Fish tank heater rye scorch!

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Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby Blinky » Thu May 07, 2020 7:47 am

Hi guys just after a little advice please.

Iv had a thick choc rye mash fermenting away. Coming to the end of the ferment the out side temp has dropped so iv added a fish tank heater to keep it warm over night.
Checked it this morning and the mash has scorched onto the glass fish tank heater!
I have removed any burn/off colour bits, still has a slight scorched smell and taste to it.
Heater was in there for 11 hours and would have taken a while to warm up?
Do you guys think it is still worth running?

Cheers
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Re: Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby scythe » Thu May 07, 2020 8:44 am

Nothing to lose by running it except time
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Re: Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby Blinky » Thu May 07, 2020 9:21 am

Yeah that’s the issue I’m running it in a Bain Marie still That takes a long time to strip and lose a days pay for me time off :angry-banghead:
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Re: Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby The Stig » Thu May 07, 2020 9:26 am

Its the fats and proteins that stick to the heat source and cook, it due to the large surface area.
Best to use an external, indirect source of heat like a belt or a pad.
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Re: Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby Blinky » Thu May 07, 2020 10:16 am

Yep don’t know what I was thinking. Was a knee jerk reaction to 1 cold night.

Worth running or dump it and start again?
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Re: Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby gap » Thu May 07, 2020 10:55 am

Also invest in some form of temperature control so you don't cook the ferment.
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Re: Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby CH3CH2OH » Fri May 08, 2020 5:18 pm

Surface area of your heat source and having it connected to a temp controller is important!!

I use a waterbed heater strapped to the side of my fermenter controlled by an stc-1000. The entire side of the fermenter is heated over a larger surface area compared to the surface area of a fish tank heater.
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Re: Fish tank heater rye scorch!

Postby Beerswimmer » Tue May 26, 2020 12:43 am

Blinky, can you ferment in your bain Marie? Is it big enough to ferment the whole wash?
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