permo

Recipes 

I live in ND, where it can get..well..COLD! Anyways, I am a newer brewer only 25 gallons brewed so far, but this weekend I brewed one up and the outside temp was 33 degrees or so. I could crank up my burner and not matter what I wouldn't get a boilover...the cold air just make the wort steam and roll back under. It was a nice rolling boil. I just thought I would pass this along for others in the north, that brewing the colder weather has some advantages. I can't wait until I can chill my wort in a snowbank or on my steps outside my front door at -20 degrees!

Grinder12000

Recipes 

I'm in Wisconsin and have brewed in cold weather and have had boil overs but my burner is rather powerful. You do get more evaporation also.

BTW - cooling in snow is SLOW!! Not worth it. It helps but not as much as you would think because the snow keeps melting away. I still use a wort chiller but we have a new house with outdoor faucets that do not have to be turned off in the winter.

__________________
What I don't know I'll obsess over.

Grinders Island Brewery - Pipeline

Pigged - Dbl Chocolate Stout (76)
Secondary
Primary #1 - Dunkelweizen (79) on tap at a brewery (community tap)
Primary #2 - Nut Brown (78)
Starter
On Deck - Cream of Three Crops (80)
On Deck - Dead Arrogant Guy (81)
On Deck - One Putt12 IPA (82)

Give a man a beer, and he wastes an hour, but teach a man how to brew, and he wastes a lifetime.

permo

Recipes 

You are telling me about he evaporation. I was anticipating some evaporation so i boiled 5.5 gallons...by the time it was all said and done I had 4.5 gallons left and had to add water.

shortyjacobs

Recipes 

Wow....you get away lucky...I usually lose around 1.75 gallons....1.25 to evap, 0.5 to trub in kettle...

cactusgarrett

Recipes 

Once it's colder, you can lose more during the boil. 1gal/hour is standard for me at 60 or 70F. You're lucky that you don't have to shut off your faucets in the winter. Mine freeze up fairly quickly with consistenly cold weather. Snowbanks won't work - trust me. I have to huck the boilpot downstairs to the utility sink to hook up my immersion chiller.

One thing i DO plan on doing this year is to buy one of those portable firepits to set up in the driveway. Nothing like brewing next to a campfire - a little space heater in a 10F garage only goes so far.

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~~ Malted barley wants to become beer. ~~

400d

Recipes 

I'm really interested in how you ferment if it is so cold?

babalu87

Recipes 

The worst part is trying to keep the wort chiller going
I had the hoses freezing up on me a few times last year

Grinder12000

Recipes 

I would think the hard part is thawing the ice chunk after a winter of chilling!

I will admit that I won't brew in ultra cold. Upper 20's are the limit for me.

__________________
What I don't know I'll obsess over.

Grinders Island Brewery - Pipeline

Pigged - Dbl Chocolate Stout (76)
Secondary
Primary #1 - Dunkelweizen (79) on tap at a brewery (community tap)
Primary #2 - Nut Brown (78)
Starter
On Deck - Cream of Three Crops (80)
On Deck - Dead Arrogant Guy (81)
On Deck - One Putt12 IPA (82)

Give a man a beer, and he wastes an hour, but teach a man how to brew, and he wastes a lifetime.

cruelkix

Recipes 

For all those thinking snow will help you chill your pot just rememeber that snow is actually a really good insulator..... Take a bag of water and throw it in teh snow. Come back ina awhile and its not frozen. Throw that same bag on top of the snow were the ari and wind can get at it .... Frozen, and pretty fast at like 0 - 10 degrees outside.

You may absorb some energy melting the snow, but as soon as the intial contact is done you are worse off then just leaving it out in the cold air and wind.

shortyjacobs

Recipes 

.....by that logic, does that mean it's better to throw a mixed drink into the freezer instead of putting an ice cube in it?