Any tips on controlling temperature during fermentation?

[spartan36]

How do you keep must temperature within the acceptable range during fermentation? I live in an old house on the coast, and temperatures often swing from over 80 to below 65 in a given 24 hr. period. I can't seem to find a place in the house where temps are either too warm, or too cold (cold is the main problem right now). Any tips?

Thanks.

 

[bluestone]

Im no expert, but I guess bigger volume of liquids wont be to susceptible to temperature variations. Anyway I know it exists things like heat pads/mats, belts, elements etc, but I thought that was used more if the temperatues was really really low.

Is it a specific yeast that dont perform in your available temperature range?

 

[Irigoite]

Look what this guy did in Brazil with an old fridge and a lamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_qoyZfAwgQ

 

[Seth8530]

I use a deep freezer with a temperature controller that is inserted via a steel pipe into the mead to control the temperature of my ferments. Low and slow is the name of my game.

 

[Medsen Fey]

A brew belt can keep things warm. I use an old freezer to keep things cool. You can also use yeast that tolerate a wide range such as K1V.

Sent from my THINGAMAJIG with WHATCHAMACALLIT

 

[miss_rach]

if you ferment in warmer environments like I do down here in FL, the best I can do (outside of buying a glycol jacket tank) is use a water bath. I put the carboy in a tub put some water in the tube then wrap a wet beach towel around the carboy and make sure some of it sits in the water. Water evaporates and keeps the carboy cool.

 

[Medsen Fey]

Using a fan with that setup will make it work better.

Sent from my THINGAMAJIG with WHATCHAMACALLIT

 

[Chevette Girl]

I have a soft cooler that fits a fermentation bucket, I used it with chiller packs to keep a must cool in the summer but some form of insulation would buffer your mead from environmental temperature swings. An unplugged fridge or freezer would at least insulate it against temperature swings. Even a box made out of rigid insulation would work. If you make it big enough so it's not a fire hazard, a light bulb left on in the box could keep it warm or adding icepacks or frozen bottles of water could keep it cool.

 

[Wombat]

I bought a $20 temperature controller on EBay, it has a temperature sensor in the fridge and either turns the fridge on to cool, or turns on a light bulb to heat. It will keep a stable temperature without problem, to within a fraction of a degree regardless of the outside temperature.

 

[EbonHawk]

I bought a $20 temperature controller on EBay, it has a temperature sensor in the fridge and either turns the fridge on to cool, or turns on a light bulb to heat. It will keep a stable temperature without problem, to within a fraction of a degree regardless of the outside temperature.

What manufacturer/model? That sounds like something I could use around here in "bi-polar weather territory"! 100°F in summer, 18°F in winter.

 

[Wombat]

You can find them on EBay, the model I used was an STC-1000 Temperature Controller Thermostat. Note that this is a 220V model though, so just ensure you get a 110V model for the US. It's about $20, but you need to wire it up, a job for an electrician usually. Mine has been working well for many years now, to both warm honey for filtering/extracting, and for keeping mead at exactly the right temp by being able to heat or cool automatically depending on the temp needed.