Indoor Brewing???

Hello, im new to brewing, doing my primary research and have a question. Is it stupid to try to be a brewer if you live in an apartment. There is only 4 apartments, its not like im on a 20 story condo, but i just wanted to see if there are any other full indoor brewers out there? I have a complete extra bedroom to dedicate to brewing and a stove in the kitchen, but is it a good idea??? thanks for info

i brew on my stove top. but i wouldn't use the portable propane burner indoors if that is what you are thinking. my batches are small enough to get a vigorous boil going at stovetop temps. if you are doing larger ones, maybe outdoors is best.

I bought a turkey fryer to brew outside, but I haven't used it. I LIKE brewing on my stovetop and mashing in my kitchen. I can do it because I have a big kitchen and use my island and chairs for my "sculpture" and my gas range can boil 7 gallons of wort. I think most people would not have it so easy indoors- but you can do it. If you have a stove that can bring 7 gallons of wort to a boil, you can brew full batches indoors. If your stove isn't as powerful, you can do extract batches with steeping grains for 5 gallon batches, or do smaller AG batches. Where there's a will, there's a way!

i just want to do 5 gallon brews, is that ok for the stove

i want to do a few extract brews before learning and trying all grain, but all grain is my goal of course. so 5 gallon extracts is fine for the stove, and when i go all grain i need to go propane outside? I could easily buy a propane burner and do my boil outside of the apartment if needed but i would like to stay indoors just due to the old holy rollers that probaly would not approve lol.

If you have a pot that can hold 5g, fill it with water and see if you can get it to a rolling boil.

If you can't then extract with specialty grains is possible.

You would only be boiling 1.5 - 2.5 gallons and adding the remainder of the water to top off at a 5g. batch.

JBrady said:

i just want to do 5 gallon brews, is that ok for the stove

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depends on your stove. and if you are doing full or partial boils. I started on my stove while i was in college doing extract partial boils of 5 gallon batches. Worked fine, until you have a boil over. Good luck.

Yes, absolutely you can do 5 gal AG on the stove. You will probably need two 5 gallon pots, though. Click here to see my 5 gal system in action in the kitchen. I prefer to do my boils on the deck with the turkey fryer and one big kettle, but in the winter in Canada that isn't really practical. This setup works fine.

I even rigged up a steam injection system to do multi-step temperature rests in the mash, and everything runs off the stovetop. Details of the gear are in my sig.

A standard gas stove should have no problem boiling 5 gallons. It may be difficult with electric.

Key point: to make good 5 gallon batches you DO NOT have to boil 5 gallons (extract brews).

Exactly- when you do extract batches (and these make good beer, too!), you only need to get approx. 2.5 gallons to a rolling boil. My stove can bring 7 gallons to a boil- but most people can not do this!

If you know the type of beer you want to brew, and an idea of how much your stove can reasonably boil, we can give you some specifics on how to do it.

Beerrific said:

A standard gas stove should have no problem boiling 5 gallons. It may be difficult with electric.

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You can always split the boil in two pots on two burners. A bit of a PITA, but not as bad as one might think, particularly if you batch sparge and collect two equal runnings.

Beerrific said:

Key point: to make good 5 gallon batches you DO NOT have to boil 5 gallons (extract brews).

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Yes, excellent point. The only exception to this would be a really hoppy beer. You need lots of water to isomerize high levels of hop bitterness, like in an IIPA.

i currently do nothing but partial boil extracts, and i make some damn fine beer. it's easy, it's less messy, and i can do it in my small 2 bedroom, 1 bath, partially carpeted apartment.

i only have a closet for most of my brewing supplies, bottles, carboys, etc, so if you have a whole room dedicated, you should be good to go.

I agree with the statements about an electric stove not being able to boil 5 gallons. I have the standard apartment electric stove, and while once I get a boil going it works fine with 4 gallons, it takes forever to get started. I'm going to guess it might take onwards of 30 minutes to bring water from room temp to boiling on my electric stove if I did 5 gallon batches.

FlyGuy said:

Yes, excellent point. The only exception to this would be a really hoppy beer. You need lots of water to isomerize high levels of hop bitterness, like in an IIPA.

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Or you could just buy more hops. I am sure there are 2.5 gallon extract kits that make good IPAs. Or you could go the hop tea route. Late boil extract additions will also increase hop utilization.

It’s been my experience that brewing indoors heats and steams up the house. I thought about the kettle and the AC doing battle and ran out to pick up a propane burner.

Not only is SWMBO happier, but I get a much better boil than with my electric stove.

Beerrific said:

Or you could just buy more hops. I am sure there are 2.5 gallon extract kits that make good IPAs. Or you could go the hop tea route. Late boil extract additions will also increase hop utilization.

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Actually, no. Hop utilization does not follow a linear relation to hop amount in the boil. There is only so much that will isomerize in a given volume of water. Once you hit that limit, it doesn't matter how much more hops you add, the wort just won't take more. The limit is dependent on the gravity of the wort and the volume. As you increase the gravity and/or decrease the volume, the limit becomes less and less.

But honestly, this is probably only really a concern with big, big hoppy beers.

I never thought about it before, but all-grain inside would be quicker than extract. You have to get two smaller batches of water up to 170-190 degrees and then the resulting 150 wort up to boiling.

Yooper Chick said:

I bought a turkey fryer to brew outside, but I haven't used it. I LIKE brewing on my stovetop and mashing in my kitchen. I can do it because I have a big kitchen and use my island and chairs for my "sculpture" and my gas range can boil 7 gallons of wort. I think most people would not have it so easy indoors- but you can do it. If you have a stove that can bring 7 gallons of wort to a boil, you can brew full batches indoors. If your stove isn't as powerful, you can do extract batches with steeping grains for 5 gallon batches, or do smaller AG batches. Where there's a will, there's a way!

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Do you know what the BTUs are on your gas stove? My wife's been jonesing for a new fancy 5 burner stove and this might be the extra incentive for me to get it for her.

well i have a small electric stove so I guess I'll go the route of getting a propane burner, this one looks good at 50 bucks

http://www.undergrounddigital.com/propaneburners.html


what do yall think????

thanks for all the info

BassBurner said:

I never thought about it before, but all-grain inside would be quicker than extract. You have to get two smaller batches of water up to 170-190 degrees and then the resulting 150 wort up to boiling.



Do you know what the BTUs are on your gas stove? My wife's been jonesing for a new fancy 5 burner stove and this might be the extra incentive for me to get it for her.

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Sorry- I don't. It's just a really nice gas stove! I have one very large burner, one large, and two smallish/medium burner. I heat my sparge water on the large burner, and start my boil on the very large burner. It's slicker than, well, you know.

SWMBO and i do all our brewing indoors.Our gas range has no problem boiling 7-8 gals water or wort.We do AG(full boils)no problem with a 15 gal SS pot.Of course we mash in the kitchen as well.We open a couple windows to keep condensation down.Crappy weather days are our favorite brew days(warm and dry).
cheers

One of the forum members, Brewtopia does AG in his condo, two small batches in order to make a full batch. His beer's have won awards, etc... So yes, you can do good beer in the house.

I only brew inside... on an electric stove...and I do full 6-7 gallon boils. I have to keep the lid about halfway on the pot to get it to the point of a rolling boil, and it usually doesnt take that long, but once it is boiling, I can remove the lid and boil away...no temperature problems to date.

I too brew inside... My other half is balking at the idea of a bigger set up and outdoor brewing for now...

I do pretty much exactly what cubbies does; 6.5 gallon boils on an electric stove (on just one burner). It just depends on the stove and how powerful it is. I ran a test with plain water before I attempted boiling that much wort and it was able to handle it.. It takes about 30-45 min to get from mash temp to rolling boil, with the lid on. I leave the lid about 1/2 to 2/3 on the pot during the boil to keep it rolling but still let steam out. I haven't had any DMS issues that I can tell.

Just have to watch it, though - bringing 6.5 gallons of hefeweizen wort to a boil with the lid on in a 8 gallon pot is a recipe for a boilover if you don't keep a close eye on it. I've had a boilover during my last two batches from not paying attention.

I brew indoors on an electric stove as well. I usually do mini-mash brews so I get three pots going. One for sparge water and an 8qt. with boiling water to add to my 5gal brew kettle once it gets to a boil. I also have to use a lid to get that sucker to boil, but as soon as it starts I take it off and we are good to go for the rest of the boil. Works for me.