Moving to outdoor brewing

[AlreadyXDead]

Hey there guys,
I will be doing outdoor brewing this summer. I have a 9 Gal brew pot that I use for my 5-6 gallon batches. I just picked up a 66,000 btu propane burner used for 30$. It works perfect and sounds like a beast.

Anything i should consider moving to outdoors? And will this burner be good enough? Im not sure what my stove top burners are rated at. They are pretty small and had to use my pot balancing over 2 of them anyway. So im sure this will be better no matter what.

Tips? Considerations?
Thanks!

 

[Hello]

Where will you brew? If wind comes into play know a way to make a wind screen fast. Even if the burner has one, wind usually gets through and can cause longer than normal boils and such.

Have everything you need with you where you brew. I brew in my garage (door open at the edge) and the deck depending upon weather. Brew day will go quicker if you don't have to walk in and out of the house, even if the garage is off the kitchen or the deck is off the kitchen.

Quick access to a hose for your wort chiller (assuming you have one) and just in case of random fire would never be a bad idea.

Consider being able to sit in the shade wherever you are and of course easy access to cold beer.

 

[bobeer]

I'm not sure I totally understand your question. Are you doing all grain or extract? If you can do everything outside (get your strike water heated, mash, sparge, boil and chill) then I'd just move everything outside on brew day and spend your brewing time outdoors. It's great.

Your burner should be fine btw.

 

[Docbruw]

Do NOT use water from your garden hose to brew with unless you want your beer to taste like plastic.

 

[j1n]

watch for bugs. i just pulled 2 bugs out of my water when heating it up for mashing in when i brewed this weekend. none got in my wort though. i also brew at the edge of my garage where the door is.

 

[bionicrocky]

I brew outdoors. I bought an RV food grade hose and an RV water filter attached to it with a brass shut off valve. I have a bad back, it beats carrying 5 gallons of water!

 

[philipCT]

I just moved to a house without a garage, so I brewed truly outdoors for the first time (without any overhead covering except trees). Two problems I encountered:

-when I was just getting ready to cool & transfer to fermenters, the sun was high and was shining on them, heating them up more than I would have liked. Next time I will pick a shady place next to the porch to position them for transfer.
-the oak trees above are just raining down all manner of stuff at this time of year. You don't want to cover your boil, but after the boil is done, I covered the BK while cooling to keep all that crap out of the beer.

Otherwise, it was a great day and I loved brewing there where random friends could pop in and see what was going on:

 

[AlreadyXDead]

Thanks so much for the tips everyone! Building a wind screen will definitely be a good idea. My backyard is pretty concealed but can get gusty still. I will most likely be brewing beside my house, where it is mostly shaded. I am doing all grain so i'm going to just have everything out there. I will probably fill up a few plastic buckets for water transfers and what not. I don't mind lugging those to the back yard, its not that bad. Id rather do that than use my hose water.

That set up looks awesome by the way. Eventually i will have something similar! Cant wait to brew outdoors.

 

[vinylrooster]

Absolutely love brewing outdoors. The only problem is that all of my neighbors look at me like I'm cooking meth. It doesn't help that they know I'm a biochemist, so I'm sure they all think I'm Walter White.

 

[AlreadyXDead]

I could see that happening haha. My neighbors already know I brew, because I give them some from time to time. Totally could see the same reaction though if I had never told them.

 

[Puddlethumper]

I moved my brewing outdoors when I switched to AG a couple years ago. I now brew in my garage and leave the door open for fresh air. The main drawback I found in brewing outdoors was the cold in the winter (tolerable in our Mediterranean climate) and in the summertime the heat and the flies. Otherwise brewing is brewing. You still need room to work, ready access to all your equipment and supplies, a location for your burner that is out of the wind, a working counter for your scale, notebook, etc., and a comfortable chair. It helps if the location isn't too far from your water source (both cold for brewing and hot for cleanup) and fairly close to your fermentation chamber.

Being outdoors or in the garage has other benefits as well. Having a scruffy dog or friendly old cat around to chat with is nice, too.

Cheers!

 

[Gaurhoth]

I am brewing on my screened porch. Limited bugs/contaminates and limited visibility from the neighbors so hopefully I will not have to explain what I am doing to the police . What's the protocol for offering homebrew to officers...tell them to come back when they are out of uniform?!? Heh.

Extremely convenient with readily available water (both sink and garden hose variety). I just need to toss up a few hooks into the ceiling of the porch so I can use a pulley for my BIAB setup.



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[flippedcracker]

You don't want to cover your boil, but after the boil is done, I covered the BK while cooling to keep all that crap out of the beer.

I've never heard this. Any particular reason?

 

[brewbama]

I brew outside on a turkey frier. When it's raining I brew at the edge of the garage but usually on the deck because I don't want all that steam in the garage.


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[brewkinger]

I've never heard this. Any particular reason?

Reason for not covering the boil?:

There is a compound called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) that boils off. Covering the boil does not allow it to be removed from the beer and the result is a "canned corn" taste.

Reason to cover the kettle after cooling?;
To prevent any harmful things from inadvertently getting into the beer which is quite possible when brewing outside.


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[passedpawn]

I've never heard this. Any particular reason?

When the wort is heated, a chemical called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is produced. It has a horrible taste of creamed corn. Fortunately, DMS is carried away by the steam vapors during the boil. If you cover the pot during the boil, the steam will condense on the lid and fall back into the pot, along with the DMS. Light malts like pilsner malt contain more of the precursor to DMS (SMS), so be particularly careful with that. Dark malts, and extract (I think), don't contain enough SMS to be a problem.

I've had DMS beer and it does not get better with time and it's completely undrinkable.

 

[passedpawn]

buzz jinx

 

[The_Bishop]

Hey, I *like* creamed corn!

Just not in my beer.

Have a spare full propane tank. They always seem to run out at the worst possible time.

 

[Puddlethumper]

Reason for not covering the boil?:
There is a compound called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) that boils off. Covering the boil does not allow it to be removed from the beer and the result is a "canned corn" taste.

OK, so this is why I love this forum. I've been brewing for a couple of years with over a hundred batches under my belt (in more ways than one). I've never heard this before! I realized the boil reduced the volume and concentrated the wort in addition to activating the hops and creating the hot-break removing other undesirables. But this one caught me afresh. Is there anything else going on in there?

Thanks for that knowledge guys!

Cheers!

 

[MC_McMic]

Reason for not covering the boil?:

There is a compound called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) that boils off. Covering the boil does not allow it to be removed from the beer and the result is a "canned corn" taste.

I used to cover my boil when I brewed outdoors before I knew better, at least as far as I was able to cover the pot with my stirring spoon in there. Another issue you run into besides DMS is that all of the hop matter in the wort will very quickly end up on the sides of your kettle and not in the beer. So, you're likely losing a lot of hop flavor there, I would think. This does not happen with your boil uncovered.

Also, as others have mentioned, a wind screen is not a bad idea. I boil in a carport with a house on either side and a fence giving me cover on a third side. I have still experienced blow-outs. When I have the bayou burner going full bore, it's not an issue, but when I turn it down to keep a good rolling boil, it will blow out with a strong enough gust of wind.

 

[flippedcracker]

When the wort is heated, a chemical called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is produced. It has a horrible taste of creamed corn. Fortunately, DMS is carried away by the steam vapors during the boil. If you cover the pot during the boil, the steam will condense on the lid and fall back into the pot, along with the DMS. Light malts like pilsner malt contain more of the precursor to DMS (SMS), so be particularly careful with that. Dark malts, and extract (I think), don't contain enough SMS to be a problem.

I've had DMS beer and it does not get better with time and it's completely undrinkable.

Wow, I've never had that taste, but good to know. I've always brewed outside, an partially covered the kettle so stuff doesn't fall in. I'll definitely make sure to not cover it so much. Thanks!

 

[Flboy]

Add a shroud around ur pot.

 

[passedpawn]

Hey, I *like* creamed corn!

Just not in my beer.

I do too. Just take my word, it is not a good flavor in beer.

Growing up, we had creamed corn a lot. Don't run into it at all any more. I think it is out of favor.