80 inches this season.


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## arcticsid (Feb 18, 2010)

Damn!! I live in the middle of Aaska and they said this is a record for the second least snow for a winter and we have only seen -30 for about 6 days, not even in a row, and we only seen-40+ for 3 nights. Normally we get 5 times as much snow and are always good for a severe cold snap. Guess you all got it over there this year, sorry about that, but I assure you we don't mind the break. In fact suppose to get above freezing today. Go figure.


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## Tom (Feb 18, 2010)

Troy,
Here in the Philadelphia PA area we got over 70" of snow which is MORE than Anchorage Alaska got so far.


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## gonzo46307 (Feb 18, 2010)

I ferment in the laundry room, which is fairly small. I have a ceramic heater that I use to heat the room up to 72º. I've usually have multiple batches going on so I didn't want to hassle with multiple brew-belts. My electric usage compared to my pre-winemaking days hasn't increased too much, and it does the trick.

I normally keep the house at 64º in the winter, it's just me and the mutts, and they have fur coats. 

Peace,
Bob


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## reefman (Feb 18, 2010)

Hi Bob,
My wife would never allow me to make wine in the Laundry room, I'm lucky to be in the basement.


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## arcticsid (Feb 18, 2010)

Bob, if you needed to you could always grab a roll of duct tape and strap one of the mutts to the fermenting vessel


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## gonzo46307 (Feb 20, 2010)

arcticsid said:


> Bob, if you needed to you could always grab a roll of duct tape and strap one of the mutts to the fermenting vessel





They would walk away with it.

:>

Peace,
Bob


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## Old Philosopher (Feb 22, 2010)

jdeere5220 said:


> ...One other question: If the ferment does get slowed or stopped by cool temps, is it stuck forever or will it pick right back up as soon as you warm things up? In other words, if I try running a bit cooler am I risking losing an entire batch?



My recent/current experience:
I have 3 gallons of cider going with Red Star Curvee. I'm in a cabin with wood heat only.
I graph my SG readings on the computer. A couple days into the primary, the SG started to level off. The temperature was 65 F. I read what Luc said about yeast going dormant at 68F (I see now the Curvee is supposed to be good down the 58F, but I don't believe it!).
I moved my primary bucket nearer the wood stove and got the temp up to 85F. By the next day, my SG had dropped .02! It continued to drop like a rock. Just raising the temperature of the batch kick-started the yeast. At that temperature, the SG dropped from 1.076 to 1.002 in just 6 days.....


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