My landlord told me to stop brewing!

[deviousalex]

My landlord told me to stop homebrewing. His reasoning was that "we had a guy do that once and blow up his whole setup." He did not expand on his reasoning. I mean I don't think a bottle bomb can cause *that* much damage to an apartment. I'm going out on a guess here and thinking the guy was distilling something, not brewing. What should I say/do to convince him otherwise?

And don't tell me to move, that is not an option right now.

 

[Julohan]

anything in the lease that tells you that you can't brew or something similar? Otherwise you could move out without any penalties. If you don't mind moving.

 

[devilishprune]

Yeah I don't think that he could kick you out just for that.

Possibly explain to him the difference between brewing and distilling? Maybe that way he will get off your case.

Either that or give him a sixer of your delicious homebrew, and tell him that there's more where that came from if he lets you continue.

 

[northernlad]

Sounds like your only option is to brew inside. Just make sure you can move your gear out before he comes for a periodic inspection.
Or call him on the "blew his whole setup", because that is BS.

 

[deviousalex]

I'll double check the lease again, but afaik there is nothing against home brewing in it. But there probably is also a clause saying they can kick you out for any reason at all if they feel like it.

 

[clintopher]

I would go over the lease with a fine tooth comb and go from there.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Tell him to phuck himself and take it up with the authorities if he has an issue with it.

He really has no legal recourse if its not on the lease, except for those nasty clauses in leases that state they can raise the rent with 30 days notice, if he's really looking to mess with you...

 

[ALF]

Im not really sure what is causing your landlord to be afraid.

Is he afraid you are going to burn the complex down or afraid of a possible broken bottle of beer?

If he is afraid of you burning the complex down....move your brewing to the parking lot and if he likes beer....i would suggest to "grease the wheels" with some good homebrew

 

[IrregularPulse]

Or ask about being allowed to use a propane burner. That's the only thing in brewing that could be in a lease preventing you to brew legally in the complex.

 

[WenValley]

Invite him over for a brew day. Toss in a sixer of home brew. Once he sees the process, it might make it easier to convince him that his property isn't at risk.

Good Luck...

 

[JNye]

its the same as cooking, i would ignore and proceed with your regularily scheduled life.

 

[samc]

Since you have not really told us your brew set up I find it odd that everyone is jumping on the landlord without knowing the facts. You could be shooting 5 foot flames off the deck with a propane burner for all we know.

Are you indoors and brewing on your stove and he/she is smelling the wort or what's really going on. If you are just cooking a pot of wort on the stove I don't see the issue.
Could be they got complaints from a neighbor.

Assuming you are doing everything safe, I'd invite the guy over for lunch and a brew session and make yourself a new buddy.

 

[jordanpace]

my neighbor recently told me he hopes i dont blow up my house... i explained the difference between brewing and distilling.. but he still tried to lecture me about blowing my house up.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

They have to give you 24 hours notice if they are coming into inspect, so that should give you ample time to move stuff out and get 'rid' of the fantastic smell associated with homebrewing. Like others have said, if there is nothing in your lease stating that you can't brew, politely tell him that you can brew and if you pay your rent on time, not a problem.

 

[shroomzofdoom]

Your landlord is an idiot...perhaps his former tenant was running a meth lab?

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Let me first say that I am not an expert on CA tenancy laws, nor do I know what your lease says. What I can say comes from my experience as in Texas as an apartment dweller and some general contract rules.

Most leases are drafted by an industry group (of landlord businesses) or at least have been constructed with legal assistance to protect the landlord's interests. There are likely clauses buried in the lease that allow them to classify what you are doing as "dangerous" to other tenants or the building, so they could tell you to stop engaging in a particular activity upon threat of eviction. So, fighting with your landlord over this puts you at a severe risk (even if you don't care about getting kicked out of this rental, other landlords will be loathe to allow you as a tenant knowing you were evicted.)

On the otherhand, what you are doing is really little more than boiling food and storing it in plastic/glass containers, and surely that would be permitted under your lease. However, there may be general issues with how you brew that are forbidden under the lease. For example, if you are brewing outdoors on a fryer, your lease may forbid you to operate a heat source on your balcony/patio (if that applies). Your lease may forbid you from building/using homemade electrical devices, etc.

Before you tell your landlord to shove it, keep in mind that your lease can be used -- very easily -- by your landlord to evict you. If I were in your shoes, I'd ask him to discuss the matter with you further to give you an opportunity to provide more information on your processes and try to work out some compromise to keep both sides happy.

 

[Edcculus]

Like the others said, the only thing wrong you could be doing is using a burner on the porch/parking lot/patio. If you aren't doing that, and are boiling on the stovetop

option 1 - take an opportunity to educate someone about homebrewing. Most people are rather ignorant of the process. A simple conversation might set him straight, and even get him to consider the hobby himself

option 2 - dont stop. If you are brewing inside on the stove, how the hell will he know you are still doing it? If they do an inspection, hide the fermenters, or say you are making pickles or something.


If you are using a burner on the porch/patio/parking lot, thats probably against the rules. Start brewing 3.5 gallon stovetop batches.

 

[danger831]

just tell him your making cookies and bread then make cookies and bread out of the spent grain

 

[deviousalex]

So I'm looking at the lease and I found this quote under the section saying this premises are rented for residential only:
"assembling or manufacturing any product upon the Premises"
and
"Residents also agree not to do or permit anything to be done in the Premises that may be deemed hazardous"
These are the only relevant sections I could find.

Is it possible to blow up a keg by over-pressurizing the CO2?

As far as my setup goes I'm just boiling a 6 gallon pot on the stove which is a heating element, not even a flame burner.

 

[Rick500]

If you have a fairly mainstream homebrewing setup, I think he's fearful out of ignorance. I'd try to explain to him that you're really not doing anything beyond boiling water.

 

[deviousalex]

Oh yeah, the reason he knew I was home brewing is because I walked through the common area with a new carboy I had just purchased and he asked me what it's for.

 

[starrfish]

WORST INCIDENTS I had was a boil over on a stove and fried the already bad element in my old coil stove (replaced on my own no one was the wiser for $15) and a big blow off from primary ( milk stout) which hit the wall. That cleaned up with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser. no big. I rent a house now... neighbors love when I brew outside in the yard ( put down 4 12" pavers so I don't burn the lawn also use under my mobile stamped steel fire pit which I use about every other week), and never know when I brew indoors.

Just watch boilovers and use a blow off hose and a gallon jug 1/2 full of water with a plant drip pan until fermentation dies down OR put an old sweat shirt over bubbler and don't leave it on his carpet and he'll never know... if he comes by (w/24 hour notice... slide offending vessel into a closet) big drip trays can be found in Home depot or lowes for big plants... brew on and say nothing...

NO BEER FOR HIM!

 

[beerjunky828]

Sounds like to me that he does not understand the home BEER making process. He probably thinks you are making some cheap hooch and probably saw a documentary on the history channel about distilling and the dangers of home distilling.

but as a renter, you basically have no rights. So try to make beer when you know he won't be around.

 

[starrfish]

the plant drip trays are cheap and are extra insurance for blow off tanks and really big ones for under buckets... I bottle on a towel just so i don't need to mop after. esp since I mop and clean/sanitize whole kitchen before bottle or brew. bleach solution for floor scrub and starsan stove top and counters! Bleachy clean smell!

 

[ArcaneXor]

What I would do is send him a formal letter explaining the process and how it is not a danger to the property in any way. If he is still giving you problems after that, I'd lawyer up and/or contact local media outlets and push the "my landlord won't allow me to boil sugar water" line.

 

[McCuckerson]

My landlord told me to stop homebrewing. His reasoning was that "we had a guy do that once and blow up his whole setup." He did not expand on his reasoning. I mean I don't think a bottle bomb can cause *that* much damage to an apartment. I'm going out on a guess here and thinking the guy was distilling something, not brewing. What should I say/do to convince him otherwise?

And don't tell me to move, that is not an option right now.

Give him a copy of Pacific Heights! Oh C'mon we have all seen it, right?

 

[A4J]

So I'm looking at the lease and I found this quote under the section saying this premises are rented for residential only:
"assembling or manufacturing any product upon the Premises"

You are not assembling nor are you manufacturing. As has been said, what you're doing is similar to cooking.

and
"Residents also agree not to do or permit anything to be done in the Premises that may be deemed hazardous"

This is what your uninformed landlord will get you for. We've all seen that Cops episode where the police officer quote the urban myth of blowing things up or going blind from homebrewing. We all know it's safe for the most part but there's a lot of misinformation out there and it's probably gonna be difficult convincing your landlord otherwise unless he's open to watching you go through a brew day.

Is it possible to blow up a keg by over-pressurizing the CO2?

corny kegs are rated up to 130psi.

 

[Steiger66]

Tell him your making soup...There really is no difference.

 

[Rick500]

As a practical matter, he can find a reason to evict you if he wants to.

If you like living there and don't want to have to move, try the tact of explaining to him exactly what the process involves to try to show him that there's nothing more dangerous than cooking going on.

 

[starrfish]

Tell him your making soup...There really is no difference.

making soap is more combustible!