BeerBorg

A friend I've been helping learn to brew came up yesterday about 2 o'clock, later then I wanted to get started but he went duck hunting in the morning and I had everything ready to go by the time he got here. Two batches to do, a easy Mr Beer seasonal with a carpils steep and a partial BIAB porter. As we were just getting started our electric went out, I do have a backup generator but figured the power would be back on by the time I got everything hooked up and running. [note to self make the generator easier to get going for next time]. The wind kept getting stronger outside and the snow started coming heavy and still no power. SO............. we brewed the whole day by lantern and candle light. I couldn't use my chiller because by then my holding tank was empty and no electric to run the pump and no water for a ice bath either so I had to cool it outside and it was cold so it did cool down good. My friend had to go home because he is a snowplow driver where I use to work and had to be to work at 3am, it sucks to have to go to work Well anyway my wife came down and helped me finish up and it was 9 pm before I was done and the lights came back on as I was pitching the yeast, I didn't even bother to clean anything up, I did that this morning.
Used wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale with a starter, it's making good use of the blow off

Well, that outdoes any of my brewday chaos stories. I'm glad it worked out.

Now THAT'S dedication!

And an interesting story, to boot. This will probably be the best beer you've ever brewed, and you'll have to try to replicate the process every time!

The things we'll do for a beer.

That is old school brewing. No electricity!!! Didn't know it was still possible!!

Try to duplicate that brewday

electricity? Who has or uses that? And what for?

Glad it worked out for you! I chilled a batch by setting it in the snow last year. Moved it every 2-3 minutes to a new drift and had it down to 62 in about 10 minutes. Faster than my chiller!

MrBandGuy wrote:Glad it worked out for you! I chilled a batch by setting it in the snow last year. Moved it every 2-3 minutes to a new drift and had it down to 62 in about 10 minutes. Faster than my chiller!

Chilling in snow can actually be a little counter-productive. The snow right next to the pot melts, and the snow just outside of that can act as an insulator. Moving it probably helped. You can also put it in a big container and use a slurry (snow/ice + water) a slurry cools a lot faster than cold air, cold water, or packed ice/snow. If you want to cool even faster, add some salt (salt melts ice, but the chemical reaction actually lowers the temperature).

Seems I need to take a pic....*....crap... I can't post pictures on this thing. I have a larger pot than my brew pot, so I just run the cold hose water into that pot while having the brew pot sit in it. It cools it down real nice.

bpgreen wrote: You can also put it in a big container and use a slurry (snow/ice + water) a slurry cools a lot faster than cold air, cold water, or packed ice/snow.

Yankeedag wrote: I have a larger pot than my brew pot, so I just run the cold hose water into that pot while having the brew pot sit in it. It cools it down real nice.

Both very good advice, but I had no water and no electric to pump it out of my well and no water left in jugs that I draw a few days ahead for brewing...

berryman wrote: I couldn't use my chiller because by then my holding tank was empty and no electric to run the pump and no water for a ice bath either so I had to cool it outside and it was cold so it did cool down good.

I really thought the power would be back on by the time it was time for cooling down but I was wrong............It all worked out good in the longrun just a little inconvenience