Fermenting outside South East QLD

[BigRig]

I have outgrown my spare room in the house so I am looking to move my set up outside, only problem is I do not have a shed / garage or room for 1. :crying-blue:

I am looking to buy a racking system and moving the still, fermenters and oaking kegs outside to around the shaded side of the house next to my water tank.
Doing this, they will be exposed to the weather (except sun) with only the roof eaves providing any form of cover.

This will also remove them from public eye which is a big plus.

I am also thinking with the more room I will also be able to increase fermenters.

Assuming the obvious no fermentation in winter, I was thinking to run the still hard in Summer to build stock to get me through winter.

Has anybody done outside fermenting (without heaters etc) and have any pointers?

Average temps if it helps

Oct 26° / 16°
Nov 28° / 19°
Dec 29° / 21°
Jan 29° / 22°
Feb 29° / 21
Mar 29° / 20°

[RuddyCrazy]

The only problem I see is fermenting outside is you will have to be squeaky clean as any spilt liquid will endup bringing in a army of ants which will be a royal pain in the butt :handgestures-thumbupleft: One solution is put all the fermenters on a stand so you can hose them down after filling to remove all traces of sugars that will attract the ants. Then there is the rodent issue and they can be wily little buggers too so make sure you keep all grain in steel buckets well sealed so the rodents can't even get a sniff at the grain.

Cheers Bryan

[BigRig]

Yeah i was thinking of putting the fermenters on a rack about 800mm off the ground. The shelves will be metal grate for the ease of cleaning.

Was thinking spunding valves on fermenters instead of airlocks so i don't have to worry about fruit flies getting in.

For grain storage i was thinking using a chest freezer and freeze it or use one of those large checkerplate toolboxes to keep out rodents.

You don't see any issues with the weather effects ?

[RC Al]

I ferment outside regularly, Just put down 100l of all molly rum thats sitting outside, sometimes its a bit slow, but I dont really let winter stop me overly, it gets colder & hotter where i am in seq than where you are by the looks. generally 120, 160 & 200l drums though, they keep the heat in internally a bit better, What size fermenters are you using?

My shed floor is dirt too, If i spill anything that the bugs like, the chooks n ducks get a feed :D

I would be covering it up in the backyard all the same, neighbours and their visitors can be sticky beaks.

Ive found you can draw a line with molasses on anything and an ant will never cross it, they hate the stuff.

[BigRig]

Yeah i am brisbane northside.

I have a mix of 30 & 60L fermenters so i will look in to the bigger sized fermenters.

Are your fermenters up off the ground ?
How do you transfer wash to your boiler, do you have a pump ?
I have been using buckets.

[RuddyCrazy]

Just have the base of your fermenters above the height of the boiler and just siphon your wash into the boiler, OK it isn't as quick as a pump but as this hobbies motto is "hurry up and wait" :laughing-rolling: just do something else while it's transferring. :handgestures-thumbupleft: I did find out oneday that my fermenters weren't just quite high enough to transfer the last bit so I add 400mm to that old railway box my fermenters sit on to solve the problem. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Even go have a look for those 200 litre olive drums and set a couple up if if someone asked you about them just say they are compost bins :laughing-rolling: I am thinking of setting my one just for making TPW in summer as I found using my 2 off 60 litre fermenters ended up with about 18 litres of 90% low wines and that extra 60 litre fermenter would make for a full boiler run for the second strip run. So that where those drums would come in handy but if you are one that likes rum then a nice dunder pit could be an option after a few 200 litre generations :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

I do have to get on and make somemore 30 micron filters that fit on the wet end of the siphon hose so no lumps are transferred and do a "how to" thread using soft solder to solder SS. It is just too easy and just put the flux where you want the solder to flow then solder a 1/2" copper tube on the end that fits the siphon hose.

Anyway mate a few pic's of your setup would be nice then idea's can flow from them. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

[atec77]

I have outgrown my spare room in the house so I am looking to move my set up outside, only problem is I do not have a shed / garage or room for 1. :crying-blue:

I am looking to buy a racking system and moving the still, fermenters and oaking kegs outside to around the shaded side of the house next to my water tank.
Doing this, they will be exposed to the weather (except sun) with only the roof eaves providing any form of cover.

This will also remove them from public eye which is a big plus.

I am also thinking with the more room I will also be able to increase fermenters.

Assuming the obvious no fermentation in winter, I was thinking to run the still hard in Summer to build stock to get me through winter.

Has anybody done outside fermenting (without heaters etc) and have any pointers?

Average temps if it helps

Oct 26° / 16°
Nov 28° / 19°
Dec 29° / 21°
Jan 29° / 22°
Feb 29° / 21
Mar 29° / 20°

Watch gumtree and facebook , I got a modest shed free for removal , left one side off for access , same with some building silver insulation which wraps the 200l fermenters (raised off the ground) the 200 litre blue fermenters cost $60.00 for two but needed cleaning

a broken tucker-box freezer for grain storage , took some time but all free , once pitched the fermenters and run fine even in winter , good luck with it ;)