I wanted to brew but I had to.................?

[ABI Brewery]

I was really planning on brewing, I have everything that I need, the grains are milled, hops are ready to go, brew house is set-up, but, I had to go up my roof and move snow and break away ice dams, gotta love Minnesota

What has held up the process for you all, I know that life calls and things change and we dont get to brew when we need to, but a delay of a few days is no big deal.

 

[kevin58]

Sub zero temps and now I'm in rehearsals for a play which will eat up all my free time until the end of March. I hope to carve out some brew time soon though because the cast and crew of the show are expecting me to bring some homebrew to our opening night party.

 

[Rodent]

I was going to brew this past, but we had that dang snow storm hit the PacNW on Fri night thru yesterday. in the early hours, my well pump system was taken out by a power surge

no well pump = no water = no brewing

we're melting snow to make water for flushing toilets until the snow is gone and the tech can get here to make repairs

 

[bobeer]

I was going to brew but my kids got a stomach virus... They're 4 and 2 years old so no fun for me. Hopefully I wont get it and I'll be good to brew by the weekend.

 

[JimRausch]

.... shovel out from another snowstorm. I started a WY1450 starter yesterday. Was going to pitch it as an active starter today. I guess I'll just let it build up and store it until I'm ready.
I'm sensing a theme. Damn weather keeps us from having fun.

 

[grampamark]

I was going to brew but I need to drink more beer first. The pipeline is full.

 

[Soulshine2]

I was really planning on brewing, I have everything that I need, the grains are milled, hops are ready to go, brew house is set-up, but, I had to go up my roof and move snow and break away ice dams, gotta love Minnesota

What has held up the process for you all, I know that life calls and things change and we dont get to brew when we need to, but a delay of a few days is no big deal.

Not much , I generally brew on cold ,rainy days ,or during a period of time while I'm off of work and I know I have time to brew ,ferment and bottle .
I did have a 1 hour delay the other day because our cat got loose and I thought sure she'd snuck out of the basement and got into the wall of the pole barn...still not sure where she was hiding but she came out .

 

[Soulshine2]

I was going to brew but I need to drink more beer first. The pipeline is full.

haha, in my case ,I need the bottles

 

[Gravity]

clean everything, which usually takes longer than expected

 

[Soulshine2]

clean everything, which usually takes longer than expected

Cleaning is part of my brew day. While I'm waiting for my wort to chill, I get whatever I'm not using put away , washed, etc.
Most of the time, my first tier water kettle has only had water in it , so theres no cleaning necessary,just dump the dead space water . Mash tun ,as soon as I've dumped the wort to the boil kettle and waiting on the boil,OR waiting on my hop schedule that tun gets dumped and cleaned out, with ...that same dead space hot water . Always something to do while waiting for something else. Last thing I clean up for the day is my boil kettle . Then the immersion chiller goes in to store while I'm not brewing.
Bottle cleaning- thats another day. I take my insulated cooler and toss a little oxi-clean in the bottom , arrange my bottles (it holds a case)and add hot water, fill each bottle so they dont float and close the lid for 6 hours. Come back later and most of the labels are floating, take a scrub brush to any glue still there and rinse. turn upside down in the box as I do each one. One less thing to do come bottling day.

 

[Gravity]

Cleaning is part of my brew day. While I'm waiting for my wort to chill, I get whatever I'm not using put away , washed, etc.
Most of the time, my first tier water kettle has only had water in it , so theres no cleaning necessary,just dump the dead space water . Mash tun ,as soon as I've dumped the wort to the boil kettle and waiting on the boil,OR waiting on my hop schedule that tun gets dumped and cleaned out, with ...that same dead space hot water . Always something to do while waiting for something else. Last thing I clean up for the day is my boil kettle . Then the immersion chiller goes in to store while I'm not brewing.
Bottle cleaning- thats another day. I take my insulated cooler and toss a little oxi-clean in the bottom , arrange my bottles (it holds a case)and add hot water, fill each bottle so they dont float and close the lid for 6 hours. Come back later and most of the labels are floating, take a scrub brush to any glue still there and rinse. turn upside down in the box as I do each one. One less thing to do come bottling day.

There is always something to do - thats for sure. Cleaning is a part of every brewers day.
I've always wondered what brewers do when they are waiting for their mash or wort to come to a boil - besides having a brew. I've tried bottling before - which worked out well, just takes a lot of planning; sometimes I can't be bothered

You'd be surprised how sometimes things go wrong during cleaning that elongate the day; last time I broke my sight-glass and had to Macgyver a cap for the hole

 

[Soulshine2]

There is always something to do - thats for sure. Cleaning is a part of every brewers day.
I've always wondered what brewers do when they are waiting for their mash or wort to come to a boil - besides having a brew. I've tried bottling before - which worked out well, just takes a lot of planning; sometimes I can't be bothered

You'd be surprised how sometimes things go wrong during cleaning that elongate the day; last time I broke my sight-glass and had to Macgyver a cap for the hole

I dont think theres actually a ton of planning. I dont pop a top until I'm done for the day . Not that I couldn't, I just dont. Safety practices pounded in my head over the last 2 1/2 decades I suppose.
Theres a lot of people who think bottling is difficult or pain in the butt . I dont think thats true at all.
Sanitize everything. Rack to a bottling bucket, add your priming agent ,stir gently, hose/bottling wand to sanitized bottles and cap. Its just that easy.
I also see people break bottles .I never have.
Use more wrist action on a wing capper rather than arm strength to push it down.
In my mind, to keg and hook up the delivery gasses would have me pulling my hair out. Too many things to go wrong, hoses break , o-rings rip when you least expect it. gas runs out...thats why I bottle. Its simpler and less to worry about getting right to regulate.

 

[kh54s10]

A couple of years ago it was It's winter - too cold for me. After a move a little over a year ago - It's summer - too hot for me.

I need to go electric an bring brewing inside with heat and a/c.

 

[ABI Brewery]

I did the same thing, I had a propane burner out on the deck brewing in the winter in Minnesota, and sometimes get unbearably cold, but a few years ago I switched to a 10 gallon keggle recirculating system based off of the Brewtus. I can brew anytime of year and I dont have to worry about the heat, the cold or wind, which really was the biggest pain in the a$$. I am so glad that I switched to electric and can brew anytime, or so I thought, finding the time is still tough, but moving to electric and inside was the best upgrade I've done yet

 

[mongoose33]

School was canceled during the Polar Vortex. Here I am, day off, yeast is available, I could brew.

Except...the water from chilling goes down the garage drain and exits at the curb. When the temp is -18 with a wind-chill in the -40s, that water exiting at the curb doesn't flow....exactly. It comes out on the street and becomes an ice rink.

No brewing during the Polar Vortex.

 

[Rodent]

I was going to brew this past, but we had that dang snow storm hit the PacNW on Fri night thru yesterday. in the early hours, my well pump system was taken out by a power surge

no well pump = no water = no brewing

we're melting snow to make water for flushing toilets until the snow is gone and the tech can get here to make repairs

and this morning I'm happy to report that after eight days of no water, our well was finally fixed yesterday so I can get busy with scheduling my next brew day



o, and it's kinda nice to be able to take a shower again