Expert: Ed Westemeier - 1/19/2010

Question
Hi Ed,

I am a newbie to beer brewing, and was wondering how I could brew a beer kit (Muntons Highlander strong ale and/or nut brown ale).

I do not have a lot of place to keep my brew, except for the little shed attached to my house. Since it is a non-heated shed, and since I live in Finland, temperatures often drop there to freezing point in winters (or even -5C when it hits -30C outside). Anyhow, could you describe the brewing process once more, from scratch?
- preparations
- boiling step
- conditions for 1st and 2nd fermenting
- other steps before botteling?
- botteling

I'm especially interesed in the temperatures I should keep the wort and beer in, since I do not want to screw up my first batch due to my cold shed. Then I rather wait until spring arrives, if you know what I mean ;)

Also, how can I make sure to keep the smells, impared with brewing beer, away as much as possible?

Thanks in advance! much appreciated!
br, R.

Answer
There's no reason you can't brew in almost any weather, as long as you have a source of water that isn't below freezing. Most beer will keep just fine even at -5C.

To give a complete description of brewing is more than I can do here, but I can recommend a good source of basic information.
http://www.howtobrew.com

Best of luck, and enjoy your new hobby.
Ed