I think I'm back...

Hello fellow brewers. I'm Rich. Not rich like I have a lot of money just Rich in name.
I'm not new here but haven't been around much lately just some daily lurking. I haven't brewed in over four years and I can't stand it anymore. I contemplated selling my equipment more than once due to storage issues but I never did. I'm going to work on modifying some things so it will work in my apartment. I much prefer all grain so it should be interesting. That is my first step. Second I think I will purchase BeerSmith. In the past I used Pro Mash which I liked but I think they have pretty much gone away. The computer that had Pro Mash loaded crashed a few years ago so I need a brewing application anyway. I would like to build a good recipe but one that is fairly straight forward for my first time back.

I've been watching Beer Geeks lately and I think that is what has pushed me to try and get back into my favorite hobby.

I can't wait! I swear brewing is in my blood and I'm just not right when I can't make beer.

If space is a probably you can always brew 1 gallon or 2.5 gallon batches. I know of people that brew all grain 1 gallon batches! Also I've been sticking with kits and waiting til I get enough confidence to make a crazy recipe, probably a 1 gallon though.

Welcome back, Rich.

Stop by Station 26 Brewing some time for a chat and some brews.

Cheers,
Wayne

Glad you're getting back into it. Smaller batches could definitely be a great way to go with limited space.

A lot of homebrew suppliers have small kits that make use of Mr Beer fermenters. Good luck!

Noooob!

For those that don't know, RichBrewer used to be a mod here. I was given his old locker (I found the magazines... uh, yech).

passedpawn said:

Noooob!

For those that don't know, RichBrewer used to be a mod here. I was given his old locker (I found the magazines... uh, yech).

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I thought I got rid of those! I hope the photos weren't in there!

Welcome back dude. I kind a feel for your situation....

I used to be totally into brewing where it was my whole life. It started when my wife had a bad miscarriage and was totally depressed. My wife resulted in doing nothing but TV and I brewing. My wife hated that I brewed and I hated the pop culture reality crap she watched. Back in 2009 I got laid off it happened to be a week before my son was born. I kept brewing for sanity or escape from real life. After getting a new job it made me dial back brewing. Mainly because I had to go dual residences since work was 6 hours from home and its a traveling job.

I'm still in the same situation several years later, but with a kid. I've been brewing just about every other month, in my 2nd home. Its an apartment. I've had to dial it back to extract and PMs. I would say that my current lifestyle doesn't let me live on HBT like it used to do. Not to mention, I tired of the same n00b questions after awhile. I've probably brewed every style I like to drink in the last 7 years. I'm not doing much for researching new beers. My time is HBT is nearly limited to responses on recipes.

Anyhow Welcome Back & Brew-On!

Welcome back, Rich.

I just started last April and have found brewing to be a great personal creative outlet. It's an awesome feeling to quaff a delicious brew from your own efforts, and share that with friends.

'm

philipmeese said:

Welcome back, Rich.

I just started last April and have found brewing to be a great personal creative outlet. It's an awesome feeling to quaff a delicious brew from your own efforts, and share that with friends.

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Very true, I feel that I cheating myself when I elect to buy beer vs brewing.

Hey Rich don't worry about pro mash or Beer Smith check out brew 365.com they got tons of recipes a lot of good information to get you back into brewing and make you happy

Welcome back, old friend!!!! It's really nice to "see" you again around here.

I am using Beersmith 2.2 (or whatever the current version is), but I've also been playing around with Brewer's Friend. It's online, and it's free. I like it because it's got Kai's water spreadsheet in it. So being the weird perfectionist that I am, I'm currently using both.

I am comparing the differences and seeing what I like best in both. One of the things I really like about Brewer's Friend is that it's all stored online and I can use my netbook in the brewery, and my desktop afterwards, and it's all the same.

I..........remember!

Yooper said:

Welcome back, old friend!!!! It's really nice to "see" you again around here.

I am using Beersmith 2.2 (or whatever the current version is), but I've also been playing around with Brewer's Friend. It's online, and it's free. I like it because it's got Kai's water spreadsheet in it. So being the weird perfectionist that I am, I'm currently using both.

I am comparing the differences and seeing what I like best in both. One of the things I really like about Brewer's Friend is that it's all stored online and I can use my netbook in the brewery, and my desktop afterwards, and it's all the same.

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1958Ken said:

Hey Rich don't worry about pro mash or Beer Smith check out brew 365.com they got tons of recipes a lot of good information to get you back into brewing and make you happy

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It's good to be back. I've missed this place and everyone here.
I'll take a look at these alternatives to beer smith. It is nice to have options.

Just another hitch in the road back. I have class all day Saturday so my time is at a premium right now. I think I will figure out how to make this apartment brewery thing work and then I might try to brew during the break between terms.

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

Thinking of modifications to my AG system to make it work in the apartment. First up chilling the wort.

I have an immersion chiller and I am thinking of running a supply line from the bathroom sink to the small balcony and then the drain line to my washing machine. I don't have a place to drain the water so recycling the water seems like a good option.

Then again, I am worried about the neighbors above and next to me getting upset at the smell of the wort and noise of the burner. Maybe, for now, I will bite the bullet and do a PM and keep everything indoors. Not ideal but better than nothing.
I need to win the Power Ball so I can build a brewery on my land next to the mansion I will buy.

Welcome back Rich,

RichBrewer said:

Then again, I am worried about the neighbors above and next to me getting upset at the smell of the wort and noise of the burner. Maybe, for now, I will bite the bullet and do a PM and keep everything indoors. Not ideal but better than nothing.
I need to win the Power Ball so I can build a brewery on my land next to the mansion I will buy.

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Or, since you don't drink all that much at a time anyway, consider doing small batch AG on your stove top. If you can boil, say 2 gallons, you can do a 1 gallon batch. Or a 2 gallon batch, with some topping up built into your calculations.

We now have a BIAB forum, and that may be something that would be of interest to you now, in a small apartment and you can do any sized batch you want.

Yooper said:

Or, since you don't drink all that much at a time anyway, consider doing small batch AG on your stove top. If you can boil, say 2 gallons, you can do a 1 gallon batch. Or a 2 gallon batch, with some topping up built into your calculations.

We now have a BIAB forum, and that may be something that would be of interest to you now, in a small apartment and you can do any sized batch you want.

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Thanks. I'll give it a look.

I'm leaning towards BIAB partial mash with a less than full volume boil on the stovetop. This goes completely against everything I want to do but I can't think of another way to make this work. I'll just add more hops than I would for a full volume boil. It will make a decent beer and at least I get to brew. Hey! I might as well do my fermentation in a bucket as well! Now I like that idea. The good news is I will be able to keg the beer.

I swear someday I'm going to have the place where I can have a brewing system. Another year and a half and I'll have my BS in IT, Network Management then hopefully a decent paying job. Well, at least I can get my foot in the door somewhere that might lead to a decent paying job.

BIAB PM is going to work good. Yes, maybe not ideal, but I think if you chill quick and control temps it will turn out better than you think.

I still like the small batches idea for a regular stove. I can boil a 5 gallon batch on my stove, but I bought a pretty nice stove when we upgraded (For the obvious reason...)

There's a couple of ways to brew with what you have, you just might have to try a couple and see which you like best.

Homercidal said:

BIAB PM is going to work good. Yes, maybe not ideal, but I think if you chill quick and control temps it will turn out better than you think.

I still like the small batches idea for a regular stove. I can boil a 5 gallon batch on my stove, but I bought a pretty nice stove when we upgraded (For the obvious reason...)

There's a couple of ways to brew with what you have, you just might have to try a couple and see which you like best.

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Our stove is an electric POS. I can't tell you how tempting it is to put my burner out on the patio... Damn my good sense and courtesy to neighbors! Oh well...

PFFFTTT!

My BIL lives in an apartment and he has a gas grill on his TINY balcony!

Just try not to boil over onto the people below you and you will be fine!

Homercidal said:

PFFFTTT!

My BIL lives in an apartment and he has a gas grill on his TINY balcony!

Just try not to boil over onto the people below you and you will be fine!

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This why I don't do it. Potentially hurting a child, because I want another beer or need to take a piss. No way.

I'm on the 3rd floor. I have two apartments below me. A boil over could be really bad. Therefore I mainly do extract, on the stove top. That said I can do partial mash and AG up to ten pounds. I needed to limit the boil size to about 6 gallons. This means a thick mashing at 1qrt to 1lb. Sparging two to one.

So far the limiting factor is time, I do this after work so, tend to do what's easiest. Lately I'm wanting to go back to full boils as a minimum. I've been brewing stuff that's turning out too dark. Maillard reaction to malt.

In good consciousness, I can't risk a boil over in the 3rd floor. Not to mention today the wind chill is making it -30F. I don't even want to be outside.

Let's not forget running my wort chiller discharge. I can tell the two apartments below, that is ok it will wash away the boil over.

More likely, somebody would think I have a still or that I'm cooking meth on my deck. LOL

Schlenkerla said:

More likely, somebody would think I have a still or that I'm cooking meth on my deck. LOL

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I've had a police officer on patrol stop one time when I was brewing on the driveway. She asked me what I was doing and when I told her she asked if it were legal.
I guess with the immersion chiller it does look a bit like a still.

Welcome back. I don't find the sound of the burner all that loud. I assume it being a new sound that it would make the neighbors wonder, but I can't imagine the wort smell being any better or worse than say curry. I lived above neighbors who lived off curry. You can imagine my distaste for it now.

If you are worried then how come you cannot do AG 3 gallon batches inside? Maybe scale down to a smaller mash tun and such? Otherwise, BIAB looks great and I imagine the beer is fantastic from it.

Whatever you do, it is nice to see someone who leaves the hobby and returns.

My burner is extremely annoying to me, but having brewed at someone else's house I know that they can can all sound differently. I could hardly hear his burner at all.

If your stove can handle the weight, you might be able to do full boils with a burner AND an immersion heater both running. If it's too heavy, I bet a support could be built to go across the top of the stove to more evenly distribute the weight. ON my old stove I had to take the top off once in a while and step on it to press it flat again. And that was not with full boils!

Homercidal said:

ON my old stove I had to take the top off once in a while and step on it to press it flat again. And that was not with full boils!

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Oh! Now that is encouraging!

I've decided to convert my 5 gallon hot water tank to a mashtun. As usual, I am having major problems with the plumbing hardware. I bought a weldless Fermentap spigot from my LHBS and attempted to install it only to find the wall of my Rubbermaid cooler is way to thick. I even found instructions for installing the spigot into a Rubbermaid cooler. It is an older model (purchased in 1995) so I am thinking the newer ones have a thinner wall where the spigot is installed. Numerous attempts to modify the spigot have met with failure and frustration. I don't really want to modify the cooler any further and I think drilling a shoulder into the hole so the spigot will insert further is a bad idea (suggestion from guy at LHBS) because I think it will weaken the wall around the spigot and lead to a failure if the spigot is bumped. I haven't given up but I do remember why I am not very fond of plumbing hardware.

RichBrewer said:

I've decided to convert my 5 gallon hot water tank to a mashtun. As usual, I am having major problems with the plumbing hardware. I bought a weldless Fermentap spigot from my LHBS and attempted to install it only to find the wall of my Rubbermaid cooler is way to thick. I even found instructions for installing the spigot into a Rubbermaid cooler. It is an older model (purchased in 1995) so I am thinking the newer ones have a thinner wall where the spigot is installed. Numerous attempts to modify the spigot have met with failure and frustration. I don't really want to modify the cooler any further and I think drilling a shoulder into the hole so the spigot will insert further is a bad idea (suggestion from guy at LHBS) because I think it will weaken the wall around the spigot and lead to a failure if the spigot is bumped. I haven't given up but I do remember why I am not very fond of plumbing hardware.

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Is that different than a cooler conversion kit? You could do that with a longer nipple (home depot) but you'd also need more fender washers (hard to find).


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

ericbw said:

Is that different than a cooler conversion kit? You could do that with a longer nipple (home depot) but you'd also need more fender washers (hard to find).


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

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I actually fount some SS washers and a 1/2" nipple to install into the assembly to lengthen it. I couldn't get it to tighten up and there was a good size gap between the cooler wall and the silicone seal.

I just did my first brew in a bag and am sold on it for smaller batches and quicker brew days. I hit 85ish efficiency by following Brad Smith's (BeerSmith) tutorial on his website, and will be doing smaller batches. I like the Beersmith software because I can quickly convert my all grain recipes to smaller BIAB recipes.

Welcome back and good luck!

Well, a new plan is emerging. I'm tired of fighting with the adaptation of hardware and besides my 5 gallon hot water tank is looking pretty bad (See photo below). Years of running nearly boiling water through it has warped it pretty bad.


Yesterday I went in search of a cooler that would work with the Fermentap spigot. I ended up looking at Lowes and two different Home Depots before finding a 5 gallon Igloo cooler at Wal-Mart. It was the only cooler I could find that has a wall thin enough for the spigot to fit. Good to go right? Not so fast! It installed quite easily. Problem is it leaks. I started at barely hand tight and increased in small steps until I used a bit of force with a wrench. It is to the point now that the silicone gasket is beginning to deform. I think the problem is trying to get a seal with a flat washer against the curved wall of the cooler. I'm thinking about getting another gasket and try 2 of them. Or, I might squirt some heat resistant RTV into the hole before installing the spigot. Maybe both!

Have I mentioned that I am not real fond of plumbing hardware?

Edit: I wonder if Permatex Blue RTV silicone gasket maker would be safe. It is good to 500 degrees but I wonder if it will hurt anything if wort contacts it.

This is an old picture, but gets the idea across. I found the best way to get a seal on a cooler is to go with a large hole on the outer wall with clearance for the valve body and only compress on the inner wall.

Hello said:

Welcome back. I don't find the sound of the burner all that loud. I assume it being a new sound that it would make the neighbors wonder, but I can't imagine the wort smell being any better or worse than say curry. I lived above neighbors who lived off curry. You can imagine my distaste for it now.

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I don't mind the smell of curry in small amounts. I have a friend who is half Indian and half Malaysian. He makes chicken wings and drumsticks with fusion blend of spices which is good and not bad smell wise or I'd never eat it.

Last week he made skate with same blend of spices. It was good too. Omfg.... the gas that you get is what is foul... eating spicy food and combined with the undigestable cartilage. They gas is very distinguishable from any other gas I had. Not that I am fart sommelier....The smell ....just know that I was aerating my place when it was below zero outside. It was that bad.

So yeah Indian spices, coupled with noxious BO... is worse than many things short of a decomposing skunk. BO = Butt Odor.

Finally put together and it doesn't leak! I put a small amount of Permatex Blue RTV silicone gasket maker around the hole and the threads of the spigot. Tightened it up, let the RTV cure and tested it. No leaks.

Schlenkerla said:

Last week he made skate with same blend of spices. It was good too. Omfg.... the gas that you get is what is foul... eating spicy food and combined with the undigestable cartilage. They gas is very distinguishable from any other gas I had. Not that I am fart sommelier....The smell ....just know that I was aerating my place when it was below zero outside. It was that bad.

So yeah Indian spices, coupled with noxious BO... is worse than many things short of a decomposing skunk. BO = Butt Odor.

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I feel that this might be just a hair off topic. But then again, maybe I should have you over farting into the neighbors apartments. Then my brewing will smell fantastic to them!

RichBrewer said:

I feel that this might be just a hair off topic. But then again, maybe I should have you over farting into the neighbors apartments. Then my brewing will smell fantastic to them!

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Anything I can do to help..

Ironically, you mention your MLT leaking, I had to repair mine yesterday. I had to change a steel washer and replace a gasket. It's good as new now. It was leaking just enough to make a small puddle which really could lower my efficiency.

I feel your pain about brewing constraints. Can't control your apartment much.I've brewed PM and 1 gallon all-grain. I like the latter more and am building a mini-mash tun (or buying, haven't convinced myself its not worth the few extra bucks yet) to make it easier on me. Even when I'm fully set up to do larger batches, I'll still use my MMT, and make 1 gallon experimental batches. Don't need 2 cases of oak aged barley wine. Or the cost associated with that much