outdoor kit

[mjtski]

So the misses is one of the few people that don't agree that brew day smells like heaven, and so instead of having her sit outside while the house airs out (for 4 hours) I just invested in a pretty decent outdoor propane burner.

Before my first brew day with it, I was hoping to get some pointers to limit infection and wild yeast contamination. Also, any handy pointers are more than welcome.

I'm planning on heating mash & sparge water on it, as well as doing my 60 min boil. Ill be mashing in my round 10 gal cooler.

 

[kpr121]

Youre only worried about infection while cooling (after the boil). All other processes preboil dont matter, you could have birds sh*t in your mash and you'd be okay.

How do you chill?

I use an immersion chiller, and most of the time I just leave the top of the keggle open during the chill. If it is windy, rainy or if I was recently doing some woodwork in the garage (I boil right outside the garage door usually), I will put a sanitized piece of aluminum foil over the top of the keggle until i drain into fermenters.

So dont worry too much about it unless theres a lotta wind, or its fall and leaves are dropping, or its raining outside. Then jus foil overtop the kettle (during chill only).

 

[headfullahops]

So dont worry too much about it unless theres a lotta wind, or its fall and leaves are dropping, or its raining outside. Then jus foil overtop the kettle (during chill only).

+1 on not worrying about it until after the boil. Also not a bad idea to cover with foil while chilling. I also cover the mouth of my carboy at all times after I've moved the sanitizer out of it. I've brewed all my batches outside in all seasons and never had an infected batch.

I don't know how sheltered the area is where you will brew, but you may want to look into some kind of solution to block wind. Even a descent breeze can affect your boil-off rate. Good luck outside!
:rockin: