When is it too cold to brew?

[StunnedMonkey]

I brewed an all-grain batch today. The outdoor temperature when I finished was 2F. I brewed in the garage with the door open, and so it was a balmy 11F in there per the thermometer. (I brought the mash tun (10 gal rubbermaid) inside during the mash.) Outside of the sheer discomfort, the only real problem I had was that when I went to start the water to the immersion chiller I discovered that the garden hose was hopelessly frozen and clogged with ice. (It had been in the garage, not outdoors.) So I had to haul it in the house and immerse it in the bathtub with hot water. SWMBO wasn't pleased to see me dragging a filthy 50 foot hose into the house. Oh, and my tray of sanitizer kept freezing over.

I don't think I'd do that again, but what's the coldest temp you've brewed in?

 

[runhard]

That's determination. We just don't get those types of low temperatures in the winter in central Texas. To be honest I don't know if I would have done an all grain given that low temp.; I'd gone extract in the kitchen.

Coldest temperature on brew day so far, 45°F.

 

[adx]

< 10F is admerable. I brewed yesterday morning and it was about 27F when I started. Ended up around 32F by noon. The only part that sucked was when I was sitting waiting for the boil. I just pulled the chair up close to the burner and cuddled with the wort.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

To be honest I don't know if I would have done an all grain given that low temp...

I didn't know it was going to be that cold. I thought maybe in the teens. But I had the grain all measured, and a yeast starter that I'd started Friday evening, so I just said what the heck. I'm doing it.

Not again though. It wasn't particularly fun.

 

[thevalkrye]

i'm brewing in -22 °C (-8 °F) right now..canada kicks ass!!

 

[RichVT]

I brew out on our deck here in Vermont. I brewed yesterday in the low teens, but I have brewed when it was colder. I use a polarware stainless msah/lauter tun, and I am always amazed how well it holds the mash temp, even in those cold temps. Yesterday the mash held at 150 for 75 minutes. I do drape a sleeping bag over the tun while mashing. I don't use the counter flow in the extreme cold though. Like you said, the hoses freeze up quick! I bring the wort into the house after the boil and use an immersion chiller. Our well water runs at about 48 degrees in the winter, and I can get the wort down to 65 or less within 20 minutes.

 

[alex_wilkosz]

my question is how do you keep your wort warm enough inside then during fermentation? and how (if you bottle) do you keep the temps up on the bottle carbing without turning up the thermometer in your place ridiculously high>?

 

[vtchuck]

I brew out on our deck here in Vermont.

I'm right over the ridge from Rich, and so far cold hasn't been a problem. I brew in an unheated attached shed with a large gable type exhaust fan running and windows open. I have a hose & faucet in the cellar & hook up my immersion cooler only for the twenty minutes or so that I need it. YMMV

 

[Yooper]

my question is how do you keep your wort warm enough inside then during fermentation? and how (if you bottle) do you keep the temps up on the bottle carbing without turning up the thermometer in your place ridiculously high>?

That's hard for me- the warmest room in my home right now is 62 degrees. It's much colder upstairs and in the first floor bathroon. My fermenter is sitting next to me, and it's sitting quietly at the 62 degree temperature. I use a cooler with an aquarium heater for primary, if I need a warmer temperature. The great thing is that lagers are now very easy!

 

[Gonefishing]

I shovel snow outside in the cold... I brew in the house. Small 3 gallon AG batches in the kitchen. I may be obsessed, but I'm not nuts and I HATE the cold.

 

[homebrewer_99]

When the water in your brew pot is frozen solid and your turkey fryer puts out a bazillion BTUs and starts to melt the pot would be my first guess...

 

[DylansDad]

Damn you guys are crazy, I did a brew last week in the low 40's and I was fine but my brother in law thought I was crazy. He only stood outside for about 15 minutes. I was warm because I kept moving around doing stuff. The wort chiller worked like a champ though since the water was so cold.

Would I do it again? Probably. With lower temps? Probably not. I guess 40 is about my limit.

 

[sigmund]

The lowest temp for me this year was 18°. I've learned from having to take care of our horses that you always go to great lengths to make sure all your hoses are drained before rolling them up so I haven't really had too much trouble with frozen hoses (the only good thing about the horses). Other than having to dig my rig out of a snow pile, I just throw on my coveralls and have at it. I don't get too many visitors, and none that stay long, but I can live with that.

 

[eriktlupus]

cold isn't the biggest problem here. the wind kills me, i was gonna brew sunday but the 25-35 mph winds combined with a temp around 5-10* was just a little to much for me

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

i'm brewing in -22 °C (-8 °F) right now..canada kicks ass!!

wtf man! you're an animal! :rockin:

 

[lordbeermestrength]

The lowest temp for me this year was 18°. I've learned from having to take care of our horses that you always go to great lengths to make sure all your hoses are drained before rolling them up so I haven't really had too much trouble with frozen hoses (the only good thing about the horses). Other than having to dig my rig out of a snow pile, I just throw on my coveralls and have at it. I don't get too many visitors, and none that stay long, but I can live with that.

Wait... roll up your horses so they don't freeze? Or drain your horses first before you roll them up?

 

[Lukus]

I brewed this Saturday and it was 7 degrees. The old rubbermaid cooler held at 154 like a champ. It was cold, but well worth it.

 

[CBBaron]

I've brewed when its in the teens. We don't see too many days below 10F (Today being one of them) so I havn't had the chance at a colder brew.
I say if your burner is sufficient to boil the water, then it isn't too cold.
However because we seldom see extremely cold temps, I am not well prepared for them. I think I would beg off brewing if it was much below 0F or similar temps with high winds/snow.

I did ride my bike to work this morning at a balmy 7F.

Craig

 

[salzar]

And I ***** about 45F!!!!


So spoiled with the sun in socal, could probably prepare the mash water by leaving it in the sun in the summer.

Only down fall is keeping dem fermentors cold.

 

[jnoffsker]

I brewed out in Palmer yesterday, Had to keep heatguns on the pipes and a torch on hand.

 

[gabeweisz]

I brewed outside in 40-50 a month ago, with high winds. It was no fun at all - I've moved to partial mashes indoors for the winter.

 

[BrianTheBrewer]

Hahahahahaha we brewed a Belgian Ale last weekend in the crazy snow storm. Freezing cold, snowing like crazy and we loved it. Brewing again tomorrow morning. 12 gallon batch of IPA right outside my place.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

I actually prefer to brew outside instead of in the garage when it gets really cold. Ive brewed at the coldes at about 20 - 25 F.

My problem is the wind really puts a hurt on my burner. Best bet is a sheild or a burner with a 20 psi regulator or both.

 

[BrianTheBrewer]

I love doing it outside in the cold, love it

 

[Fingers]

i'm brewing in -22 °C (-8 °F) right now..canada kicks ass!!

I did that several times last year. Two really big problems.

1. You can't see the surface of your boiling wort. The column of steam that is coming off is so dense you can't see what's going on. Putting a thermometer can be deadly and measuring volume is hit and miss.

2. Of course anything not boiling is freezing. If you keep a rag in a pail of sanitizer, the sanitizer begins to skin over with ice and the rag will stick to anything metal you try to clean. When you slop water over a piece of equipment it immediately freezes into a solid layer right over top of the soil you're trying to remove. You have to submerge anything you want to clean. Check my gallery to see the big mother pots I have to clean. They don't come in the house so I have to clean them outside.

This year I stocked up so I had a good supply of brew in before it went below freezing. I've been doing a few extract brews just to make sure I have enough to tide me over until the thaw comes, usually in April sometime.

 

[desertbronze]

I've brewed in the teens a couple of times. Not bad if the wind doesn't blow. You can warm your hands on the kettle any time.

As others have mentioned, freezing is the biggest problem. Anything you spill is ice almost instantly - keep the ice melter close at hand. We froze some StarSan in a carboy a couple of years ago, but we had remembered to keep the hoses and chillers in the house until needed.

 

[blk94f150]

I brewed at 9F today. Only problem is that the silcock where I was brewing ended up being frozen and I couldn't use my immersion chiller. It's now about 90F after sitting outside for 4 hours.

The worst part is that this is one of those freeze proof silcocks. It must just have a small amount that has frozen the stem.

Mike

 

[BeerPressure]

Mash in my kitchen.

Boil on my screened in back deck, walking out periodically to check on it.

Cold doesnt bother me during brewing, its wind that will blow out my burner flame.

 

[natefitz]

what's the coldest temp you've brewed in?

Last Monday was my coldest brewday. Here's a pic.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f85/its-frickin-freezing-here-mr-bigglesworth-93399/
Cheers

 

[mmb]

Damn you guys are crazy, I did a brew last week in the low 40's and I was fine but my brother in law thought I was crazy. He only stood outside for about 15 minutes. I was warm because I kept moving around doing stuff. The wort chiller worked like a champ though since the water was so cold.

Would I do it again? Probably. With lower temps? Probably not. I guess 40 is about my limit.

Errr... They have these things... called sweatshirts? Low 40's is cold?

To the OP: You don't have to have the garage door all the way open, you just need fresh air to replace the CO2 from the burners. I crack a window in the garage and open the garage door about 2 inches to move air around. Brewed when it was 12*F outside and the garage was a balmy 45*F. The burners really kick out the heat and warm the place up quick. That and a pot of coffee and I'm good to go. :rockin:

 

[Bobby_M]

I brewed today and it was 16F out. I barely cracked the garage doors. After heating the strike water, it got to be a nice 50F in the garage but any washing outside was miserable. I had to spend some time de-icing my hose bib to get the chiller running.

 

[SSRider]

Well I wasnt brewing, but I was working on my herms setup. Just got back inside, You could see every time I took a sip of the brew because it had a ring frozen around the glass.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Well, 2 years ago,when they closed school because of cold, I brewed this

and last year when they closed school again, I brewed again.

If you can't brew in winter, well, you're just a *****.

 

[BeerPressure]

If you can't brew in winter, well, you're just a *****.

Ah, I love brewing in the cold. Brewed a porter in the snow and 20 degree weather. But, I am imagining myself on a hot summer day, standing out in the yard with a homebrew in my hand watching a belgian wit boil.

 

[SixFoFalcon]

Somewhere in the 20s is as cold as I've had to deal with so far. I just hauled the mash tun and HLT into the laundry room once they were filled up, and did my mashing and lautering in there. Put the HLT on top of the dryer, and the MLT on an old end table, and the kettle on the floor. It actually worked out better than my outdoor rig. And since it was a stout, I only had to go back outside to bring it up to a boil, then toss in the hops, and relax inside for 40 minutes before returning to drop in the chiller, yeast nutrient, and whirlfloc tabs. But even if it was something with a lot of hop additions, I still don't think the cold would have deterred me. When you are standing in front of a big burner, with your upper body being bombarded with beer steam, the cold doesn't matter.

 

[BeerCanuck]

Brewing in winter is great...
Tuke and a good stove..who needs a chiller when you got a big snow pile

Cheers
BeerCanuck

 

[jcarson83]

It's 13F right now with 15mph winds. I've got 2 batches waiting to brew and it's killing me. Last time I brewed when it was this cold and windy it took me 3 hours to get up to a boil. I'm going to work on equipment today and hope it gets above 20 for tomorrow.

 

[Kilgore_Trout]

I've brewed well below zero out doors in the open wind. The turkey fryer has trouble keeping up so I usually have to split the boil for the first half.

I brewed last night at a whopping 4f, no issues. Coldest I've gone is ten below with a wind chill warning, the boil was pathetic but the beer was good. Use the shower hookups inside for the chiller.

If i didn't brew when it was cold I wouldn't brew much at all!

 

[Bills Brew]

It is too cold to brew when the beer you are drinking freezes.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

It is too cold to brew when the beer you are drinking freezes.

Nah, it won't freeze if you use an insulator.