Closing for the season

[JonM]

Nothing wrong with fermenting some 5% ABV, ready-in-a-few-weeks hard cider over the winter too.

 

[ericbw]

Nothing wrong with fermenting some 5% ABV, ready-in-a-few-weeks hard cider over the winter too.

Perfect idea. If you start a batch now, it could be ready for the holidays. For sure by January. And it takes about 5 minutes to get it started.

 

[MaddBaggins]

It's 54˚f right now and 80% humidity. I'm brewing on the patio in the shade. Short, tshirt and flip flops. I feel kinda cold.

 

[oujens]

My schedule is the opposite of yours. I do most of my brewing in the winter and tend to take the summers off. Just too darn hot in Texas and takes a ton of ice to chill the beer to pitching temps when groundwater is close to 90 degrees. Last year (2014) was my first year brewing. Brewed three batches from Jan - Mar, then none for the rest of the year. This year I decided to step it up. Again made three batches early in the year. My brew club had a group brewing session in June, so I made a batch with them. Then the end of September I started my fall brewing season, and will continue to make about one batch a month until April or early May.

I hear you on the Texas heat. I've started to do early morning brews to keep my day schedule open for family. It's also helped me to combat the heat during summer, but it can still simmer once the sun rises. I find it nice to enjoy coffee and be mashing/boiling during sunrise. I've quit chilling down to pitching temps because the cost of ice adds up. I get it down to 80F and then transfer and let it cool in my fridge. Usually pitch within 12-18 hrs. I know its not recommended, but I've done it successfully for numerous batches and have not experienced an infection.

 

[MaxStout]

I move it indoors in the winter and do 2.5-3 gallon BIAB on the stove. I always look forward to that first "warm" weekend in March, anything above 32F will get me back in the garage.

I did take a break of about 4 months this past summer. I injured my back so no heavy lifting. But my pipeline has been good, and I can lift a pint without damaging my back.

 

[JonM]

Perfect idea. If you start a batch now, it could be ready for the holidays. For sure by January. And it takes about 5 minutes to get it started.

What I like to do is ferment some Tree Top or whatever's on sale, and let it go super dry. Then I backsweeten with a couple pounds of honey dissolved in a quart or so of juice, keg and throw in the fridge. If it stays cold, it won't referment (or at least it won't ferment very quickly.) Ready in three weeks or so.

 

[specharka]

I am pretty fortunate to have the luxury of brewing year round. I usually take off June through August since my apartment gets pretty miserable in 85 degree weather, and I'd rather be doing things outside anyway. Stove top brewing definitely has its limitations.

I am somewhat envious of you garage homebrewers -- extra space and cold tap water are foreign concepts to me.

 

[iteq]

If it's under 50 degrees I will mash in the kitchen and only do the boil outside, with a garden hose attachment on the kitchen faucet I run a hose out through the window for my immersion chiller I love sitting by the burner when it's really cold

 

[Bobbybob]

That is one of the reasons I am going all electric. I can't not brew or I get the shakes. It isn't that cold here it is all the damn rain.

 

[gometz]

Even in the Texas summer heat I will still brew outside (though in that case likely in the shade of the garage).

I did have to take about 2-3 months off lately because of work. I have barely had days off since the end of August, and before that I visited family in NOLA and Austin. Work is ramping down in the next few weeks (still snuck in a Schwarzbier and a Tripel in the last month), and I am planning on brewing at least 3 beers before the end of November (Dubbel, Rye Sour, and Stout).

 

[JonesSoda6]

Too funny, as someone who also resides in the mitten, I did my last brew last weekend. Spigots and hoses freeze, clean up sucks in the snow and it's dark too damn early. I'll break it back out in March unless we get an oddball warm November or December weekend.

 

[ba-brewer]

No need to break for winter where I live, but hopefully I will have to plan brewing sessions between winter rain this year.

longest break, 1986 to 2013. Definitely did not miss washing bottles.

 

[aprichman]

I still need to brew a good winter seasonal, a fun February beer (maybe something with blood orange?), and a dry irish stout for st. patrick's day before it starts warming up in the Pacific NW.

 

[ericbw]

I still need to brew a good winter seasonal, a fun February beer (maybe something with blood orange?), and a dry irish stout for st. patrick's day before it starts warming up in the Pacific NW.

How about a dubbel with blood orange and orange peel at the end? I know it crosses the line between dubbel and wit, but it would be good for the winter!

 

[Curtis2010]

Having lived in San Diego my whole life, I have no idea what you people are talking about

Me neither, used to live in Florida...moved further south because it got too cold there. First Belize, then Guatemala, now living in Panama.

Not brewing now because of the transition from Guate to Panama. All my gear is back in Guate, but construction of the bodega/cervecería is planned to start soon! Looking forward to getting back to brewing. At 4,500', but still in the tropics, here in the Chiriqui Highlands the weather is damn near perfect year round.

 

[aprichman]

How about a dubbel with blood orange and orange peel at the end? I know it crosses the line between dubbel and wit, but it wouldn't good fit the winter!

I was thinking about cloning Flying Dog's Bloodline IPA

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=515752

But a blood orange dubbel sounds tasty too

 

[CJ-3]

I try to brew year round and I am fortunate in that I can go all grain when it's nice outside or extract in the kitchen during Illinois winters. My issue is I can only ferment one at a time due to space constraints. My last brew date was in August because it needed an extended secondary but now I can't get it to carb up (I bottle, no kegging equipment). Trying to get that resolved before I brew anything else, so I may brew in December once this batch is sorted out.

 

[mattdee1]

I just got into the hobby this past spring, and I'm really really dreading the f*$king southwestern Ontario winter, which will kill my brewing routine, mostly due to the frozen hose spigot cutting off the outdoor water supply where I usually set up, and the fact that I don't wish to turn my driveway into a skating rink.

I've done nothing but all-grain so far, so maybe I'll make my foray into extract brewing and make some beer in the kitchen over the winter.

 

[Zekk]

Before I got my cool brewing bag I had to close shop in the summer due to the heat. Brewing outside in 100+ does suck and it takes forever to cool the wort though. I love brewing in winter, it'll be a nice 55* so the beer in drinking won't get warm while I'm doing brewing stuff.

 

[Jim_Holmes]

im new to brewing (been almost a year since i started) and my fermenting chamber wont go to lager temps with the warm weather (going to work on that) so looking forward to trying to get a couple of lagers done this winter. i just started BIAB 5 gallon batches and have been able to do it on the kitchen stove a couple of times so weather wont be a problem. but my ferment chamber is in the shed.

 

[b-boy]

Before I got my cool brewing bag I had to close shop in the summer due to the heat. Brewing outside in 100+ does suck and it takes forever to cool the wort though. I love brewing in winter, it'll be a nice 55* so the beer in drinking won't get warm while I'm doing brewing stuff.

55 is not winter. I'm just sayin...

 

[JonM]

Years ago, Wisconsin played Miami in a January bowl game in Orlando. It was 55 F. The Miami fans were bundled up in winter coats and blankets. The Wisconsin fans were in T-shirts saying "Yeahh!!! It's spring, mutha&@#%az!!!!"

 

[MaddBaggins]

55 is not winter. I'm just sayin...

Says you.

 

[msa8967]

I brew all year despite the cold winters we have on the plains of Iowa. I use my garage and fill plastic tubs with water the night before I brew. I use an aquarium pump to send the chilled water through the wort chiller and often can go from boil to pitch temps in less than 10 min. Brewing in the cold helps keep me sane when the amount of light we get is less than 9 hours a day and I am inside at work during much of this time.

 

[JonM]

I've said I'm closing the store for the winter and SWMBO keeps saying "Oh, you'll get the itch."

Yup, I'm sure she's right.

 

[jekeane]

July & August can be rough in Florida. But I haven't ever decided to close shop.

 

[eadavis80]

It'll just be bowl season, ps3 (or maybe ps4 if I get one...) and loads of drinking the last year's worth of brewing - not all bad. I'll probably have about 400 bottles by the time I bottle these last 2 batches. It'll be interesting to see how many bottles I have left when I brew again.

 

[Genghis]

I brew outside year-round in south Canuckistan. So far, brewday has been anywhere between -20 C and 30 C.

 

[lumpher]

going to brew my last 1 for the year today. just waiting for it to warm up a little to get started. it's 32 here right now

 

[JonM]

I just realized I've brewed every post-Thanksgiving weekend since I got my all-grain setup 4 years ago or whenever it was. Maybe I'll miss it this year.