Controlled beer temp

Thread Starter

Inquisitive-Kev

Joined Nov 16, 2020
4
Hi guys. Im looking to improve my beer and wine brewing hobby. Currently I use an outside shed and this time of year the temperature can drop, therefore I want to use heat pad that has a circuit to regulate a heat pad to a constant temperature of 42 - 46f
Can anyone advise please
 

Ian0

Joined Aug 7, 2020
9,667
The switching side of it is easy - a triac, or even a relay.
At that sort of temperature, a thermistor or an IC sensor such as the LM35 would work well, a thermocouple wouldn't.
See what sort of temperature probe you can lay your hands on, that can be sterilised along with the rest of the brewing equipment and I'm sure there will be no shortage of advice as to how to design the rest of it.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
What I did was obtain a heating pad, the type that secretaries etc use under the desk as leg/foot warmers.
It mounts fairly flat, I used an old wooden packing crate and use a room thermostat with it to keep the temp constant.
The crate holds three carboys at once.
Max.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Sounds like a little over designing!
And don't see that being practical, the volumes are generally in the range of 25 litres.!
And for brewing in general, very precise control is not necessary down to the degree!
I have been using the above technique for 10yrs now with success.
Max.
 

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
proportional and integration is easy, it would take care of it... just a couple opamps. I'm not a beer nut but people are picky about the correct storage temprature.
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,852
Back when I was running a micro section lab I had an electric oven to aid in curing my samples. Warming them would speed up their cure times. However, with the oven (a toaster oven) there was terrible temperature control as there was a feature that I dubbed "Thermal Inertia". TI is when a 5000˚ element heats up. When a set temperature is reached the current would shut down. However, because the element was still quite hot the temperature would soar past the point where I wanted it. Thermal inertia also played a factor in when the temperature was dropping. When it reached the set point the current would come on again. But the temperature continued to fall during the time for the heating element heat-up. So setting my oven at a given temperature only meant that I would get an average temperature. Which is fine for cooking I suppose, but for brewing - that might not be the best alternative. Those heating pads mentioned don't heat very fast so I would imagine the TI would not be that great. However, I've noticed mine take some time to warm up.

Someone said "Precise control is not necessary". OK. I don't know that, but I accept that. Question is - "Is that good enough for you?"
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
I'm not a beer nut but people are picky about the correct storage temprature.
This I assume is fermentation temperatures, yeast is not always that picky about temperature, as long it is within quite a wide range.
The breweries equipment I used to service many years ago, were not that critical when brewing, and these vats were many kilo-Litres..
Max.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
The temp is critical as I’m experimenting/ breading a strain of yeast. I also want to power with a 9 volt battery and therefore longevity is also a must
If you are breeding a strain, do you need a large shed to do that in?
I would have thought that could be done with a very small quantity of ingredients in home?
Max.
 

Ian0

Joined Aug 7, 2020
9,667
Obviously, brewing is a very quick process, that just takes a few minutes. Or it's not the normal sort of 9V battery.
 

Thread Starter

Inquisitive-Kev

Joined Nov 16, 2020
4
O
Obviously, brewing is a very quick process, that just takes a few minutes. Or it's not the normal sort of 9V battery.
ok.... I have an idea of a kitchen gadget I’m thinking of building and want to protect my idea/ design
I’m looking for something that will control a small heat pad at a very low temperature as this item will be in a refrigerator for long period of time. The idea is to raise the product temperature 3 or 4 degrees warmer than the fridge temp as.
this item will be the size of a mobile phone Any suggestions on how to build such a small device would be greatly helpful to a non electric person.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
I’ve found a small heated eye compress. It uses a USB cable for power and specifies a 1-2A USB port.

Assume the lower value. At 1A draw from a 9V battery, the battery will last less than 30 minutes. If it will supply 1A at all. A 9V battery is rated at 500mAh. Meaning is can supply 500mA (or 0.5A) for an hour. This pad draws at least an ampere meaning the battery will be drained in 30 minutes. The useful life is much less,
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
I assume this is just to satisfy a personal quest to produce ones own, if it is for beer, there is a plethora of yeast strains available from different labs & companies, it can be hard to keep all of the products straight now.!
I have also recovered one from a Belgium ale where the beer was carbonated in the bottle.
Really excellent strain.
Max.
 
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