Closing for the season

[eadavis80]

Decided to brew Friday after all, but I think after that one, I honestly will be done 'till a spring thaw. After bottling up all my holiday six-packs, I put a pretty big dent in my inventory, which is a good thing.

 

[soccerdad]

I laugh a little when reading posts that say winter brewing is too difficult. Just the opposite here - summer is when we struggle Groundwater over 80°, heat index over 100°. Just too hot. Although I do sneak in a few farmhouse ales in July/Aug

 

[brewcat]

I laugh a little when reading posts that say winter brewing is too difficult. Just the opposite here - summer is when we struggle Groundwater over 80°, heat index over 100°. Just too hot. Although I do sneak in a few farmhouse ales in July/Aug

Don't forget about the bugs when it is hotter. I am starting to really like cold brew days. I think temps in the 20s are probably my limit for cooling the wort though.

 

[wyccad915]

I just started brewing, so I haven't had any breaks like you mention. I do plan to brew an Erdinger weissbier dunkel clone and think I can go at least a couple of months after that without brewing. I will have half my hefe left, a full batch of choc stout, and then that. I barely drink alone and it varies how often I have people over. So that beer will oast me a while. Not to mention I also have somewhere around 7-6packs of commercial beer laying around the house.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I brew year round since it's stoutseason365. ambient temp in my basement this time of year is about 60F, and temp in my bottle room is about 50F. in late spring, all summer, and early fall I mash/sparge outside. this time of year I only boil outside.

 

[KartRacer54]

Year round here also!

 

[eadavis80]

Brewed up my last batch of 2016 last weekend. Last year I said I'd shut it down around Thankgiving and then went back on my word and did at least one winter brew. Having done it, I can honestly say I'm kind of looking forward to taking the winter off. Even last weekend, cleaning the equipment with the garden hose was cold n' nasty. I'm glad I finished strong with a chocolate stout, honey nut brown ale and Irish Red. Gotta' bottle those still, but other than that, I'm done. Those paired with some Oktoberfests, Pumpkin Ales and some IPA's I still have lingering from early fall, I'll be good for bowl season trough St. Patty's Day. Take care all - see you around March Madness. It's been a good year.

 

[bonecitybrewco]

We, thankfully, haven't had any snow in Southern Saskatchewan this year yet. I am bottling 10 gallons of Amber lager tonight in hopes that I can brew the Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout Friday and that will likely be the last of the season until March or so (barring a few Chinooks that may allow for an all pale 2 row IPA.) Brewing here in -50 would certainly be possible, but not likely with the propane tank likely freezing up in minutes and boiling water turning to ice in the air, so the evaporating water would be interesting to see as well.

 

[tracyk]

Brew year around here in Texas. By winter if you want to call it that it is very comfortable to brew. Summers are brutal with the heat in the 90's and the humidity somewhere in the 70 - 90% range, but I still brew. I will be brewing in a couple of weeks. Doing two brews, one a winter warmer, which will be ready at the beginning of Ferbruary, when we are thinking about spring and a Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter. Who knows, winters down here are so flakey, I could be in shorts and a t-shirt or long pants and a t-shirt. Never really gets very cold here.

 

[brewshki]

This is a fun thread. I am of the warmer climate group as well. "Summer" lasts from about April through October or November around here. We can get a few cooler days in October and November but it was 85 very recently. This makes Winter the nicest time to brew as I am finally not sweating and I can pitch within a few hours of putting my carboy into the fermentation chamber.

If I ever take time off, it is in the dead of Summer when 100+ is very common. I used to not care as much, but a few severely dehydrated brew days later forced me to either start very early or take a long break.

 

[brick_haus]

Cmon man, suck it up and get out there and brew!

 

[WaltStarr]

Having lived in San Diego my whole life, I have no idea what you people are talking about

Think of it in terms of chilling wort with ground water in July.

 

[beernutz]

I started brewing in 1991 but didn't brew at all from November 2007 to July 2013. I've done 46 batches of beer, 5 wines, and 4 ciders since I started back as I'm trying to make up for lost brewing time. Even though I brew outdoors the weather is not an impediment to brewing year round here. In fact I welcome the "cold" in order to lower the ground water temp to make my immersion chiller more effective.

When I wasn't brewing I missed going to brew club meetings like I did when I first started.

 

[Homercidal]

After I moved brewing operations out to the garage, I quite brewing pretty much from December through Feb or so. Depending on the wind, I think 20F is about the lowest I liked brewing outside.

Since we upgraded our stove, I can now brew 5 gallons inside during the winter. With the delivery of some 2.5 gallon kegs, I can also brew smaller batches quicker and easier in the warmth of the kitchen. Plus brewing ads moisture to our dry house better than the humidifier.

I've got plans to brew up a few special beers this winter, including one no-boil (really short boil) beer. I did something similar this spring, but ended up having a longer boil than I planned. I want to recreate the basic process but go actual really short boil. Just get hot break and be done. Tons of late hops.

I also have plans to brew up a bourbon IIPA if I can ever get a vessel freed up to hold it.

 

[Ogri]

Winter is my most prolific brewing period here. From about late may onwards minimum temps at night are usually getting over 20*C/70*f. During July to early October they are usually over 30*C with max day time temps around 35 to 39*C ( close to 100*f ) and humidity in the high 80s to mid 90s% from July to late September so maintaining decent fermentation temps is practically impossible for me as I only use the swamp cooler and frozen bottles of water method. Have been thinking about trying some turbo yeast Heat wave to see if that can make some decent beers during the hot months.

 

[kombat]

I brew through the winter. Yes, it's less pleasant (well, really just the cleanup part), but it's nice being able to chill my wort so incredibly fast (ice-cold groundwater, plate chiller, Chugger pump), even to lager temperatures. I choose my battles (obviously not brewing during a snowstorm or when it's -30°), but if it's a calm, overcast morning, and just around freezing or a little cooler, it's perfect brewing weather.

 

[jmcquesten]

As long as there's no wind, I'll brew in the cold. The wind ruins a brew day. Last weekend was in the 40s (F) which is nice, but it was windy and was just a miserable brewday. It took about 2.5 hours to finish a 90 minute boil. Flames kept blowing out, propane tanks were freezing up, it wasn't fun. I don't mind it being cold, but it does make cleanup harder when everything starts icing up as you spray it off.