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RLinNH

RLinNH

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...to brew in the freezing temps. You'd think that what with it only being 12 Months one would remember that you need to get the hot water ready for the outside water spigot to unfreeze it. Noooooooo. Also, it was cold. 2 weeks ago it was in the 40's here. Today, a high of 14. :drunk: I got the brew in, and on a high note, the dog poop was frozen in the back yard. Not messy when you step in it. :mug:
 
I feel for ya. I've been waiting for a day that was above 20 to hopefully sneak a 10 gallon batch of Belgian Pale Ale in.
 
I've brewed in temperatures as low as 10F. The secret is to not use a hose.

If you do a no-chill brew, it's fairly easy to haul 10 or so gallons of water around for mash/sparge/cleanup.
Alternately, you can recirculate chiller water from a large bucket and keep dumping ice/snow in the recirc bucket as it melts, if you have a pond pump handy.
 
We recently did one where the windchill was in the single digits, and it was less than thrilling. Three brews with a high of 16 degrees? Not again :p

And yes, I second the notion of not using the hose. We had to thaw and re-thaw the hose leading into the chiller and leading out of it each and every time for each brew - even though we did blow the lines out each time.

I need to look into brewing inside again for the winter.
 
I'm gonna ask a real stupid question here but why not brew inside when it's cold out there like that?
 
Not everyone can do a full boil AG batch inside. If you're doing less than 5gal batches, partial boils, etc... ...then you can get by with brewing inside with very little. If you are not you almost need to have an electric rig with an adequate way to evacuate the condensation given off by 6.5-7gals of boiling liquid.
 
Thats why i am thankful i have a garage did a 10 gal and 5 gal batch last weekend in the garage.. the temps got down to 14 or so.. Brrr
 
Beer Snob said:
I'm gonna ask a real stupid question here but why not brew inside when it's cold out there like that?
Click to expand...

I gave a BIAB setup a shot last time I brewed outside. My stove, even though I had the pot over two burners, could not get the 7ish gallons of water to boil. I did try, because I was using the stove to maintain my mash temps (trying to do so with the propane burner would have been a nightmare.

I have brewed inside before though. 2.5 gallon partial boil extract batch - my very first brew. I'm pretty sure my girlfriend would not have appreciated the aroma as I do, though, because even with just 2-row and flaked corn she didn't like the mash I was doing.

C'est la vie.
 
This will be my first winter brewing beer, and I'm going to risk the elements so my pipeline is at least to the point where I don't run out of beer!

The torture we'll put ourselves through to drink beer.. :mug:
 
Funny, but I kind of miss brewing outdoors now that I have an indoor electric setup. Maybe not in this weather, though.
 
tekknoschtev said:
I gave a BIAB setup a shot last time I brewed outside. My stove, even though I had the pot over two burners, could not get the 7ish gallons of water to boil. I did try, because I was using the stove to maintain my mash temps (trying to do so with the propane burner would have been a nightmare.

I have brewed inside before though. 2.5 gallon partial boil extract batch - my very first brew. I'm pretty sure my girlfriend would not have appreciated the aroma as I do, though, because even with just 2-row and flaked corn she didn't like the mash I was doing.

C'est la vie.
Click to expand...

Add a heat stick and you'll be set.
 
I know what you mean!!! I made a 5 gallon AG batch on Monday and I had to put a jacket on towards the end of the brew session in the early evening - it got down to the high 50s! :)
 
Hahahaha I brewed outside a few weeks ago at -10. The bastard boiled over twice because the fog coming out of the kettle was so thick I couldn't see the brew. Right now it's 40 below and even I am not that dumb.

Then again I am pretty hardcore...
 
Whew that pretty cold! I wonder what the coldest temps anyone has ever brewed in and didnt have a freeze out..
danweasel said:
Hahahaha I brewed outside a few weeks ago at -10. The bastard boiled over twice because the fog coming out of the kettle was so thick I couldn't see the brew. Right now it's 40 below and even I am not that dumb.

Then again I am pretty hardcore...
Click to expand...
 
danweasel said:
Hahahaha I brewed outside a few weeks ago at -10. The bastard boiled over twice because the fog coming out of the kettle was so thick I couldn't see the brew. Right now it's 40 below and even I am not that dumb.

Then again I am pretty hardcore...
Click to expand...

-40 is pretty cold, I might have to just sit inside and drink beer instead at those temps. :tank:
 
I took my turkey fryer setup from the garage to the basement last weekend to brew. Temps were single digits and we got about 10" of snow so I wasn't going to hang out outside for it. 5gallon AG worked just fine in the basement for me, and it made the house smell delicious at the same time! The only time I went outside was to put the kettle in a snowbank to chill the wort before pitching yeast.
 

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