Brewing On A Weak Stove

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BilboBrewin

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I have been brewing on my weak apartment stove for 30+ batches and it has made some delicious beer. I have no outdoor access for brewing (live in a city) and have just dealt with it. In the case of 5-gallon all-grain batches, this means a brew day that lasts 6-7 hours.

I figure I can either:

1. keep doing exactly what I have been doing (single infusion mash then batch sparge in a cooler) and just accept the fact that it takes a long time to heat the strike water/reach a boil after sparging or
2. make some changes to my brew process that would save me time but step outside traditional homebrewing techniques, such as:
  • using a heat stick to heat strike water and/or help reach a boil faster
  • collect the first runnings in main kettle, collect sparge out into a second pot, then use two burners to reach near boil and combine (I have read pre-boil hot side aeration "isn't really a thing" on the homebrew level, maybe combining just before boil would work?)
  • something else? (I am already heating my strike water early when possible)

I'm already happy with the beer I make, so part of me says to just accept the longer brew day that has results I enjoy, but a shorter brew day (that doesn't involve moving or gypsy homebrewing) is quite appealing. What would you do? :mug:
 
I have been brewing on my weak apartment stove for 30+ batches and it has made some delicious beer. I have no outdoor access for brewing (live in a city) and have just dealt with it. In the case of 5-gallon all-grain batches, this means a brew day that lasts 6-7 hours.

I figure I can either:

1. keep doing exactly what I have been doing (single infusion mash then batch sparge in a cooler) and just accept the fact that it takes a long time to heat the strike water/reach a boil after sparging or
2. make some changes to my brew process that would save me time but step outside traditional homebrewing techniques, such as:
  • using a heat stick to heat strike water and/or help reach a boil faster
  • collect the first runnings in main kettle, collect sparge out into a second pot, then use two burners to reach near boil and combine (I have read pre-boil hot side aeration "isn't really a thing" on the homebrew level, maybe combining just before boil would work?)
  • something else? (I am already heating my strike water early when possible)

I'm already happy with the beer I make, so part of me says to just accept the longer brew day that has results I enjoy, but a shorter brew day (that doesn't involve moving or gypsy homebrewing) is quite appealing. What would you do? :mug:

Personally, I would make half batch sized brews. I don't drink enough to have to chase larger batch sizes, so making 2.5 gallons,would be my choice. You definitely should look into the heat stick or other option to increase the heat. I wouldn't be worried at all about hot side aeration myself, fwiw.
 
If you have some extra coin and a dryer outlet in your apartment (on a 30amp fuse) you could make your own electric brew kettle.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-jDnFt402A[/ame]

If you don't have a dryer outlet :( :(:(:(
 
Alternately - find a buddy that has a garage and get a $40 propane burner and a $40 propane tank and go to town (share the beer of course)
 
6-7 hours isn't too bad, you could split the boil into 2 pots... Or use a dryer outlet, or maybe use the stove outlet if you want to move the stove to brew.
 
Personally, I would make half batch sized brews. I don't drink enough to have to chase larger batch sizes, so making 2.5 gallons,would be my choice. You definitely should look into the heat stick or other option to increase the heat. I wouldn't be worried at all about hot side aeration myself, fwiw.

Agreed, most of my batches are "half" batches, around 2.5-3g. I did buy the heat stick and have a GFCI outlet close enough to the stove, but am a little intimidated to use it. Likely brewing with a friend tomorrow, which reduces the stress for sure...
 
6 -7 hours isn't too bad and if it ain't broke...

6-7 hours isn't too bad, you could split the boil into 2 pots... Or use a dryer outlet, or maybe use the stove outlet if you want to move the stove to brew.

Funny, I thought a lot of people would be balking at a 7 hour brew day... the one reason I don't mind it much is the time it takes to reach a boil (over an hour) gives me a break towards the middle... though a shorter day may mean I could brew more often, such as on weeknights... thus my conflict! :tank:
 
It takes me about 5 hours for an all grain batch ( 90 minute boil and 75 minute mash 6 gallon). Including cleanup, so 6 hours is not too far off base, oh and I use a blichmann burner so I have plenty of power.
 
You didn't mention what your budget is, if there is one to make any upgrades. Also do you have a 220V dryer outlet available?
110v 5 gallon BIAB w/recirculation systems are available from various suppliers. If you don't have much of a budget and want to cut your brew day, I'd get another pot and heat your strike water in two pots. Then heat your sparge water in the two pots while your mash is working. Drain your first runnings into a bucket, recirculate some of it and fly or batch sparge, at some point during the sparge you can get the boil started in one pot and eventually get it going in the other. When you get them both boiling, you can combine the two boil pots.
Hot side aeration hasn't been a proven problem at the home brew level.
 
Setup brew day, 60 minutes (weigh grains, make starters, weight hops)
Crush grains, 15 minutes
start the mash water heating as I crush then to finish another 10-15 min
Mash, 60-90 minutes
Sparge, 30-45 minutes(last one was an hour, don't know why...)
Bring kettle to a boil 30 minutes
Boil 60 minutes
cool 20 minutes
transfer to fermenter(s) 15 minutes to 25 minutes if I am splitting a batch
Clean up 30-45 minutes...

6 hour day no matter how I look at it... it is a time consuming process not helped by my having equipment in the house and garage and I always seem to run back and forth a dozen times because I forgot something...


I have been brewing on my weak apartment stove for 30+ batches and it has made some delicious beer. I have no outdoor access for brewing (live in a city) and have just dealt with it. In the case of 5-gallon all-grain batches, this means a brew day that lasts 6-7 hours.

I figure I can either:

1. keep doing exactly what I have been doing (single infusion mash then batch sparge in a cooler) and just accept the fact that it takes a long time to heat the strike water/reach a boil after sparging or
2. make some changes to my brew process that would save me time but step outside traditional homebrewing techniques, such as:
  • using a heat stick to heat strike water and/or help reach a boil faster
  • collect the first runnings in main kettle, collect sparge out into a second pot, then use two burners to reach near boil and combine (I have read pre-boil hot side aeration "isn't really a thing" on the homebrew level, maybe combining just before boil would work?)
  • something else? (I am already heating my strike water early when possible)

I'm already happy with the beer I make, so part of me says to just accept the longer brew day that has results I enjoy, but a shorter brew day (that doesn't involve moving or gypsy homebrewing) is quite appealing. What would you do? :mug:
 
Six hour brew days are pretty standard for most folks using conventional home brew methods. It takes me about 6.5 hours from heating strike water to putting away cleaned pots and equipment. Only way I can see cutting significant enough time without spending a ton of cash on new equipment or risking horrible burns (pouring gallons of boiling liquid from one pot to another seems VERY risky) is switching to extract brews. If you insist on AG I think you should just be content with the 6 hour brew days. It is what it is as they say
 
You didn't mention what your budget is, if there is one to make any upgrades. Also do you have a 220V dryer outlet available?
110v 5 gallon BIAB w/recirculation systems are available from various suppliers. If you don't have much of a budget and want to cut your brew day, I'd get another pot and heat your strike water in two pots. Then heat your sparge water in the two pots while your mash is working. Drain your first runnings into a bucket, recirculate some of it and fly or batch sparge, at some point during the sparge you can get the boil started in one pot and eventually get it going in the other. When you get them both boiling, you can combine the two boil pots.
Hot side aeration hasn't been a proven problem at the home brew level.

I believe I have a dryer outlet available, but it is in my living room.

Right now I am heating my strike water in two pots and have considered using two pots to help reach a boil. My other thought is to use a heat stick, which I already own but have not used yet.

Edit: Oh and I've bought around $400 in equipment in the past few months, so I wouldn't jump into buying something costly right now, but would consider it for the future.
 
Setup brew day, 60 minutes (weigh grains, make starters, weight hops)
Crush grains, 15 minutes
start the mash water heating as I crush then to finish another 10-15 min
Mash, 60-90 minutes
Sparge, 30-45 minutes(last one was an hour, don't know why...)
Bring kettle to a boil 30 minutes
Boil 60 minutes
cool 20 minutes
transfer to fermenter(s) 15 minutes to 25 minutes if I am splitting a batch
Clean up 30-45 minutes...

6 hour day no matter how I look at it... it is a time consuming process not helped by my having equipment in the house and garage and I always seem to run back and forth a dozen times because I forgot something...

I clean my kettle the night before and have the grains crushed at my LHBS (aim for same day crush). This is what a smooth day would look like if I were making an IPA:

Heat strike water - 1h
Mash while heating sparge water - 1h (total 2h)
Vorlauf/collect first runnings in kettle and start heating - 20m (2h20m)
Sparge - 15m (2h35m)
Vorlauf/sparge out - 15m (2h50m)
Bring to a boil - 1h30m!!! my longest downtime (4h20m)
Boil - 1h (5h20m)
Hop stand - 30m (5h50m)
Cool to pitching temp - 30m (6h20m)
Transfer to fermentor - 15m (6h35m)

I usually lose a few minutes here and there and end up closer to 7 hours, not including clean-up. The 1h30m it takes to reach a boil is what sticks out to me. Sometimes it is nice, essentially a break right around the middle of the brew day, but I often find myself wishing it would go faster, kinda lose the brewing rhythm if that makes any sense...
 
I bought a 3500W (240V, 16A) induction plate (Avantco IC3500) for $170 from Webstaurant.com. It's great for the 5.5 gallon batches I mostly brew, but I've done 11 gallon ones on it. Never looked back. Except, I'm considering buying a second one now...

Your dryer outlet should be 240V/30A, use an extension cord and you're in business.
 
Y'all don't forget to change the breaker for those dryer plugs to a gfci (ground fault circuit interrupter) we don't need anyone getting electrocuted when you're working around water and elecricity. And yeah it's an added cost prolly 50 bucks.
 
I have done that for four batches - I called it gypsy homebrewing :mug:

This is ok occasionally but what a PitA to pack up all the equipment and bring it all back home again. I have done it but its substantially more difficult imo.
 
I timed today, start to finish 6 hours 30 minutes for a 10 gallon batch so a little extra time coming to a boil. Still need to pitch the yeast but the wort is only at 70 degrees so in the fermenting fridge to drop more. Won't hurt the starter to sit an extra 12 hours! Stuff is all cleaned but not put away, I was out of energy tonight when I finished at 9:30... since I was soaking a fermenting bucket with PBW for 24 hours I dropped the immersion chiller in for a deep clean. Need to move that back to the brew stand tomorrow too.
 
You need a friend with a house or garage and his/her own system so you can contract brew on it. It's also good to have another pair of hands and eyes on a brew session. Cheers!
 
Save an hour here with a cheap bucket: http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2013/11/hands-on-1000-watt-heat-stick-with-temp.html

Heard you can rig it up with a timer and your strike water will be ready when you come from work.

I actually have that already, I'm just a bit nervous about using it, though I do have a GFCI outlet within easy reach of my stove.

This is ok occasionally but what a PitA to pack up all the equipment and bring it all back home again. I have done it but its substantially more difficult imo.

You need a friend with a house or garage and his/her own system so you can contract brew on it. It's also good to have another pair of hands and eyes on a brew session. Cheers!

I have two friends who have a nice system with all the equipment (minus the fermentor I fill up and bring back home) already there. However, getting our schedules to line up has been harder than it is for me to set aside 7 hours to brew :p
 
Don't fear the heat stick! I do a mix of indoor & outdoor brewing, and if not for the heat stick it would take me an eternity to brew indoors--it cuts the time to get to strike temp and then to boil by about 2/3.
 
One thing you haven't mentioned is whether your stove is gas or electric. If electric, is it a separate cooktop that might run on 120v? And if so, is it possible that it's on the same circuit as the GFCI you want to plug your heat stick into?

Probably that is unlikely; but in that case you'd need to find a GFCI outlet on a different circuit, and probably use an extension cord.
 
you can also get GFI's on extension cords, that might work here. Not super cheap but . . .
 
One thing you haven't mentioned is whether your stove is gas or electric. If electric, is it a separate cooktop that might run on 120v? And if so, is it possible that it's on the same circuit as the GFCI you want to plug your heat stick into?

Probably that is unlikely; but in that case you'd need to find a GFCI outlet on a different circuit, and probably use an extension cord.

Wow, something I didn't think of! It is electric. I think I would need to talk to my building's property manager to know if it is on the same circuit. I know the two outlets next to my sink are on the same circuit and that the outlet between my stove and fridge is not on that circuit, but that doesn't mean my stove is on the circuit with that outlet. Hmmm...
 
Wow, something I didn't think of! It is electric. I think I would need to talk to my building's property manager to know if it is on the same circuit. I know the two outlets next to my sink are on the same circuit and that the outlet between my stove and fridge is not on that circuit, but that doesn't mean my stove is on the circuit with that outlet. Hmmm...

Don't ask, don't tell.

Property managers can be real dicks. The less they know, the less they can harass you about.

Most stoves in the US are 240V. They are on their own circuit, not being shared with any other outlet (NEC code) typically 30-50A depending on configuration and size. Those with an electric oven are all 50A, some higher, AFAIK.

You can test the spare outlet you have in mind by plugging a lamp into it, and flip breakers until the light goes out. Then check if any other outlets are dead at the same time.
 
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