How cold is too cold to brew outside?

[brownsfan62]

I just started doing AG brewing. In the past, I have always brewed on the stovetop, but I found out pretty quickly that it takes forever to get that larger wort volume to boil.

I have a propane burner on the way (thanks to suggestions on this board ). At the moment, it's 19 degrees outside, which is a heat wave compared to yesterday. I'm figuring that it will probably get colder this winter, but I'll still want to brew some beer. Is there any point where it's just too cold?

 

[Rockn_M]

This is when it's too cold and why you should always clean up afterwards.




Sent from my kegerator

 

[Foosier]

It is never really too cold to brew outside. When it is colder, you just have some more challenges to overcome. Key among them will be keeping your mash tun at temp. It will take longer to get your wort up to a boil. Your hose could freeze before you start chilling. It will be uncomfortable...etc....

On the upside, chilling is faster because the water temp is lower and you get the chilling from the air too. Plus if you have a snow bank, you can sit your kettle in it to add to the chilling (NOTE: Moving boiling wort is dangerous, so be careful if you try this move.)

I like to brew in my garage during the winter with the door open while the burner is running. I shut the door when the burner is turned off to try and keep the heat in the garage. I also wrap my mashtun with a moving blanket to help keep the heat in. Any extra bit helps....

 

[standpoint]

I brewed my first all grain last weekend late night. It was 5F outside, brewed in my non-heated garage. Wrapped up my mash tun in a sleeping bag and only lost 2ish degrees over the 60 minute mash rest. boil, didn't even notice a difference. I'm unable to cool outside due to using an immersion chiller, so I carried my 5 gallons of wort from my garage to my basement to cool in the laundry room.......made me super nervous but no spills......

 

[Airplanedoc]

I brewed my first all grain last weekend late night. It was 5F outside, brewed in my non-heated garage. Wrapped up my mash tun in a sleeping bag and only lost 2ish degrees over the 60 minute mash rest. boil, didn't even notice a difference. I'm unable to cool outside due to using an immersion chiller, so I carried my 5 gallons of wort from my garage to my basement to cool in the laundry room.......made me super nervous but no spills......

Why not just use a lid and set the pot outside. The cold concrete and air will cool your pot pretty quickly. I just stir every few minutes, to move the liquid from the middle to the sides of the pot. Much better than carrying near boiling water long distances thru the house. By the time I am cleaned up and have everything put away, wort is usually cool enough to move thru the house.

 

[mtnagel]

I brewed in 19F weather last year and I said I wouldn't do that again. I just brewed at 39F this past weekend, but we were in a garage with a space heater where we had the garage open about 2 feet while the burner was going. It stayed pretty warm in there, but I'd much rather brew when it's 50F or above if I can help it.

 

[winvarin]

Why not just use a lid and set the pot outside. The cold concrete and air will cool your pot pretty quickly. I just stir every few minutes, to move the liquid from the middle to the sides of the pot. Much better than carrying near boiling water long distances thru the house. By the time I am cleaned up and have everything put away, wort is usually cool enough to move thru the house.

I now recirc ice water through one of the pumps on my brew system. So I rarely have to use the outside faucet to do all the cooling. However, before I had this set up, I did brew a few times when it was cold enough that I was unable to use my garden faucet.

I used the lid and took advantage of the outside temps a few times like you mention here. One thing I noticed is that concrete holds heat well, meaning that especially right after boiling, the spot where I sat the pot warmed quickly and held its heat.

I got better results by taking advantage of our area's tendency to be windy in the winter as well. I put my brewpot on a couple of bricks or cinder blocks to create a space for air to flow under the brewpot as well. I got a lot quicker cooling by allowing the air to flow on all sides of the pot like this.

I also learned the hard way on my first batch cooled this way, that it pays to secure your lid to your pot on windy days as well :rockin: I used a bungee cord through the handles.

 

[runkelia]

I wouldn't brew outside because I have to clean my equipment outside, can't clean a keg in the kitchen sink. Also, 19 degrees would probably cause freezing issues with your water source assuming you use an outdoor water source. Last winter I brewed twice but the water hose froze so I had to use snow to cool it down, took a couple hours, not ideal. Here is a picture from one of those days.

 

[CorporateHippie]

One word.....Wisconsin

 

[metanoia]

On the upside, chilling is faster because the water temp is lower and you get the chilling from the air too. Plus if you have a snow bank, you can sit your kettle in it to add to the chilling (NOTE: Moving boiling wort is dangerous, so be careful if you try this move.)

This is actually detrimental to chilling, even if you're using it in conjunction with an immersion chiller. When you put the extremely hot pot in the snow bank, you melt all of the snow around the outsides of the pot, until the heat from the pot can't reach out any farther. Then, that space created between the pot and the snow is filled up and mostly trapped with the heat coming off of the pot. The cold winter air will work much better against the hot pot in this case, especially if your wind chill brings the temps below 0!

 

[BrotherBock]

Never. Especially if you have a garage. We got my buddies garage up to 80 degrees with all the water heating and wort boiling. It was probably about 20 degrees outside. And 30 inside

 

[railwalker]

I mash in the kitchen, using the stove to heat water. I do have to boil outside though, but that doesn't require constant attention, especially if you have a window view. Our fence will support wind screens if needed. But cooling, yeah, the pot needs to go to the laundry sink, so two guys or a dolly for most of the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Foosier]

This is actually detrimental to chilling, even if you're using it in conjunction with an immersion chiller. When you put the extremely hot pot in the snow bank, you melt all of the snow around the outsides of the pot, until the heat from the pot can't reach out any farther. Then, that space created between the pot and the snow is filled up and mostly trapped with the heat coming off of the pot. The cold winter air will work much better against the hot pot in this case, especially if your wind chill brings the temps below 0!

I understand the thermal dynamics involved. I absolutely am not advocating just leaving the pot there. When I did this last winter, I has already used my immersion chiller to knock the temp down to a reasonable temp to lift the pot and sat it on a snow bank next to my garage. As I continued stirring with the immersion chiller running, I was twisting the pot in the snow so it kept good contact and kept metling new snow. Fastest chilled wort I have ever had. Solid cold break too.

 

[wardens355]

When you walk outside and say, "$%$# this, too cold", and walk back inside. I brewed last weekend around 25F and ended up putting a couple Fermwraps around my mash cooler with towels over top. Mash went well.

 

[BrianMac]

It was about 40 and windy so I mashed and sparged inside and boiled outside.
Don't tell my wife, you didn't see a thing.

 

[MaxStout]

I brew in my garage and am good to about 20F or so. Much colder than that and I'm just not in the mood for it. When we get the below zero temps (and it won't be long the way the weather has been turning lately), I plan to do more indoor brewing. Probably some 2.5 gallon BIAB batches I can do on my stove. And I'm about due for another 5 gallons of Edwort's Apfelwein. Maybe try a batch of Skeeter Pee.

 

[Roadie]

Exactly why I went electric with our system! It's too cold to brew outside when you can't feel your fingers. Move the cars out of the garage and brew in there with the door 2/3 closed.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Brewing is a hobby. A hobby is supposed to be fun. When it stops being fun I stop brewing. I brew monthly in the summer, 5 gallon batches but I am able to push out a 10 gallon batch without any additional equipment. I find that if I do a few 10 gallon batches late in the summer/early fall I have a pipeline that will last me through the winter. I can also do skeeter pee or cider in the winter which do not require a full boil.

 

[Hello]

I brewed when it was 25F but the sun shining helped a ton. I was fine as I continued to move and drink.

 

[Devin]

Absolute zero. Tends to sludge up the wort. Makes lautering a bitch.

 

[Melana]

I brew outside in the cold until I can't stand it anymore. Usually about February.

 

[revco]

I do a lot of brewing in the winter, probably over 80% of my batches are produced from November through March...the dead of winter here in Montana. I've done -20F and that was absolute misery, I'd put off a brew day for a month before I did that again. Generally, though, I see single digits to 20ish most brew days during the winter. I do take a few precautions and it works for me quite well. I use a propane blower heater to heat the garage, run water from my kitchen sink (instant hot water, yay!) via a 50' hose and use long hoses to put my IC and cleaning water where I can sustain a frozen lake or river for four+ months. I also take care to clean up drips/spills right away and work quickly whenever I'm truly outside (cleaning, etc) so things don't freeze too badly.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If your propane comes out of the burners as a liquid, I'd suspect that then it's too cold to brew outside.

 

[WI_Wino]

When your asphalt driveway cracks from the wort chiller hose run off (pic from last winter)

 

[Nummey]

I've got one planned for tomorrow night which in Mass. is looking like like low 20's with a little wind. Only time I'm required to be outside is during the boil as the mash and chill is done in my basement. Being the first real cold night of the year, It'll fell like single digits....cant wait!

 

[jdauria]

Brewed last January here in MA on a 19 degree day. Mashed inside, carried a full kettle of wort (with help) outside and then brewed in uninsulated garage with door open just 1/3. Was not bad the first hour or so, but then it was crazy cold. Never again! Will only brew outside if temp is above 30!

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I heat strike and sparge water outside (or should I see it heats outside while I wait inside), mash and lauter indoors and carry the wort out to boil. A good history of flame control and I can basically just walk out for hop additions. Biggest problem is having to run a hose from the laundry room outside because the outdoor sillcocks freeze up.

As long as it's not snowing I'll go down to 15 or so (after that I'll just buy beer). My biggest complaint is that extremely dry air 1) makes so much steam you can't see $*@! and 2) my evaporation rate can easily double in the winter due to dry air.