Kombucha Heating Wrap - Fermentation Heater Mat Pad with Temperature Control

I have been a home brewer (wine/beer) for over 30 years. I began making Kombucha a few years ago and have been making one gallon batches of it just using room temperature in a warm furnace room as the temperature control. As might be expected the results varied due to having inconsistent temperature control. I recently purchased this heater which is specifically designed for kombucha and am extremely pleased with the results.The design is excellent. It was designed by a home brewer who obviously thought out solutions to the common design problems. It fits a standard one gallon jar and leaves a vertical gap in the wrap around heater to be able to easily read the vertical stick-on temperature strip that comes with the unit. The wrap-around heater element is held with a velcro strap and has three selectable heat levels plus an off level with an easy to read indication of the level. It has two indicator lights. One green to show that you have line power attached and one red to indicate that the heater has been turned on.Using a power meter it drew 12 watts on high, 9 watts on medium and 4 watts on low. At the mid level heat setting this heater kept my one gallon batch at a perfectly constant 82 deg over 7 days even though it was in a room where the air temperature varied from 67 deg to 72 deg over the course of a day. The batch finished to my taste in 7 days compared to the usual 10 to 12 days before the I used the heater.An excellent product. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in making consistent kombucha quicklyOne thing I would suggest to the designer/seller - the very useful suggestions for how to use the three heat settings to achieve specific results are printed on the side of the packaging box. I almost threw the box out without reading it. I would strongly suggest that you print that info on an insert and put it in the box

I have now purchased 2 of these wraps because they work so well!I brew kombucha and needed a heating wrap since our house gets chilly overnight during the winter months.This is truly a ‘set it and forget it’ solution! To enjoy the success I have with my kombucha simply read the directions that are on box the wrap comes in and you’ll be on your way to easy maintenance and delicious brews.There are 3 settings: High, Medium, Low. The info on the box outlines how to determine which setting to use, and when.When the wrap is used with a 1 gallon round glass jug it leaves a space to view a temperature strip if you use them, which I do. Many products of this type wrap completely around the vessel which makes it more difficult to check the temperature when necessary.The dimensions of it provide even heating for the vessel size I mentioned above. This is a big consideration when fermenting since you don’t want all the heat in one spot.It’s definitely a well thought out design and is a great value for the money since it will help make F1 a success each and every time!

I nearly returned it on the first day, thinking it wasn't working, but it just heats up slowly. The heat is concentrated at both ends of the mat. Once set, it maintains a consistent temperature, and my kombucha turned out great!UPDATE: I'm upgrading my rating to 5/5 stars. I really like how reliable it's been in maintaining the temperature of my Kombucha, I didn't have to worry about it at all. I ended up ordering a second pair for my 2-gallon jar, and it fits well! I also appreciate the temperature sticker included with each order and the spacing it has to view it. Thank you!

I bought this because the temperature in my house is in the mid-60s, but kombucha likes a temperature of 75-85°F. The wrap was perfect - except for one thing. When I opened the package, I saw that the strap that holds the wrap in place was severed. I was very disappointed. The package had a business card in it which said to contact Glen if something wasn't working out, so I took a picture of the strap and sent it to him. Within a few hours (on a Sunday, no less!) Glen wrote me back, and said he would send me a replacement immediately. And he did!I was blown away. I had expected, at most, to be sent a replacement strap.So on to the heating pad itself - the strap holds the pad nicely onto the jar, and is easy to adjust if I want to peek into the jar. It also came with a stick-on thermometer so I can monitor the temperature without having to keep sticking a thermometer into the kombucha (and potentially introducing a contaminant) . The only complaint I have about this arrangement is that to read the thermometer, I HAVE to loosen the strap, since the strap covers the most relevant part of the temperature strip. Not a big deal, though.I find that the "low" setting keeps the brew at 72°F in my 64°F kitchen. The "high" setting very nicely gets it into the officially preferred range, but I find that 72° is adequate. The brewing goes a bit slower, but this way I don't start making too much kombucha!The wrap also came with pH test strips specially set up for kombucha, which I find very useful. I'm not sure if the wrap always comes with the strips, or if that was a special offer. Anyway, I like them.The only suggestion I would offer is for the electric cord to be attached in the middle of the wrap, instead of at the end. I have the wrap around my jar with the opening in the front, so I can more easily see the thermometer. That puts the cord in the front, which is a bit unsightly. If it exited the wrap in the middle, the cord could remain out of sight. But that is a minor comment.In general, this does exactly what I wanted it to do, and I can't say enough about Glen's customer service!

Did exactly what I needed. The low setting was too low, so bumped it up to the medium setting and it tea up to 79 F. Easy to wrap around the one gallon jar.