Ale pail fermenting

[donshizzles]

Anyone have any experience fermenting in an ale pail....as far as keeping a constant 70 degrees? Other than using the room temperature, what other methods can be used with an ale pale? My heat goes down to 63 when I'm at work so I need a better method.

[brewmeisterintng]

Apply a heat belt. I have seen them advertised in beer catalogs but don't have any experience with them.
Place your Ale Pail in a larger vessel of water that will maintain the temperature longer. You could rig an aquarium heater to it.
Insolated box with a small light bulb and maybe a small fan to circulate the heat.
What ever idea you try, keep SAFETY in mind.

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

The heat belts that brewmeister suggested work fairly well. My house is always around 60 degrees also, but when I come home at night and turn on the fireplace, it warms up to around 75. I didn't like that much fluctuation in my beer temps, so I bought the heat belt.

Since then, I have monitored my ales without using the belt and they seem to only fluctuate by about 2-3 degrees each day even when the house is doing 10-15 degrees. I always forget how much slower liquid cools down and heats up compared to air.

[slothrob]

What are you making?

I ferment ales almost exclusively at 60-64°F. There's very little that needs 70°F, but some british yeasts might benefit from 65-68°F.

Putting the pail into a larger bucket filled part way with water will increase the thermal mass and further reduce the temperature fluctuation. Like Southerncomfort, however, while my house temperature varies from 60-70°F during the day, the beer usually only varies between 62-64°F.