All grain indoors in winter?

[DNW]

I can see how that one went. Honey, do not light that candle, open all the windows, and unplug that carbon detector, we're brewing beer.

I'm sure it's not a great idea to use a turkey fryer indoors. But. A Viking range can put out well over 100,000 BTUs with all the burners on (126,500 for this one). Does a turkey fryer not burn as clean or something?

 

[AnOldUR]

Does a turkey fryer not burn as clean or something?

I think it's as much about have a propane tank indoors.
House go boom! :cross:

 

[japhroaig]

Your house won't go boom, but you may asphyxiate due to carbon monoxide

 

[bernerbrau]

When I lived in an apartment I used to split the batch into two pots on two burners, then combine them when they boiled down enough. One of my beers done this way won me 2nd place in its category in a competition. Honestly, if I'd known about BIAB I probably would have gone that route instead of buying the stuff for a 10 gallon mashtun to brew indoors.

My biggest issue with indoor AG if you make a mess indoors you have to spend a lot of time cleaning up, while you can make a big old mess outside and then just hose it down. Plus, heating stuff on the stove takes a lot longer. I've cut my brew day down by 2 hours by moving it outside.

 

[DNW]

Your house won't go boom, but you may asphyxiate due to carbon monoxide

My point was that a device UL Listed for non-vented interior use (gas range) potentially produces twice as much CO as a turkey fryer.

 

[eelpout]

Also, is it possible to boil 5gallons in a stainless kettle outside in freezing temps, or will propane heaters not be able to outdo the freezing cold?

Oh yea, never had a problem boiling in the winter. garage will heat up to 20 or so when boiling, so thats good.

 

[djt17]

Caution: Modern electric codes require kitchens to have two 20 amp circuits. GFCI is required within 6ft of the sink or other water source. Sometimes outlets near a stove aren't GFCI protected. Plug in a lamp and then test your GFCI to be certain.

Yep, mine have the reset/test buttons & say GFCI on the outlets.

 

[Mermaid]

No heatstick for me. Really bad wiring in the apartment. Cheap landlord says "not broken, no fix". Did my first AG batch a month ago, but it was 3.5 gallons (I split the boil between my 2 5 gallon kettles and while it's a bit clumsy, it works).

I think I'll be doing this from now on, smaller batches are more manageable for me for a number of reasons (including but not limited to the bargain basement stove)

 

[runs4beer]

Do a test run on your kitchen range, I wish I had about 4 years ago.

I can get 7 gal. of wert from just under sparg temp (~145f) to rolling boil in less then 30minutes on the electric glass top kenmore range that was in the house when I bought it.
I had been heating sparge water on the range and mashing in a cooler in the kitchen then putting the kids to bed and then running it out to the turkey fryer to do the boil. One day, after reading that the glass top can hold 65 pounds I slaped the BK on there to at the very least keep it from cooling off and low and behold it boiled. And a whole new brewing option opened...

 

[jkarp]

one other thing, when dealing with electricity and water, *always* use a GFCI. they are $10-$20, but can save your life. Lowes/home depot/jerry's sells them, anyone in plumbing or electrical will know exactly what you are asking for.

Or brew in the kitchen. All kitchen outlets are already GFCI protected.

 

[japhroaig]

No they aren't--the last two houses I've been in (including my current home) have not had gfci outlets in the kitchen. The house before that had 15 amp breakers and 16 gauge wire

 

[runs4beer]

To get a CO in most places you need to have GFI outlet near any water sorce in the house and all outlets outside but this was not always the case so in older homes that have not had any extencive remolding done you might not find GFI outlets; in this case you should have them installed they're cheep and its easy to do.

 

[jkarp]

To get a CO in most places you need to have GFI outlet near any water sorce in the house and all outlets outside but this was not always the case so in older homes that have not had any extencive remolding done you might not find GFI outlets; in this case you should have them installed they're cheep and its easy to do.

This ^^^

 

[electric_beer]

I must be super lucky. My brew kettle fits exactly on two burners on my range stove. I get a rolling boil in about 30mins AND I have two exact kettles so I can brew 10 gallons INSIDE if I want. Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors, but brewing inside keeps the neighbors from wanting tons of samples. LOL.

 

[CopperHillBrewery]

Another option, if you don't want to use a heatstick, is to go aluminum and wrap insulation around the BK. There are a few threads on this method. I did this before I made my heatstick and managed to do full wort boils. The aluminum is a better conductor of the stove top heat and the insulation will keep the heat from dissipating. If going this route, ensure that the insulation can take temperatures above boiling point.

 

[stevedasleeve]

Try it. I brew all year in the kitchen on a relatively inexpensive (anemic) electric stove, 7 gallon boils. It is not that big a deal to get the wort boiling. I am often on the edge of boil-overs but truly it is just not a problem here! I brew 3 times a month on average, all grain, 5 gallon batches, and I brew the best beer i have ever tasted.

YMMV and WTF and IMHO,
Steve da sleeve

 

[MrAverage]

just brew smaller batches...3.25 gallons or so. Your stove should be able to handle that amount.

 

[bovineblitz]

Is your stovetop electric? I can boil up to 8 gallons on mine if I set the kettle on two burners (well, 1 and a half), wrap foil underneath the burners and up around the kettle (take the elements out, lay foil, then puncture elements through the foil) then around the kettle for insulation. To get it going I leave the lid on, then if it's not boiling hard enough I'll leave the lid half on.

^foil wrapped up under the burners in both directions all the way up the pot, then more layers wrapped around... great insulation.