Apartment all grain?

[Sum1Stu]

So the lower the SG of the boil, you need to use LESS hops ? Because you get more utilization of them ?

 

[Scimmia]

In general, yes.

 

[TomRep]

If you feel like driving, your more then welcome to come down to my house and brew in my garage with me. I'm in the Reading area, so it is a bit of a drive. I'm always looking for a good brew partner though to help out/spark new ideas.
Tom

 

[CoalCracker]

Tom, appreciate the invite and may take you up on that. I am actually in Reading about twice a week as I have a good friend that lives there. I actually have another friend that just recently got into brewing as well and may be interested in hanging out on a brewday.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Best solution IMO
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/countertop-brutus-20-a-131411/

 

[TomRep]

The more the merrier bud! Shoot me a PM and we can exchange phone numbers.
tom

 

[CoalCracker]

I have looked into the countertop 20. However, it is only setup for 2.5 gallon batches. I'm looking to do 5. I could easily scale it to do that. However, I will be splitting my boils. I am going to mash in a 5 or 10 gallon rubbermaid, then drain into a bucket. Stir to get the OG right throughout. Then split evenly into my two brew kettles. Then split the hop additions evenly. Fill the bathtub up with ice and water to cool. Mix back together in the fermenter. A lot of work but that seems like my really only option here. I could get the 7.5 gallon pot, then I would need two elements. Not sure how I would go about powering them. I have the outlets, but only one is GFI. Really like the Countertop brutus though. May do that eventually. I would still need to get a CFC.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

The countertop 20 is good to 4 gallons of finished beer FWIW. Just seems a lot easier and way more fun than what you have planned above. Just my .02 but I would rather have a better time brewing slightly less beer. Also, plug in GFCI's are easy to get like this one:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/shockbuster-gfci-outlet-adapter.html

Do you have a budget?

 

[CoalCracker]

You know, I have one of those GFI's for my saltwater tank. That didn't even occur to me to use one of those.

I'm picking up a 10g rubbermaid cooler tonight. I think I am going to splurge and slowly get parts to make this setup. If I can use my stove with an 8 gallon pot and a heatstick, I may be able to get a full boil going. Then I can drain the pot into the CFC. Unfortunatly I do have a budget. So I will gather the parts slowly for this set up. Going to read that whole thread top to bottom to make sure I understand everything fully. The wiring doesn't bother me as i'm in IT and took some EE courses.

 

[UnNatural]

If you used a 10 gal cooler for a 5 gal batch, would there be a significant increase in heat loss due to the excess head space?

 

[CoalCracker]

Pretty sure that's what most people use around here. If you preheat the tun you should be ok. You could always buys some 1" Dow board and wrap it in tin foil to kill some of the headspace if it's a concern.

 

[MacBruver]

It doesn't make much of a difference. I do 5 gallon batches in my 10 gallon igloo drink cooler, and it only loses a couple of degrees... and that is with opening it to stir it every 20 minutes or so. Pre-heating it does help quite a bit.

 

[Picobrew]

It doesn't make much of a difference. I do 5 gallon batches in my 10 gallon igloo drink cooler, and it only loses a couple of degrees... and that is with opening it to stir it every 20 minutes or so. Pre-heating it does help quite a bit.

I preheat and don't stir and don't really lose any temp in my 10G. It also makes it easy to do a big sparge.

 

[Drunken Monk]

Well I currently live in a 2nd floor apartment and would love to do all grain. I do have a small balcony I can brew on, however it is wood and don't really trust it. My second option would be to brew on the front sidewalk. However I would then have to carry hot wort up two flights of stairs. Now I'm no weakling by any means so I'm not worried about the weight. Just more the risk of the burning myself. I could do a split boil I have a 6 gallon pot and a 5 gallon pot. Then there is the hassle of cooling two pots...

I read DeathBrewer's write up on stove top brewing. However then there is top off water added. I am a bit worried that my efficiency will then suffer too much.

So I basically have three options. What would you apartment brewers do?

Get a turkey fryer or a big pot and burner so you can do full boils. Invest in a fire extinguisher if you're worried about burning down your deck or pay a friend in homebrew to brew with you and help you carry that hot wort up all those steps!