First Outdoor Brew

[Arrheinous]

I'm halfway through the boil using my new setup (added propane burner, pump, plate chiller) and I have to say the whole experience is very liberating. I've been stressed out all week with taxes and a job that consumes as much free-time as you can chuck at it. Tossing handfuls of Magnum and Citra into a boiling pot to produce a Rye PA and making the whole neighborhood smell like a bakery has been pretty relaxing.

No encounters with the police or people on the street as I had initially feared.

Just a bit worried about the possibility of bird poop.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I have tree branches over my mack deck. I'm always worried about the poo.

 

[Tarks]

Poo in the beer could make for an interesting name!

I agree, brew days are so relaxing. Until it's time to clean up.

 

[amandabab]

bird poo deflector shield.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Curved-Grill-Shelter/19407322

 

[Arrheinous]

Two hang-ups in the whole process:

1) Forgot to put on the new bazooka screen in the kettle so I bagged the hops (whole flower). I have one screen for the mash tun and one for the kettle.

The pump worked beautifully on the first shot. Up until one of the said hop bags got sucked into the kettle valve somehow and shut down the pump flow. Managed to extricate the devil and continued on like normal - recirculated with the plate chiller for a while to get the feel of it then put it into the carboy.


2) I borrowed my landlady's garden hose from the basement. Must be like 200 feet of hose and the lady can't properly roll up a single foot of it on the spool.

 

[Britinusa]

I love brewing out on the deck, watching my son playing in the yard while I brew, doesnt get much better.

 

[Soc]

I never worried about bird poop until a few weeks ago when I was out on my deck drinking a beer, standing in the very spot I usually setup my propane burner for brewing, and a bird pooped directly on my nose. Now I wonder how many times birds have crapped in my boiling kettle and I didn't even know it...