I was perusing a catalogue in my local home brew shop recently and came
across an immersion heater that you basically plug in and drop in a
bucket. It was designed for beer use, but I was thinking of the
possibilities of using it for wine and mead. I usually only use enough
hot water to dissolve the sugar and, depending on the wine, cover the
fruit/vegetable matter for extraction. I would advise removing the
heater before adding sugar. My next batch of mead will probably use a
raw local honey so I could use it to heat water up enough to pasteurise
it, should I wish to do so.

Has anyone got any experience with these? Any other thoughts? It would
be a lot easier than filling up a few large pans for hot water, and it
was less than half the price of a 2 gallon kettle I was looking at
recently.

The heater is fine for heating water, but the concentrated heat at the
surface of the heating element is more than I'd prefer to come into
contact with my grapes/wine. It won't hurt you when you get slight
carmelization in the must, though I'd expect a bit of oxidized flavor (a
la sherry). You be the judge. Gene

alien wrote:
> I was perusing a catalogue in my local home brew shop recently and came
> across an immersion heater that you basically plug in and drop in a
> bucket. It was designed for beer use, but I was thinking of the
> possibilities of using it for wine and mead. I usually only use enough
> hot water to dissolve the sugar and, depending on the wine, cover the
> fruit/vegetable matter for extraction. I would advise removing the
> heater before adding sugar. My next batch of mead will probably use a
> raw local honey so I could use it to heat water up enough to pasteurise
> it, should I wish to do so.
>
> Has anyone got any experience with these? Any other thoughts? It would
> be a lot easier than filling up a few large pans for hot water, and it
> was less than half the price of a 2 gallon kettle I was looking at
> recently.

"alien" > wrote in message
...
> I was perusing a catalogue in my local home brew shop recently and came
> across an immersion heater that you basically plug in and drop in a
> bucket. It was designed for beer use, but I was thinking of the
> possibilities of using it for wine and mead.

You can also get submersible ones at pet shops for aquarium use.

I usually only use enough
> hot water to dissolve the sugar and, depending on the wine, cover the
> fruit/vegetable matter for extraction. I would advise removing the
> heater before adding sugar. My next batch of mead will probably use a
> raw local honey so I could use it to heat water up enough to pasteurise
> it, should I wish to do so.

Make sure that honey is very sweet and aromatic in flavor. I used wild
honey on five gallons of mead and it has an aftertaste like kiddies cough
syrup.
Bob
--

Please excuse any errors in my post,
as I have dain bramage.
>
> Has anyone got any experience with these? Any other thoughts? It would
> be a lot easier than filling up a few large pans for hot water, and it
> was less than half the price of a 2 gallon kettle I was looking at
> recently.

If I think my must is a bit cool and I need a bit of warmth for my yeast to
get going, I use a heating pad. I set my 2 gallon glass primary ferment
container on top of my heating pad. Having said that, I always make sure I'm
home when I turn it on, and I do keep tabs on it. Please, I don't want
anyone to have a fire if they do this. Usually, it only requires a few
hours, then the must takes off, and I remove the heating pad.
Darlene
Wisconsin

"alien" > wrote in message
...
>I was perusing a catalogue in my local home brew shop recently and came
>across an immersion heater that you basically plug in and drop in a bucket.
>It was designed for beer use, but I was thinking of the possibilities of
>using it for wine and mead. I usually only use enough hot water to
>dissolve the sugar and, depending on the wine, cover the fruit/vegetable
>matter for extraction. I would advise removing the heater before adding
>sugar. My next batch of mead will probably use a raw local honey so I
>could use it to heat water up enough to pasteurise it, should I wish to do
>so.
>
> Has anyone got any experience with these? Any other thoughts? It would be
> a lot easier than filling up a few large pans for hot water, and it was
> less than half the price of a 2 gallon kettle I was looking at recently.

I'm only going to use it to heat water. It's something like £20, while
a 3G catering kettle will set me back around £100. Was just wondering if
there's any cons to using it that I haven't thought about. Money was a
bit tight until Friday, so I didn't want to waste any. The only think I
can think is that the long term costs might be higher or it might melt
the plastic must bucket.

Dar V wrote:
> If I think my must is a bit cool and I need a bit of warmth for my yeast to
> get going, I use a heating pad. I set my 2 gallon glass primary ferment
> container on top of my heating pad. Having said that, I always make sure I'm
> home when I turn it on, and I do keep tabs on it. Please, I don't want
> anyone to have a fire if they do this. Usually, it only requires a few
> hours, then the must takes off, and I remove the heating pad.
> Darlene
> Wisconsin
>
> "alien" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I was perusing a catalogue in my local home brew shop recently and came
>>across an immersion heater that you basically plug in and drop in a bucket.
>>It was designed for beer use, but I was thinking of the possibilities of
>>using it for wine and mead. I usually only use enough hot water to
>>dissolve the sugar and, depending on the wine, cover the fruit/vegetable
>>matter for extraction. I would advise removing the heater before adding
>>sugar. My next batch of mead will probably use a raw local honey so I
>>could use it to heat water up enough to pasteurise it, should I wish to do
>>so.
>>
>>Has anyone got any experience with these? Any other thoughts? It would be
>>a lot easier than filling up a few large pans for hot water, and it was
>>less than half the price of a 2 gallon kettle I was looking at recently.
>
>