Bad Day or Not? You decide

[Jwerner23]

I am having a tough brew day today. I was going to wait until this weekend to brew but had to push it up to today because the weather forcast. A little background, I live in Northern Minnesota and brew in my garage which is not heated. It is a balmy 10 degrees outside with a little wind dropping the windchill to 4 below. Had to do it today because Sat. has a high of 6 below and Sunday a high of 23 below zero, with chance of getting to 50 below.

So I have had a hard time keeping my mash temp, I biab. I don't know how this Ipa is going to come out the temp has been all over the place. I wanted 150 but it started at 160 so i left the top off for a few min while I ran inside to get something, by the time I came back out it was at 140. Turned the burner back on very low to get it back up to 150 then turned it off. I am 40 minutes into my mash now and its been at 149 for about 25 min of the time.

But who am I fooling brew day is always a good day. Making beer and drinking beer.

 

[andhou27]

Something always happens on brew day... I just hope your yeast can do their job!

 

[Jwerner23]

This really was a bad brew day, I forgot to do my mashout temps then I also had my first boil over. It was so cold in the garage that half way through the boil the stuff that boiled over towards the beginning of the boil was frozen on the garage floor. I did realize my kettle is very good at holding temp because it has been outside in the snow for 2 hours in 15 degree weather and the wort is still 150 degrees.

 

[andhou27]

Wow, it has been pretty cold here but that is frigid! You could almost do a lager haha. My first boilover was on a 1 gallon batch that was in a 4 gallon pot, I was really surprised!

 

[Corey_SS]

Snow will actually insulate your pot.

You made beer though, I'd call it a good day.

 

[masskrug]

Damn. We are crying here in Florida that it will get into the low 40's tonight. I'd love to throw on a jacket, hoodie, grab some pints and get out there in the garage with you. Wait, that sounds a little gay. Sorry.

 

[Cyclman]

I brewed outside on a 22 degree day, loved it. Fired my MT burner four times to keep temps close to the desired temp. Beer came out great, though.

 

[day_trippr]

On balance, not a great day, but still better than working for The Man...

Cheers! :rockin:

 

[whoaru99]

Damn. We are crying here in Florida that it will get into the low 40's tonight. I'd love to throw on a jacket, hoodie, grab some pints and get out there in the garage with you. Wait, that sounds a little gay. Sorry.

No, you wouldn't like it. We don't like it, we merely tolerate it.

It's currently balmy here. A blistering 16F with a 40 mph wind out of the North. It's expected to be -30F ambient temp Sunday night. Factored with a 20 mph estimated wind the chill factor will be about -60F. And I'm not even "up North" as far as Minnesota is concerned.

 

[RM-MN]

I am having a tough brew day today. I was going to wait until this weekend to brew but had to push it up to today because the weather forcast. A little background, I live in Northern Minnesota and brew in my garage which is not heated. It is a balmy 10 degrees outside with a little wind dropping the windchill to 4 below. Had to do it today because Sat. has a high of 6 below and Sunday a high of 23 below zero, with chance of getting to 50 below.

So I have had a hard time keeping my mash temp, I biab. I don't know how this Ipa is going to come out the temp has been all over the place. I wanted 150 but it started at 160 so i left the top off for a few min while I ran inside to get something, by the time I came back out it was at 140. Turned the burner back on very low to get it back up to 150 then turned it off. I am 40 minutes into my mash now and its been at 149 for about 25 min of the time.

But who am I fooling brew day is always a good day. Making beer and drinking beer.

I share your pain because I probably live only 30 to 40 miles from you. Things I have learned to do to make brewing more enjoyable in this climate include.

1. Brew indoors. The cold garage temps play hell with trying to keep your temps in the right range for mashing.
2. Make smaller batches so I can do them on the kitchen stove. 2 1/2 gallons works great, makes a case of beer.
3. Mill your grains really fine for BIAB. You have the bag to make the filter so you don't care if the barley husks get ripped to shreds.
4. Since your grains are milled so fine, it doesn't take an hour to convert. I do 30 minutes and I think I'm wasting 20 of those.
5. If your kitchen stove burner isn't really strong (mine will boil over 6 gallons easily, most won't) you can put a lid on as you bring it to boil. Watch it closely as it nears boil, the hot break will go over the top and make a bad mess on the stove in a flash.
6. As you start heating the wort to boil, set a tub of water outside where an ice patch won't hurt. When the boil is done, set the pot of wort in that tub of water and dump snow into the tub, being careful not to get it in the pot. You'll probably have to add snow a time or 2 as it cools but if you do that you can have the wort down to pitching temp in 20 minutes.
7. Bring the pot back inside but don't forget to dump the water out of the tub. It will freeze solid in a couple hours if you forget it.