Thinking about brewing outside...

I brew outside and never had an issue. You have to remember that you are boiling wort. Anything that gets in there will be killed anyway because of the boiling process. Once you flameout and the boil stops, I would cover it.

 

I mostly brew inside, but when outside, I use an immersion chiller to cool, with a lid. Pre-cooling, there is not much to worry about that a boil won't take care of. I don't like outside brewing because I have major issues with wind off of Lake Superior sapping heat from my kettle and lots of hornets in my yard who seem to be attracted to hot wort.

 

Outfitting your cooler with hose connectors is a good idea. You should be able to get adaptors/fittings to get you from your copper tubing to hose connectors at Lowes/Home Depot. Definitely cover the pot while cooling.

 

Use a CFC. Immediately chill the boiling wort to pitching temps and have it go straight into a sanitized carboy. That said you will be pitching a ton of healthy yeast (I assume) so they should outcompete the small amount of bad stuff from outside (and what the sanitizer didn't get

 

Thank you, powdered toast man!

 

I brew in my garage, and the lid goes on essentially at flameout (I turn on the chiller for a minute or so, add the flameout hops, then cover and let the hops steep for 15 minutes before I resume chilling). Haven't had any problems yet.

 

I brew outside and have used an immersion chiller outside as well. I didn't have an issue- but I also didn't have any trees or anything above my brewpot that will drop stuff in. I think as long as you do your diligence and keep an eye on stuff you'll be good.

If you really wanted, you could easily use tin-foil if you're worried about crud falling in, but I think if the lid is mostly on, you'll be fine. If you have a garage, it seems easiest just to brew in there (though there may be funky bits floating around the garage too).

I wouldn't fret too much. As Papazian says "Relax don't worry, have a homebrew."

 

There's risk everywhere, all the time as far as sanitation goes. But the things is, especially on a homebrewing scale, you'll never be able to fully skirt those risks. Best you can do is to minimize what you can, control the most important variables, and be confident in your technique. If you're not confident, then yeah, maybe you need to step things up somewhat.

I have always brewed outside (from day 1) and never have had an infection. Hell, on one of my last brew days a storm showed up with a torrential downpour the minute I hit my flameout hop additions. I left it covered as best I could, but some rain water definitely got in. I tried not to worry and the beer tastes fantastic right now.

I promise you'll get better, more consistent, and quicker boils with the propane burner. Try it out... I also promise you'll never go back.

 

I brew outside all the time, and I also don't cover it during the chill. Been doing this for almost five years now and my only infection was from before I moved outdoors (other reasons). I do believe this is a big reason why you want to chill quickly, but I have no reason for concern.

 

I started out brewing inside, then moved it outside when I went to full boils. I believe the benefit of the full boil is worth it, and any additional risk re: contamination has not shown up as a problem for me so far.

I do place a lid on the pot after flameout, and keep it loosely covered until I transfer to the primary.

 

Knock on wood, but I've never had an infection, and have brewed outside for more than a decade. As others said, I do put the lid on when I am chilling, but it sits at an angle, because I have a small piece of wood I put across the brew pot to hold the thermometer cable, so it isn't in contact with a scorching hot kettle. I have considered getting some cheesecloth or other mesh to hang off the edge of the lid, just to keep the flies and fruit flies out during chilling, but haven't done that yet and still have no infections to date.

 

I always brew outside on the patio. I installed a natural gas line for this. After the whirl pool, I put a lid on the pot. I have a valve on the kettle. The kettle drains into my home made counter-flow chiller. This will reduce your concern about fitting over tubes. Both the valve and CFC can be acquired with little cost. CFC was all Home Depot parts. This set-up has reduced my brew time and helps with sanitation problems. I never liked the siphon method, way to many risks involved. The CFC works quickly and gives me hot water to clean up. If you have a copper immersion coil, you may be able to anneal the copper and make a CFC from the immersion chiller.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if your kitchen has far more microbes that you have outdoors.

EDIT: Not "yours" in particular, but any kitchen.

 

Yep. That's what I do anyway. I put the chiller in, turn 'er on, and then take some foil and kind of set it so it's covering most areas but has a little space for hot air to escape upward: kind of a simple chimney, if you will. This helps take care of two potential problems: 1) you want heat to be able to escape, and if you cap the kettle too tightly, you're defeating your purpose, and 2) you want to be careful about condensation forming on the foil and dropping back into the wort, because this can contain DMS, especially if you're using pils malt.

 

I brew outside, use an immersion chiller and haven't had any issues. I brew next to a linden tree which is always dropping leaves and flowers in the springtime. I fish them out of the kettle at the end of the boil.

Make a starter. Your yeast starter will be strong and numerous. Wild yeast and bacteria, puny and few.

I am curious to know, for those who have suffered infections, how many made starters and how many just pitched from package to bucket/carboy.

 

I brew outside, use an immersion chiller with no lid, and have never had an issue with infections. I always make a starter with a stir plate.

 

I used to use an immersion chiller with the lid on loosely. The last few batches I've left the lid off and stirred gently with a metal spoon. No infections, and the chill down to pitch temp is MUCH faster. I also always use a stir plate starter.