Brew Belt on Secondary

[steviepointer]

Working on my first batch (happens to be Island Mist Blueberry).

It's sitting in the primary. I have a brew belt on it. Basement temp is 63F.

When I move to the secondary, do I want to put a brew belt on it?

If you put a brew belt on a secondary, how does it affect things?

Thanks!

 

[cbw]

Island Mist kits usually ferment out quickly.

I'm in Illinois where my basement is usually around 62 in the winter.

Here's what I do.

I leave the brew belt on during primary.

After 5 days in primary, rack to a carboy.

Keep the brew belt on the carboy for another 3 days.

After that, remove the brew belt and let the carboy sit for 10 more days.

At day 18, put the brew belt back on ... (your next step is degassing and fining ... you'll need to warm up the wine for better degassing).

Two days later (day 20), degass and fine. You'll no longer need the brew belt, so start a second kit in the primary!

Let it clear another three weeks and you'll be good to bottle your Island Mist kit. It's an "early drinker" so start drinking as soon as you want after bottling.

 

[robie]

CBW's advice is good and will work fine. I personally leave the brew belt on all during secondary, if the wine temp would otherwise fall below about 74 F. This way it will start degassing on its own as fermentation winds down.

Either way you will be fine, as long as the wine is warm (upper 70's) before degassing.

 

[Wade E]

I also just leabe the brew bely on unntil it all done clearing and everything.

 

[Green Mountains]

I see no reason why not.

 

[Wade E]

I would say it would be fine, it doesnt get hot enough to do any damage and hey they say not to use it on glass and we do , I have been doing that for 8 years now no problem.

 

[cbw]

Yes we switched to Better Bottles a while ago and use brew belts all the time. The brew belt folks say not to use the belts on glass carboys but like Wade said, folks use the belts on glass too.

 

[Teamsterjohn]

Started new kit yesterday, the one thats listed here. (MM) Put the belt on also. This morning the floating temp in the primary was 78-79, after I stired it up, it evened out to 74.5 with a infra red temp meter. Room temp is 69.4 Does the belt still need to be on?

 

[Dugger]

Started new kit yesterday, the one thats listed here. (MM) Put the belt on also. This morning the floating temp in the primary was 78-79, after I stired it up, it evened out to 74.5 with a infra red temp meter. Room temp is 69.4 Does the belt still need to be on?

Sit the bucket on a piece of styrofoam ( up off the floor) and wrap the bucket in a blanket or something ( I use an old insulated shirt) - the fermentation process produces heat and this will retain it; you should be able to maintain a good temp without the belt. Keep an eye on it, at some point it will start to cool off so you will have to put the belt back on to keep it warm for easy degassing.
.. Doug

 

[cbw]

Agree with Dugger .. make some sort of carboy cover ... an old sweater, blanket ... personally, I bought a large roll of that aluminum covered bubble wrap (in home improvement stores by insulation) to make my own carboy covers. You can also purchase ready made ones in brew shops.

After I transfer to secondary, once the carboy is showing signs of strong fermentation, I take off the brew belt and put on the covers to hold in the "heat" from the fermentation activity.

With whites, a "slow and low" fermentation is a benefit. With reds, I have not noticed any problems with a lower temperature during the later stages of active fermentation.

You will have to put the belt back on at the end of fermentation for easier degassing.

 

[Teamsterjohn]

Thank you guys

 

[Wade E]

Once the fermentation is going strong I shut off the belt as a vigorous fermentation can produce its own temp up to 5* by itself on a 6 gallon batch and with a heat belt on there it can get too high. I turn it back on when the sg gets down to around 1.020 and then keep it on until its all done degassing and clearing.