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Vienna Lager Brew Session

It has snowed here in Massachusetts. And it has snowed. And it has snowed. In fact yes, it is even snowing now. It’s tough to brew with so much snow. Are you snowed in? Do you brew in the cold? Well, if not and you are looking for a fix we have recorded a brew session for you. Grab a pint sit back and pretend you are getting your own brew on!

Now before the comments start rolling in – This session was recorded after only our first storm. It has dumped on a twice more with several little storms in between. So don’t dismiss our backyard with only 12-18 inches in it. Presently my brew area (not pictured) is 5 feet deep in the snow.

John has been jamming with Vienna lager for quite some time and it is good!!! He’s back at it in this video with his basic steps. It’s also nice to get a glimpse of someone else equipment setup and see if they do something different from you.

The primary challenge with brewing in these conditions is estimating the boil off rate. When it’s cold and the air is dry, the rate tends to be a bit higher. If you don’t account for it you, can overshoot your gravity by losing too much water and that can throw off you hops to malt ratio/balance.

John also experienced a new winter challenge and that involved being shipped yeast that froze in transit! Not sure how to avoid that one, but he recovered well by building starters for the yeasts he had and looking to be sure they took off. When he knew he still had good yeast, the session was on.

Are you brewing in waist deep snow? Do you brew like mad in the fall so as to not need to brew in the winter or maybe you live someplace warm and dry year round. Tell us about it in the comments below!

BREW ON!

Here’s some photos of the lager lagering away:

Beer Fridge

Lager Lagering Away

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2 Comments

  1. Chris

    Nice video Mike. You have way more snow than where I live in Peterborough, Ontario. Our problem is the cold, bloody cold all the time. I brew in my laundry room with a fan that doesn’t do a lot to get the steam out. Yes, I am electric. I brew only when my wife is at work. Currently fermenting a Helles with WLP830.

  2. We probably haven’t been as cold. The snow has been a bit much.

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