Brewing outside in winter

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jfr1111

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Canadian Tire has their turkey fryer at 59$ right now: 58k BTU and 30qt pot. It's tempting, but I do not have a garage. I do have a little tool shed, but it's one of those crappy vinyl and plastic ones and I also have a bunch of paint and assorted crap in there (ie. lawnmower). Too much stuff to move and nowhere to put it :D Plus, you know, open flame in tiny enclosed space with boiling liquid...

I do have a nice patio outside wich is somewhat sheltered from the wind, but... it's outside and temps can get down to 0 Celcius in November. -20 in Januray is a regular occurence.

Will I still be able to brew outside ? I figure that wort cooling will be a breeze (throw in snowbank, come back 2 hours later), but can I get a good roaring boil or will I spend 40$ of propane every brew ? The cold fingers and feet I can manage since I like to be outside, I'm just worried about the logistics and the cost :p
 
I don't think it'll be a problem. I'm from northern Illinois and we get fairly cold weather too. I brew in a heated garage, but I've done it outside. As long as you're shielded from the wind, you should be okay.

I'm not sure about sticking beer in a snowbank though. Two hours is way too long to chill a beer. I tried it once and it took about 6 hours to cool the beer. The problem is...the snow is cold, but it also insulates the kettle once it gets hot enough to melt and freezes again. Before I had a wort chiller, I used to fill a tub of water and throw snow in it to cool the water down. That worked great...but the snowbank sucked.
 
+1 on the tub of water with snow added. I tried the snow bank once and quickly realized that snow is a great insulator :D Get a rubber maid tote, put some water in, stick the pot in the water, and shovel snow into the water as needed.
 
I live in Quebec as well (Gatineau) and I am facing the exact same problem. I am trying to get as many brews in as possible right now before the cold sets in. After it gets too cold I was thinking of doing a few festa brews to hold me over until the spring. Festa Brews are pre-made all grain wort that you just add yeast to so you don't have to make your own wort. Depending on where you are in Quebec you can get them in the Montreal area.

http://www.magnotta.com/Festabrew/Wort_B.aspx
 
Great question. I live in Northern Ontario as was furiously trying to brew as much as possible to get me through the winter. I was thinking of sticking with extract through the winter and brewing on the stove if need be.

As to that Turkey Fryer at Canadian Tire. If it's the one I think you are talking about, I heard it has a 10min. timer that shuts off, and you have to keep restarting it. Just check before you grab it.. I'm considering the same one as I'm borrowing a fryer from my dad, but the wort is making a mess of it so I'd like to get my own.
 
I actually have the CT turkey fryer and it does have a 20min timer on it so you have to remember to reset the timer or the flame goes out.
 
I actually have the CT turkey fryer and it does have a 20min timer on it so you have to remember to reset the timer or the flame goes out.


Thanks for the clarification. Do you like it? Is it hot enough for home brewing?

I'm wondering too, it looks like you can remove the cage on top of the burner? My only thought is if someone wanted to upgrade to a bigger pot/keggle, etc.
 
I never bothered to install the cage, it looked like it was more hassle then it was worth (the burner and stand needs to be assembled). It boils a 4 gallon batch pretty fast (10 - 15 mins max) so it is plenty fast. The pot is OK but nothing special, it is made from aluminium and is pretty thin. For my first kit I can't complain but I am already looking at upgrading the pot in the near future.
 
OK cool. Well I might just have to pick one up.

I'm assuming you can control the amount of heat?

Yes, it has a full regulator on the hose at the tank end. You can go from a full 6 inch jet flame to a small cigarette lighter flame.
 
Good thread, I am worried about brewing in the winter as well.

Just a heads up thought, Walmart has a 40 qrt (10 gall) Lobster Fryer for about $70-80. The extra 10 qrts in the pot is a lifesaver. I still nearly have boil overs in a 5.5 gallon batch though. Also, no timer on the Lobster Fryer.
 
Just a couple of things.

First of all, funnily enough, throwing your boil pot into a snowbank will still take quite a while to get your wort cooled. The snow is an insulator. At first it will cool fairly quicky, but once it melts in, it won't really cool very quickly. Of course, if you give it a few hours, it will be down to temp. (EDIT: +1 on the tub method, I see this has been covered more than once)

Second, if you have the means to brew inside, it is well well well worth it. Here in Fargo we get plenty of subzero (F) as well and after struggling with a winter of brewing in those conditions I've found it far better to brew with an electric setup inside. Using household 110V I can brew without 8 layers of clothing on, read my thermometers, and feel my fingers at the end of the process. I also make fewer brewing mistakes.

If you want to take advantage of the Winter weather, throw your kettle outside to cool once you've brewed in the comfort of your heated workspace. :)
 
I ripped the timer off of my turkey fryer and it works great. and no more having to remember to turn it on every 20.
 
I'm also in Ottawa. I'm thinking of brewing in my garage, with the door wide open. Might be a bit cold, but should at least be protected from the wind. Of course, I will mash inside.
 
I'm from near chicago and this is the one thing keeping me from getting a turkey fryer as of yet. i have a garage but it's full of crap and birds nest in it. i would love to brew on my deck because the output for the hose is close enough to connect to a immersion cooler if i got one. i am thinking my best option is to get one of those heatsticks to help with the boil and then use a snow bank to cool it off.
 
Hadn't thought about snow being an insulator. Well, you can always use a cold water + snow mix.

The patio can be very well sheltered if I make some sort of snow fort around it. Plus I can always pick my days to brew when it is a little warmer (end of February for example) and just do one or two Festabrews in the meantime if it's really just too cold. Or I'll just clean up the tool shed. I really don't need a lawnmower in there anyway...

The recommendations to go to Walmart to get a bigger fryer is a nice gesture, but turkey fryers aren't carried around here from what I have seen. The CT one is the only one I have found. Thanks for the heads-up on the timer. Found out about it when I grabbed it. Floor model so it has aleady been assembled. The pot is cheap as hell, but the burner seems nice.

And yeah, I'll mash inside: imagine holding mash temps in freezing weather ! I'll still try bewing outside though. The worse that can happen is that I have to retreat inside and do a split boil.
 
I live in Wisconsin and brew outside year round. It doesn't get quite that cold here, but it does get damn cold once in a while where I need to wear my hunting boots, big coat, hat, etc. Sure, you can brew in those conditions, but it isn't the most ideal (obviously!).
 
Looking at this a second time now, I have a 50K BTU burner that managed to boil pretty well last winter(7 gallon boils), however I'm in Minnesota, which it gets cold, but you folks in Canada get quite a bit cooler than I see down here. I had no issues doing extract batches last Winter, this will be my first winter doing AG though.

I'd think you'd be OK, but there's only one way to find out :D

Also, you didn't mention if you're doing extract or AG. If you're doing AG and using a cooler I'd just leave the cooler inside and let it mash in doors. If you are mashing in a pot outdoors, you may go through more propane keeping your mash at the right temp(I mash in a cooler so can't comment there)
 
Don't forget to drain your water hoses and store them dry. I blow mine out with compressed air when I'm done brewing.

Also, plan on where the runoff water is going to go. I've made some dandy skating rinks before I remembered to plan properly.

Good Luck...
 
I'm just looking forward to being able to bring my wort down to pitch temp in less than an hour here. The groundwater will finally drop below 85 soon. If this winter's as cold as last year, I may even have to wear long pants and shoes when I brew. Shudder to think.
 
I'm just looking forward to being able to bring my wort down to pitch temp in less than an hour here. The groundwater will finally drop below 85 soon. If this winter's as cold as last year, I may even have to wear long pants and shoes when I brew. Shudder to think.

Seriously? I wanna steal your beer now. Just for you talking like that. "Might" have to wear pants and shoes? No fair.
 
I live in Quebec as well (Gatineau) and I am facing the exact same problem. I am trying to get as many brews in as possible right now before the cold sets in. After it gets too cold I was thinking of doing a few festa brews to hold me over until the spring. Festa Brews are pre-made all grain wort that you just add yeast to so you don't have to make your own wort. Depending on where you are in Quebec you can get them in the Montreal area.

http://www.magnotta.com/Festabrew/Wort_B.aspx

Hey, I'm from Gatineau as well! I brew pretty much year round. You just have to dress warmly and you're good to go. To the OP, you should really invest in an immersion chiller. This was the first thing I built. In winter, I can get my boiling wort down to pitch temps in under 30 minutes. That's one of the joys of livin' up north during the cold season.
 
I brewed the other day when it was colder out (for this time of year in Illinois) and it took a bit longer for my 5 gallons to get to a boil and stay there. However, I didnt do a good job blocking the wind and I think that had something to do with it.

As far as cooling, I found a little method that works really well. I found immersion chillers with 55* water, works really well getting it down from boiling to ~90* fairly rapidly. However, from 90* to 70* it takes much MUCH longer. I also found that ice does NOT do a great job getting it down from the upper temps (before it all melts too quickly) but DOES a good job finishing it off.

So what I do is use a immersion chiller to get it down to 90* or so, then place it in my sink with an ice bath (doesn't go up too high on the pot) and that gets it down much faster. The combo method allows me to go from boil to pitch much faster than one or the other.
 

Nice, I am going to have to look at mine to see if it is the same. I found another way around this winter brewing problem. My Friend across the river has a 10 gallon all grain indoor setup and he invited me over in November to brew! All I have to do is supply some of the ingredients and we can split the batch when we are done, nice!
 
Hey, I'm from Gatineau as well! I brew pretty much year round. You just have to dress warmly and you're good to go. To the OP, you should really invest in an immersion chiller. This was the first thing I built. In winter, I can get my boiling wort down to pitch temps in under 30 minutes. That's one of the joys of livin' up north during the cold season.

Do you have some sort of shelter/garage that you use? All I have is my small shed and no other sheltered areas.
 
Not that it gets super cold out here in B.C., but I have one of those erect-a-tent canopies with walls to keep the wind and rain out. I use my propane blast heater while I am sparging into my kettle and then my banjo cooker keeps me warm during the boil. It actually kinda nice watching it snow while staying toasty warm beside the kettle and enjoying a home brew or 3 - 5 fingers of rum in my coffee. Forget the chestnuts...
 
Do you have some sort of shelter/garage that you use? All I have is my small shed and no other sheltered areas.

Nope. It's the wind that gets you. Early mornings are usually good. I usually mash, get first and second runnings in the kettle, in the house. I try to get this done near the patio door that way I'm not too far away from by burner that's outside. Then, flame on and proceed normally. When I'm halfway down to pitch temp, the kettle comes in the house again. If finish chilling from there. Then yeast, carboy and off to my ferm chamber.
 
I tried using the turkey fryer in my little tool shed and from the way it is setup, you'd think it was made for brewing: I have a slittle shelf to put all the tools necessary and the sliding doors make it that CO is not a problem. As far as the timer goes, it doesn't bother me too much since I wouldn't plan on leaving a propane burner unattended in a garage. The only little thing that worries me is the travel distance from the shed to the front door: this thing can get icy, so I'll have to be extra careful and use a lot of abrasives and shovel religiously.

That and the neighbors dog who tried to lick the burner. I had to get all Ceasar Milan on his butt at one point :p
 
I found a way of keeping my partial mash temps from dropping too much while brewing this weekend @ around freezing temps outside. Placed a bunch of burlap over the pot while mashing.

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