Have to add about 5 degrees to the strike water to have it right by the time I add grain, but I love the chilling speed and not having to use ice in the winter. My darling hubby put heavy duty wheels on my brew kettle stand to wheel it into the laundry so I don’t have to deal with stiff cold hoses if it’s really cold outside. The most exciting thing now is wheeling it over the threshold without splashing hot wort all over.
I’d take that action. We got 43" of snow in December!
I brewed outside on Dec. 5 th, temps 35 F warming to 40 F. While I was boiling the wort for 60 minutes and lifting the lid to stir occasionally it started sleeting --not in the morning’s forecast.
I’m naming it Fire and Ice Stout. The uncarbonated brew tasted great at bottling and in-bottle carbonation should be finished in a few days. Looking forward to the first carbonated sip.
Luckily I get to brew in a woodstove heated garage during the winter. The main things we encounter is frozen hoses which is a pain when we need to use the IC to chill after the boil. Otherwise, it’s not too bad. Thank god for beer coats to keep ya warm, haha.
I was going to brew today. We got a few inches, but the rain from yesterday made the deck like an ice rink. Looks like back to back days this week, Thursday IPA, and Friday Imperial Stout. 007 in each now I guess. I don’t mind brewing in the cold, but ice and snow really s_ _k!!
I’m already planning spring time brews and something to have around St. Paddy’s day. One of the things I love about brewing is making a beer that goes with the Season. I get so damn excited for it. I have a Winter Stout on Tap now but thinking of making a kicked up irish stout in time for March, and then have a Spring Time Blonde Ale ready after that. I would also love to make a Glissade Clone. That was my favorite Spring beer.