Would you brew with the possibility of power outages??

Well, I've got the day off thanks to Dolly. It's raining but nothing too crazy, the wind hasn't picked up or anything.

I just set up my ghetto brew stand and then got to thinking. If the power goes out then my fermentation fridge (in the garage) will soar to the 90s in no time. That would sucks But then.....it might not.

What do you think? Suck it up and chance it or just wait until this weekend?

Ive brewed with power outages before. It make it more interesting.

They may not have had power "back in the day", but they were also probably not brewing when it was 90F+ outside.

Unless you're brewing a saison, I'd wait. Nothing ruins a good beer like bad fermentation temps.

Then again, if you horde enough ice, you could always do an icebath fermentation.

Go old school. Necessity is the pain in the ass mother of invention. Besides, you'll probably get ripped to the tits trying to drink your beer before it gets warm.

No matter what it actually turns out like....HOW COOL would it be to have a Hurricane Saison?

With 2 pumps and 2 electric heating elements, brewing without electricity would require quite a few modifications to my system but it would be doable. I'd have to re-introduce gravity to my system, heat all my water in my kettle, lift and dump. All the reasons I went with the system I did was to eliminate those steps.

Linc

My brewing system (if you can call it that) wouldn't matter....we're just talking about a couple coolers and a turkey fryer...

The thing I'm worried about is my fermentation fridge going out. I was going to brew BM's Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale.....not a saison.

Hehe I could though I guess....only thing I'm missing (i think) is the yeast. Closest thing I've got is WLP 400 Wit yeast but I haven't made a starter...

UPDATE:

I've been emailing SWMBO bc she's at work......she works maybe 5-10min from here and she just said the power went out....I guess she got the email out before it did or only part of the building or something? IDK but that kinda seals it I guess.....

yeah, sounds like the odds are against you at this point.

If you don't respond to this post we'll assume the worst: that you had to put off brewing because the power went out.

Be safe, brother. Sounds like today is a better day for drinking beer than brewing it.

MrFebtober said:

If you don't respond to this post we'll assume the worst: that you had to put off brewing because the power went out.

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More like: that the power went out and I had to drain two kegs before they warmed up and passed out at 11am....SWMBO comes home for lunch and finds me passed out on the couch with a beer in one hand and a sandwich in the other

Generator... we also get hit with hurricanes. Not sure I'd start a brew session though with one expected to hit. Too many other things that can go wrong... like a tree unexpectedly entering your house.

Well, the storm hasn't hit yet and it's ALMOST at 2 now....plus it's going a bit more north than they thought so we'll get even more rain/wind. Our house is secure....patio furniture and trash can and everything is in the garage. What sucks though is our F'ing neighbors still have a bunch of **** in their yard that I'm sure will be flying around later.

Just talked to my buddy....powers out at his house too. The wind hasn't picked up but he was saying it should be blowing at 50mph later on Luckily we don't have any questionable trees or anything...

Neighbors have any good stuff? I say anything that blows in your yard is finder's-keepers! "Hey, a new lawnmower - sweet!"

Alamo_Beer said:

Well, I've got the day off thanks to Dolly. It's raining but nothing too crazy, the wind hasn't picked up or anything.

I just set up my ghetto brew stand and then got to thinking. If the power goes out then my fermentation fridge (in the garage) will soar to the 90s in no time. That would sucks But then.....it might not.

What do you think? Suck it up and chance it or just wait until this weekend?

Click to expand...

That's when I break out this little puppy. I have plenty of stabilized gasoline to last through to keep my fridge, freezer and fermenters going.

the_bird said:

Neighbors have any good stuff? I say anything that blows in your yard is finder's-keepers! "Hey, a new lawnmower - sweet!"

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Nope, I live in the ghetto Best I could wish for is their crappy kid pool.....guess I could use it to cool my wort

the ol standby cooler and ice bottles. or bags/blocks of ice. if you have a fermenting fridge try to figure out how to get a block of ice in there.

Yeah, I think I'm just going to drink today....anyone up for some noon drunk chat

I would actually plan on brewing a big beer, and calling it 'Blackout Brew'

Double meaning, ya know?

Its nice having a basement that doesn't even get up to 70F during the summer. My brewing system is also similarly primitive and I'm on city water so I probably wouldn't even notice a power interruption during my brewing.

Craig

JMD87 said:

I would actually plan on brewing a big beer, and calling it 'Blackout Brew'

Double meaning, ya know?

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Funny you should mention that. Most of the names of Great Lakes beers are related to events, or people in Cleveland (Burning River Pale Ale, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, etc.). Well after the great Blackout of 2003 they renamed thier RIS Blackout stout. A very good name for an RIS, especially one brewed not far from the epicenter of the blackout.

Craig

CBBaron said:

Its nice having a basement that doesn't even get up to 70F during the summer.

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I wish we had a basement! Freakin' Texas soil is too rocky or too sandy. We're moving in a year for SWMBO to get her grad degree....I want to move to Indiana or something so I can have a basement like you guys!

Not much of a problem for my rig. Unless I was in the middle of pumping sparge water, nada. The "cellar" stays fairly cool now that I have the old garage walled in.

On the other hand, I prefer to brew outside, so flying trees & elk might be a problem.

F it. I'm seriously doubting power outages now and I'm going for it.....

Wish me luck!!

Alamo_Beer said:

I wish we had a basement! Freakin' Texas soil is too rocky or too sandy. We're moving in a year for SWMBO to get her grad degree....I want to move to Indiana or something so I can have a basement like you guys!

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I don't think is so much that you can't have a basement as you don't need one down there so builders don't go through that expense.
Up here in the north you have to dig down below the frost line before you can pour your footers. If you are digging that far you might as well dig a little further and make it usable space. Plus you need some where to put those appliances like furnaces and water heaters. You can't just stick them outside up here.

I think even if you did build an underground storage room in Texas you would still need to cool it. I much prefer our more temperate climate.

Craig.

Ugh, todays been such a back and forth, up and down day....

Freakin' ten minutes ago I was going to brew...I just set up my stand (again) and started getting out my grain.....then I get an email from SWMBO and she's going to be home at 1:30.......never mind

The only thing I would be worried about is loosing water. I am on a private well so no power means no water, then wouldn't be able to use my wort chiller. My fermentation fridge consists of the spare bedroom with the door closed and a window conditioner running full blast. I also have many beers fermenting at one time, so I can't afford to live in fear.

Alamo_Beer said:

Ugh, todays been such a back and forth, up and down day....

Freakin' ten minutes ago I was going to brew...I just set up my stand (again) and started getting out my grain.....then I get an email from SWMBO and she's going to be home at 1:30.......never mind

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call her back and tell her it is not safe at home. She needs to head to higher ground....Like Austin...Like her folks or your folks house.

why do you need power to brew?

get some candles

I could have a rabid grizzly bear locked onto my manhood and I'd probably still try to find a way to brew.

So yes... GET TO BREWING!

JMD87 said:

I would actually plan on brewing a big beer, and calling it 'Blackout Brew'

Double meaning, ya know?

Click to expand...

I'm with JMD. Sounds like fun!