22 replies to this topic

[DuncanDad]

Ok, I'm a Georgia boy so, save the smart assed comments.I get up this morning and it's 20 df. Wind is whipping out of the north at a good 10 mph. It's a cold monkeyfighter out there.I get all the stuff setup to brew. I have to pour hot water on the garden hose, (hosepipe to us in the south) just to get it to uncurl.Fill the HLT and it take 2.5 hours to get to mash temp. Go to add more water to the HLT and the hose is frozen solid.Mash in and the grains, (stored in tubs in the barn) suck up 30 degrees, (usually 15-20).Ice on the deck. Hoses stiff. Everything is frozen/stiff. I have to keep a dribble of water running to keep the hose from freezing solid.How on the hell do you guys brew outside when it's even colder than this? How do you keep water flowing and the ice off the deck?No, I don't have a garage or basement.

[Mashman]

Personally I don't, I get all my brewing done when the weather is nice. I brew between March and November, I make mead in the winter.Mashman

[Bigeasy]

First:the South,lol.I brew in the garage now but until recently was a straight outdoors brewer without garage or basement.I'm in NE Ohio.I only ever used my hose for chiller water so as the weather started to get cold I'd make sure every time we used the hose to drain the water out.Then I just kept a plastic bag taped on the ends to keep the snow out.I'd leave it outdoors all winter,hooking it on as needed.I'd guess bring it inside over night if you can.2.5 hrs to heat strike water at 20 degrees?That seems very long.I use propane and regardless of temp never takes more than 20 mins.Try milling your grains the day before and bring them inside till you're ready to mash in.Also bring your mash tun in over night.This will keep you closer to temp losses you're accustomed to.In addition,put a gallon or so hot water in your tun a half hr before mash in to stabilize the temp.Ice on the deck...I got nothin...be careful with the water??Hope this helps you some.Keep warm,lol.

[DuncanDad]

The problem with heating up the water is not the temp, (kinda a problem) but the wind. Even with a wind screen, the wind is just blowin' the heat away. I'm on the deck next to the house but, it's not working as a wind break today.Winter and Spring are the best times to brew here. Summer and Fall it's just too hot. The ground water in the summer here is upwards of 80 degrees. Can't cool off wort with water that warm.I have about a 4 month window to brew all the beer I want for the year-December to March. I will brew as many times as I can durning that period. Early beers are stuff I can load up in the keggerator and the later beers are for aging, (Belgians and the like). By Christmas, I'm usually out of beer.

[HerrHiller]

Me and My best buddy Rick have had some of our best brew days in the bitter cold. That's where I made my Frostbissen dunkel. also where I made my kung fu hop kick, I also made my woolynator in that cold. I personally think while that day kinds sucks and ur freezing ur balls off, its truly an adventure that you remember and talk about, and those brew days are my most memorable. We leave garden hose inside garage or shed or house until we needed to use it. We wore lots of clothing. We had some tasty 2 hearted ales to help us through though :-) BTW where at in NE Ohio do u live? I'm always trying to meet/hangout with other local brewers.

[MakeMeHoppy]

I used to brew in the garage and you missed something that I really hated. When it got cold (not even freezing) I couldn't see a thing in my brew kettle because of the steam. I now brew indoors using 2 burners to get the wort up the boiling then combine into one pot. If you don't have a great stove, you can always do a smaller batch.I'd send some heat your way, but we're all out up here in NY this weekend.

[DuncanDad]

I hear ya. It's going to be 18 here tonight.Doing smaller batches won't help. We have a glass topped stove. It won't get 5 gallons up to boiling much less ten gallons.I hate our stove but, we bought it the night before Thanksgiving a few years ago when our old one kicked the bucket as we were cooking Thanksgiving dinner. We had to buy what we could get and hook up that night, (no gas run). I'm looking forward to the day this one dies and I can get a proper stove.

[MakeMeHoppy]

I hear ya. It's going to be 18 here tonight.Doing smaller batches won't help. We have a glass topped stove. It won't get 5 gallons up to boiling much less ten gallons.I hate our stove but, we bought it the night before Thanksgiving a few years ago when our old one kicked the bucket as we were cooking Thanksgiving dinner. We had to buy what we could get and hook up that night, (no gas run). I'm looking forward to the day this one dies and I can get a proper stove.

Well good luck. Hopefully your weather will turn around quickly.

[tag]

The most important thing for me is bringing the water hose inside the house the night before.

[realbeerguy]

When I lived in NJ, I would bring the hoses in during the winter, hooking them up only on the days I brewed. I have brewed as low as 10 dF. Wind screen would normally help, but 25-30 mph is too much. Now that I am in Hilton Head, generally brew in garage with door 1/3 way open. Good idea with premilling the grains, & preheating your MT. I would think that anything you can keep in the house the night before will help.Do you have a shed out back to use?

[jayb151]

The most important thing for me is bringing the water hose inside the house the night before.

Agreed! I'm in the western suburbs of Chicago and I keep all my brewing stuff inside untill I use them. Luckily in the winter i have a pump recerculate snow water to chill the wort. I also try to do my mashing inside. If time isn't an issue I also heat my water on the stove top then move to the garage when I start my boil. ...And there is something, dare I say, charming about heating yourself only by the steam of a boil kettle.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

The most important thing for me is bringing the water hose inside the house the night before.

I keep mine in the garage where it generally stays above freezing.

[BarelyBrews]

I boil my mash water,after mash&sparge i boil outside. Then i bring my brewpot inside and chill w/my wort chiller. I used to use ice and cold water around the mash it was not quick enough. I bought an adapter for my wort chiller for around $3-4 and use the indoor kitchen sink to cool .

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I boil my mash water,after mash&sparge i boil outside. Then i bring my brewpot inside and chill w/my wort chiller. I used to use ice and cold water around the mash it was not quick enough. I bought an adapter for my wort chiller for around $3-4 and use the indoor kitchen sink to cool .

when the snow is pretty clean I use it for my ice bath to bring the wort down that last few degrees. it's nice to not have to make ice.

[Dave McG]

Sounds kind of balmy to me. I think it got up to 12 degrees on New Years around here.

[Dave McG]

I tried including a picture in my last post, but it didn't work, and I can't seem to edit or delete it.

Sounds kind of balmy to me. I think it got up to 12 degrees on New Years around here.

[MyaCullen]

Personally I don't, I get all my brewing done when the weather is nice. I brew between March and November, I make mead in the winter.Mashman

+ a billion

[3rd party JKor]

I went all electric and moved my rig inside so I could brew year round. Winter brewing outside sucks.

[chefmiller]

"First:the South,lol."What is that supposed to mean? No one has mentioned that your propane might not be warm enough to "phase" properly.( I think that's the term for it)If you partially submerge the tank in some hot water, you will get better performance from it. I do that all winter here in Colorado. Second, you can improvise some kind of wind-breaking device, I'm sure. Even if you have to resort to aluminum foil contraptions, you should be able to keep the flame on the pot. I've had some severe wind on brewdays, and for me I use a couple of full-size sheet pans leaned up against the burner. I know that not everyone has sheet pans laying around, but being a chef does have it's advantages.PLEASE let's not start bashing the southern United States on here... that's just plain ignorant.