3 gallon stovetop batches = awesome

[Edcculus]

Living on the 12th floor of an apartment in Cleveland overlooking Lake Erie has 1 disadvantage (other than being in Cleveland). There is no way I can brew on my balcony in the winter. I tried last year, and man the wind sucks.

I was easily able to recalculate my recipes for 3.5 gallons using Beersmith so I can brew inside. So far, I love it. No running in and out. No hauling pots of hot water etc. Smaller starters. If I had a corny keg open, I could even ferment in it no problem.

The only ackward part is my 10 gallon mash tun. It lost a good bit of heat, so I'll have to get some foam for the deadspace. I recommend this to any apartment dwellers who don't have a balcony

 

[Revvy]

Yep, living in a loft near the st clair river, I am in the same boat. That's why in the winter I do 2.5 gallon batches on my stove. I have a 5 gallon coller, so heat loss isn't bad...

 

[dagrar]

Being in Maine I also do 3 gallon batches on the stove top. Just too much snow on the deck. I do have to adjust the strike water temp to compensate for a 48qt cooler. Still playing with that tho.

 

[sp1365]

This is what I do for everyone of my beers. I love it.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

How is it legal to do brews on a 12th floor balcony of apt building?!? Assuming you're using some kind of propane.

 

[Revvy]

Lately I've been playing with partial boil all grain recipes on my stove top, mashing a concentrated wort, overhopping by 18% to compensate for hop utilization by not doing a full boil, boiling down to 2.5-3 gallons in my 5 gallon pot on my stove, then using beersmith's dillution tool to dilute the wort and topping off to 5 gallons.

I have done three beers so far, one an ipa, my belgian wit last summer on my saison cake (first time I tried that method) and a red ale they have turned out great, and I have a wit in primary that I did that way as well.

The Belgian wit turned out to be one of the best beers I have ever made/tasted actually. And a lot of folks loved it. That's why it has inspired me to try more recipes this way.

The IPA and Mojave I am currently drinking are both topped off all grain batches.

I have another 5 gallons of wit done the same way in primary.

Another thing we can do, if we have two pots is stove top small batch partyguiling. Both my attempts at partigyle were done on the stove, and produced two 2.5 gallon batches of beer.

 

[Edcculus]

How is it legal to do brews on a 12th floor balcony of apt building?!? Assuming you're using some kind of propane.

Not sure about the legality, but its definitely against the rules. The balcony is concrete, and I'm 12 stories up and haven't gotten in trouble yet.

 

[Beerbeque]

I've been thinking of going to half batches in the kitchen too but my 8 gal brewpot wont fit on my kitchen range because of the over the range microwave. When I get a shorter pot, I plan to do brew-in-bag batches in my kitchen.

 

[Edcculus]

One other thing I did (or didn't do) with yesterdays Hefeweizen was a starter. According to Mr. Malty, with a 3.5 gallon batch with an OG of 1.050, I need 1.3 packs of yeast. I oxygenated it with pure O2 and pitched the swollen pack. Its sitting comfortably at 63F and bubbling away already.

I figure I'll have to do a starter if I go above 1.050 or have an old yeast pack.

 

[Homercidal]

Living on the 12th floor of an apartment in Cleveland overlooking Lake Erie has 1 disadvantage (other than being in Cleveland). There is no way I can brew on my balcony in the winter. I tried last year, and man the wind sucks.

I was easily able to recalculate my recipes for 3.5 gallons using Beersmith so I can brew inside. So far, I love it. No running in and out. No hauling pots of hot water etc. Smaller starters. If I had a corny keg open, I could even ferment in it no problem.

The only ackward part is my 10 gallon mash tun. It lost a good bit of heat, so I'll have to get some foam for the deadspace. I recommend this to any apartment dwellers who don't have a balcony

Or you could rig up a smaller cooler for an MLT... Easier to handle as a bonus.