Mash in cold garage?

So my last all grain I mashed in my kitchen while my wife was sleeping during the day. She woke up and could smell the grain throughout the house and needless to say she was pissed.

I have an alley garage, and was thinking of moving my operation outside, but was curious if it will be too cold in my garage? Will my mash temp drop from 152 to 140 or something over 60min?

Anyone have any real world experience? Temperatures will be around 20-25*F and probably 35*F in my garage.

TIA
justin

What are you using as a mash tun?

48 quart coleman cooler

I have been mashing all winter in my un heated shop with temps as low 25 degrees in there, and my Coleman Extreme seems to maintain temps within a few degrees. I stand around my burners like they were a camp fire trying to stay warm (drinking home brew of course). At first I was wrapping my cooler in a sleeping bag, but I don't think it added anything, so I quit doing that. It does take me a little longer to get the water up to temp, but not a big deal.

Man, I got lucky with my wife. I had to move the brewing to the garage when I went all grain and my wife has been trying to find a way to get it back inside because she misses the smell of malt and hops boiling.

Well then, I'm going to try it out saturday in the cold garage! I'm going to have to huddle around that flame and drink some IPA's - thanks

I have mashed in the garage before and yes it drops more than in the summer, but only by a degree or few. I'd recommend taking an old blanket out with you and covering it well during the rest. I don't think it will be a problem then.

My wife's not a beer drinker but she loves the smell of me brewing, until I add the hops. She can't stand the smell of hops.

I currently use an uninsulated bucket as a mash tun. An old sleeping bag does help with heat loss, if you do have an issue make sure all sides (including underside) is covered by sleeping bag. I've even bungeed it to bucket to keep a tighter thermal area around the bucket.

idigg said:

She woke up and could smell the grain throughout the house and needless to say she was pissed.

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My wife also hates the smell, I too brew in the garage. In the winter time I will mash in the house though. First I bring my cooler in and stick it in the bath tub, run some hot water in it to pre heat it some, (it's been in the cold garage) start my mash/sparge water in pots on the stove, and grind my grains. When I'm ready to mash, on goes the bathroom exhaust fan, in goes the water and grains. An hour later, in goes my first sparge water addition, stir the crap out of it, and then one of the kids helps me carry it to the garage for draining.

Keeping it in the bathroom, with the fan on keeps the odor down to a minimum.

If your mash tun is closed what is there to smell? Dough in in your garage, carry your tun inside while converting, then carry it back out to your garage.

With my 52 Qt igloo cooler with great stuff insulated lid, I get <1F drop in temp over an hour even when its 20F outside and even if I open the lid a couple times.

My wife enjoys the smell... guess I'm just a lucky guy.

I brew in my garage without worry of more than 2° temp loss. Just be sure to properly preheat your mlt.

Where I lose temp is pumping my strike water. I do have to heat that more in the winter than summer.

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idigg said:

So my last all grain I mashed in my kitchen while my wife was sleeping during the day. She woke up and could smell the grain throughout the house and needless to say she was pissed.

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I too had to move to the garage...and she still says she can smell it in the house

I just brewed last weekend in about 40 degree weather, had the door open as well, mashed in my igloo and my temp was spot on for the whole 60 mins. I had a blanket on the ground and then wrapped another around the cooler...seems to do the trick.

Moving it inside once you dough in should help keep it stable if you still have concerns. Just keep a bottle of fabreeze handy i guess:cross:

I guess I am lucky too. My wife thinks it smells great. She also likes the smell when I roast coffee, and doesn't complain when I practice my banjo! But to be honest... if I had a wife who complained about any of this, my answer would be: "Get over it." I mean, I don't complain about her stuff. Maybe I am harsh.

What kind of weird person hates the smell of malt *boggle*

+1

I do BIAB and brew outside. even when brewing at temps in the upper 20's I only lost 5F over a 90 min mash.. I just wrapped my kettle in a sleeping bag. I think you should be fine with a cooler as long as you preheat it.

^^^ I do the exact same thing ^^^^

The only other thing I could suggest is if you have a garage door to close it during your mash time to prevent air from circulating. I put a 20+ sleeping bag over my mash and only saw 3 degree drop.

rockfish42 said:

What kind of weird person hates the smell of malt *boggle*

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My thoughts exactly..

You will be just fine...

I mashed in my garage last weekend and it was about 10f. I think i lost about 2 degrees total.

-preheat your MT
-whatever you do, DO NOT OPEN THE LID UNTIL THE MAS IS COMPLETE!!! You will immediately lose heat once you pop the lid off. That cold air is just starving for some nice warm steam

Ahhh the joy of living in the Frozen tundra. My very first batch was brewed in my garage a year ago and it was -25 degrees out.....yes there is a negative sign there.

Brew on!

idigg said:

48 quart coleman cooler

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I use the same cooler No issues, I brewed on Wednesday during the Blizzard of 2011 in my uninsulated garage and held temp perfectly fine ;-) Temps outside were close to 20ish F maybe colder!! Let the MT sit on a table and not on the cold cement floor would also help with if there is any heat loss! I would assume as long as the MT don't have a direct cold breeze blowing on it it should hold temp perfectly fine. I brew all winter long even as cold as 10F outside and haven't had a prob. I leave my MT inside the house until I'm ready to use it! You may have to adjust for your mash water to heat up to a higher temp so u don't loose heat while you transfer it from the BK to the MT. Cheers and happy brewing!!

As others said - wrap in blankets. Also, make sure you cover the lid as well. A lot of cooler lids are not insulated

My Coleman 48qt, Winter brewing