Brewing outside in the Winter

[thippe]

i'm in Maine where we get long stretches that do not go above 25 degrees for 10+ days at a time. And that one day above freezing temps seems to always happen when i'm working or just busy.
i dont mind brewing in the cold, my only problem is the water spigot generally is frozen. Does anyone else brew outside in these temps? Does anyone use something like this? I was hoping to just plug it in on the day i go to brew.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002YFAHAW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

brewing in the kitchen is ok but i prefer to do 10 gallon batches.

 

[eadavis80]

I stopped brewing in the winter because lugging the kettle with 5 gallons of boiling wort inside the house and then taking it downstairs to my laundry room to hook up the wort chiller to the sink was just a pain in the butt. I never spilled (thank God), but I just figured it wasn't worth it anymore. I was concerned about pipes busting/freezing by using the wort chiller outside in the winter. So, whatever - when we get a winter thaw in Michigan (maybe late February) I'll brew again. My wife doesn't go for indoor brews.

 

[BLuck]

I have used heating cables before in my work and they certainly help but can take awhile to generate enough heat if already froze solid.

You could also look to get a indoor faucet to hose thread adapter if you have a faucet reasonably close to brew area; you may not get high flow but as long as its flowing the hose outside shouldn't freeze that fast.

 

[thippe]

yea i did run a hose out a bathroom window before moving to a different house. I guess it's still possible, i will just need to buy a longer RV/drinking water hose to run.

 

[standpoint]

I brew outside in the winter. Brewed last weekend and it was -10F in my garage. I buy RO water from the grocery store and haul it outside for my brewing water. I bring the wort inside to chill w/ my immersion chiller, and all my gear inside to clean.

I do have to bring the wort down a flight of stiars, and get really nervous about spilling, but have not spilled yet.

 

[JonM]

Fill your HLT with ice water, connect it to a pump, and use that to recirculate through the chiller.

Just don't leave the chiller outside when you're done, get it, the pump, and the fittings/hoses inside asap when done.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Get an IOWA 5 foot bury hydrant. Problem solved. If your water is freezing under the house you got air leaks or too close to outside wall. If it is the faucet it may not be frost proof.

 

[Spartan1979]

You guys are more dedicated than me. I won't brew in the garage if it's much below freezing, much less brew outside!

 

[Psylocide]

All this talk about hooking up chillers when it's below freezing.

Put the lid on at flameout and walk away for 4-5 hours.

Boom, pitching temp.

 

[Stillraining]

i'm in Maine where we get long stretches that do not go above 25 degrees for 10+ days at a time. And that one day above freezing temps seems to always happen when i'm working or just busy.
i dont mind brewing in the cold, my only problem is the water spigot generally is frozen. Does anyone else brew outside in these temps? Does anyone use something like this? I was hoping to just plug it in on the day i go to brew.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002YFAHAW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

brewing in the kitchen is ok but i prefer to do 10 gallon batches.

We have Horses..and that is exactly what we use to keep the water trough supply line from freezing...as well as 1" split foam wrap..its way better then any other type of insulation as its not affected by getting wet. Just the heat tape alone wont usually cut it, you will want to insulate it as well.

 

[thippe]

have you done this? i thought the whole point of using a chiller was to get it done quickly

 

[baulz]

All this talk about hooking up chillers when it's below freezing.

Put the lid on at flameout and walk away for 4-5 hours.

Boom, pitching temp.

I started doing this, makes brewing in winter a lot easier and quicker. I do my boil late at night after the kids go to bed, then drain the kettle in the morning.

 

[JonM]

I'm suddenly totally intrigued by this idea.

 

[brewprint]

I keep a hose inside and turn the hose valve off inside of the house. Then when I brew I turn the valve on.

I haven't had an issue yet but it seems like on the days I brew it's not much below freezing.

When I'm done the hose will come back in the house and the valve inside of the house will get turned off. Worse case scenario that if the valve outside is frozen then I'll just run the hose from the sink. It'll take longer to fill the kettle and chill the wort but it'll work.

 

[Psylocide]

have you done this? i thought the whole point of using a chiller was to get it done quickly

I do it every time. I do it in the middle of summer with 10 gal batches (takes longer, obviously).

The suggestion to chill immediately is supposed to achieve two things:

1. To minimize the time between brewing/pitching yeast. The thought is, the quicker you get the yeast in there, the less susceptible the wort will be to infection-inducing microorganisms.

- However, when you put the lid on at flameout, the entire boil kettle has been boil/steam sanitized. I still pitch yeast within 24 hours, and have never had an infection.

2. To achieve a good 'cold break.'

- I've heard reasoning that clear beer starts with a good hot and cold break. However, I use whirlfloc in the boil and fine with gelatin. My beers come out crystal every time.

So, to each their own. One less thing for me to mess with.

 

[thippe]

I do it every time. I do it in the middle of summer with 10 gal batches (takes longer, obviously).

The suggestion to chill immediately is supposed to achieve two things:

1. To minimize the time between brewing/pitching yeast. The thought is, the quicker you get the yeast in there, the less susceptible the wort will be to infection-inducing microorganisms.

- However, when you put the lid on at flameout, the entire boil kettle has been boil/steam sanitized. I still pitch yeast within 24 hours, and have never had an infection.

2. To achieve a good 'cold break.'

- I've heard reasoning that clear beer starts with a good hot and cold break. However, I use whirlfloc in the boil and fine with gelatin. My beers come out crystal every time.

So, to each their own. One less thing for me to mess with.

thanks, i think i might be giving this a try. only 'slight' inconvenience will be filling with the initial 11 or 12 gallons of water from inside the house.
then cleaning my big a$$ keggle in the shower when done.

 

[Psylocide]

thanks, i think i might be giving this a try. only 'slight' inconvenience will be filling with the initial 11 or 12 gallons of water from inside the house.
then cleaning my big a$$ keggle in the shower when done.

Yeah, I have 4 gallon reusable water jugs... I fill those in the house, carry them out to the BK (depending on how much tap water I'm using, could just be one trip).

I use up to 50% RO for darker/maltier beers, so I have to go get water for those anyway.

Pro-tip: If you have a DIY car wash (with the coin-op pressure washers) or a 'dog wash' around, bring everything you need cleaned and blast it out with the pressure washer (don't use the soap settings).

Costs me a couple bucks, but oh so worth my time/hassel.

 

[blizz81]

I use the aforementioned bucket of ice water + submersible pump with my IC. If you have an IC, this is really the effective way to use it anyways, regardless of calendar month. Bonus in winter as you can just keep feeding snow into the bucket. (Or make your own block ice probably).

That's all I do outside anyways. Mash inside and lug the BK out with a brewing buddy. But as mentioned, trips can be made either way to and fro with smaller vessels. Generally clean inside, though if it's not TOO cold, I might connect the hose briefly just to fill the chilling bucket with a little water and / or spray out the BK, and then drain / disconnect hose again. I would hate to load all of my stuff in a car, drive to a wash, unload it, spray it, load it again, and drive back, especially considering I'm usually sipping on a couple during brew day.

 

[CUrchin]

Back to the O.P.'s question-

My back deck is near by back door. If it's nice out but still cold and I do want to brew outside and use a chiller I will run a hose from the slop sink, out the door and to the chiller. Or, most often, I will "slow chill" as others have mentioned where I just turn off the burner and leave the lid on. And I will also sometime just brew smaller batches inside.

My point is there are a lot of ways to achieve the same thing, it really depends on what you have available to you and how much effort you want to put into it. Cheers.

 

[Psylocide]

I use the aforementioned bucket of ice water + submersible pump with my IC. If you have an IC, this is really the effective way to use it anyways, regardless of calendar month. Bonus in winter as you can just keep feeding snow into the bucket. (Or make your own block ice probably).

That's all I do outside anyways. Mash inside and lug the BK out with a brewing buddy. But as mentioned, trips can be made either way to and fro with smaller vessels. Generally clean inside, though if it's not TOO cold, I might connect the hose briefly just to fill the chilling bucket with a little water and / or spray out the BK, and then drain / disconnect hose again. I would hate to load all of my stuff in a car, drive to a wash, unload it, spray it, load it again, and drive back, especially considering I'm usually sipping on a couple during brew day.

That's what 'tomorrow' is for.

And how much crap are you brewing with?

BK, keg or two if needed, fermenter, mash tun... Four things? I live in a place that regularly sees highs below zero during this time of year.

Only an extremely ill-informed person would turn on the spigots out here during the winter.

 

[standpoint]

To add to this, last weekend when it was -10F, I brewed an all grain 10 gallon batch. I mashed out in the garage, and wrapped it in two blankets. Only lost about 4 degrees over a 90 min mash. I use five gallon jugs for brewing water to make them portable. For cooling, I transfer from my 10 gallon keggle to two 7 gallon pots I have, which splits the batch and makes hauling into the basement easier.

I definitely thought about just letting the wort sit outside - I mean it's freaking -10F outside, should cool pretty quick. However, I didn't due to also hearing about clarity and infection issues. I doubt though that there would be much in the way of bad stuff floating around in the air at -10F, and obviously no bugs to infect the batch.

 

[hio3791]

Brewed Monday, it was 4. Spigot was frozen so I put the lid on, continued recirculating and within 30 min or so, my 11 gal batch was at 150. The buckets were already sanitized so I pumped the wort over, closed the lid, set the buckets on the driveway in the wind and about 5 hours later, it was at 68.

View attachment 1453322287564.jpg

 

[hio3791]

I should add, I cleaned my equipment by bringing up buckets of warm water from the basement. Then took it all downstairs to store away.

 

[blizz81]

That's what 'tomorrow' is for.

And how much crap are you brewing with?

BK, keg or two if needed, fermenter, mash tun... Four things? I live in a place that regularly sees highs below zero during this time of year.

Only an extremely ill-informed person would turn on the spigots out here during the winter.

Relax, have a homebrew.

 

[djt17]

have you done this? i thought the whole point of using a chiller was to get it done quickly

I've done it many times.

 

[steveoatley]

I stopped brewing in the winter because lugging the kettle with 5 gallons of boiling wort inside the house and then taking it downstairs to my laundry room to hook up the wort chiller to the sink was just a pain in the butt. I never spilled (thank God), but I just figured it wasn't worth it anymore.

Ditto, what he said

So, after brewing on a FEB Saturday in 2008, when it was 5 F in my garage ( Michigan )
I swore, i would never brew in in the Winter again...And started my Planing.

8 yrs later, I am putting the finishing touches on a Basement Brewery

Oh I have brewed outside each and every winter since that FEB in 2008
And every time i did, I cursed the day until i could brew in doors again....

Freezing cold is a good motivator to move indoors !

my 2 cents

Steve

 

[CajunChuck]

It was 16 degrees F this weekend in northern Indiana but still hit temps from the garage! A sealed lid on top and in the subfreezing temps allows it to cool very quickly actually! =)

 

[brewprint]

It was 16 degrees F this weekend in northern Indiana but still hit temps from the garage! A sealed lid on top and in the subfreezing temps allows it to cool very quickly actually! =)

What kind of thermometer is this that is water proof?

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

Damn, y'all are hard core to be brewing out there in sub zero temps.
Surprised you could even get a good boil going when it's that cold out.

A couple winters ago we had a cold snap and there was so much ice in the hose and no way easy way to thaw it, I almost had to cancel the brew session. When it's that cold out I don't see much reason to use a chiller, just cover it and leave it for a few hours and you're good to go.

 

[Xhul]

All this talk about hooking up chillers when it's below freezing.

Put the lid on at flameout and walk away for 4-5 hours.

Boom, pitching temp.

I've done this a bunch in winter and it certainly works good, even for lagers...overnight got my wort down to 45. However, I would definitely not recommend for hoppy beers, you'll lose the aroma from any late additions as the extended time in contact with the hot wort has its way with the acids.

 

[Psylocide]

I've done this a bunch in winter and it certainly works good, even for lagers...overnight got my wort down to 45. However, I would definitely not recommend for hoppy beers, you'll lose the aroma from any late additions as the extended time in contact with the hot wort has its way with the acids.

Works fine. Pull the hop bag at flameout or after your hopstand...never had an issue with aroma, but I'm usually dry hopping with 4+ oz in my hoppy beers.

 

[brewprint]

I've done this a bunch in winter and it certainly works good, even for lagers...overnight got my wort down to 45. However, I would definitely not recommend for hoppy beers, you'll lose the aroma from any late additions as the extended time in contact with the hot wort has its way with the acids.

The other issue that I can see is the unpredictability of IBU leaving the hops in.

Plus; it takes me 10 or 15 minutes to chill 5 gallons with my chiller in cold temps. Then I'm done and I have the entire next day to not worry about transferring wort and cleaning.

I could see leaving it chill if there is nothing going on the next day but I have better things to do than brew beer every day of the weekend.

 

[hopkincr]

Brewed today in ~20-ish temps during a snow storm in Nashville. I brew in my garage, and put the lid on and put the pot outside in the snow. Cooled down quick.