Be careful brewing in below freezing temps

[Schumed]

So I decided to brew yesterday even though it was a bit chilly outside. I always do my brewing in the garage but run my wort chiller with outside in the driveway.

Anyways so about 10 minutes before my boil was finished I went to attach my hose outside turned the water on and nothing. My hose had a little bit of ice in there. So luckily my neighbor had a hose in the his garage that wasn't frozen. So I got my wort chiller going in the wort in the driverway and left it alone for about 10 minutes. Went outside to go get a hydrometer reading and before I knew it....my feet slipped right out from underme landing right on the rear and worse broke the hydrometer with little piecs of glass stuck in my hand. Didn't need stitches luckily just painful.

I almost dropped my wort caring it back to the garage slipping on the ice a second time.

Moral of the story water freezes...water + driverway + cold = ice rink.

I guess I need to finish up my ice bath/pond pump project for next time.

Cheers

 

[BrewMU]

I brewed in a garage Saturday. I pulled the hose in so that it thawed while I brewed. I chilled just inside the garage door. Yeah, the driveway got a little icy, but the beer gots to get brewed, know what I mean? Your story is saved by the word 'almost'. The important thing is, you didn't drop it. Hey, I have an unrelated question for you: are there any homebrew shops in the east suburban KC area good enough to warrant a drive from Columbia, in your opinion?

 

[Schumed]

I believe there is one in Independence. I have never been to it though and I believe it caters more to the wine making crowd but might be worth checking out.

Does cool stuff on Broadway still carry brew supplies I went in there during the football season and was surprised they had an alright selection of supplies.

Anyways

MIZ!

 

[kevin476]

I unfortunatly have to brew most of the year in very cold temps so I just shove the water out hose in the kitchen sink.

 

[jwk1972]

So I decided to brew yesterday even though it was a bit chilly outside. I always do my brewing in the garage but run my wort chiller with outside in the driveway...

...I guess I need to finish up my ice bath/pond pump project for next time.

Cheers

My buddy and I came up with a wort chiller that so far has worked great in testing... going to brew tomorrow so that will be the test. Anyhow, we didn't want to spend alot of money on this so we used a used good sized cooler with a cheap $20 bilge pump from Farm and Fleet (available at pretty much anyplace that has boat supplies like Walmart or other sport stores). Hooked it up to the silicone tubing and the double coil copper cooler (apx. 30 ft.). Gets it power from any 12v auto battery and I'm guessing it pumps about 3-4 gallons/minute. All together I bet we don't have $60 into the whole project. What I like is there is no mess to freeze on the driveway because it recirculates back into the cooler. I'll try to post some pics if you want.

 

[BrewMU]

I believe there is one in Independence. I have never been to it though and I believe it caters more to the wine making crowd but might be worth checking out.

Does cool stuff on Broadway still carry brew supplies I went in there during the football season and was surprised they had an alright selection of supplies.

Anyways

MIZ!

ZOU!
Yeah, CoolStuff has some brew supplies. Their inventory is spotty - they need to get with some home brewers about what to carry.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I guess I need to finish up my ice bath/pond pump project for next time.

Cheers

The best part about one of those is that in winter in order to keep the water cold you just throw in some snow. No need to buy ice.

 

[sudsmcgee]

The best part about one of those is that in winter in order to keep the water cold you just throw in some snow. No need to buy ice.

I did that a couple of brews ago, and it worked so well that when I wasn't paying attention it brought the wort down in the high 50's in no time.