Brewing in a "drafty" environment

[briggssteel]

I was listening to the brewing network and Jamil mentioned not to brew in a drafty environment to avoid contamination. Maybe I'm taking it out of context or something but I think it was on the Scottish ale show. Now I know people brew outside all the time so this confused me. I brew in my garage with the door open and it's making me question my cleanliness. Not so much on the hot side, but on the cold side. Specifically when I'm cooling my wort I have the lid cracked for my immersion chiller. Should I be covering this crack to keep wild yeast and bacteria out?

I don't know if I've had any infections as they haven't tasted sour but my last Kölsch I did ended up at 1.002 and had a little astringency. This has made me question my sanitation. I'm wondering if this could be a factor. Thoughts?

 

[brewbama]

I brew outside on my deck in one kettle and a cooler. So far (knock on wood), I've never had any issues. Of course, I'm no expert brewer. I am simply a recreational, 5 gal batch, weekend warrior.

I just think back to a bazillion years of brewing history: I am sure they did not brew in a laboratory and they made the classic styles we base our brews on today. Don't get me wrong, I take cleanliness and sanitation serious. I recall some of the best beers in history fermented in open vats.

Of course, I drank from a garden hose, rode a bike without a helmet, and laid in the back window of the car when I was a kid, too.


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[kickflip_mj]

Just boil and then put a lid on when chilling. Problem solved


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[Beernik]

I think it would come down to two things:
1) how drafty is drafty?
2) what's in the air around you.

Being in Utah, I generally do not have to worry about mold. Ever. Utah is the second driest state. Salt Lake averages 16 inches of rain a year, and most of it is between September and May and in the form of snow. And if the humidity gets above 20%, people start complaining about how humid it is.

On the other hand, living at the mouth of a canyon, +20mph winds are not uncommon and it can carry a lot of dust from the west desert. So worrying about stuff getting blown into my BK can be concerning at times.

But you only need to worry about it after the wort drops below 160F and before you close the lid on the fermenter with the yeast pitched. So, try to minimize that time as best as possible and if you are still worried about it, cover the BK as best as possible.