Brewing Ginger/Hop Beer in my CAR. [PORTABLE BREWING]

[gingerbread_]

Hi,

What is a good way to brew beer if I will be living in a car/tent.
I am looking for the highest alcohol percentage.

Something that would brew fast.
And a good deal/good prices.



Thanks.

 

[ncbrewer]

For brew day, BIAB or extract should work ok using a turkey fryer. Fermentation might be more of a challenge between temperature control and sloshing around in a moving car.

 

[MT2sum]

Hi,
What is a good way to brew beer if I will be living in a car/tent.
I am looking for the highest alcohol percentage.
Something that would brew fast.
And a good deal/good prices.
Thanks.

Depends on whether or not you'll have access to electricity or not. If not, a Turkey Fryer BIAB with Propane or wood heat - no way too control fermentation temps, so the beer might not be up to your liking/specs ...... and you still need access to water - for the beer and for sanitation! If you have access to electric, take a look at BrauSupply, Grainfather, or some other low-cost single pot system. Higher cost units would include the BrewBoss. Plus you'll need plastic buckets for fermenters, bottles, capper and other equipment and lots of patience for priming and carbonating in bottles, etc. That's a lot of stuff to cram into a car, not to mention the problems mentioned already like sloshing around, etc.

BUT, none of these options would work in a car AFAICS - only if you were settled in a tent with access to water, fire, and equipment. We lived in a tent for the first few months of our marriage, so cooking, cleaning, etc. can be done if you are willing to do it right. Other than that, I guess you'll end up trying to make hooch as mentioned above, because from the way your question is worded, I'm thinking you want almost instant results - sorry to inform you, that's NOT the way to make beer, and if you're thinking Barleywine, think again - like 6 to 18 months for aging.

Sounds to me like if you are looking for quick results/high alchohol content, you'd be better off just buying the big 40s of high grav malt liquors like Colt 45, Steel Reserve ..... maybe some cheap wine - Ripple or Mad Dog 40/40 until you're ready to settle into a more permanent environment where you will actually be able to enjoy your brewday.

 

[Gavin C]

If you have a camp-stove you could do small batches with extract. Depending on how beefy the heat source is you could do 0.75 gallon batches.

Magnum hops for bittering would be the cheapest option there.

Cleaned and sanitized Gallon milk jugs as fermentors with a muslin/elastic band airlock.

S-04 would be a decent ale yeast choice. It's also not too expensive. (1 tsp per ~gallon batch would be ample).

It will ferment fast given the time of year and the heat retentive properties of a car. Your car's trunk could serve as a fermentation chamber. The downside of the desred fast ferment would be some adverse flavor compounds but this sort of thing is always going to be a trade off.

Cooler slower ferment would be better but less fast so maybe not better for your situation.

Once it's done fermenting you could rack the beer to bottles for carbonation and storage or if speed is of the essence, 1 gallon kegs and a CO2 source would be better.

If you're not concerned about carbonation, you could rack the beer to a spare sanitized milk jug, chill if possible and enjoy it flat. Not my preference but I'm not pressed for time.

On the ABV% front. the more malt extract per batch the better for that.

Best of luck with your brewing exploits.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If you have a camps tove you could do small batches with extract. Depending on how beefy the heat source is you could do 0.75 gallon batches.

Magnum hops for bittering would be the cheapest option there.

Cleaned and sanitized Gallon milk jugs as fermentors with a muslin/elastic band airlock.

S-04 would be a decent ale yeast choice. It's also not too expensive. (1 tsp per ~gallon batch would be ample).

It will ferment fast given the time of year and the heat retentive properties of a car. Your car's trunk could serve as a fermentation chamber. The downside of the desred fast ferment would be some adverse flavor compounds but this sort of thing is always going to be a trade off.

Cooler slower ferment would be better but less fast so maybe not better for your situation.

Once it's done fermenting you could rack the beer to bottles for carbonation and storage or if speed is of the essence, 1 gallon kegs and a CO2 source would be better.

If you're not concerned about carbonation, you could rack the beer to a spare sanitized milk jug, chill if possible and enjoy it flat. Not my preference but I'm not pressed for time.

On the ABV% front. the more malt extract per batch the better for that.

Best of luck with your brewing exploits.

What is a camps tove?

I've seen a few folks small batch brew over a camp fire using a dutch oven and a tri-pod. Fermentation was interesting. Made for some rather smokey beer.

 

[WrQth]

What is a camps tove?

I've seen a few folks small batch brew over a camp fire using a dutch oven and a tri-pod. Fermentation was interesting. Made for some rather smokey beer.

Dutch oven FTW

 

[Gavin C]

What is a camps tove?

I've seen a few folks small batch brew over a camp fire using a dutch oven and a tri-pod. Fermentation was interesting. Made for some rather smokey beer.

It's like a camp-stove only with more spelling errors and less interesting. Similar functionality.

 

[Psylocide]

If you're going off the grid... your best bet is probably going to be smashed up fruit and sugar and water. Ketchup packets are a good source of free sugar as well... but for a very small amount of money, you could buy a sack of sugar.

Check out the locale of which you'll be staying. Is there a market nearby? They may throw out old fruit and would probably be willing to give it away. Otherwise, get yourself a flora/fauna guide for your area and see if there is anything worth foraging for.

A milk jug would be a suitable vessel... and you will probably be looking to ferment with wild yeast. The fruit will most-likely contain some, but you could just leave the lid off the bucket for a day outside and that would suffice.

Throw a balloon over the top with a pinhole in it, and your drink should be ready to go within a few days to a week at most.

Make sure to take hydrometer readings at the beginning and end so you know how much alcohol you're dealing with and to avoid bottle bombs if you plan to bottle it.

 

[passedpawn]

Please, answer the question or move on. In the beginner's area, we'll just offer friendly on-topic advice without all that other stuff. Thanks.

 

[Gavin C]

If you're going off the grid... your best bet is probably going to be smashed up fruit and sugar and water. Ketchup packets are a good source of free sugar as well... but for a very small amount of money, you could buy a sack of sugar.

Check out the locale of which you'll be staying. Is there a market nearby? They may throw out old fruit and would probably be willing to give it away. Otherwise, get yourself a flora/fauna guide for your area and see if there is anything worth foraging for.

A milk jug would be a suitable vessel... and you will probably be looking to ferment with wild yeast. The fruit will most-likely contain some, but you could just leave the lid off the bucket for a day outside and that would suffice.

Throw a balloon over the top with a pinhole in it, and your drink should be ready to go within a few days to a week at most.

Make sure to take hydrometer readings at the beginning and end so you know how much alcohol you're dealing with and to avoid bottle bombs if you plan to bottle it.

While your suggestions would be much cheaper and probably result in a higher ABV% more rapidly they would result in a wine-like beverage. The OP wants beer.

I do like the pin-hole in the balloon suggestion. Better than my muslin and rubber-band idea.

OP, if you are not set on beer, I think @psylocide 's suggestions are much better than mine in achieving your objectives.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If you're going off the grid... your best bet is probably going to be smashed up fruit and sugar and water. Ketchup packets are a good source of free sugar as well... but for a very small amount of money, you could buy a sack of sugar.

Check out the locale of which you'll be staying. Is there a market nearby? They may throw out old fruit and would probably be willing to give it away. Otherwise, get yourself a flora/fauna guide for your area and see if there is anything worth foraging for.

A milk jug would be a suitable vessel... and you will probably be looking to ferment with wild yeast. The fruit will most-likely contain some, but you could just leave the lid off the bucket for a day outside and that would suffice.

Throw a balloon over the top with a pinhole in it, and your drink should be ready to go within a few days to a week at most.

Make sure to take hydrometer readings at the beginning and end so you know how much alcohol you're dealing with and to avoid bottle bombs if you plan to bottle it.

Save the money on the hydrometer and skip the bottling. Drink it real ale style and savor the yeast. The nutrients from the yeast will prolly be a good source to counter any other vitamin deficiencies.

 

[iijakii]

Since you wont have a mill, mash tun etc you could just chew the grains and spit them into your bucket. That also innoculates them with wild yeast. Drink bottle-conditioned ale before hand so your mouth has a nice microfauna. Leave that in your car with the windows rolled up so there's a nice hot temperatures, that provide a wide array of flavorful esters. After it's done fermenting strain through your tshirt to separate the grains from beer.

 

[drainbamage]

Since you wont have a mill, mash tun etc you could just chew the grains and spit them into your bucket. That also innoculates them with wild yeast. Drink bottle-conditioned ale before hand so your mouth has a nice microfauna. Leave that in your car with the windows rolled up so there's a nice hot temperatures, that provide a wide array of flavorful esters. After it's done fermenting strain through your tshirt to separate the grains from beer.

Chicha?

 

[Aristotelian]

I don't think you can ferment in the car. Temperatures in a car get way hot, even with the windows rolled down. Even at 70F outside, a car parked in the sun can get unbearably hot and that can't be good for yeast. Also if I was living in a car I cannot imagine devoting half my living space to a turkey fryer and fermenter.

 

[Psylocide]

Yeah... good point on the car temps. Might want to go with a Belgian /saison strain if you don't want to wild ferment.

 

[BGBC]

Since you wont have a mill, mash tun etc you could just chew the grains and spit them into your bucket. That also innoculates them with wild yeast.

This has a historical precedent in the form of chicha de jora, a traditional corn beer from Peru. It should work with grain as well, but it would be tough chewing a full batch and might not be worth the possible dental work. Get a group together and gather around your car/tent though and you can share in the chewing/spitting fun!

Up the ABV with any readily available form of sugar (honey, dextrose, brown sugar, diner sugar packets, agave, tree sap, fruit, fruit juice, etc).

Plastic bags will work for fermenation vessels in a pinch if a traditional bucket or carboy is unavailable. Socks or stockings will also work for straining your brew once fermentation is complete.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I don't think you can ferment in the car. Temperatures in a car get way hot, even with the windows rolled down. Even at 70F outside, a car parked in the sun can get unbearably hot and that can't be good for yeast. Also if I was living in a car I cannot imagine devoting half my living space to a turkey fryer and fermenter.

I have seen outdoor ale fermented in two ways.

One involved a deep hole for which the fermenter bucket was set down in. The other involved a nearby shady pond inlet that the bucket was set in and secured.

Both worked astonishingly well. Considering.

 

[Psylocide]

I have seen outdoor ale fermented in two ways.

One involved a deep hole for which the fermenter bucket was set down in. The other involved a nearby shady pond inlet that the bucket was set in and secured.

Both worked astonishingly well. Considering.

That would be my method... find a pond or other body of water, a river would probably be best, just would have to make sure it's properly secured.

Nothing a few rocks and rope couldn't take care of though.

 

[BGBC]

Yeah... good point on the car temps. Might want to go with a Belgian /saison strain if you don't want to wild ferment.

You're making assumptions regarding where said car has been parked.

The primary stated goal is 'highest alcohol percentage' though, so a high attenuating Belgian strain or a wild ferment would probably be the best options to milk the highest ABV anyway. The nod goes to Belgian/saison strain if you favor 'brew fast', but if 'good deal/good prices' is more important, then spontaneous fermentation might be the way to go.

 

[1977Brewer]

Guys. I lived in a car once.

I was reading up on Lithuanian farmhouse beers just yesterday. No boil, mashed and fermented in the same wooden vessel. Now, their yeast is generations old, but you should be able to catch some buggers if you're careful, or the suggestion of a farmhouse or Saison strain is actually a good one. Assuming that you can build a fire and have rocks, you should be able to get your mash to temp that way. Just heat the rocks and toss em in the water, get it to 150-155, and dump in your milled grains.

Now, hops are vitally important, but you should be able to boil a couple of quarts of water with some hops, essentially making a tea. Add this to your strained "wort" and you should have a drinkable beverage affter it ferments out, you bottle it, and it conditions for at least a week.

 

[BGBC]

I have seen outdoor ale fermented in two ways.

One involved a deep hole for which the fermenter bucket was set down in. The other involved a nearby shady pond inlet that the bucket was set in and secured.

Both worked astonishingly well. Considering.

That would be my method... find a pond or other body of water, a river would probably be best, just would have to make sure it's properly secured.

Nothing a few rocks and rope couldn't take care of though.

Guys, guys, [PORTABLE BREWING]...right in the thread title.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

You're making assumptions regarding where said car has been parked.

The primary stated goal is 'highest alcohol percentage' though, so a high attenuating Belgian strain or a wild ferment would probably be the best options to milk the highest ABV anyway. The nod goes to Belgian/saison strain if you favor 'brew fast', but if 'good deal/good prices' is more important, then spontaneous fermentation might be the way to go.

Wine or bread yeast. Both are touted as being alcohol and temperature tolerant.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Guys, guys, [PORTABLE BREWING]...right in the thread title.

And?

I have every confidence the OP will find numerous holes in his endeavors no matter where they may take him.

 

[drainbamage]

If you are brewing something with hops (vs a cider or whatnot), you'll want to make sure the fermenter is lightproof or stored somewhere shady, so it doesn't get skunked all to hell.

 

[BGBC]

If you are brewing something with hops (vs a cider or whatnot), you'll want to make sure the fermenter is lightproof stored somewhere shady, so it doesn't get skunked all to hell.

Another point for hole in the ground. Noted.

 

[iijakii]

Plus you don't want another drifter stealing your hooch, so the hole is also nice from a security standpoint.

 

[BGBC]

Locked car trunk would be more secure from curious wild animals. Maybe not bears though. Comes back to where you are setting up shop though.

 

[Zekk]

Hard to dig a hole in a Walmart parking lot.

You could probably find free glass gallon jugs at some Italian restaurant for fermenters, plus they'd fit in a car on the floorboards.

 

[1977Brewer]

Hard to dig a hole in a Walmart parking lot.

You could probably find free glass gallon jugs at some Italian restaurant for fermenters, plus they'd fit in a car on the floorboards.

I ferment in water bottles in my house. % gallon jugs are free at Home Depot.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Hard to dig a hole in a Walmart parking lot.

Assuming he has a car, he can pull up the inlet grate.

Or, if you've seen many WalMart parking lots, just wait until the pavement sinks by itself.