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Cool.

I always want to enter the garrison contests but they announce them in the middle of winter (usually january) and they typically don't give brewers enough time to schedule in a brew and allow it to properly condition.

That was certainly the case with the schwarzbier.

Yup, their timing is way off.
Let's hope this second batch doesn't have that famous burnt electrical smell like the first one did.

Next year, Ultimate Brew-off news will be posted to this forum, so you'll be the first to know the latest style to brew and when ta brew it.

That's great Meg. Good to see you here, x (Shelley Murphy).

mr x wrote:That's great Meg. Good to see you here, x (Shelley Murphy).

Ah, the secret's out! All this time we thought Robert was the master brewer and prolific poster, but X is really Shelley.

Well, not exactly, lol. I guess I should have thrown in better half.....

That's great. A few more suggestions:

Have the competition announced sometime near the end of summer and have submissions due by november or december. A lot of us brew outside and it makes it almost impossible to brew outside when the competition is announced usually in January.

sleepyjamie wrote:That's great. A few more suggestions:

Have the competition announced sometime near the end of summer and have submissions due by november or december. A lot of us brew outside and it makes it almost impossible to brew outside when the competition is announced usually in January.

Real men brew outside in the winter! That's how LD&I named our Hailstorm IPA. One of his few (only?) beers not named after a song.

chalmers wrote:Real men brew outside in the winter! That's how LD&I named our Hailstorm IPA. One of his few (only?) beers not named after a song.

Then I expect you to write a song about it.

Noted, sleepyjamie! I'll see what we can do to announce it earlier in 2012.

Oh, and thanks for the warm welcome, "mr x."

awesome thanks.

chalmers wrote:

sleepyjamie wrote:That's great. A few more suggestions:

Have the competition announced sometime near the end of summer and have submissions due by november or december. A lot of us brew outside and it makes it almost impossible to brew outside when the competition is announced usually in January.

Real men brew outside in the winter! That's how LD&I named our Hailstorm IPA. One of his few (only?) beers not named after a song.

problem is i dont have a way to cool my wort outside in the winter as my garden hose hookup is outside

Brew outside and chill inside using a kitchen sink adapter or hook up to your washing machine tap.

Oh, and don't forget your pants

I was only doing 3 gallon boils, but i loved the pot in a pile of snow and stir technique. By the time your done you've got a good 3 or 4 pot sized holes in the snow drifts.

I quite enjoy brewing outside in the winter, provided the wind isn't howling too badly - Oh yeah, I live in Amherst, the wind is always howling. When the temp drops below -15 I use way more propane too, but other than that it can be quite peaceful & the crazy looks I get as people drive by are entertaining.

andrewtrsmith wrote:I was only doing 3 gallon boils, but i loved the pot in a pile of snow and stir technique. By the time your done you've got a good 3 or 4 pot sized holes in the snow drifts.

+1 to this technique!

Or you could do like the Aussie homebrewers: just let the wort cool down naturally, no human interaction at all. Seems crazy, but some of them do it. As long as you cover it, you're probably ok.

akr71 wrote:Brew outside and chill inside using a kitchen sink adapter or hook up to your washing machine tap.

Oh, and don't forget your pants

theres not way i can carry 10-11 gallons of boiling wort into my house

i guess i could run a garden hose from my utility sink outside but the gf might get mad with the windows being open in winter.

sleepyjamie wrote:problem is i dont have a way to cool my wort outside in the winter as my garden hose hookup is outside

I do the same - and brew outside (OK, I'm soft - I actually brew in the garage). If you own your own place, put in a proper freeze-proof faucet (I don't know what they actually call them, but essentially the shutoff ends up inside the house insulation, and the faucet will drain dry so that no ice can form. I usually do two batches in a day, and brewed in January, and ended up having to bring my whole hose indoors to thaw because the faucet worked great, but I forgot the hose would freeze between batches!

akr71 wrote:Brew outside and chill inside using a kitchen sink adapter or hook up to your washing machine tap.

Oh, and don't forget your pants

There just has to be a story there...

sleepyjamie wrote: i guess i could run a garden hose from my utility sink outside but the gf might get mad with the windows being open in winter.

If you have slider windows (either vertical or horizontal), take a piece of wood, any size, cut to fit in the window opening, and drill a whole large enough to accept the hose. Open window, insert wood, close window on wood... It's a little more difficult with casements and awnings, but you can engineer a pretty good seal with a 2x4 and two small triangular scraps of plywood.

derek wrote:If you own your own place, put in a proper freeze-proof faucet (I don't know what they actually call them, but essentially the shutoff ends up inside the house insulation, and the faucet will drain dry so that no ice can form.

I had one of those but I broke it recently. I tried to replace it but they aren't made any more. If you know of a source, let me know.

They still make those - CT, Kent, HD, Rona...

Hmm. The Piercey's (i.e Rona) people insisted I'd never find one of those at a hardware store and sent me to a plumbing supply place. The plumbing place said it was too specialized to get from anyone but the manufacturer. Crane in Burnside said they aren't made any more.

Next time I'll ask you first.

I know those are on the shelf at CT Quinpool.