Brewing beer in a small apartment

Hi all

Getting ready to get a full 5 gallon kit and would like to know if there are some of you brewing in a small one bedroom apartment. The main thing I am worried about is my electric stove. Will an electric stove work for making full 5 gallon batches? Please let me know what you think.

Roger

I think the general consensus is that a stovetop won't do full boils so I am afraid you are going to be relegated to partials. Do you have a patio or deck where you could use propane?

Best way to find out is to get your biggest pot out of the cupboard and fill it with water and crank up the stove and see what it can do. Then you'll know for sure. You should be able to boil at least 3 gal I would think. I used to do around 4 on my stove until I got my burner. Good luck!

JasonInBTR said:

I think the general consensus is that a stovetop won't do full boils so I am afraid you are going to be relegated to partials. Do you have a patio or deck where you could use propane?

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Well I could use propane but I dont think I can use it on the deck. I know I cant use a babaquer on the deck. I will look into this.

Roger

I haven't had good luck trying to get 5 gallons heated in my apartment with electric stove and my complex doesn't allow the same thing, otherwise I'd have both a grill and a turkey frier out there. Instead, I've been doing single gallon batches lately, but it does look like I can boil 3 fairly easily. I'm just waiting until I either get or build a cooling coil.

Theres also the possible usage of "heatsticks" I believe converted electric water heater elements, which some people use to heat water when they are in similar situations.

I use a heat stick (1500W), along with my stove; it works great for full boils.

Just did a full boil in a 2 bedroom apartment complex....No problems at all.

Try it with water on your stove first and see how much water you can keep at a nice rolling boil. I have several friends who are able to place their brew pots over a couple of burners at once and do full boils just using their stove.

My stove, however, will not handle a full 7 gallon boil so I augment it with a heat stick that I built for about $40. With the stove on and the heat stick running I can get to a very hard rolling boil with 7+ gallons of liquid in the kettle. I actually have to turn the stove down once I hit a boil or it is too violent. If you're comfortable with basic DIY and your stove can't handle the boil on its own then the heatstick might be a good option for you.

I live in a small oe bedroom. I did a partial boil which took forever, 35-45 minutes. I recently went online to fireforless and bought a bayou classic which I'm going to use on my patio..........ive never been told not to use it so I'm going to

I brew in a small apartment and I've had no problems.

I did a 3 gallon boil in my apartment, it took forever, but it'll do it :rockin:

I do 7.5 gallon boils on an electric ceramic top stove. All stoves are different though... you'll need to test yours.

I also brew in small apartment. My oven does alright with 3 gallon boils. Just make sure the stove top is squeeky clean - the long boils at high temperatures make the entire surface hot and it will cook the sh#t out of any dirt or grease. Took lots scrubbing to get that off :S

K5MOW said:

Will an electric stove work for making full 5 gallon batches? Please let me know what you think.

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yes, it will work, especially if you do partial boils and then top off when you pour into the fermenter.

I brew on a barely adequate electric stove and do 4-point-something gallon partial boils.

If you want a more detailed response, you could list what's going in to your starter package. (size of your brew pot, etc...)

I brew all grain BIAB in a small apartment, and it works fine. Get a pot wide enough to span two burners and you'll be boiling in no time.

If you can't brew on your deck, you can supplement the heat from the stove with a heat stick or some other adjunct electric heating apparatus.

jbrookeiv said:

I brew all grain BIAB in a small apartment, and it works fine. Get a pot wide enough to span two burners and you'll be boiling in no time.

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Do you know of a link to get a pot that would span two burners?

Thanks Roger

HexKrak said:

If you can't brew on your deck, you can supplement the heat from the stove with a heat stick or some other adjunct electric heating apparatus.

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Can you get one made?

Roger

just do a 2.5 or 3 gallon boil. Don't add the extract until later in the boil, you will be fine.

I managed to do about a 4 gallon boil on my electric stove in my one bedroom. I've been thinking about trying to do a full boil using one of the griddles designed to sit across multiple elements on the stove though.

one thing to watch with the electric (if you dont already know) be careful if you crank it all the way up to high as you most likely will burn crap on the bottom of your pot (I have a spiral shaped burn in on my brewpot right now to prove it) especially if youre using LME.

K5MOW said:

Do you know of a link to get a pot that would span two burners?

Thanks Roger

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Here's the pot I use. Might be a little overkill for you, but you won't have any boil overs and it will allow you to move up to all grain if you choose to. Also, I found mine on sale at a local Home Depot for $40, so check your local HD out.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...googlebase-_-D28X-_-202038916&locStoreNum=277