brewing vs. happy wife - kitchen shared

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pixelhussar

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Hey everyone,

First of all there is nothing wrong with my wife. She is really supportive, I only want to keep her like that.:)

I usually start AG brewing in the late afternoon/evening. So I often finish way after midnight. I have to admit that despite all my efforts cleaning everything up perfectly at 2am is something that I'm not very good at.

Could you please recommend some practices that makes it easier?

Thanks!
 
Do you have garage? I brew in my garage....put my burner just outside garage but do everthing else inside...like mash, etc...

But...you dont need a garage to do it outside...do it on back patio, back lawn, etc....

If I brewed in my kitchen starting in late afternoon and finished up around midnight it would be a mess as well......not sure I can help you there! :D
 
Start brewing earlier.

During the boil you should be able to get almost everything you've used cleaned and everything you are going to use sanitized and ready for use. During a 4-5 hour brew day I will go from milling grains through pitching the yeast on the brew and still have time to have everything cleaned and sanitized plus sanitizing bottling equipment, bottling a batch of beer and cleaning the bottling equipment. I don't think I'm particularly fast at any of the tasks but I know how my process and when things are done. If you're doing a lot of boil additions or a complex mash that's going to slow you down but I'd still think you could knock out a brew day in 4-5 hours and have everything clean by the end.
 
Do you have garage? I brew in my garage....put my burner just outside garage but do everthing else inside...like mash, etc...

But...you dont need a garage to do it outside...do it on back patio, back lawn, etc....

If I brewed in my kitchen starting in late afternoon and finished up around midnight it would be a mess as well......not sure I can help you there! :D

This is how I do it.
 
AG inside is insane.

to your question though, time the brewing with some outing she does every 2 weeks.....for 8 hours........maybe.
 
Definitely clean as you go. I brew while watching TV and drinking beer. Most of the time you spend waiting. Get ‘er done.

Brewing inside is insane? Oh well I guess I’m crazy. I enjoy the air conditioner in the six months of summer and the heat in the two months of winter. I don’t feel the need to spend thousands of dollars on stuff that won’t improve my beer.

You propane guys are doing it the hard way. I mash in the oven, boil on the range, lauter in a bottling bucket, cool in the bathtub and the refrigerator. I can’t possibly fit all that stuff on the patio.
 
Definitely clean as you go. I brew while watching TV and drinking beer. Most of the time you spend waiting. Get ‘er done.

Brewing inside is insane? Oh well I guess I’m crazy. I enjoy the air conditioner in the six months of summer and the heat in the two months of winter. I don’t feel the need to spend thousands of dollars on stuff that won’t improve my beer.

You propane guys are doing it the hard way. I mash in the oven, boil on the range, lauter in a bottling bucket, cool in the bathtub and the refrigerator. I can’t possibly fit all that stuff on the patio.

As much as I love that philosophy and set up, I have to be outside in the fresh air, hot or cold.

Like many others, I learned efficiency in cleaning during down times. At the end of the day, I'm cleaning the kettle, some smaller equipment (hydrometer, spoons, tubing, etc...) and putting things away.
 
I made a royal mess my first few AG batches... but as you go, you'll get the feel of it and will get more organized and efficient. +1 on cleaning as you go. The hardest mess is when wort hits a hot stovetop and solidifies so I'll lay some foil down before I start.
 
For me I always try to come up with a "payoff" in return - cause my wife doesn't really like beer and she ends up entertaining our two small kids on a weekend day when I should be "family guy." So encouraging her to go the mall the following weekend on her own, or a movie with her friends, or some other bs to keep the world in balance.
 
I'm lucky... The kitchen, whether for brewing or for cooking, is MY domain. She stays out, unless it's to boil water or something.

In other words, sorry... I can't help you!
 
AG inside is insane.

Well, IMHO AG outside is insane when it is cold, windy, wet, hot, humid, dark or any combination of the above! So I guess that is almost most of the time...haha. I brew in my basement year round on a ghetto electric system and have gone as large as a 15 gal batch several times...be neat and organized...my basement is carpet and besides a few drips is no less for wear and tear. Oh a simple fan in the window provides adequate ventilation...sure it smells like a brewery mid boil but the simple fan catches up quickly post boil. FWIW the smell does not really migrate upstairs due to the routing of the venting out the basement window...cheers!
 
Put your gear on a trolley and use a conical lid on the BK + extraction fan (computer fan in my case). No steam inside the house and, if I'm tired I just push the whole thing in to our quest bedroom to wait for the cleaning. It's insane to brew outside :)
IMG_20121127_3503.JPG
 
Weigh your grains & hops the night before. Look for ways to streamline and multitask: Heat mash-in water while you grind the grains, be ready to mashout and lauter on time, do batch sparges instead of fly, have a good burner that will heat water and boil quickly, clean during the boil, have a fast cool down method, etc. I can knock out an AG brew in 4.5 hours no problem.
 
You are going to have to encourage your wife to find a brew SHE enjoys!... Personally - being the wife that brews :) - clean as you go and I agree with the guys who said start earlier. I wouldn't want to be cleaning up after midnight either!
Also enlisting the assistance of spouse is another way to go. I conned my husband into helping me process 2 bathtubs full of apples for my/our cider and apart from a bit of grousing he survived. The kids played happily and stole apples and juice when they could. A family event! Good luck with working out your compromises. Tricky territory the kitchen especially if the only time you are in it is to brew!... :)
 
The best investment I made was a high pressure burner. You have to use it outside or in a garage though. Fast water heating shaves hours off the process if you're used to a stovetop and it does get you out of the kitchen.
 
+1 on the high output burner in the garage. It heats the garage while brewing. Boils lots of water very quickly.

Most important tip---> SHARE the beer with your wife. ;)
 
OK then, it seems that I have no excuse to renovate our basement. See you in the diy basement project threads next year.:)

Thanks for all your comments!
 
Weigh your grains & hops the night before. Look for ways to streamline and multitask: Heat mash-in water while you grind the grains, be ready to mashout and lauter on time, do batch sparges instead of fly, have a good burner that will heat water and boil quickly, clean during the boil, have a fast cool down method, etc. I can knock out an AG brew in 4.5 hours no problem.

Wait a minute.. so my new fly sparge set up won't save me time on brew day? I that batch sparging was killing my productivity....
 
BTW, I used to brew inside, it's a mess and clean up is a bear. Unless you can improve your system installing hose barge and high quality valves on everything.. you still drip sticky wort and you still spill water.. at least I do.

I moved into a top floor apartment with a terrace. I brew outside with a view over one of the most populous cities in the world. When it's all done. I break out the hose, broom and squeegee and I'm done in no time.

Cleaning up while you brew is key as well, there is a lot of idle time on brew day, might as well be going to it.

My Gf complains about the gobs of brewing equipment taking up our 700 sq ft apartment, but with the terrace and the floor drains, the kitchen is hers :)

Moving to Brazil has taken me from Extract to AG, there's no going back now...
 
"Relax, have a home brew" isn't quite as effective on my girlfriend as it is on me...

I usually catch some heat when I brew when she's around. No way around it. I just clean up as best as I can (I'm a neat freak so I do the cleaning anyway) and justify it with the end result. So far so good :mug:
 
AG inside is insane.

BTW, I used to brew inside, it's a mess and clean up is a bear. Unless you can improve your system installing hose barge and high quality valves on everything.. you still drip sticky wort and you still spill water.. at least I do.

I brew inside, and always have! It's easy, warm (our climate sucks- I'm 150 miles NORTH of Green bay), and no problem.

Clean as you go, start earlier (mashing is a totally passive time), and it takes 4.5 hours start to finish.
 
i used to brew late in the day, and had the same problem. i got tired of chilling/cleaning in the dark, being up late, the local home brew shop being closed if i needed something, etc. i now brew early so i have the rest of the day to do what i want. things that i have found help:

-electric temp control for heat. this lets me set my dough in temps precisely, and i can do other stuff to get ready (assemble MLT false bottom, etc)
-having my hops measured, carboys/fermenters clean, ready to go and full of starsan
-cleaning up the MLT after i finish sparging so i don't have to do it later

i am also building bottom drain vessels which should help with cleanup, since i can easily clean in place (moving keggles sucks)
 
Spend the money and have a maid come in twice a month to do a bathroom and kitchen cleaning, cost somewhere around 30-40usd.
 
I brew AG inside in a Tokyo apartment with no problems. Cleaning as you go is definitely key as many people have pointed out.

It also probably helps that I care more about cleanliness than my wife, and am also the cook of the two, so she has nothing to complain about! :)
 
I brew inside too and I live in an apartment. Ag electric. I start early around 5PM the yeast is pitched and everything is spotless. My wife is very supportive also, recently she started brewing solo so if I don´t do a perfect job cleaning up she understands. BTW I tried my wife´s first pale ale yesterday and I decided I am not teaching her anymore... that was a terrific beer... she is going to outbrew me soon. Now I´m really inloved.
 
I brew AG inside in a Tokyo apartment with no problems. Cleaning as you go is definitely key as many people have pointed out.

It also probably helps that I care more about cleanliness than my wife, and am also the cook of the two, so she has nothing to complain about! :)

I wonder if a Tokyo apartment is as small as one in Sao Paulo :) You really need an understanding partner when you brew AG in a 400 sq ft apartment :)
 
I’m setup to brew out in the shed with gas but bad weather (freezing weather and snow) and the fact the sun sets here at 4:30pm had me doing a brew inside a month ago and now I’m hooked.
I’m limited to 5 gallon but here is how I do it.

I tell the wife I’m cooking dinner that night and the kitchen will be clean by morning. She is now looking forward to these nights. I tend to brew on Thursday or Friday nights because the cleaner comes on Friday morning.

Process
5pm - Get water up to temp while dinner is in the oven. (3.5 to 4 gallon of water)
6pm - Mash in at 154 and set timer for 60 min (I use a 5 gallon cooler)
-Eat dinner
7pm - Start my Sparge (this takes me awhile sometimes 2hr.. but I just use a second smaller pot and slowly add water as it slowly drains)
-Clean primary
8pm - Start my boil (this takes a while.. because of my stove)
-Clean Mash tun
9pm – Start my boil count
10pm – Start my cool down (use a wort chiller and ice bath in kitchen sink)
-Sanitize primary
11pm – Into primary
11:30pm – Pitch Yeast
12:00pm – In bed
I just finished my third batch using this method and was amazed how quick, fun and easy it was.. I had the laptop playing tv shows, I was warm and the wife wasn’t all that annoyed.

Equipment
32oz boil kettle
20oz kettle for sparge water
Strainer for sparge water
5 gallon home depot mash tun
Immersion chiller
Big Steel Spoon
And that it..

Once I get into doing 10 gallon batches I’ll move it back outside but I think I’m going to keep this equipment for fun little 5 gallon winter batches.
 
Put your gear on a trolley and use a conical lid on the BK + extraction fan (computer fan in my case). No steam inside the house and, if I'm tired I just push the whole thing in to our quest bedroom to wait for the cleaning. It's insane to brew outside :)
IMG_20121127_3503.JPG

This kind of an apparatus could potentially serve a dual purpose in my situation. My wife would see this thing as something that would probably bite her if she got too close to it. As she tends to "borrow" (lose, break and mangle) odd brewing accessories as a little hobby of her own, applying this approach could prove quite useful. :mug:
 
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