So what's your coldest brew day?

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boilerbrewer

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I brew in my garage and have have some hot days and some wet days, but never a really uncomfortably cold day until yesterday. It started out in the mid 20s with sun shining on me and ended up at about 20 and dark and windy. It was cold enough that by the end of the boil, my mash run had ice on its handles. It did, however, cool from boiling to 75 in 10 minutes with a 25' IC.

So who else has cold weather stories?
 
Wow. I wouldnt brew or snowboard at that tempurature. My limit is -10c for both
 
It is about the limit of my burner to say the least. I had that bad boy wide open and the boil was not a real strong one.

I am so looking forward to summer and warm brewing :D
 
I brewed over the weekend and it was 22 when I started, and once the sun set it was 14 with a nice little wind chill. Its in a shed with a metal roof and old single pane windows, and when the steam really gets rolling, the whole room looks like an old freezer that needs to be defrosted.
 
I've grilled at 5°F before, and smoked a butt at 10°F. But I doubt I'll ever brew that low because I'm so far south it just doesn't get that cold very often at all. I tip my hat at you guys who do.
 
Did a brew day last March that was in the 30's there was snow floating around but it wasn't too bad.

My buddy bet me a case I wouldn't sleep outside when the overnight low was 3F. does that count?
Easist case I ever won btw.
 
Right now as I am posting sparge water heating it is -8 outside about 20 in the garage. The walk to the garage is cold.
 
My very first brew day was about that temp. Despite the cold, my wort took several hours to cool since I had no IC back then.
 
I brewed a few weeks ago in a frigid 65 degrees. That's as cold as its been while I was brewing. Honestly I wish I had some cold weather like you guys. I am usually sweating my arse off while brewing.
 
I'm brewing an Oatmeal Stout this afternoon. It's -6°. I'm in the kitchen doing an extract kit. Yes, I know you guys are doing all grain on a propane burner outside.
 
When i woke up this morning it was -36 with a windchill of -45.

I am halfway through the boil on an oktoberfest, that is I am watching it through the kitchen door and surfing HBT.

Did I mention that I love Fermcap S?

The only real tricks when it gets this cold is fermcap so you don't have to worry about boilovers, and a rubbermaid 1/4 full of warm water to keep the propane flowing.

Oh, and be ready to top up as the boil off seems to be pretty crazy when its this cold.
 
cklages said:
When i woke up this morning it was -36 with a windchill of -45.

I am halfway through the boil on an oktoberfest, that is I am watching it through the kitchen door and surfing HBT.

Did I mention that I love Fermcap S?

The only real tricks when it gets this cold is fermcap so you don't have to worry about boilovers, and a rubbermaid 1/4 full of warm water to keep the propane flowing.

Oh, and be ready to top up as the boil off seems to be pretty crazy when its this cold.
Click to expand...

Keeping the propane running just sucks. I had to put another propane heater next to the bottle I was brewing with to keep it flowing
 
I had that problem when backpacking once. I've switched to a mix of propane and butane for my camp stove.

But there's no way in the world that tiny little thing could boil 5 gallons of water.
 

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