Why? How?

[Ozwald]

You think Michigan winters are bad? I lived in Holland, Saugatuck & Grand Rapids. Miserable, sure, but the winters there are pretty damn mild even with lake effect. Those 'arctic blasts' that have been shutting down the entire east coast are typical winter weather out here in Montana.



Brewing at -25F. The warmest it got for 2 weeks was -18F, briefly one afternoon. Highs were averaging -20F & we got down to -50F one night. That'll freeze your to your ass.

[brewinhard]

How do you keep your propane tanks from freezing up in those temps? Do you use natural gas? Last week here it was only -10 or so with a windchill and I actually had to put a space heater on my propane tank to keep the gas flowing for the whole boil. And I was brewing in the garage!

[Ozwald]

Propane doesn't freeze until -300 something. It's boiling point is -40 or -50 or something like that, so it'll produce vapor even in those temps. My guess would be that the relative humidity has something to do with it, e.g. moisture getting in your regulator. It's really dry here, especially during the winter. Plus, that porch was only 4 feet deep, the concrete slab floor was about a foot thick & you're looking out of the only open area - it had a roof & walls on all three sides. It was pretty sheltered. The propane wasn't a problem at all, but the March pump was a royal pain in the ass. I had to disassemble it twice since it froze solid. After that I just left it running until I was done brewing.

[BleedingSaynt]

That's mighty cold, my man. Need to eat a lot of hot nuts to stay warm in that!

[BDawg]

I've had propane tanks freeze up on me in 20F weather. Granted, I was running 2 or even 3 burners simultaneously off the same tank, so the flow (and hence gas decompression) was pretty high.

[brewinhard]

That's mighty cold, my man. Need to eat a lot of hot nuts to stay warm in that!

Are you kidding me! That is Oz's specialty.

[Ozwald]

I've had propane tanks freeze up on me in 20F weather. Granted, I was running 2 or even 3 burners simultaneously off the same tank, so the flow (and hence gas decompression) was pretty high.

My HLT is electric now, but back when I was running 2 burners (like when that photo was taken) each burner had it's own tank.

Now the brewhaus is indoors with natural gas plumbed through the floor. Traded 2 of my propane tanks for a set of rims for my snow tires.

[Ozwald]