Winter Brewing - Heat Source

[ColumbusAmongus]

Hey guys…I wanted to take a little poll and see what people do to keep warm for winter brewing. I brew out in my garage and in MI, it often gets cold enough to freeze my pints of beer! I hardly brewed last winter because it was insanely cold so that made me incredibly sad I am thinking…I need to do something about this and get some heat in there so I can brew more often!

I have a small garage so I need to keep it open for ventilation while I brew so I am not trying to heat my entire garage. I would like to have something to heat a small corner in the garage during the entire brew session so I am looking for something more direct that will be "on" for the entire brew session.

I was originally after something to hook up to a propane tank but if I run it for 6 hours, it sounds like I might go through a lot of propane. I was thinking perhaps a heavy duty electric heater to blow air into the corner where I setup but I might run into contamination issues constantly blowing dusty garage air towards my kettle. I am leaning towards hanging up a heat lamp over my brewing corner but I am not sure how well they heat.

So I am curious…what do you fellow northern garage brewers do to keep your pints from freezing over in the winter? Cheers

 

[Jacinthebox]

we also brew in the garage during the winter...BKs near the garage door, door opened enuf to vent off gas....we freeze our arses off lol...A wood stove would be ideal

 

[MNBrewDad]

+1 on the woodstove idea Jacinthebox^^ I would imagine any type of overhead radiant heat should help a little but you'll still need some seriously warm boots, Carhart bibs, winter coat, hat and fingerless gloves. I brew in an unheated garage and one night last winter it was about -10F. I was warm enough with the right outerwear but my feet were getting really cold by the time the wort was chilled.

 

[JonM]

Snowpants, warm boots, and layers because, believe it or not, there are times when I'm moving equipment around that I get overheated and have to take a layer or two off. And a Thermos full of hot coffee.

I have found another trick: After the sparge, the MLT is full of hot spent grain. I put a garbage bag in there on top of the grain and I toss the hoses with quick releases in there to keep them from freezing. Keep an extra pair of gloves in there and rotate them when your fingers get cold.

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

Close your garage door and run your car to generate heat from the engine

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Close your garage door and run your car to generate heat from the engine

And die from c02 poisoning.

Go electric and brew inside.

Build a small fake room in the garage, cardboard box, put an electric space heater and a chair in it. Brew nearby.

Lots of clothing and a couple hand warmers.

 

[paperairplane]

You are probably over estimating your ventilation needs - I keep my entry door open and keep the garage door open about a foot. Get a CO detector if you are worried about it.

 

[ubnserved]

Try a mister heater. It is a propane radiant heater. Works well for me when I have to do things in my garage in the winter. http://www.menards.com/main/p-2387333-c-6863.htm
I have this one. Mine has a low power fan built in That runs off 4 d batteries or a 6 or 9 volt adapter. I bought it about 6 years ago and use it every winter and it is rated for indoor use. Mine will take 2 1lb bottles that it can contain it the hatches on the left and right ends of the heater. Or you can get a hose that hooks up to a 20lb tank or you can do what I did and get a hose that hooks up to a 100lb tank. Look through the Mr heater stuff and they may even have a conversion kit to use natural gas. I did see that they have a natural gas quick disconnect. I may have to get another one of those just so I can convert it for my garage, I travel with mine too much to do it now.
They also use to make a bigger one in a rolling cabinet not sure if they still do. I didn't see it. Don't get the small round ones they are good for heating up your hands and that's about it.
The one I have is good enough to keep my wife warm when we use to take the kids to the park sledding (as long as it wasn't too windy)
Be careful when using this on combustible material. .. we had the power go out one time and set it on the floor. It bubbled the finish on the floor. When I have to use it somewhere inside I now set it on a chair with the front feet on the edge of the chair. You won't have a problem with this if you are using it in the garage. It is radiant heat so it will heat things up that are 10 plus feet away. (Depending on the ambient temperature.

Damn that's long.... hope that helps.

 

[WI_Wino]

Sounds like the op wants to keep his beer from freezing. Use a can cozie, they keep beer cold in the summer and "warm" in the winter. Also drink faster and higher abv beers.

 

[gazzy3005]

This sounds a little daft, because I live in the UK and, in fairness, it's not all that cold. Some may argue.
I brew with my fermenter in a larger water vessel with a fish tank heater in it. Keeps the pretty constant if I cover the vessel over. I know you guys have some real cold issues to deal with though, probably tropical here! B-)

 

[guitarguy6]

It gets up to -40C in the winter where I live so outside brewing isn't an option. I ended up going with a 4500Watt blichmann boil coil and brewing indoors.

 

[solbes]

I brew in my garage in the winter, but just head inside when I get cold. I rarely need to be attentive to the brew for more than 5 minutes at a time. My garage is plenty drafty so just a crack of the garage door and the open soffits is enough to vent the CO.

My problem this year is that I now have a big brew kettle that I chill in place, so using a chiller would leave me with an ice skating rink on my garage floor. I'm tackling the problem by brewing ahead this fall so I can stay inside all warm and toasty this winter. A nice winter warmer and big ol' Bock will do me fine.

 

[Wine2Beer]

If you use a heater, I would suggest an electric radiant heater. It warms you, and doesn't waste energy heating a bunch of air that goes away. And no blower to cause issues with the brew. Any local store ought to have something like this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_485220-9471...=1&currentURL=?Ntt=radiant+heaters&facetInfo=

 

[bja]

You are probably over estimating your ventilation needs - I keep my entry door open and keep the garage door open about a foot. Get a CO detector if you are worried about it.

Garages are drafty to begin with. I have a 2-1/2 car garage and only open a door if I want to vent out some steam.

 

[bucfanmike]

I brew in my garage in the winter, but just head inside when I get cold. I rarely need to be attentive to the brew for more than 5 minutes at a time. My garage is plenty drafty so just a crack of the garage door and the open soffits is enough to vent the CO.

My problem this year is that I now have a big brew kettle that I chill in place, so using a chiller would leave me with an ice skating rink on my garage floor. I'm tackling the problem by brewing ahead this fall so I can stay inside all warm and toasty this winter. A nice winter warmer and big ol' Bock will do me fine.

For winter chilling, pick up a 1/4 to 1/2 hp sump pump. I put water out in a big cooler the night before, about half full, it freezes, then brew morning i put water on top of that. That leaves me with a huge cooler half full of ice and water. I use the sump pump to recirc that thru the chiller. The hot water returning to the cooler helps to melt the block of ice and keeps everything cold. Chills very fast, and doesnt make a mess.

Then my sump also doubles as a keg washer.. its very useful.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

For winter chilling, pick up a 1/4 to 1/2 hp sump pump. I put water out in a big cooler the night before, about half full, it freezes, then brew morning i put water on top of that. That leaves me with a huge cooler half full of ice and water. I use the sump pump to recirc that thru the chiller. The hot water returning to the cooler helps to melt the block of ice and keeps everything cold. Chills very fast, and doesnt make a mess.

Then my sump also doubles as a keg washer.. its very useful.

That's a pretty slick idea. What kind of chiller do you have? The pump doesnt provide too much pressure? That's another problem with my winter brewing. I can't run water thru the hose for my chiller so I set the kettle in a giant bucket of snow / water. With constant stiring, it chills in 30 minutes but thats a long time in below zero weather!

 

[beersk]

Close your garage door and run your car to generate heat from the engine

LOL! That was funny!

Mash inside, boil in the garage and hang around your kettle like you would a fire pit on a chilly night. Also, you probably don't need to be outside the entire time it's boiling, so long as you know the boil is remaining strong.

 

[rlmiller10]

For winter chilling, pick up a 1/4 to 1/2 hp sump pump. I put water out in a big cooler the night before, about half full, it freezes, then brew morning i put water on top of that. That leaves me with a huge cooler half full of ice and water. I use the sump pump to recirc that thru the chiller. The hot water returning to the cooler helps to melt the block of ice and keeps everything cold. Chills very fast, and doesnt make a mess.

Then my sump also doubles as a keg washer.. its very useful.

That is what I use as well although I use a $10 pond pump from harbor freight. It seems to pump all I would want without worry about popping a hose. I am lazy and use clear hose and just slip it on over the copper pipe of the chiller. It slips on snug, going on about 5 inches and has never leaked.

 

[Cyclman]

I have one of these, keep the garage door 1/2 open, keeps the inside of the garage toasty to retreat into: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dyna-Glo...gclid=CNvOiPn688ECFcpcMgodAl8A9g&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[twisted_metal]

I brewed up a batch in the garage last Friday it was -12C (10.4 F) Garage door open 6" and the man door propped open. Seems to be more than sufficient, I also as posted above have a CO detector in the garage, with the doors closed it alarms in about 15 mins of burner use, with the doors open it doesn't even register on the digital display. Also as other say I brewed in my -100C Oilrig boots, Bibs and a Toque (eh?). Also a steady supply of homebrew because you must drink beer to make beer.

Safe Winter Brewing!

 

[natehoekstra]

Any of the Dyna glo heaters rule. It's like a jet engine and keeps it in the 30s in my garage even when it was in the -0/-10s F last winter. I crack a standard two-stall garage door 6 inches and I'm fine co-wise

 

[madscientist451]

I go outside in the winter for skiing, to cut firewood, prune my apple trees and to clear my 1/4 mile driveway of snow. I brew in my kitchen when its cold out there and love to watch the icy winds blow the snow around. Brewing indoors warms helps to warm up my drafty old farmhouse. I bake homemade bread in the oven and eat fresh bread and drink homebrew while my next brew is boiling on the stove.