Brewing in South Lake Tahoe winters

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ericbreen

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South Lake Tahoe
We recently moved to SLT from the bay area in California. I am having an incredibly hard time with my mash. I currently use a single tier brew stand and 3 keggles. I have reflectix wrap on the mash tun. I have to brew outside, with some wind protection. I have been considering a RIMS setup to help maintain my mash temps. Any ideas?
Thanks
 
I use 2 old comforters and wrap my keggle up, when I lived in Pa that worked pretty well, if it was in the teens I might have to turn the heat on for a few mins but at that point it was almost at the end of the mash so I wasn't too worried.
 
It's been really cold the last 10 days in Tahoe. You could wrap it in refletix to help with the cold as you've done but I think the only other option would be a HERMS or RIMS setup. If you make it over to Reno or Carson City talk to BrewChatter (Sparks) or Just Brew It in Carson City. High Desert Brewgade has a facebook group (Reno based club) and I'm in there but I don't know about any SLT brew clubs for brains to pick about insulating a mash tun.

Is direct firing just not maintaining temperatures? Remember water boils closer to 203, or lower, where you're at now. It's 204 in Reno.
 
I really think the HERMS or RIMS will be the way to go. Actually I have done pretty good at maintaining mash temps, once I hit them. THe real problem has been strike water. I use Beersmith, and it is so hard to guess what temp for my strike water. I have pre heated the mash tun with some 180 degree water and ran it through my pumps to preheat everything. I have tried all combinations of things, I'm just tired of guessing.
 
HERMS or RIMS isn't going to help you hit your strike water temps. I love brewing in the cold, and have brewed down into the single digits. The colder it is, the harder it is to hit your numbers, even when preheating your equipment. You just end up losing heat every little step of the way. If it's in the 30s, I'll add a degree to my strike water. 20s, 2 degrees. Teens, 3 degrees. And when it's cold out, as soon as I transfer the water to the mash tun, I'll start heating up another gallon. After mashing in, I'll check the temp, and if it's a little low (which it often is), I've already got some water boiling, or close to it, to add to get it right where I want it. I'll add a small bit of boiling water, stir, and check temps, and do this until I get it my mash temp dialed in.
 
I really think the HERMS or RIMS will be the way to go. Actually I have done pretty good at maintaining mash temps, once I hit them. THe real problem has been strike water. I use Beersmith, and it is so hard to guess what temp for my strike water. I have pre heated the mash tun with some 180 degree water and ran it through my pumps to preheat everything. I have tried all combinations of things, I'm just tired of guessing.

You can change the settings for boiling water to only be 204, and equipment temperatures can be compensated for with a check box on the design or mash tab. This should help out a lot.
 
I would suggest a rims or herms in conjunction with an insulated mash tun like the Ssbrewtech. I have their insulated 10 gallon and it works great with my electric rims setup, but you can just turn your sparge water kettle into a herms so you can still stick with gas for heating, and not even have to deal with the electric side of things. That's the only downside to the ssbrewtech is that you can't apply direct heat, so it has to be either rims or herms to heat it. Mine stays within .3°of my setpoint.
 
I have to brew outside

:confused:

why do you have to brew outside? are you renting a room in a trailerpark or something?

We have cold-ish winters here in idaho. I mash in the laundry room and boil in the garage, but if I am doing a step mash for a hefeweizen, I just mash on the stovetop, since I own it.

I would think that the extra 70 degree difference between indoor and outdoor ambient temps would make it difficulter to mash, but even more difficult to stand there for more than 20 seconds when doughing in or sparging or whatever.
 
Not everyone has a garage. And for those of us that do, not all of us want all of the condensation from brewing in the garage.

understood. I do open the door from the garage to the back yard during the boil to keep the moisture down, but we have very low humidity in the west, so it dissipates pretty quickly.

Maybe I'm just a pansy, but i would be doing 2 gallon biab batches on the stovetop while watching football on tv before I tried to brew outside in typical tahoe or idaho winter temps.
 
:confused:

why do you have to brew outside? are you renting a room in a trailerpark or something?

We have cold-ish winters here in idaho. I mash in the laundry room and boil in the garage, but if I am doing a step mash for a hefeweizen, I just mash on the stovetop, since I own it.

I would think that the extra 70 degree difference between indoor and outdoor ambient temps would make it difficulter to mash, but even more difficult to stand there for more than 20 seconds when doughing in or sparging or whatever.

Moto some of us have others in the house who cannot stand the smell of grain mashing or boiling hops. IE: SWMBO
 
Moto some of us have others in the house who cannot stand the smell of grain mashing or boiling hops. IE: SWMBO

lol, i've been married for many years, but luckily I do not have a SWMBO.

If she tried that, I'd have to go all cartman on her "hey, you get your b##h azz back in the kitchen and fix me some pie!"

Or I'd build a heated brewing shed, with cable tv.
 
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