Hello

[AZMike]

Hi all,
My wife bought me a homebrew making kit and a nice British ale kit for Christmas. I finally got the time to make the batch yesterday. Only problem was that I didn't have a homebrew to drink while making the batch. I'll hopefully have that corrected in about 6 weeks! I've found out that Flagstaff at dusk in January is ideal for cooling your wort quickly.

Looks like there's a lot of great info here - I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions as I get more into making my own brew.

 

[olllllo]

Welcome fellow zonie.

 

[lostforatime]

Welcome to the board! Flag Where the ground water is cold.

 

[AZMike]

Welcome to the board! Flag Where the ground water is cold.

The water is definately cold this time of the year. That combined with the 30 degree outside temp, and the fact that I set the pot in a big pile of snow got my 3 gallons of wort down to 68 in under 10 minutes. Can't wait till it's done - but I guess I've got at least 4 weeks before I get to drink any.

 

[Cheesefood]

The water is definately cold this time of the year. That combined with the 30 degree outside temp, and the fact that I set the pot in a big pile of snow got my 3 gallons of wort down to 68 in under 10 minutes. Can't wait till it's done - but I guess I've got at least 4 weeks before I get to drink any.

You must be on a mountain. Otherwise, how is Chicago warmer than AZ?

 

[lostforatime]

Flagstaff is 2 hours straight up into the mountians from Phoenix. I have to pre-chill the water before it goes into my wort chiller.

 

[AZMike]

You must be on a mountain. Otherwise, how is Chicago warmer than AZ?

Yep - Flagstaff is the highest city in AZ and sits at the base of the 12,600 ft SanFransisco peaks. My house is at 6800 feet. Most people don't think of ponderosa pine forests when they think of AZ, but the largest one in the world is here. Best part is, we're an hour drive from a lot of really great (and warm) hiking spots.

We used to live in the valley - moved from Mesa. Phoenix has 2 water temps - hot and even hotter!

Speaking of being at altitude, what effect, if any, might that have on the beer? Water boils at 207 here, so I did add a few minutes of cooking time to the wort.

 

[wild]

Best part is, we're an hour drive from a lot of really great (and warm) hiking spots.

And a couple of great brewerys. Welcome to the HBT.

Wild