Your coldest brew day?

[Ranger9913]

It's 10 degrees this morning in Nashville and I think we are going to postpone the brew day until next weekend. I was prepared to brew in a garage, with a torpedo heater, and lots of thermo clothing. Haven't been able to brew since the before Christmas and I got the itch bad. Just wondering how many of you have braved the elements to finish a brew.

 

[luvhopps]

Brewed yesterday in the garage with the door open, the temp was about 10 degrees. This morning the temp is -1.

Don't let the cold stop you, use it to your advantage. I cooled my wort from boiling down to 70 degrees in less that 10 minutes.

Brew away!!!

 

[Brew-boy]

Last time I brewed it was 20F, toughen up man you got beer to brew

 

[boo boo]

I brew outside all the time. I mash inside and boil outside, I do sometimes brew in really cold weather. Now I believe quite a few here brew in colder weather than me. My usual cold weather brewing is only -5 to -10c, but we do get a fair amount of wind, so you could factor in the windchill.

 

[eriktlupus]

dang i knew you southern boys were wimps but this is just not cool. it was 3 degrees here last sunday when we started our brewday. yesterday it never got over 20F and we did a 12hr brewday.

 

[UnderThePorchBrewing]

last weekend did 2 x3Gal batches. was 21 here in PA. have the garage door half open and the burner does bring the temps up some. my garage is stand alone so I can get some cross ventilation also. cooled the batches outside in the snow and the air cooled them quickly to pitching within 20 min. next week is 5 gal of ESB and 3 Gal sweet stout they are calling for it to warm up to the 30's then get cold again. love brewing in the winter. This weekend am on call so no go.

 

[middleofnowhere]

I might brew my next batch outdoors on the turkey fryer, it was -37 here this morning, hopefully next brew day will be a little warmer....lol

 

[The Pol]

Coldest day... well it was probably about 8F...

But in my brew area in the garage it was about 55F...

If I had to brew outside, I would stock up in the fall and coast through til spring.

My current build should have a BCS controller so that I can sit in the comfort of my family room and wirelessly control my pumps, heating elements and temperture settings. As well as read the temps in all of my vessels from my laptop... that will make winter brewing a breeze!

 

[Ranger9913]

I live in Nashville but I'm a born and raised Michigander who played hockey for almost 20 years. Unfortunately I'm only one man and I brew with two more guys, one of them owning the garage. I own the equipment and he's got the garage and the genius's who remodeled my house (prior to me buying it) ran plumbing through exterior walls so I have frozen water lines (pex not copper) running through most of my house. However, I do applaud all of you who make it out in the cold to brew and I'm constantly amazed by the obsessiveness home brewers have.

 

[Ragutis]

If I had to brew outside, I would stock up in the fall and coast through til spring.

That's what I did. I brewed 50 gallons in December and don't plan another brewday until March.

 

[The Pol]

That's what I did. I brewed 50 gallons in December and don't plan another brewday until March.

I have 16 gallons left and no brew rig... so hopefully by April(ish) I have a rig and about 5 gallons left.

 

[Proetus]

Yesterday was about 18 degrees i think. Brewed up 10 gallons of SNPA Clone. Every drop of wort/water that hit my deck froze instantly. Getting rid of chill water in this weather is what becomes a problem for me. I create a skating rink every time i brew! Clean up is always fun also!

 

[wyzazz]

Tuffen' up cupcake, brewing waits for no man!

I'm brewing this afternoon in the garage, I just put my feet near the burner to keep them warm. It was -4 last night, but it's a nice balmy 12 right now with lots of snow on the way!!!

I have a creek in my backyard and am going to try to sink my sanke fermenter in it to chill today, there's a pic floating around on this very forum that has inspired me.

 

[Coastarine]

Yesterday was probably my coldest with a high of 32. I had to use a hairdryer on several parts of my brew rig plumbing to get the water flowing.

 

[Ragutis]

Tuffen' up cupcake, brewing waits for no man!

I'm brewing this afternoon in the garage, I just put my feet near the burner to keep them warm. It was -4 last night, but it's a nice balmy 12 right now with lots of snow on the way!!!

I have a creek in my backyard and am going to try to sink my sanke fermenter in it to chill today, there's a pic floating around on this very forum that has inspired me.

Here you go. Got it to 70 degrees in 15 minutes. Have a friend on hand to help haul if it's a 10 gallon batch. And remember to keep it swirling.

 

[Bumbler]

Proof is in the pic.

Not my coldest day but it's the coldest I have a pic of. The thermometer in the background reads 10F and it's snowing.

And "Yes" I mash outside.

The sweatshirt is a throwback to when I lived in the south.

 

[Ranger9913]

Well my plate chiller gets me from boiling to 73 degrees in about 10mins so the cold is not an added bonus for me. That main issue is that by using a plate chiller, pump, water filter, and flash boiler I really don't want to run the risk of let water freeze in any of those pieces. Not to mention the joys of trying to unfreeze a frozen hose and water spout.

 

[si_ex_pat]

I am a newbie so last night was my coldest at 22 degrees. It helped me a lot though because I dont have a wort chiller. I got down to 70 in about 20 minutes by putting my bucket outside.

 

[Edcculus]

I live on the 12th story my building here in Cleveland. Last winter, I tried a boil on my balcony. It was so cold and windy, I couldnt even get a boil. I do 3 gallon stovetop batches in the winter now.

 

[PseudoChef]

I am heating my strike water right now, and I'm in Nashville!

I brought all my hoses inside last night. And my Shirron and pump always stay inside, so I will not take them out until it's time to recirc. If I had a garage, I'd invite you over, but I'm stuck on the patio of the condo!

PS: If you're a Wings fan, we definitely need to get together to have some homebrews and watch some games (whenever they're on TV, at least).

 

[IceFisherChris]

I tried brewing outisde when it was about 4 degrees. I didn't enjoy it because i couldn't see ANYTHING in my kettle! It was just pure steam. Sure enough, I had a boil over because of it. 5 gallons of wort in an 11 gallon pot, and I had a boil over. :/

 

[HomerJR]

I'm brewing today, and it's 9*F outside. However, I mashed inside, and I'm watching the boil through the window. I LOVE Fermcap! I think I'll chill inside too, to avoid the whole "skating rink on the patio" thing.

 

[cb2100]

We brewed yesterday here in northern Michigan and it was about 20-25º at any given time... Had some excessive boil off due to it being so dry out and wound up with only about 3.5 gal of wort after boil! Brewing again today and right now it's all the way up to 20º! Thankfully no wind... Have fun all you cold winter brewers! and GO WINGS!

 

[mmb]

-8°F on the digital thermo two weeks ago...

Of course, the garage was around 50°F with the burners running.

 

[craigd]

27 Sunday was my coldest - but I'm in central FL and it probably won't get that cold again during the day for years!

 

[motobrewer]

started the day at 6F, ended at 3F

 

[springer]

my last brew was about 14° two weeks ago . Last Sunday took the Harley out for about 2 hours was 18° after I changed out a alternator in the Jeep- outside don't want the Chevelle sitting outside

 

[Random_Guy]

I brewed the day after Christmas in eastern tenn in the mountains. It was probably somewhere around 10-15F. It was pretty cold and I couldn't see the boil due to steam and even had a boilover which froze relativley quick. It was a lot of fun. My top off water was outside with us and kept unfrozen and when I added it to the boiled wort it cooled it down to pitching temps without the need for a IC. The beer we were drinking was nice and cool. Look forward to doing it again!