TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED HEAT WRAP

SUMMARY
This setup is extremely easy, but rather expensive. I love building my own brewing equipment, but I am incapable of building a temperature controller or a heat wrap. Luckily, once you buy them both the rest is a breeze. 

I would not prioritize this build very high, unless you live in a super cold area, or dig Belgian Saisons.

SUPPLIES ($115)

Heat Wrap   ($30)
Thermostat ($80)
Electrical Tape ($5)

STEPS
    1) Read the Thermostat manual
          - the last thing you want to do is break this bank buster
          - figure out if the probe is waterproof (mine is not)
          - read the Heat Wrap manual while you're at it 
     2) Tape the Heat Wrap to your carboy or bottling bucket
          - I find bottling buckets better for this
          - The carboys are not smooth and you lose a lot of contact area
     3) Attach and program Thermostat
          - Set the Thermostat to a few degrees above current fermenter temp
          - Too large of a temperature change can hurt the yeast
     4) Secure the probe
          a) Dump it in the wort (it must be waterproof, or you could use a heat sink)
          b) Attach it to the side (what I did)
               - I taped a sock to the fermenter and slid my probe in between
     5) Make sure it gets hot
          - The Heat Wrap has a very low power density, so give it a minute

LESSONS LEARNED
This is super easy, but cost intensive
Not many beers require high temps


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