Upgrading to Outdoor BIAB with No Outdoor Water Source

[rrbc2012]

Tried searching but haven't found anything directly on point. Just purchased the Dark Star burner to get outdoors. I only brew 5 - 5.5 gallon batches at this point (and no real intent to go much bigger in the near future). My question is, what are the recommendations when there is no outdoor water hookup for the wort chiller (gotta love apartment life)? I mash in a 5g igloo cooler, which I would then transfer to my kettle (after sparging) for boiling outdoors (thinking of boiling right on the sidewalk outside my apt...not sure how landlord will like the outdoor burner). I've read that natural yeasts and many other issues can cause infections. I'm thinking I'll just end the boil and get it indoors to my water source as quickly as possible. Can I cover the wort with a lid post-boil to move it? I'm hoping to get the increase in speed and upgrade without opening my beer up to infection.

Related question: without a pulley, how much grain can I reasonably mash to rinse sparge (or batch)? Depending on mash thickness (about 1.33), I can mash up to 11 gallons in my mash tun/cooler.

Any and all suggestions, recommendations, and techniques are appreciated. Thanks fellow brewers!

 

[mtnagel]

I and many others brew outside, so no worries on that.

After the boil, just bring it inside to cool (be careful, it's hot! ). That's what I did when I used my utility tub for chilling. No issues except carrying heavy, hot wort.

As for weight, I did a 17 lb batch and I was able to lift it, tie a rope to it, and tie it to my ladder above. Now I use a grill grate, so I just have to lift it up and get the grate under (usually have a helper, but not always). Good luck!

 

[ArcLight]

Use No-Chill brewing.
Search HBT for "No chill" or No-Chill"


http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=31615&catid=459&clickid=searchresults

Do not carry a hot kettle with boiling wort anywhere.

 

[dyqik]

An alternative could be to use a 12V pump on a battery to circulate water from a container through the chiller - if you then dump ice in the container to stop it warming up too much you could get all the way down to fermenting temps. Without ice, you can at least get it half way down to make carrying it indoors that much safer. The mash tun would be ideal for that if you clean it up before the end of the boil.

(btw, if you are using a separate cooler mash tun, are you actually doing BIAB?)

 

[rrbc2012]

Thanks for the replies so far! I'm looking at the possibility of running a hose from my sink, but the apt complex has put some kind of adapter on that doesn't come off that is smooth an doesnt provide for any hookup.

Any other thoughts? I don't want to kill myself carrying 5.5g of hot wort (or spill any on the carpet!).

Dyqik: i mash in the cooler, but it doesn't have a false bottom (don't have the time or funds right now to rig that up). So i just put the grains in a large painter bag, mash, lift and rinse sparge from there. then i transfer the wort to my brew kettle for the boil. so maybe it's a hybrid technique for biab. getting ~62% efficiency though (thinking of asking the lhbs to double grind the grain.)

 

[peterj]

As long as the wort is over 140*F there is no chance of infection, so there's no need to hurry. There is a chance you could burn yourself pretty bad or give yourself a hernia though, so definitely be careful. If you really can't get a water source out there for chilling, I would think the pump in ice water would be your best bet.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

Thanks for the replies so far! I'm looking at the possibility of running a hose from my sink, but the apt complex has put some kind of adapter on that doesn't come off that is smooth an doesnt provide for any hookup.

Might this work?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EDOSKG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[dyqik]

If you can get a pair of water pump pliers on the faucet end, it may well unscrew to give you a standard 15/16 (or whatever) aerator connecter - you can then put a quick release (dishwasher connector at my local Ace) or garden hose adaptor on it.

Otherwise, if you have a dishwasher, you could put a tee and valve on that connector to connect a hose to.

 

[IslandLizard]

If you can slip a hose of a suitable size over the faucet or aerator and secure it with a hose clamp you're in business. Then put a spigot or barbed connector on the other side.

 

[eulipion2]

+1 on no-chill. I've no-chilled for four years with great results. There are some adjustments you'll need to make with your hopping. Everything you'll need is HERE. The only problem I had with the method is you can't get a good late hopping on hoppy beers. That said, I made some really good IPAs, just don't expect any complex hop-burst schedules.

 

[mjohnson]

http://www.harborfreight.com/264-gph-submersible-fountain-pump-68395.html

You could just use a bucket with ice water. The only real issue you'll have is the first water out of the chiller will be quite hot for the first 10 min or so. You might need to lug some buckets of water until the temps get around 80-90. Then just recirculate the ice water for the remainder.

I'd also look at no chill. But if you do this, please don't run hot wort into glass carboys.

 

[rrbc2012]

Hey everyone. Sorry I've been MIA but that's what summer vacation is all about. Thanks for all the types and advice. I had actually not heard much about no chill, so that was quite interesting. I ended up just yesterday finding a faucet adapter for a different sink and will be running a hose from there to my burner/wort chiller. (I know Midwest has an adapter and I think NB does too for anyone else with this issue.)

Appreciate all the feedback and help! Brew on!