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Been reading around for some answers with no luck. I am in the UK and maintaining heat is an issue, all articles I read are y'all Americans trying to keep liquid cool.

So I have a flat arround 17/18 celsius on average, I believe this is fluctuation from 16-20 in reality with heating and overnight temperature drops.

Should i insulate my primary FV? I am worried temperatures will be too high when heat is generate by yeast.

I was thinking of using Aluminium insulation foam used to reflect heat from radiators? enter image description here

Would anyone be able to clear up if this is necesarry and if there are more suitable solutions?

Cheers, L.

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Similar to you, I am based in the UK, in the north. Specifically, near Leeds.

The proposed aluminium insulation foam might work. I don't know. Never tried it as there are no means of preventing the heat from building up if it gets too hot.

For not too much money you can create a temperature controlled setup. You need 3 pieces of kit:

  1. Brewbelt.
  2. Inkbird temperature controller.
  3. 30cm Digital Probe thermometer (sometimes sold with the Inkbird, like this eBay listing).

Total cost for this will be around £40-50. Simply drill a hole in your bucket lid and add a gromet for a tight fit to get the temperature probe inside. It attaches to the temperature controller which is also connected to the brewbelt. You set it up to turn the heating element on (the brewbelt) when the temperature gets below a certain threshold, e.g. 20.5°C, and to turn off once it hits the desired temp, e.g. 21°C.

It also has a plug for a cooling element but given I'm in the north I've never had need of that (though I would if I wanted to do any lagering). If you have an old fridge to use you could ferment in there and this would turn the fridge on if the temp gets too hot.

I've used this setup with no issues for quite a while now. The brewing stays in the garage which is uninsulated.

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Insulation is not enough. In addition to the 3 items above, you'll definitely want to get a some type cooler or refrigerator to allow you to do lagers or even for some ales that you want to ferment on the lower end.

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  • Thanks for that, I should have defined what I am brewing. I am mainly interested in IPA, I will invest in something to chill lager though eventually. For IPA that needs to be 20-24 from what I gather do you think insulation will be enough?
    – Liam
    Commented Apr 3, 2019 at 13:59
  • @joe92 you'll get beer with or without the insulation. But if you want to make a consistent beer, you'll want consistent temp control
    – Odin Anderson
    Commented Apr 3, 2019 at 14:29
  • @OdinAnderson Yup, consistent temp control is the perfect solution, but costs and space are something to think about as well. Since he's in the UK he's mostly not going to need to worry about chilling except during a rare heatwave or if lagering. Ambient temp will be enough to cool the beer. But, I did mention the hooking up to a fridge in my answer anyway!
    – joe92
    Commented Apr 3, 2019 at 16:21

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