Brewing with very limited space

Hey all,

I am wanting to make the jump to brewing after many years of drinking, but the problem is I am pretty limited, at least for now, by space. My apartment in New York is not tiny, but it's not huge. I have room in the kitchen for the actual process, but the real problem is having space for fermenting, to keep all the supplies etc.. I am thinking I might need to hold off until I leave New York City, which, god willing, will be somewhat soon. Does anyone else brew under these circumstances, or is it just too difficult?

There is a lot of people that brew in apartments even all grain.

I have an apt.

I only use a 5 gallon bucket for sanitizer - a 6 gallon carboy and a
6 gallon bottling bucket with spigot. All my equipment fits in the
sanitizing bucket when not in use, and fits underneath my computer
desk.

Carboy gets a dedicated space in a tub next to my computer.

I just started, but I have limited room as well. If you can stash a six-gallon bucket anywhere in your apartment, all the equipment fits inside of that. Except for the huge pot that you brew it up in.

Several of us are in the same boat...There's a few threads about apartment brewing in here, at least one with that name...

I live in a loft, with 2 closets and a tiny kitchen...

Here's my "brewery"





Where there's a will there's a beer to be made....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/apartment-brewer-86092/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/all-grain-apartment-68911/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/apartment-brewers-unite-89973/index4.html

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/apartment-ag-brewing-18604/index2.html

There's a bunch more here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/search.php?searchid=3140845

If it expires just do a search for apartment brewing....

Do not let space keep you from brewing. You'd be suprised what you can accomplish in a small space. Use everything (under the bed, closet, corners, etc...) to store and ferment. Go for it.

i brew in an apt as well and let me tell you it is a tiny kitchen (no space for table and it barely fits two people trying to cook at the time)

I just found out my shower is a great way to speed up cleaning of my carboy

+1 to the shower.

Brew day I take up 50% of the apt.

Thanks guys, I'll see what I can fit where. The problem is my bike stuff takes up all the extra space in our apartment, and I think my girlfriend would be less than thrilled if I started cramming more stuff in there!

tekhna said:

Thanks guys, I'll see what I can fit where. The problem is my bike stuff takes up all the extra space in our apartment, and I think my girlfriend would be less than thrilled if I started cramming more stuff in there!

Click to expand...

Get rid of the girlfriend and that will free up some space.

I live in a 700 square foot house with girlfriend, two cats, and a large dog. It's certainly possible to brew there, just takes a bit of planning. I do partial mash in the oven, then a 3 gallon boil (biggest my stove can manage). The fermenter sits in one or another corner of the study, and I can fit four or five crates of bottles in the closet under the pile of coats. Any time I have more beer than fits in there, I have to give the excess away to friends

The only time it gets really bulky is in summer when I cool the fermenter using water+ice+tshirt+fan. That prevents me tucking it away in a corner, so it takes up half the study at least for the first period of active fermentation.

The best thing about brewing in a small house is the smell. A good mash can permeate the whole place so it reeks of malt for days afterward: mmmmm goodness...

Never let the nags of the Ole lady keep you from brewing. Simply tune her out and think of happy thoughts when she starts complaining that you pay more attention to your beer than you do to her.

Trust me: if I have room, you have room.

McKBrew said:

Get rid of the girlfriend and that will free up some space.

Click to expand...

You know, that's the exact same thing that would have been said on a cycling forum.
Thanks for all the encouragement!

I have a tiny kitchen -- if I open my dishwasher door, I can't get into my fridge. I don't think small kitchens are a big problem, except there's no space to store all the dirty pots/pans/etc. from the previous days.

That probably goes for everything. The downside of having a small apartment is you have to clean up some other stuff first before you brew. You may have to do laundry before you can put your carboy in the closet, etc.

I did my first AG batches in a 20-something foot Holiday Traveler trailer. You could stand in the "hallway" and touch one carboy cooling in the shower and another carboy fermenting in the closet.

That was tight.