Brewing outside

I was wondering how do you (if you do) protect your wort when you brew outside. Specially when you're cooling the wort. Flies could drop inside (That's sweet heh) along many other dirty things. I cannot put a lit on top since I have a immersion chiller that prevent the lit from sitting on it. Aluminium foil?

I've got a crappy box fan on an extension cord that I set blowing just over the top of the kettle while it's cooling. Seems to keep the flies out pretty well. If they do get in, hopefully they settle into the trub.

Damp cheesecloth or towel or anything

I use an immersion chiller as well. I've bent the input and output ends so they rest on the lip of the kettle. Then I can place the lid on the chiller ends so the kettle is mostly covered.

I don't put the lid on until the wort has dropped below 140F in order to avoid problems with DMS.

I brew in my garage, but I'd like to brew outside occasionally.

I agree with he bugs and leaves thing.

I've always wondered how direct sunlight will effect the hops in the wort. Anyone know the answer to that? Is it even an issue?

prince4118 said:

Damp cheesecloth or towel or anything

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This. I soak one of my wife's old scrub tops in star-san and use it to cover the kettle while cooling.

Had my first experience brewing during love bug season last night. Was definitely much more of a hassle. I'm used to dealing with the bees, but the love bugs come in hoards and cover everything.

Hasn't been much of an issue for me, but I partially cover the kettle with the lid. I use a plate chiller and recirculate the wort back into the kettle until I reach the desired temperature, so I have to leave the lid slightly ajar to run the return tubing back into the kettle. Once done chilling, I slip an autosiphon into the same gap and rack to the fermenter.

No bugs so far (knock on wood).

chawagi said:

This. I soak one of my wife's old scrub tops in star-san and use it to cover the kettle while cooling.

Had my first experience brewing during love bug season last night. Was definitely much more of a hassle. I'm used to dealing with the bees, but the love bugs come in hoards and cover everything.

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I never knew those damn things were called love bugs. There is no love for them in my house.

I brew in the garage but I cool in my kitchen sink. I would like to try the IC when I have the means to get one and then I'm going to take the cheesecloth advice. Also, a fan seems helpful for some bugs when I am brewing and it keeps me slightly cooler.

Hello said:

I never knew those damn things were called love bugs. There is no love for them in my house.

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I hear you. I grew up in the Northeast, and never knew anything about them until I got stationed at Ft Polk, LA with my brand new car I just had bought and shipped from Germany. I'm normally a respect nature type of person, but after seeing what one season of these bugs can do to a vehicle...they can kiss my a$$. Nuke 'em.

I wouldn't worry too much about bugs - they might add character to your beer. I once made an "Earwig Ale", when somehow a dead earwig was noticed inside the fermenter. Came out great.

I think just keeping it covered when it's cooling will protect it just fine.

I do approximately nothing to protect it, aside from chilling fast, aerating, and pitching enough active, healthy yeast.

I partially cover mine with the lid while my immersion chiller is in there and it works fine. In my last batch, while I had the lid off, I had a tiny leaf type thing fall in it. I plucked it out quickly and it didn't get infected... I didn't even worry about it really, after hearing the stories on here of bugs and other stuff falling into the wort.

Eltorrente, did you tell other people that is was Earwig Ale? Maybe it's because it's an earwig and their nasty looking, but the name is a pretty big turnoff, haha. If I brewed it I'd drink it anyway, but if I showed up to my friends place and he said "Here is my earwig ale, lemme know what you think!" I'd probably be a bit hesitant, haha.

jeffjm said:

I use an immersion chiller as well. I've bent the input and output ends so they rest on the lip of the kettle. Then I can place the lid on the chiller ends so the kettle is mostly covered.

I don't put the lid on until the wort has dropped below 140F in order to avoid problems with DMS.

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This is what I do.

KepowOb said:

Eltorrente, did you tell other people that is was Earwig Ale? Maybe it's because it's an earwig and their nasty looking, but the name is a pretty big turnoff, haha. If I brewed it I'd drink it anyway, but if I showed up to my friends place and he said "Here is my earwig ale, lemme know what you think!" I'd probably be a bit hesitant, haha.

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Yes, I did lol.

This was back in the day when my old roommate and I brewed constantly, and had people over practically every night drinking our beers (Moochers!). We named all of our beers, and any time something funny happened, or a mistake or whatever, we'd name it appropriately.

Yeah, it's definitely not a concern during the boil. I get bugs in there a lot, and I just try to spoon them out when they come up to the top of the boil. My wife and I usually joke and call them 2 bug beers or 3 bug beers or however many fell in.

I never put the lid on when I'm cooling with my immersion chiller. It works WAY faster if I stir constantly. I've never really had a problem with bugs or much of anything going in. And I don't think a bug or leaf or two will be too much of a problem if you do like TyTanium said and chill fast, aerate, and pitch enough active, healthy yeast. I'll cover it with the IC in there if I'm doing a hop stand though. Then I just rest the lid on the top as well as I can with the IC sticking out.

I brew outside and I don't worry about anything dropping in. If you want you could use the kid of the turkey dryer and cover about half of the pot. When I'm cooking I stir and I'm pretty much hovering over it.

Wait until winter to brew. There are no bugs flying around when it is -30.

I use tin foil.

Just stick one of those screens on top that you find in the door section you find at the big box stores. Works great for me. Doesn't melt.

I brew under an EZ-Up. I have a lid on the brew pot that is slightly askew once I come to boil allowing a long stem thermometer and a stirring spoon to stay in. About 20 minutes before the end of boil I put in an immersion cooler so it is sanitized leaving the lid askew. At flame out, I gently rock the immersion cooler as it greatly accelerates cooling.

There has generally been no problem. Most of the time the steam rising keeps the bugs away and we have plenty of them in the Adirondacks. A couple brews back some kind of small fly suddenly emerged en masse. Kept a close eye on it but I can't guarantee none of them landed in it. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure my precautions have been sufficient.

I find brewing outdoors more relaxing and somewhat easier than brewing indoors. Look forward to some winter brewing.

BreezyBrew said:

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Yeah sound like a plan. Thanks guys

I'll have to make some testing. My IC prevents 100% coverage but I guess that's not that bad.

TyTanium said:

I do approximately nothing to protect it, aside from chilling fast, aerating, and pitching enough active, healthy yeast.

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^^^^^ This

Been brewing outside for 3 years, haven't had a bug problem yet. Of course I live in a mountain west desert. If there are any bugs out, they are probably mosquitos.

I did get a leaf in my last beer. It's a Brett IIPA. It's not bottled yet, but I haven't noticed any issues.

papabr3wer said:

I've got a crappy box fan on an extension cord that I set blowing just over the top of the kettle while it's cooling. Seems to keep the flies out pretty well. If they do get in, hopefully they settle into the trub.

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I'd be more afraid of the airborne yeast and bacteria catching a ride on the wind you are creating than I would a bug possibly falling in. Brewing in the wind blows (pun intended). Nonetheless, I agree the answer is pitching proper levels of healthy active yeast as others said.

TyTanium said:

I do approximately nothing to protect it, aside from chilling fast, aerating, and pitching enough active, healthy yeast.

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This. Boil, cool and pitch "active" yeast as quickly as possible.

TyTanium said:

I do approximately nothing to protect it, aside from chilling fast, aerating, and pitching enough active, healthy yeast.

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As I read this thread, I was waiting for this response. I'm in this camp! I brew almost exclusively outdoors and just... well... don't worry about it. Shrug. RDWAHAHB applies to brew day as well!

LabRatBrewer said:

I'd be more afraid of the airborne yeast and bacteria catching a ride on the wind you are creating than I would a bug possibly falling in.

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Agreed. I run a fan in my garage when mashing/boiling to keep me cool and to dissipate the steam, but I turn it off before chilling for that very reason.

I think people are worrying too much about this stuff.

Just standby with a strainer if you are worried about bugs. If one lands in your wort, scoop it out. No big deal.

Remember that there is soooo much crap carried through the air that you can't control. Once the yeast gets into the wort, it will quickly overpower anything that has gotten into it. You shouldn't go crazy worrying about an occasional fly or gnat or whatever that might land in it.

I don't do anything during the boil - the heat and airflow will take most small things up and away from the kettle.

When cooling I just rest the lid up against the IC as a very basic shield to leaves and such but that's about it.

Overall I relax and don't worry

Recycle.. Use an old pair of panty hose stretched over the top. Tie a big knot at the top of the legs and snip off.. Then use the legs for hops or filters or ???

BigFloyd said:

Agreed. I run a fan in my garage when mashing/boiling to keep me cool and to dissipate the steam, but I turn it off before chilling for that very reason.

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Were are on the same page, but just to be specific, the OP was about outdoor brewing. If I was brewing in the garage I probably would use a fan but more for fresh air (and not to accidentally kill myself) than the worry about bugs. But again, I agree with you.

eltorrente said:

I think people are worrying too much about this stuff.

Just standby with a strainer if you are worried about bugs. If one lands in your wort, scoop it out. No big deal.

Remember that there is soooo much crap carried through the air that you can't control. Once the yeast gets into the wort, it will quickly overpower anything that has gotten into it. You shouldn't go crazy worrying about an occasional fly or gnat or whatever that might land in it.

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Only People who don't live on the Gulf Coast would feel this way. LOL.

Seriously... Lovebug season sucks.

I've worried about very few things since I started brewing. Just relaxed and enjoyed the smell of hoppy goodness, but I did my first brew during lovebug season last week.

Like someone mentioned above, it was fine when boiling, but as soon as the chiller got the wort down to about 100* they were swarming everywhere. the outside of my kettle was just a crawling black mass of bugs.

I do nothing and have never had a problem. Chill as quickly as possible, then aerate and pitch.