Outdoor brewing in summer

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Mermaid

Mermaid

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Okay... I'm gonna sound like a whiney little brat but do you guys actually boil wort outdoors when it's over 90 degrees outside?

I've been trying to schedule a brew day for the past month and every single weekend it's been in the 90s or higher here, and my patio / driveway (where I can set up my burner) doesn't get shade until late in the afternoon. I can't brew in my garage because the garage is below my neighbor's condo and I don't think that would be a wise idea... :drunk:

I'm thinking of just throwing in the towel on AG until the fall, and brewing a PM batch indoors so I can do my boil on the stove (in the air conditioning)..or doing AG but scaling back on the batch size (doing 3 gallons or so, so I can use the stove vs. 5 gallons where I would need my burner).

Am I crazy? Whiney? (yeah.. probably) What have other folks done who are in the same situation? It has been obnoxiously hot here in the midwest, and I'm getting annoyed.
 
Glynn said:
yes. i usually start in the morning around 9 am
Click to expand...

Hmmmm.... I suppose I could let the mash sit overnight (I've done that before) and sparge in the morning so I could start my boil early enough in the day. Still, it's been stupid hot here (I'm in Schaumburg now - for some reason my profile still shows me being in MA) and my patio faces south - but that's worth some thought.
 
I just suffer through it. I always need a shower afterwards from being so sweaty. At least that gives me something to do while waiting for my wort to cool I guess.
 
I usually start at around 6:30am when brewing in the summer. You'll be finished and cleaned up before noon. Then shower and crack a beer...or crack a beer and drink it in the shower.
 
If you have lived most of your life in the North, 90* and humid can be really oppressive. I'll brew when it's hot, but prefer it to be 30*-80*.
 
i brew at night (7-midnight) but still wait for days when day temp is below 90 during day (then usually its in mid 70 when i brew at night) still in my garage with burner at full speed its above 100 anyway
 
Our brewery has a screened in section for the actual boiling of the wort but the summer temps still get up to 125F inside. We're shutting down until Autumn and drinking some of the better craft brews...
 
90? Lots of people here wait for cool weather like that.

Personally I crank the AC and put a fan on the kitchen counter. 5 gal full boil. It costs a couple bucks for the extra electricity. Totally worth it. Kitchen brewing for me.
 
I start early, 7:00 AM if possible. If you can get things done the night before, do it. Anything you can do to help with shade will give some relief as well. Even if your only standing two feet into the garage with the brew gear right outside of that, it helps.

Things you can do the night before:

Mill grains
Prep brewing equipment
Make a batch of sanitizer and keep it ready
Get notes ready, and recipe ready and easily available
Pre measure hops into solo cups, and mark time on them, then store in the fridge until needed.

Advanced items:

Mash the night prior to brew day. There is a good writeup in the technique in several places. Check Gordon Strong's writeup for, "The Overnight Oven Mash." this will save a TON of time on the brew day, so you'll finish before its too hot.
 
I brew in my garage, the shade is nice, but I still run a fan since the boiling makes the humidity sky rocket. But I'd say 80+% of the brew process I'm inside with the AC, you don't need to be out there most of the time.
 
Luckily shade comes quickly on the deck that I brew on. I did brew in our heat wave about a week ago, it was high 90's and brutal, but worth it.
 
I usually brew in the garage and open up everything I can for the ventilation. I brewed a few days ago and it was over 90* outside. Probably around 100 in the garage. I don't mind the heat except that it took well over an hour to cool the 10 gal batch.

Beerloaf
 
Another vote for early morning. I typically mash in around 8am.This way I am usually done with my boil by noon.
 
Seeing as how it's always 90 outside with like 70-80% humidity I like to start around 6 pm. That way I'm brewing in the shade and it's about 10-15 degrees cooler. It usually takes me 5 hours so I'm still done before its that late and I can brew without having to sweat as much as I boil off.
 
Mermaid said:
Okay... I'm gonna sound like a whiney little brat but do you guys actually boil wort outdoors when it's over 90 degrees outside?

I've been trying to schedule a brew day for the past month and every single weekend it's been in the 90s or higher here, and my patio / driveway (where I can set up my burner) doesn't get shade until late in the afternoon. I can't brew in my garage because the garage is below my neighbor's condo and I don't think that would be a wise idea... :drunk:

I'm thinking of just throwing in the towel on AG until the fall, and brewing a PM batch indoors so I can do my boil on the stove (in the air conditioning)..or doing AG but scaling back on the batch size (doing 3 gallons or so, so I can use the stove vs. 5 gallons where I would need my burner).

Am I crazy? Whiney? (yeah.. probably) What have other folks done who are in the same situation? It has been obnoxiously hot here in the midwest, and I'm getting annoyed.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I brewed last weekend when it was 100 outside in my garage. Yes, it was nasty, but in the sake of brewing good brew, I sucked it up and suffered the elements.

Time to do the same if you want brew! :)
 
Just finished up an Oatmeal stout, started around 8 was cooling around 11:30, the later the better I say! Although I typically brew about that time so it's the norm for me.
 
Just finishes clean up on a lambic. I started at 4pm but with 3 mash rests it took a while. Drink plenty of water until your some with the boil. Then... let the homebrew take over! I will pay dearly tomorrows morning with two youngster!
 
I brew all the time at high summer temps. Start usually around 8am so the brewday doesn't extend too far into the afternoon heat. Did a double decoction last year when the drought temps hit around 110F. Plenty of liquid refreshments can help go a long way! :cross: Hardest thing is to crash cool with such high temps since the ground water temp is also fairly high -- I use a cooler with ice water and run a pond pump to circulate the ice water through the IC - I can still hit around 70F when the ambient temp is over 100F.
 
Mermaid said:
I've been trying to schedule a brew day for the past month and every single weekend it's been in the 90s or higher here, and my patio / driveway (where I can set up my burner) doesn't get shade until late in the afternoon. .
Click to expand...

Get a canoy like this and run a fan.
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2935027&cp=4406646.11400507.4418095

I am fortunate to be able to brew in my garge with some fans blasting, but I am considering one of those to brew by the pool to use it as a water source for chilling and to dump the water back in.
 
We've got heat down here (!). Brew in bathing suit and use pool as necessary. I thought everyone brewed next to their pool :D

IMG_03654.JPG
 
I just did an all grain brew yesterday morning it was
80 by 8:30 am here in socal , here if you brew outdoors
you really have little choice for about 3 months
(July, Aug, Sept) it's just hot. ya gotta flow with it...
 
SkipperNC said:
I start early, 7:00 AM if possible. If you can get things done the night before, do it. Anything you can do to help with shade will give some relief as well. Even if your only standing two feet into the garage with the brew gear right outside of that, it helps.

Things you can do the night before:

Mill grains
Prep brewing equipment
Make a batch of sanitizer and keep it ready
Get notes ready, and recipe ready and easily available
Pre measure hops into solo cups, and mark time on them, then store in the fridge until needed.

Advanced items:

Mash the night prior to brew day. There is a good writeup in the technique in several places. Check Gordon Strong's writeup for, "The Overnight Oven Mash." this will save a TON of time on the brew day, so you'll finish before its too hot.
Click to expand...

I'm also in NC, and I also try to get started very early (sometimes heating strike water along with my coffee by 06:00...) This has as much to do with the heat as with family scheduling... I always also have all my water measured out and prepared the night before.

I've said it before, I really need to think about the whole overnight mash thing...
 
Love to brew in the summer - can't wait to get out of the kitchen.

Sure I sweat like dyslexic at a spelling bee, but it's worth every drop to be outside enjoying a brew day.
 
Quote from OP: do you guys actually boil wort outdoors when it's over 90 degrees outside?

In a word, no. I quit that after my first AG year; I'm a fast learner. Likewise, I don't brew outside when it's 10F. I accelerate my brewing in Spring and Fall, and that's it.
 
I'll brew outside no matter what the temperature is. July 4 I did an ESB on the patio when it was over 90° and somewhere around 95% humidity. I was miserably hot and sweaty, but the cold beer in a month is worth it. I'm in the early morning club...mash in around 8:30 and done by noon. I've also brewed outside when it was 14° out. I'm definitely not a fair weather brewer.
 
We were obviously within a pint or so of kicking my spouse's favorite wheat beer, so I cooked up another batch today in spite of knowing it was going to be hazy, hot and humid. And it was. Totally.

Being within feet of the rig while the burners were running was not an enjoyable experience in its own right, that's for sure. I set the rig up on the deck outside my office and tried to be as methodical as possible about the day so I could spend as much of it inside with the A/C. Lots of event timers running on my 'puter, everything staged just inside the slider. In and out in a flash.

Worked out. I didn't expire, the pitched and gassed young wheat beer is in the fermentation fridge, everything is cleaned up and put away, and I'm enjoying an ESB that went on tap today when the wife's wheat did in fact expire...

Cheers!
 
Just go for it I say. Last week I did a Belgian Wit, it was 104 in the shade. This week its 94 in the shade and I am doing an imperial hoppy red! Just make sure you have plenty of cold beer on tap or in the fridge and you will be fine :D
 
I brew extract in my kitchen and even with a/c it gets like 90 inside dosent bother me but I also work in a no a/c shop during the day and a kitchen at night so I am used to the heat
 
I have not even grilled since this heat wave started. I'm thinking about hanging a light from the tree over the grill so i can do some post-sundown grilling.

But i did brew outside today, on my porch, because the temperature was in the 70's due to it being a stormy sort of day. Light rain, a little wind, and a brew going. It was a good day.

I think i may brew any other rainy weekend days this summer.
 

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