This polar vortex thing is driving me nuts. It’s probably not going to make it over 20 F here for a couple weeks. That’s messing with my brewing schedule, and I’m going to be behind on my Maibock. >:( The temperature I can deal with - it’s the lousy wind chill that’s keeping me from brewing outdoors. It’s time for some more small batch BIAB experiments on the stove, I guess.
GO AWAY POLAR VORTEX - I GOTTA GET MY BREW ON!!!
i have a small batch electric kettle. can plug it anywhere. only 4gallons. works great.
When I read that we’re in for potentially weeks of bitter cold weather in NY all I could think was…“man I can brew a lot of lagers now.”
I was going to wait until it warmed up because even though I brew in a garage, it still gets DAMN cold in there because it’s not attached, however; the cold weather is here to stay so I’m going to deal with it. Wind isn’t a problem for me but mashing in can still be tricky when it’s really cold.
Tuesday’s session was the first time I didn’t use a backup thermometer. Things were going weird at mash in, and when I finally decided to check with a second thermometer I discovered I had mashed in at >160*F. I aborted and tossed the grain. It was only a 60 shilling so the grain bill was pretty light.
Also had a propane regulator failure and busted a lab thermometer. Things weren’t going my way.
But, with a bit of luck I shall redeem myself in a couple days when I squeeze 14g of 60 Shilling out of a Sanke kettle.
Sounds like a bad brew day, except for the mash temp. I think that would be perfectly fine for a 60/-. It would accentuate the maltiness in a very light beer.
Thanks for the reminder!
It’s supposed to be 45 on Saturday and 56 on Sunday. Then bitterly cold for the foreseeable future. I’m going to brew twice this weekend. 8)
+10 I live in NE Wisconsin; polar vortex bring it on! I have 5 years of firewood and 2 years of propane. The
vortex is saving me money on heating fuel and homebrewing. I’m currently on my second pint and saving money
as I rattle the keyboard. On a side note, the Mrs and I toast the house up on some Saturdays and walk around
in our underwear in the winter. It’s just one reason we love living in the woods. Life is grand!
I’m about done with this vortex nonsense! The temp is currently 12 but the wind is howling at 30mph so it feels like -15 another 5" of snow coming through the weekend and next Tuesday is supposed to be -12 as a high…
My garage is currently a temperate +8F, hoping to get a batch in tomorrow:)
Pretty much a carbon copy here. And colder this coming week. Crazy s#&*.
Bah. It ain’t so bad.
I just order my milled grains and they’re ready for pick up on my way home.
10 gallons shall be brewed on Sunday in my kitchen. Hopefully the steam doesn’t freeze up on the inside of the windows.
On a side note, the Mrs and I toast the house up on some Saturdays and walk around
in our underwear in the winter. It’s just one reason we love living in the woods. Life is grand!
Way more info than necessary…
Can’t lie…that was a fair amount of info :D. But I support their right to walk around in their BVDs.
We have a terrific new concept we’re working on here in Michigan. It’s called “Inside”…
Brewing in the attached garage. Not too bad toady. It has warmed up to the low 20s. With the warming we also are have some pretty good snow showers.
Same… I’ll be getting a batch underway in the garage this afternoon, the wind is howling and another 2-4" expected starting late tonight.
It was 30 yesterday but 70 tomorrow. It will probably 30 again on Tuesday. Texas weather is crazy.
70 to 30? I’d rather have that 40 degree swing than the one we’ll have here in Ohio. 20 today and tomorrow and -18 Monday and Tuesday. Needless to say, brewing was on hold this weekend.
How much firewood and propane is that, exactly?
61 in Denver today but I don’t care since I brew indoors on my e-brewery. 
Everything went great this afternoon, especially chilling down 6 gallons to 48 in 10 minutes! The down side is the skating rink my driveway turned into…spread a lot of salt:)