However rare, and contrary to the song, it’s been raining (and will continue to) in Southern California. I’m not used to it and now consider myself spoiled on account of the fact that I’m from Indiana, a place that gets plenty of rain. But it was too late, and I was too committed about my outside brew day to turn back.
I’ve been planning another extreme beer for several months. It’s a truly huge beer with a huge amount of effort. Because there are so many grains involved, I decided to brew three beers in one day. First runnings were for the big boy, second runnings for a mid-size boy, and the third for a small boy. It ended up being an 11.5 hour brew day, but I’m actually pretty happy about the time I made.
The most miserable part really hinged on the fact that the rain was relentless and I was soaked during the deal.
However, I woke up the next morning to some vigorous action and realized that it was all worth it. So, while I wasn’t singing in the rain, I certainly can say I’ve brewed in it. Maybe it’s up there with getting vodka for an airlock after an ice storm…I’m sure there will be more stories like this to come.
How about you? Do you have any bad weather brew day stories? I think I’ve got some mental scars.


Living and thus brewing near Seattle gives me plenty of wet brew days. Cool ones too. We pull out the tarp system. It sorta helps trap the aroma from the brewpots. Yeah, no scars there.
[Reply]
beer_scientist Reply:
January 8th, 2011 at 10:49 am
I don’t think I could justify the tarp system here.
[Reply]