Below Zero Brew Day

[syke0021]

Brewing a big barley wine tomorrow and the forecast in the Twin Cities is for temperatures well below zero when I start brewing. I'm confident I can produce my wort indoors using my cooler system. However, to make this possible, I elected to remove a portion of the grain bill and replaced it with Marris Otter LME. Once my wort is collected, I'll still need to boil in the elements.

Looking for any advice on the following:

- Planning to brew in my garage with the garage door slightly up and an additional door leading to our yard completely open. Will this provide adequate ventilation for a safe brew day?

- When should I add the LME? Before coming to a boil, last 5-10, flameout? Given the gravity of this beer(1.111), and how long I plan to age it, I'm not crazy concerned about hop uitilzation because I can adjust my hop schedule accordingly depending on what I decide. I want to base my decision on what will produce the best malt flavor.

- Given the cold temps, how much more evaporation should I plan for? I use an Edelmetall burner that can throw plenty of IBUs. Two weeks ago, I brewed in 20 degree temps and lost almost a gallon more than I typically do. Any advice for minimizing evaporation under these circumstances?


I welcome any advice from fellow brewers of the tundra. Cheers!

 

[Owly055]

My neighbor boils 5 gallon brews in the basement using a propane burner.........but holds the boil down to 30 minutes. It's a small basement, but it's tight. No indication of ill effects so far. I suspect a CO detector would go crazy......... The basement is open to the rest of the house.

Propane is not famous for producing CO, in fact forklifts used indoors always are propane powered. A blue flame indicates complete combustion....... equals little or no CO. Red or Orange is very bad. While I would not presume to advise people to use their big burners indoors, I'm not terrified of it. Oxygen depletion is probably more of an issue than CO. A big electric element would be best. I've been CO poisoned a couple of times over the years, and unfortunately you usually don't realize what's happening to you....... The last time I knew something was wrong with me, and got out of the space where it happened, and it wasn't until an hour or two later that I realized what had happened to me. This is what makes CO poisoning so deadly. It is also worth noting that your body takes several days to produce the red blood cells necessary to bring you completely back to normal. Until that time, any serious effort will leave your body short of oxygen.

Your red blood cells carry oxygen to your body and brain, Carbon Monoxide latches on to these cells permanently, taking them out of service permanently. Needless to say, your ability to produce red cells is reduced also....... making recovery more of a problem yet. It's not something to flirt with...........

The safest program is electric if you must brew indoors............ I always use natural gas, and always brew indoors, but my brew size is either 2.5 or 4 gallons, by boil times are usually 30 min, and I kick on a fan periodically to bring outside air in if I go longer than 30 min.

A shroud around your brew kettle will reduce the flame needed, particularly an insulated shroud. There is a thread on these somewhere.



............ Just be careful H.W.

 

[day_trippr]

I don't know much about "tundra", but I have brewed in the friggin' cold here.
I would dress warm and use a box fan for positive ventilation vs passive - and station my plug-in CO detector around waist height near where I'm tending the gear.

As long as you have some fresh wort in the kettle for the full boil, I'd hold off on the LME until flame-out, as it doesn't need to be boiled to begin with, and you'll totally avoid any scorching.

I can't provide any qualitative answer wrt boil-off vs temperature/humidity/acts of God. If it's going to be even colder than two weeks ago, for sure expect that gallon extra is going to happen again. But it's easier to add top-off water than decide at the last minute to extend the boil and muck up the hop schedule, so don't go over-board with extra liquor...

Cheers - and good luck!

 

[Stillraining]

I have a 20 x 20 wood shop..This time of year I heat it with mainly a propane salamander..It runs for a hour or two straight to get it warm enough to shut it off and get by with the electric heater.
No open doors no open windows.... I never feel anything different. Am I advocating you do the same?..nope!..I'm just advocating people worry way to much about CO poisoning from propane. It comes up here a lot it seems. My shop is not an air tight room by any means..much the same as your garage. What you proposed is more then adequate.

 

[Opiate42]

Have brewed in -30C(-22F) before in a garage, had the burner only a few feet from the garage door which was up about 2 feet to keep the air flowing, but froze our bloody toes off and a small tsunami of snow came underneath, loads of fun