Looking for gear advice

Hello All,

I am looking to brew beer! I would like advice from people on what setup they think my environment can accomidate.

Where I live:

- I live on the 5th floor of an apartment building. I use an elavator!

- My fridge is small and full. My wife doesn't like strange things in the fridge.

- I have a loft in the upper part of my apartment where all the heat rises to that my wife will let me do what I please. It's 12ft by 12ft roughly. Note: the heat rises! It has power outlets and it's carpeted.

- I have a balcony(downstairs from the loft) that stays cool in the winter and hot in the summer. I live in Cali. My wife has it "decorated"(she think's she's and interior decorator(who am I to argue?))

- I have a dog who likes to lick everything and has the run of the place.(is anything in the brewing process toxic to animals?)

- My wife prefers wine over beer. She thinks beer makes me fat.. humbug!

What I like to drink:

- I like Pale Ales, IPA's, Lagers, Coors Light, You name it I drink it.

Who I'm looking to brew for:

- I would like to brew enough beer to accomidate my drinking habbit(a 6 pack a day), feed my friends and have enough to pass out to anyone I feel like. Like the homeless guy on the corner. Why give them money when I can give them beer?

Funds

- I'm pretty flexible here. I can do things on the cheap or I can splurge. I tend to go overboard when I really get into something. I like to drink beer.

Vision

I want to be a self sufficent beer drinker. I want to have flexibility in my "gear" to be able to brew lots of different types of beer. I want to be able to experiment. I want to turn beer into gold.

Cheapest option........


Get rid of the wife.

MikeFlynn74 said:

Cheapest option........


Get rid of the wife.

Click to expand...

:rockin:

Sound advise there...

Cheers,

knewshound

Keep the fermenter(s) in the loft in a cool water bath, assuming the temperature's stable. You want most fermenting beers, if they're ales, around 65˚. Definitely below 70˚. You might have to change water/add ice regularly, but temperature stability is key. Higher fermentation temperatures will give you funky flavours.

If your wife won't let you brew in the kitchen, do it on the balcony.

So, assuming you have a 3gal pot you can use as a brew kettle, you should be okay with most starter kits, eg 1bucket, 1carboy, siphon hardware, hydrometer. I'd add a few sticky thermometers for your fermenters, a thief for taking hydrometer samples, . . . I'm probably missing a few handy starter things.

Downsides:
-how do you feel about carrying 5gal of beer up to the loft? Maybe carry 2.5gal in the brewpot and add to 2.5gal in the fermenter. Let's hope it's not a ladder.
-you'll be fighting the temperatures in the loft. Perhaps get into Belgian beer?
-any spills will be hell on carpeting.

If you want to invest some time, look up the DIY (Son of) Fermentation Chiller. That'll solve your temperature problems gracefully.
If you want to invest some money, and really want the freedom to do lagers, pick up a fridge off of craigslist.

Of course, there are always endless and creative possibilities for improving your brewery. See yuri_rage, brewpastor, and a host of other equipment gods.

Kai said:

Of course, there are always endless and creative possibilities for improving your brewery. Look up 'Yuri_Rage'. Look up 'Brewpastor'.

Click to expand...

shouldn't that be see yuri_rage see brewpastor?


also for temp control search for fermoire

Kai said:

Keep the fermenter(s) in the loft in a cool water bath, assuming the temperature's stable. You want most fermenting beers, if they're ales, around 65˚. Definitely below 70˚. You might have to change water/add ice regularly, but temperature stability is key. Higher fermentation temperatures will give you funky flavours.

Click to expand...

The temp fluctuates wildy depending on the balcony door being open, the AC/Heater running and computers blasting away. Something that needs to be manually maintained(throwing ice in a bath) doesn't sound appealing.

Kai said:

If your wife won't let you brew in the kitchen, do it on the balcony.

Click to expand...

Not gonna happen, I can probably get away with using the balcony for occasional cooking and stuff(theirs power on the balcony) but no permanent fixtures(wife will freak). I do have a storage closet on the balcony seing little use. No power in the close though.

(balcony storage closet does stay cool)

Kai said:

So, assuming you have a 3gal pot you can use as a brew kettle, you should be okay with most starter kits, eg 1bucket, 1carboy, siphon hardware, hydrometer. I'd add a few sticky thermometers for your fermenters, a thief for taking hydrometer samples, . . . I'm probably missing a few handy starter things.

Click to expand...

I'm hitting the local Homebrew store for a better idea on gear this week!

Kai said:

Downsides:
-how do you feel about carrying 5gal of beer up to the loft? Maybe carry 2.5gal in the brewpot and add to 2.5gal in the fermenter. Let's hope it's not a ladder.

Click to expand...

Stairs. No pain no gain.

Kai said:

-you'll be fighting the temperatures in the loft. Perhaps get into Belgian beer?

Click to expand...

I like Belgians but they are more a desert beer for me. Not gonna be able to live on them.

Kai said:

-any spills will be hell on carpeting.

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This is my biggest worry. We have a huge rental deposit on this place and a spill would put the kabash on the whole operation.

Kai said:

If you want to invest some time, look up the DIY (Son of) Fermentation Chiller. That'll solve your temperature problems gracefully.
If you want to invest some money, and really want the freedom to do lagers, pick up a fridge off of craigslist.

Of course, there are always endless and creative possibilities for improving your brewery. Look up 'Yuri_Rage'. Look up 'Brewpastor'.

Click to expand...

I'll look this stuff up, thanks!!

eriktlupus said:

shouldn't that be see yuri_rage see brewpastor?


also for temp control search for fermoire

Click to expand...

Thanks. I've fixed it.

+1 on the Fermoire. I bet SWMBO would allow that in the main part of the apartment. Of course, it's a pretty big build.

For spills, you could always throw down a plastic drop cloth. Not pretty, but it's insurance.

Shahn said:

Not gonna happen, I can probably get away with using the balcony for occasional cooking and stuff(theirs power on the balcony) but no permanent fixtures(wife will freak).

Click to expand...

I think the idea here is to use a propane turker fryer to boil your wort. This is not a permanent fixture, and I would bet it will stow away in your decks storage box. The fryers typically come with a brew pot as well.

a 12 x 12 area is big enough to do pretty much what ever you want. However using a propane burner inside is not a good idea. So that limits you to electric units.

Is your balcony outside? If so I'd use the 12x12 area as a storage area and brew outside on the balcony then move it back inside when you finish. Or look for a place outside such as the parking lot. Or look around and see if there is a brew club in your area maybe someone in the club will let you come over to their house. Plus you can learn a lot from other brewers.

In such a restrictive environment you probably want to limit yourself to extract brewing.

And you'll also have to brew 5 gal every week to keep up with your consumption and be able to give 10 beers a week away.

Lagers such as Coor's will require a refridgerator or freezer for Lagering and a cool enviroment for fermentation. And they are not really something a beginner should try.

Since you have some space and electrical outlets in the loft, you could get a small chest freezer unit and use that as a fermentation chamber. I use the cooler method myself and find it is not that bad (swap the ice out every few days depending on the ambient temp) unless you want to lager.

Brewing on the balconey with a turkey fryer is the way to go for you I think.

Nothing toxic for your dog; my cats get into everything.

Mr.Beer...





























:cross:

IMHO I think the best for you would be to find a brew club. I think you would be far better off brewing some where else.

Thanks all for the advice. As for brewing at someone elses place, thats an option but not something I want to do. I would really like to be self sufficient from the get go. Also, I'm hoping my wife will get into my hobby and the only way that's going to happen is if my hobby is at home.

For now I'm going to abandon the Lager idea and stick to Ale's. I'll be hitting Beer and Wine Makers of America this week(they are close) to see what's available equipment wise. I was thinking of getting a starter kit but I want my starter kit to at least have some parts that I will use going forward. I don't want to waste cash on a starter kit Im just going to trash the first time I decide to upgrade. I figure if I get a high quality starter kit this won't happen. Any suggestions on stuff to look for? Also are Conicals beginner friendly? I'm a bit turned off about not being able to see the brew but they sound like a space saver with a little bling thrown in.

Im just going with safety as a factor. There is a lot of heat to brewing, chance of boil over, and hot water involved not of which sound very good on the fifth floor. I will step back and let those who brew under these conditions to give better advice.

Best of luck and best of brews however you get this to work.

GaryA said:

Im just going with safety as a factor. There is a lot of heat to brewing, chance of boil over, and hot water involved not of which sound very good on the fifth floor. I will step back and let those who brew under these conditions to give better advice.

Best of luck and best of brews however you get this to work.

Click to expand...

Hi Gary, thanks for the concern! I'm planning to do all my cooking on the stove or on the balcony. A previous poster recommended a turkey fryer and I think my balcony can easily accommodate that. It's an open air balcony and I am on the top floor so it wouldn't affect anyone above me.

I'm worried about the people below if you have a boil over.

GaryA said:

I'm worried about the people below if you have a boil over.

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I was thinking of covering that angle with an oversized tin pan the fryer will sit in. I know a place that sells them about 2.5' around and 1' high. I need to check out fryers before I find a pan to fit it.

Your best bet IMHO is to read up. www.howtobrew.com is free and his book is excellent. The book "Brew Ware" helped me make sense out of the equipment and gave me ideas on stuff I could build myself, find for free or cheap.

Back issues of BYO magizine also gave me a lot of ideas.

If you want something that looks cool and have the money conicals are great. The thing about being able to see the yeast at work is cool but if you can see the wort that also means light can get in so you'll need to protect it from light. The yeast does not like light and the beer can get skunked by light.

Most all of the stuff you'll use for extract brewing you'll also use for all grain so no real worries there. Still IMHO it's always better to get the biggest and best equipment you can afford. As I gather mine I kept an eye toward doing 10 gal. brews because it takes about the same amount of time to do 10 gal. as 5.

The one thing I wouldn't buy again are glass or plastic secondaries. I use 5 gal. cornie kegs for my secondaries instead.

Best wishes and welcome to the hobby.

Shahn said:

My fridge is small and full. My wife doesn't like strange things in the fridge.

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I'd suggest using dry yeast. I love my liquid yeast and my "yeast lab" but vials can be frightening to the uninitiated. A few pink packets that look like tea bags are more likely to please her. You can make excellent beers with either.

Shahn said:

I have a balcony(downstairs from the loft) that stays cool in the winter and hot in the summer. I live in Cali. My wife has it "decorated"(she think's she's and interior decorator(who am I to argue?))

Click to expand...

If the balcony is stone, where a boilover wouldn't injur people/property below you, a propane burner (i.e. turkey fryer) might be an option for you. You can even tuck it away into that closet.

Shahn said:

I have a dog who likes to lick everything and has the run of the place.(is anything in the brewing process toxic to animals?)

Click to expand...

If he eats too much grain it might give him the runs. If you're attentive while you're brewing it shouldn't be a problem. Worst case and the dog gets into something, he'll regret it and you'll clean up a mess but really, it's the same kinds of cereals that are in some dog foods.

Shahn said:

My wife prefers wine over beer. She thinks beer makes me fat.. humbug!

Click to expand...

Apfelwein!

It seriously seems as if your current setup is prohibitive to brewing the 5 gallon batches that I'm used to but scaling down and doing 3 gallon batches might eliminate some of the issues. Smaller batches make it possible to boil at the stove and require less storage space during fermentation. Smaller batches would mean that most recipe kits wouldn't be usable but that might be a benefit.

Good luck, I hope you're able to find some solution that works for you!