Lagering in my living room

Well I got home from a nice two week vacation at sunny Costa Rica and my power is out, just like about everyone else in my town. Every limb and power line in town is coated with about an inch of ice. Looks like it will be this weekend before we get power back but the good news is I can lager two batches I have in secondary in my living room at a nice cool 35F.

Leave it to a brewer to make lemonade...

"Well, the bad news is, my house burned down last night! The good news? I used the smoldering embers that were once our master bedroom suite to heat up my mash! Sweeeet!"

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So I guess the glass is half full?

Ka-razeee weather.

Well, it's freezing rain here and gettting close to snowing. For those of you not in Texas, when that happens they shut down most of the roads 'cuz we don't have the stuff to deal with it.

Now the bad news - I would do a split batch on my stove except I need some DME. I have everything else except some malt. No way I can make it the 24 miles each way to get into town. Crap.

Evan! said:

Leave it to a brewer to make lemonade...

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No, man it's BEER!!

dcbrewmeister said:

Well, it's freezing rain here and gettting close to snowing. For those of you not in Texas, when that happens they shut down most of the roads 'cuz we don't have the stuff to deal with it.
Crap.

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Good thing you don't have to put up with this then. I guess the tennis court across the road from me isn't going to see action anytime soon.

boo boo said:

Good thing you don't have to put up with this then. I guess the tennis court across the road from me isn't going to see action anytime soon.

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That's easy - we can't. Lost power for about 8 hours last nite - bad when every thing you have runs on electricity, well, heat, stove. I have a layer of ice 3/4" thick all over my yard, looks like a frozen pond. Most of the highways are closed, San Antonio has something like 2800 bridges and the interstate downtown is an elevated system, so it's all froze.

If I could get into town (they closed the road in front of my house, I have no other way out) I would buy what I needed to brew

Yeah, that don't look nice.
We are used to snow and ice and our highways are on solid ground. The highways Dept. uses road salt to melt ice so we don't stop, but for you, this
is out of the norm.
BTW the ice/cold affected the citrus crop in South cal also. Now my minute Maid is going to cost more also. Bummer.

Well boo boo, it's not out the norm for me, I grew up in Maine and actually took my driving test in a snow storm;

me - "Should we be taking a driving test in this?"
tester - "Sure, your going to have to deal with it at some point, might as well be now."

I don't drive in it if I don't have to here because most people think they can "get going" they should. The problem is stopping on ice @ 50+MPH. I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about the other fools.

Added: I can't get out of the driveway because the gate is frozen shut, hehe.

dcbrewmeister said:

I don't drive in it if I don't have to here because most people think they can "get going" they should. The problem is stopping on ice @ 50+MPH. I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about the other fools.

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It's always the people in the big-ass SUVs (no offense to anyone here who drives a big-ass SUV) who think they are immune from the rules of nature when driving in a snowstorm. I used to commute more than an hour to work each way, over a big-ass mountain, driving a little Mazda Protege, and never had any problems. It was always the little ladies who had just bought a new Ford Explorer and were passing us slowpokes (who recognized that when there is six inches of snow on the ground, you really ought not to be driving 50 MPH) who ended stuck in the ditches.

I love the "half-full" approach. When the weather comes, might as well use it. Godd luck with those lagers.

the_bird said:

It's always the people in the big-ass SUVs (no offense to anyone here who drives a big-ass SUV) who think they are immune from the rules of nature when driving in a snowstorm. I used to commute more than an hour to work each way, over a big-ass mountain, driving a little Mazda Protege, and never had any problems. It was always the little ladies who had just bought a new Ford Explorer and were passing us slowpokes (who recognized that when there is six inches of snow on the ground, you really ought not to be driving 50 MPH) who ended stuck in the ditches.

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Don't I know it. As if SUV's have some sort of magical powers that make them immune to slick roads. I suppose it's just the fact that these people pay all this money for an SUV that has the capacity to go off-road...but 99.9% of the time, they use it to cart the brats to soccer practice, etc.

It always reminds me of that Simpsons ep where Homer buys a new car, and he's driving home in a blizzard, and when the family questions his reckless driving, he says something to the effect of "oh, these new cars with all their gadgets and technology, it's practically impossible to wreck them"...right before he drives it onto a frozen lake.

the_bird said:

It's always the people in the big-ass SUVs (no offense to anyone here who drives a big-ass SUV) who think they are immune from the rules of nature when driving in a snowstorm. I used to commute more than an hour to work each way, over a big-ass mountain, driving a little Mazda Protege, and never had any problems. It was always the little ladies who had just bought a new Ford Explorer and were passing us slowpokes (who recognized that when there is six inches of snow on the ground, you really ought not to be driving 50 MPH) who ended stuck in the ditches.

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Yup - 3 of the first accidents they showed on the news were big-ass SUVs... I was loving it. It always cracks me up when people say something stupid like "I got a <big-ass SUV> so I don't have to worry about the weather."

*******, I'll stop and let you use my phone to call a tow-truck to pull you out of the ditch. I can get a bike to go in the snow/ice, it's the stopping that you're going to have trouble with.

1 of the cameras caught an SUV getting squirrely on a bridge - the ******* hits the brakes, and guess what happens next. Stupid. It's too late to stop when you're ON the ice.

I drove the 20 mile round trip because they are now predicting this to last longer, and I was going to need some more food-stuffs if it does. I got in my BMW - rear wheel drive - and drove and came back without issue. The road was icy, they closed it ten minutes after I pulled in the driveway. Never went above 40 and that was on the straight, flat portions of the road. Slowed too ~25 on the curves. I have to admit, the 4 cars behind me were doing the same thing and kept a good distance behind me. Thanks.

Slow and easy will get you there and back every time. I'm in no hurry, but I still worry about the people who don't do it, and would just prefer not to be in it.

dcbrewmeister said:

Slow and easy will get you there and back every time.

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Not every time...I was driving home a few years back in my old car, which was an all-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza outback hatchback. The rain turned into snow and ice over the course of our trip, and there were no salt trucks to be seen. I was taking it very slow---25mph max---and we were doing fine for most of the 90-minute trip. Then, out of the blue, as we were coasting on this straight stretch at about 25mph, my back end starts to drift, we pull a 180, and slam the back end into the median mound. Amazingly, since it was a manual tranny, I was able to "rock" it out of the ditch, and there wasn't a scratch on the car...we drove right on home...but even at slow speeds, your ass can get handed to you :cross:

Evan! said:

Not every time...I was driving home a few years back in my old car, which was an all-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza outback hatchback. The rain turned into snow and ice over the course of our trip, and there were no salt trucks to be seen. I was taking it very slow---25mph max---and we were doing fine for most of the 90-minute trip. Then, out of the blue, as we were coasting on this straight stretch at about 25mph, my back end starts to drift, we pull a 180, and slam the back end into the median mound. Amazingly, since it was a manual tranny, I was able to "rock" it out of the ditch, and there wasn't a scratch on the car...we drove right on home...but even at slow speeds, your ass can get handed to you :cross:

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But you made it home. Had you been going 45 or 50, you probably would have rolled it. I've slid plenty of times driving in the snow, but one of the first things I learned about driving was how to handle it when you lose traction. Off the gas, off the brake, steer into the slid.

And just imagine where you would have been had you been driving the speed limit (btw, it's 65 on the road I was on) and you did make it home.

Seeeee - slow and steady.

dcbrewmeister said:

And just imagine where you would have been had you been driving the speed limit (btw, it's 65 on the road I was on) and you did make it home.

Seeeee - slow and steady.

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Well, yeah...it's not like I'm some idiot land-yacht-owner or something...

Are even worse than cars on slippery roads due to their high center of gravity. 4x4 only helps when you go into low gear and travel real slow! But, the average moron doesn't see that in SUV TV ads.

Off road vechicles fitted with alloy wheels always make me laugh!

I always forget that America gets cold Good to see those pictures.

I drove a lot in scotland on ice, only when I had too. People are not smart enough to drive cars most of the time never mind in difficult conditions. There is nothing you can do when you are on the ice, always have an escape route planned prior to hitting the ice. i.e. if you are going into a corner try and take it so if you slide you still make it or if you don't you aren't going to be heading into oncomming traffic / large trees / people etc.

I drive with the window down and the radio off listening to the road - if it looks wet and sounds wet that is good, if it looks wet and makes no noise - thats ice. Driving by the seat of your pants was what my dad told me.

Best way to drive in the ice is not to. Had some pretty hairy moments in my time on black ice and I prefer to sit in the house beside the fire having a HB now. (at least I would if I didn't live in Tasmania now where it is currently 32C outside )

Do I need to pitch some more yeast in since its not a lager yeast. Both of the beers are pale ales with the W1056 yeast. For one of them I used the yeast cake from the primary. I didn't know if this strain of yeast would be damaged by these temps. It never froze.

Or can I just stir it up a bit, not enough the oxygenate, when I transfer to bottling bucket.

Evan! said:

Don't I know it. As if SUV's have some sort of magical powers that make them immune to slick roads. I suppose it's just the fact that these people pay all this money for an SUV that has the capacity to go off-road...but 99.9% of the time, they use it to cart the brats to soccer practice, etc.

It always reminds me of that Simpsons ep where Homer buys a new car, and he's driving home in a blizzard, and when the family questions his reckless driving, he says something to the effect of "oh, these new cars with all their gadgets and technology, it's practically impossible to wreck them"...right before he drives it onto a frozen lake.

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Remember Marges "Canyonero!"?