Finally got my propane tank out of the snow and hooked up my turkey fryer outside…so far have done 5 batch’s inside on the electric stove, hard to keep things boiling,now 2 boil overs later have a great rolling boil and no wife and kids complaining about the smell…also the sun is shinning and its 43° life is great 
I love brewing outside. Keeps all the mess away from the wife. Call me crazy, but I love brewing in MN in the winter! Nothing like throwing on the carhartts and standing above a hot kettle of wort while the temps are below zero and there is snow falling!
If you have constant problems with boil overs, I would suggest getting some fermcap, or a bigger pot.
I dig the occasional MN winter brewday. This year I’ve been doing 2.5-3 gallon batches inside in an electric kettle and mashtun but I’ve made it out for a couple brews. Two lagers and an Imperial Stout.
I’m getting all pumped up to get outside & brew. My first outside brew & first full boil with a new 10 gal. kettle/Blichmann burner will be on St. Pattys Day. Lots of “first’s”! Got a batch of Irish Stout bottle conditioning for the event! :cheers:
Will fire up the propane and brew later today if the rain clears out. When I started brewing it was indoors and my wife actually misses the smell of hops all through the house now that I brew outside.
The only reason for the boil overs was multitasking way to much. plus being used to underrated electric stove…plus taking care of 3 kids and doing Saturday morning chores
Im in Northern MN…brew in garage with turkey fryer and have had a hell of a time keeping the boil going. The tank gets all frosted up and my propane output isnt enough to keep the wort hot enough. It sucks cause I have to keep a lid on it and monitor CONSTANTLY to prevent boil overs. Would getting a quality burner help with this?? It gets hot in the summer and I coach High School FB so my falls are really busy. December-April is my prime brewing season!!!
Thanks
[quote=“gosioux”]Im in Northern MN…brew in garage with turkey fryer and have had a hell of a time keeping the boil going. The tank gets all frosted up and my propane output isnt enough to keep the wort hot enough. It sucks cause I have to keep a lid on it and monitor CONSTANTLY to prevent boil overs. Would getting a quality burner help with this?? It gets hot in the summer and I coach High School FB so my falls are really busy. December-April is my prime brewing season!!!
Thanks[/quote]
I live in northern MN and brew the most in the winter. To keep the propane flowing it helps to start with a full tank. It also helps to have an efficient burner. In the coldest weather I will put my tank inside to get it warm before brewing. You can also use a big tank, one of the 100#. It is the expansion the freezes up the propane. A full or big tank does not freeze up as readily.
[quote=“ALSS”][quote=“gosioux”]Im in Northern MN…brew in garage with turkey fryer and have had a hell of a time keeping the boil going. The tank gets all frosted up and my propane output isnt enough to keep the wort hot enough. It sucks cause I have to keep a lid on it and monitor CONSTANTLY to prevent boil overs. Would getting a quality burner help with this?? It gets hot in the summer and I coach High School FB so my falls are really busy. December-April is my prime brewing season!!!
Thanks[/quote]
I live in northern MN and brew the most in the winter. To keep the propane flowing it helps to start with a full tank. It also helps to have an efficient burner. In the coldest weather I will put my tank inside to get it warm before brewing. You can also use a big tank, one of the 100#. It is the expansion the freezes up the propane. A full or big tank does not freeze up as readily.[/quote]
Wrapping a towel around the tank valve will also help a bit. Especially works well if (like me) you use fiberglass tanks and bring them into the house the night before so everything starts out warmed up.
I put my tanks in a bucket with a couple of pitchers of room temp water. You don’t want to use hot water, but room temp will keep it from freezing as fast.
I brew outside on the deck all winter except for very windy days. I don’t have the option for brewing in the garage, because I’m not haulling all my gear and water out there. Like others, I also have problems with the propane. I usually end up with a pound or 2 of unuseable propane in a 20 pound tank because not enough pressure in the cold weather to push it out (using a Blichmann burner). In the nastiest of weather, I’ll downscale to a 2.5 gallon batch and brew inside or do a small batch for pressure canning the wort (for making starters).
:cheers:
