HopsBrewHome Brew Heat Heating Belt Pad for Beer Wine Spirits fermenter+ sticker on thermometer

Got this to up the temperature on the wheat beers I make. I aim for a temp of around 24°C and use a metal fermenter, which probably work better than the plastic or glass ones. I switch it on at night when the room temperature drops to around 18°C and it's still bubbling away at 24° quite happily in the mornings, and that's with it about a quarter of the way down from the top so this must be extremely efficient. 25 watts x 10 hours a night equals not very much!

I had a similar product many years ago and so I purchased one when I recently went back to home winemaking, knowing how important a stable temperature can be for a smooth fermentation.This one is wide enough to span two demijohns side by side, so you are left with a fair amount of slack if you're fermenting only one gallon. However, an adjustable cord is provided to stop the excess belt dangling loose.Temperature control is determined by the height on the demijohn at which the belt is placed- there is no separate thermostat or similar temperature control device. You'll need a separate thermometer if you want to determine the exact temperature of the must.No complaints about packaging or delivery - all prompt and to plan.

Really easy to use and kept my home brew bucket at the perfect temperature all through the brewing process

Bought this to keep my homebrew warm. But only used once as its so hot at the moment I'm having to try keep my yeast babies cool

Bought it for wine making. Disappointed that there's no info sheet apart from a few guidelines on the plastic bag. It works, heats up okay, but the temperature seems to be very high for the ferment and I think a thermostat would be a better addition. After all I am expected to risk my wine being spoiled to save the manufacturer a few quid. I would be happy to pay a little extra for temp' control. And a guidance sheet on usage. Won't buy another.

If like me you live in a temperate climate where you can't predict the weather in an hour never mind a week, this is essential to keep the temperature up when you're fermenting. Basically you just wrap it around your fermenting bucket, plug it in and away you go. It seems to keep the temperature in the 26c region if you place it about one third ways up the bucket. The temperature can be adjusted quite simply by moving the belt.To get a higher temp. just move the belt down, and a lower temp. just move it up. Simple but effective.This gives it an advantage over a mat which you can't move to adjust temp. and can only be achieved if you buy one with a variable thermostat which would obviously cost more.It's simple but it works for me and I'd recommend it to anyone fermenting wine. I've no idea about brewing beer so cannot comment about it's effectiveness for that purpose.

I have used to keep my FV warm during winter, especially on days if I am away. Used in conjunction with the hot water tank lagging I have wrapped the FV in and a thermostat controller this works well. It takes round 4 hours to gently warm up a couple of degrees. Without the lagging it does struggle to even maintain a temperature when the ambient is <15, but I don't think that should be expected from such a small element to be fair. It does turn itself on and off perhaps every few minutes so the heating is very gradual which is probably best I suppose!

Only received a few hours ago and already in use!Pleased to see it come with a standard 13 amp plug as not shown in illustration on shopping pageAs for reviewer (Susan) who warned about potential shortness, it fitted my 40 pint fermentation bucket perfectly, and had a adequate length of electric cable