Winter offers brewing challenges but...

You gotta love 45F tap water for chilling, vs. low 70's F in the summer

Absolutely, my tap water comes out ice cold, I almost considered just chilling my wort with a sink full of water last brew I did.

little different here but at least it is from 85 to 60 now. The pool is mighty cool too, I can dunk the pots in it too.

I totally agree. Just this week, I was able to chill 5 gallons to pitching temperature in 10 minutes. It helped that the air temperature was about 12 degrees!

Was outside last weekend boiling up some American Amber. The snow was falling and the wind was blowing. Ahhhh, so nice!

What are the challenges of brewing in winter?

I wish I had summer tap temps. as low as 70F. Ours here is 81F.

I chilled my last 5.5gal batch from 212 to 69 in about 7 minutes with an IC and a whirlpool. My 1L starters take much, much longer than that in an ice bath!

boredatwork said:

What are the challenges of brewing in winter?

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The announcer on the Price Is Right would say it this way.... " Come on down" You'd soon find out.
It would probably take a few layers of tanned skin off you.

boredatwork said:

What are the challenges of brewing in winter?

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Here's a few:

1. Last January, just to maintain pressure I had to rotate 2 20# and 1 40# propane cylinders during the boil.

2. Last weekend, I had to run a garden hose from the inside sink to my counterflow chiller outside the house thorough the back door because the outside faucet was frozen solid.

3. SWMBO doesn't like the back door open when it's less that warm outside.

Golly, I hadn't thought about the propane tank pressure issue! I wonder if I'll actually be able to brew tomorrow? It's in the low 20's overnight, warming up to mid-30s during the day tomorrow. I bet I'll be fine, though it will take quite a while to get the wort up to boil, eh?

I don't remember the exact temp, but it was either this side or that side of zero.

I now bring in my propane tanks the night before I brew.

I just checked my tap water temp.

58F.


Colder than the 80F+ I was getting a few months ago, at least.

Another plus: no wasps! And the burner warms the brewery up nicely, even with the window wide open.

38F and lucky the section over the creek didn't freeze.

Winter in NC means I can brew lagers and lager them in the garage.

crammer said:

Winter in NC means I can brew lagers and lager them in the garage.

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+1 I started lagering in my loft complex's garage. We each have these big lockers, and once the freeze sets in the are great chambers for it.

But I actually tend ot do a lot more brewing in the winter. This is the time of year where I start doing a lot of 2.5 gallon experimental batched on the stove. I tend to be "freer" with these batches meaning I'll tend to try different styles and ingredients.

Bumbler said:

I don't remember the exact temp, but it was either this side or that side of zero.

I now bring in my propane tanks the night before I brew.

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Good tip! Did that last night and also found the regulator hose is long enough that I can keep the tank inside during the boil.

Boiling away right now with an ambient temp of 23. Just wish the wind would die down a bit - blew the flame out once already.

Revvy said:

This is the time of year where I start doing a lot of 2.5 gallon experimental batched on the stove. I tend to be "freer" with these batches meaning I'll tend to try different styles and ingredients.

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So, what do you ferment them in? Do you have 3-gallon carboys?

pdbreen said:

I chilled my last 5.5gal batch from 212 to 69 in about 7 minutes with an IC and a whirlpool. My 1L starters take much, much longer than that in an ice bath!

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A+ went from boiling to 70F in 10 minutes today. 20 minutes and I was down to 62f, gota love the JZ Whirlpool chiller. Was a cold one here this morning it was 26f when I fired up the HLT.

Q2XL said:

So, what do you ferment them in? Do you have 3-gallon carboys?

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Yup...and even the old mr beer keg comes into play....but the 3 gallon better bottle is the bomb.