To cold to brew?

[BrewerBaj]

Hey everyone. We had a snow day today at school (I'm a teacher) and I thought it would be a perfect time to do a home brew. I bought a burner recently and want to try and use that in my garage (with the door open or half open) instead of using my electric stove. (takes too long) Is it too cold outside for me to brew in my garage? It's about 10 degrees today but I could have the garage door half way closed. I am not worried about me being cold obviously, just worried if it would alter my boil. (I will mash inside). Thanks for the help!

 

[dpatrickv]

Provided that its not incredibly windy, it shouldnt affect your boil that much. I have brewed it cold temps, but I certainly don't enjoy it.

 

[Hello]

Not so much. If it is windy you'll want some sort of makeshift wind screen. You may find it takes slightly longer to get to boiling but people have discussed brewing outside in freezing temps and it seems to work.

 

[srice]

I always brew outside and the hardest part of really cold days is the cleanup. When I get the hose out, it is hard to stay completely dry.

 

[BrewerBaj]

Thanks! Sounds great! Im brewing away then!

 

[Clonefan94]

Never had a problem with the boil on cold days. The only thing that gets frustrating when it get really cold, like 10 degrees, is when any spills of any kind happen, they freeze. No matter how careful I am, water it always hitting the ground, star-san etc. the last time I brewed when it was under 20 degrees, my garage was more like an ice rink than a brewery.

The one beauty thing of brewing in the winter is how quickly you can cool the wort.

 

[johns]

I tried that about a month ago and my propane take froze after an hour boil. I was doing a 2 hour boil and had to quit. It was not expected and I am hesitant to brew outside when its even cool outside. I am going electric soon anyway.

Just be careful of freeze overs.

 

[Clonefan94]

I tried that about a month ago and my propane take froze after an hour boil. I was doing a 2 hour boil and had to quit. It was not expected and I am hesitant to brew outside when its even cool outside. I am going electric soon anyway.

Just be careful of freeze overs.

just get youself something that can hold the propane tank, with a little room still left around the outside and fill that halfway up the tank with warm, not hot, warm water. As long is the water keeps from freezing, it keeps the propane flowing as well.

 

[fpweeks]

I have pretty much quit brewing in mid December, January, and February. To me, its not worth the hassle of cleanup, like @clonefan94 said, the garage turns into a skating rink, add beer to that and its a disaster!!

So i do my best to stock up in November........and use my free time in the cold months to work on a new project for the brewery!

 

[Upthewazzu]

I tried that about a month ago and my propane take froze after an hour boil. I was doing a 2 hour boil and had to quit. It was not expected and I am hesitant to brew outside when its even cool outside. I am going electric soon anyway.

Just be careful of freeze overs.

This is pretty much the biggest pratfall to cold weather brewing. The propane tank will freeze up. Also, if using a wort chiller, make sure to bring in your hoses the night before to thaw out, else they will be frozen shut on brewday.

Also, cold sucks.

 

[Remmy]

I brewed in 12F a few weeks ago in the garage with the doors open. No issues.

 

[Remmy]

I have pretty much quit brewing in mid December, January, and February. To me, its not worth the hassle of cleanup, like @clonefan94 said, the garage turns into a skating rink, add beer to that and its a disaster!!

So i do my best to stock up in November........and use my free time in the cold months to work on a new project for the brewery!

Why would it turn into a skating rink? Are you spilling water everywhere?

 

[fpweeks]

Usually just at the end of brew day when I am cleaning up......it doesn't take much to make a slippery spot

 

[Remmy]

Interesting. I bring everything into my basement where I have a utility sink and do my cleanup there. Doesn't take more than 25-30 minutes. The garage doesn't have a drop of water on the floor.

 

[glassbottom]

if we didn't brew in cold, we wouldn't be able to for most of the year.. I've never had a problem with my brewing equipment in the cold, it may take longer to get a boil, but the wort chills quicker!

 

[mjdonnelly68]

I brew in my garage most of the winter (love my Smartwool long underwear).

Biggest issue for me is cooling to pitch. I use a wort chiller and my outside faucets are always frozen. My sink in the kitchen is too fancy, so I can't hook up there. Very frustrating.

I'm going to try my hand at no-chill and see if it impacts the quality of my beer.

 

[zdbrown1]

Brewed last Sunday in 25 degree weather.... Didn't have a problem with the propane tank.... But be sure and bring your chiller, pump, and lines in so they don't freeze up during your mash or boil

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[johns]

You guys in the UP are hardcore. U anywhere near iron mountain or kingsford?

 

[Tucker]

I brew on my front porch, i put a piece of cardboard down to soak up spills. I brewed last weekend in 20deg weather. Harder to keep mash temp but cooling is much faster.

 

[fpweeks]

My system is 1/2 barrel and hard plumbed and in the garage. It's just not that much fun brewing in the cold. What's fun is spending these three months improving my brewery.

Last winter I built my Kal clone control panel. This winter I'm building my glycol chiller and control panel for my two new brewhemoths and starting to dabble with yeast propogation.

 

[fastengine]

I brew most of my beers in the winter because it is the only time my house has places that I can lager indoors. I don't use a wort chiller, just set my brewpot on my porch and it is pitching temp in no time. -10f here right now. Seems warm compared to what we have been lately.
Johns, I work in Iron Mountain and live in Wisconsin, 6 miles from downtown I.M.

 

[brew2enjoy]

I love brewing in the winter, I brew in my garage with the door about 1/4 open. Plenty of fresh air but no wind. I run the hoses into the garage for my counterflow chiller. Only problem I have is the colder water from my well cools the wort down into the 50's lol.

 

[GrumpySquirrel]

We brewed this weekend and went full tilt on our Bayou burner for a 90 minute boil and only got a soft rolling boil (which is what we wanted, but had to go full tilt to do it). Benefit to the cold was the fastest wort chilling ever and not needing pot holders to transfer the wort back inside, haha.

 

[glassbottom]

You guys in the UP are hardcore. U anywhere near iron mountain or kingsford?

I've got a black ipa waiting to brew, but we're not supposed to get out of the negatives for the next week..thinking it's going to wait.

Nope, I'm in the keweenaw by Houghton. You come up that way?

 

[bigken462]

In the single digits outside, but a toasty 75 or so inside. I have electric heat out there, but I still prefer to use another propane heater in the garage to save on my power bill. I pull the garage door down to about 3-6" from being closed. Just a small steady flow of air coming through, nothing major.

Get yourself a big water container of some sort and save your hot water for cleanup. No need for frozen hands!

While I do have a CO alarm on the wall, I go in and out enough that it ventilates easily.

Warm Brewing = Happy Brewing!

 

[johns]

I will be coming up to the UP one of these days…. Right now its just bitter cold… even for Chicago….. Its even cold south of the mason dixon line where i am at the moment. The cold weather just seems to follow me around. Not much of a snowbird, but I do have friends in Iron Mountain, Kingsford, and Florence. Its a small community there and everyone knows everyone. When it gets warmer Ill head up to the north woods though. Maybe have a drink at the curve, soul blue, or the pizza place across the street. I heard they have two hearted on tap there. Know anybody on lake elwood?

I will also try to get up to houghton sometime.

 

[JonM]

Here are two threads with tips from the winter pros.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/winter-brewing-445187/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/its-cold-outside-i-want-brew-445288/

 

[BrewerBaj]

Cooling wort

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[inkman15]

Brewed last night in the single digits and it was mostly fine. Took a little longer to get the boil going. The only thing I would point out is that I found that cooling in a snow bank is nowhere near as fast as using a tub with water and ice because once the snow melts a bit, it doesn't remain in contact with the pot like water does. We realized this and went back to the tub.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Going to try a double brew weekend - a rye pale and an abbey ale. Its gonna be cold (PA), but I want to brew!!

 

[BrewerBaj]

Great tip!

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[fesser]

I brewed a porter in my garage last sunday! It was -12 celsius in town (I live in Norway) but I got it rolling!!

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[fastengine]

I will be coming up to the UP one of these days…. Right now its just bitter cold… even for Chicago….. Its even cold south of the mason dixon line where i am at the moment. The cold weather just seems to follow me around. Not much of a snowbird, but I do have friends in Iron Mountain, Kingsford, and Florence. Its a small community there and everyone knows everyone. When it gets warmer Ill head up to the north woods though. Maybe have a drink at the curve, soul blue, or the pizza place across the street. I heard they have two hearted on tap there. Know anybody on lake elwood?

I will also try to get up to houghton sometime.

I know alot of people on Lake Elwood and lots more on Lake Elwood Road. It's a mile from my house on North Lake rd.
If you are referring to Blackstone Pizza, I am not to sure what they have on tap, but I've eaten there a few times.

 

[stbnj]

I did the same thing last week, teacher with a snow day so I brewed some saison. It was too cold to use my outside spigot so I did a no chill beer, sat it in the snow for a few hours. I had a weak boil at first but that was due to my tank running on fumes.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Finally gave up waiting for the cold to break here in New York and decided to move back to the stovetop.

Haven't brewed an extract kit in two years (or 70 batches). I'm interested to see if this extract batch is better than my earlier extract batches.

Brewing up a British Mild as a not so subtle hint to mother nature.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

I brewed a porter in my garage last sunday! It was -12 celsius in town (I live in Norway) but I got it rolling!!

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Jiminy Crickets - how do you keep that garage from flooding straight through when it rains?

 

[nvious23]

It was about 15º degrees this morning in Michigan. Finally got my faucet adapter for my wort chiller im cooling inside from now on even in the summer pitching temps in roughly 20 minutes

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[fesser]

Jiminy Crickets - how do you keep that garage from flooding straight through when it rains?

Wow...never thought so much about it but...i think the ground drains very well there. However...our biggest problem is to get rid of the snow.


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[mjdonnelly68]

Hey Mods - can I buy a vowel?

It looks like this thread might have some legs and every time I see a post I flashback to third grade and Sister Mary Theresa. Would appreciate it if we can get an extra 'o' in the original post - it's traumatizing me.

 

[gwallace100]

I brew in my garage year around. I have a CO2 meter that I use to make sure the air quality is fine. I open the garage door about 4 inches and open a side window about 2 inches during the time that the burner is on. I have found that with a blichman burner and this amount of fresh airflow that the carbon monoxide levels do not rise and that the garage will warm up to be comfortable with a coat. My garage is a double car and I move both cars out and set up some folding tables. When the burner of off you can close the door down to hold in the heat. I have found that there is no reason to open the garage door totally open. I do use a piece of 2x4 to block the door open so that it cannot accidently close.