Brew day ruined by freezing and a blizzard warning. What to do?

Well, I was going to be working on my first all grain brew at a buddies house today but a spat of freezing rain blew through last night and a blizzard warning came into affect as well. Now that my day is ruined, I have no idea what to do.

So, what do you guys do when a brew day is a bust?

Move the operation indoors!
:rockin:

Well, I don't have anything to steep the grains I bought in, and it was for an AG batch, which I don't have the ability to do and I have no LME or DME laying around. However, when I was at the LBHS, I did find some tasty beer. That might be a good way to start the day.

Clean, organize, and plan future brews.

Whenever the weather runs afoul, move it to the garage or the shed...

vandeg said:

Whenever the weather runs afoul, move it to the garage or the shed...

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i vote to start drinking

You live in Iowa and a little snow has you trapped?
get out there and brew

Brew in the garage with the garage door open.

Pumbaa said:

You live in Iowa and a little snow has you trapped?
get out there and brew

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Yeah! Bob is shoveling at the moment but we're only supposed to get about 12 inches here today so I think I'm going to head out to a friend's in a little while.

You Southerners let snow interfere too much with your life!

Yooper said:

Yeah! Bob is shoveling at the moment but we're only supposed to get about 12 inches here today so I think I'm going to head out to a friend's in a little while.

You Southerners let snow interfere too much with your life!

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I quit listening to snow fall amounts a few years back. TBH it dont matter. If I need to be at the firehouse I cant just call in and say "sorry, cant make it. too much snow." . . . so why let it screw with the stuff I want to do

When it's snowing, you can't mow the lawn or paint the house... It's Saturday morning, so football isn't a good excuse yet..

So you're either left with house cleaning or brewing.... Kind of a no brainer..

When it's snowing, I like to throw on some warm clothes, fire up some coals on the weber, pour a cold one while I BBQ a steak and watch it fall.... Crank some tunes to top it off...

No reason you can't brew.. unless it's so windy the flame is no good... But surely you guys can find some sort of shelter from the wind if that's the case (ie garage)...

I usually brew indoors in the utility room.. that's where the easiest hose hookups are, and the room is made for spills and what not.. I open the windows and door and let 'r rip.. Doesn't matter how cold.. In such a small place, that burner usually has me down to a tee shirt in no time...

Or were you just feeling lazy and looking for reasons not to brew from the get go? In that case, just say so...

GET OUT AND BREW!!!

Move into a garage/shed. Mash inside/boil outside.

The only thing that stops me in rain. I don't want to melt.

It's 10F and snowing.

bumbler said:

get out and brew!!!

move into a garage/shed. Mash inside/boil outside.

The only thing that stops me in rain. I don't want to melt.

It's 10f and snowing.

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fill that glass!

I'm only a couple of hours north of Jerry and it has been an interesting day. I agree with everyone else. Move it into the garage. The last two times I've brewed it has been snowing or sleeting. In the garage with the door open works great.

I was going to head to Midwest today and buy supplies for my first AG batch (oatmeal cream stout) however we have gotten over a foot of snow already and I drive a car, my alleyway is impassible for me (got the car stuck this morning trying to get there). Guess I will have to go right when they open tomorrow and brew while watching football cause its just not going to happen today.

from iowa?. im getting the same here in nebraska. by the river 15 min from iowa. i moved indoors and have the garage door open bout a foot.

Desert_Sky said:

i vote to start drinking

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see above

GARAGE!!!! I'm in MN, and there is about 2 feet of snow on the ground that wasn't there last night, and I got up thinking "DAMN IT!!!! I should have gone to the LHBS and gotten ingredients so I could brew in the garage today!!!", since I'm not going anywhere today.

Note, I do have snow tires on my car and am still debating making the trip to the LHBS, though the wife doesn't think that's such a good idea.

I'm in Minneapolis too and there a hell of a lot of snow right now. Sure glad I got my ingredients on Thursday and made my starter on Monday. Once my 10 month old goes to sleep for the night, it's off to the garage for me!:rockin:

You could head into town and hit Kenny's Pub!

dummkauf said:

Note, I do have snow tires on my car and am still debating making the trip to the LHBS, though the wife doesn't think that's such a good idea.

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Send her!

I'm just half hour south of the OP and the wind is the problem, there's barely any snow. Just move it into the garage! Unfortunately, I have to work today but tomorrow I'll be brewing rain or shine (or in this case blizzard).

I am planning on grilling today. I like grilling in the winter. There is always a handy snowbank to stick your glass in. Don't let a little snow keep you indoors.

To the OP:


PUT DOWN YOUR PURSE, GET YOUR ASS OUT THERE AND BREW, YA WUSS!

logan3825 said:

I am planning on grilling today. I like grilling in the winter. There is always a handy snowbank to stick your glass in. Don't let a little snow keep you indoors.

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Same here.. No snow today.. We got a couple feet the week of thanksgiving, but it's been raining the last week (that's always fun after a good snow.. LOL), and the majority of the stuff is finally washed/melted off...

So I'm gonna light a burn pile today, and fire up the grill.. Top Sirloin, Grilled potato, and an ice cold home brew or four.. Don't get any better than that!

When I was a yute, we used to go skiing at heavenly valley (Lake Tahoe).. and they'd have outdoor grills going at the resort.. You could ski right up to them, take off your skis, go to the window, buy a raw porterhouse, and grill it out there on the slopes... Standing there drinking a cold one or three, grilling a porterhouse, watching the bunnies go by as the snow fell.. I was hooked.. Now I 'love' BBQ in the snow...

Plus there ain't no yellow jackets or flies buggin' ya in the middle of winter!

Were officially getting our arse kicked with snow & wind. And the Giants are stuck in KS trying to figure out how to get here for the game tmrw.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5909288

I'm thinking 2 ft is going to be no problem before this ends.

Yeah, its brutal in the Twin Cities right now, I'm debating going out and shoveling again but I think I'll just have another home brew or two.

Well, I'm glad to see all the opinions. Maybe I should clarify - I had a 30 miles drive to where I was going to brew and the roads were nothing but a sheet of ice. On top of that, I have my dads Blazer, light, POS, that did nothing but spin every time I hit the gas when I did try to get there. If I had my truck I would have been a little more ballsy and made the drive.

Why I didn't brew? I don't have the tri-pod turkey fryer to boil and we were going an AG batch. He had all the base grains, I was bringing the specialty grains. I don't have any LME or DME and I don't believe I can make it to the LHBS.

Ahhh, crappy excuses. I know

Oh, and Moe, Kenny's sounds like a hell of an idea!

Desert_Sky said:

i vote to start drinking

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+1. Break out the scotch.

Brewing in my garage right now infact.. my first 10gal brew.. a hoppy 70 min IPA

No scotch, but I did buy some interesting brews at LHBS last night when I was picking up the remaining stuff that we needed for today which I'm about to crack one of those open. Vanilla Porter, never had one, we'll see how good it is!

Mount your propane burner to the front of your car and melt your way there.

ah ha ha. That would probably work.
Oh, this Vanilla Porter by Breckinridge is pretty tasty.

SailorJerry, I'm going to assume you shop at Beer Crazy. Awesome selection of beer. Friendly staff too.

DesertBrew said:

Were officially getting our arse kicked with snow & wind. And the Giants are stuck in KS trying to figure out how to get here for the game tmrw.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5909288

I'm thinking 2 ft is going to be no problem before this ends.

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Yeah, I saw that! You may not have a Vikings game to watch tomorrow until the Giants can get there.

At least it's not too cold- it's sure snowing and blowing though! We processed a deer today (my son-in-law's) and I helped my daughter can 7 pints as well as make about 25 pounds of sausage.

I didn't want to go out because of the snow, so I made a batch of soap and then lip balm and body butter for Christmas gifts. I think our hockey games for tomorrow morning will be cancelled, because the other team is short on players, so I won't play hockey until tomorrow afternoon. I think we're only supposed to get 12 inches here, though.

Beer Crazy would be the one and only place to go. There is one in Valley Junction area but he hasn't been the nicest guy, and you can't beat the beer selection that Beer Crazy has or the supplies that are readily available. It's an awesome place.

I didn't know the guy in Valley Junction was still open. Last several times I've stopped there it was closed. I was ordering from Midwest until I found Beer Crazy. I'd rather buy local and it gives me an excuse to sample some craft beer while I'm at it.

wish I was brewing today. Spent most the day cleaning off the roof. 2' to a 5' drift up there with a lot of rain predicted tonight-tomorrow. Homebrew is tasting really good right now.