Studio apartment brewing

[mrcej23]

Yeah. 465 sq ft. So I’m pretty set on brau supply’s Unibräu system. However, one of the biggest steps forward I’ve taken in brewing is proper fermentation control and I refuse to step back. I’m looking at the brewjacket System but I’m not completely sold.

Is this the hippiest thing you’ve ever heard or would Lager temperatures also be sufficient for refrigerating food and would it affect the beer to have food in the same fridge?

 

[bracconiere]

try kviek? (SP?) i hear Floridian's love it....

 

[jschein]

I have the brewjacket and it works great. I am going to give kveik a shot next week.

 

[madscientist451]

The Unibrau system looks like it will work great but it will take up a bit of space in your small apartment.
I'd keep it simple, shoot for 2.5 gallon batches. A 2.5 gallon keg will fit in your refrigerator. Use a picnic tap and 5' of hose, top up the C02 every now and then. For brewing I'd suggest a 4 gallon pot and a BIAB bag, and a 3 gallon better bottle fermenter. When you're not brewing the fermenter will fit in the pot for storage. There are lots of options out there these days for temp control of a single fermenter. Before I obtained a chest freezer/fermentation chamber, I used a simple insulated box and changed out frozen water bottles. It was a hassle but it worked. he insulated box would take up more space, so I'd give the brewjacket or something similar a try.

 

[TandemTails]

try kviek? (SP?) i hear Floridian's love it....

Also chiming in from New Mexico without A/C. Currently fermenting a Marzen at 86'F w/ OSLO from bootleg biology.

I have a dorm fridge that I use as a fermentation chamber but have a couple different kveik strains in stock now with the hopes of being able to get rid of the fridge.

 

[Steveruch]

465 square feet? I wish.

 

[El Nino]

The brewjacket would probably be the best bet if you're looking for the most space-saving method of keeping fermentation temps, but don't mind shelling out some extra cash (it's pretty expensive). Otherwise a mini fridge that could fit your batch size would work, those can be gotten on the cheap. Also when you're not fermenting anything, could be used as an extra fridge for basically anything.

I don't know the layout of your place, but heck, get a 5.2 cu. ft. chest freezer and use it as a shelf

 

[Coffeeturnal]

Lager temp is probably too warm for food.

Next week is the Bootleg Biology presale. Buy some OSLO, step it up, dry it (dehydrator or oven), and keep a stock of it in the freezer if you want to do lagers without a fridge/freezer taking up extra space.

 

[jfolks]

I have a brew jacket - it works great, I love it (but it can only do about +/- 20 of ambient, so while you can ferment at 50 if your inside temp is under 70, you won’t be able to lager/cold condition in that vessel unless you keep your studio thermostat at 55 degrees! Problem is you can’t do smaller than 4 gallon batches in it (rod doesn’t go down far enough they say). So this will work great for ales, but you’ll still need a way to lager your lagers you run through it.

Your fridge won’t work because you won’t be able to change the temp enough for your ferments (diacetyl rest etc.) - plus 50 is too warm for food