the apartment brewer

[kman6234]

Sounds like my first apartment in DC. How do you keep your dog from getting a little too nosey?

I actually was thinking that the dog would be a problem when I was doing my first brew a few weeks ago. But it turns out she isn't interested in the carboy too much thankfully. When the air lock was bubbling a lot she would stare at it a little but other than that no problems yet.

 

[vav]

i brew on the pseudo-patio outside of my apartment.

 

[WDC]

I'm in an apartment with no balcony and a crappy stove. I built a heatstick Cedar Creek Brewing Company - Homebrewing Electric Heatstick and everything is golden. All-grain full volume boil. But... I would strongly reccomend making sure that whenever you upgrade your equipment it all nests. heatstick-->IC-->bottling bucket-->cooler-->pot This way I'm only losing the space it takes to store the pot.

 

[Tenchiro]

I don't mind being an apartment brewer, it would be nice to have more room to do AG but even with extract I am still making my own beer. :rockin:

 

[coolbeerluke]

I'm in an apartment with no balcony and a crappy stove. I built a heatstick Cedar Creek Brewing Company - Homebrewing Electric Heatstick and everything is golden. All-grain full volume boil. But... I would strongly reccomend making sure that whenver you uprgrade your equipment it all nests. heatstick-->IC-->bottling bucket-->cooler-->pot then I'm only losing the space it takes to store the pot.

that seems like a really good idea, I've never heard of it before, but I would just be worried about the seal not being good enough and end up lookin like Foghorn-Leghorn --->crispy chicken!

 

[Ecnerwal]

Probably the worst thing is the numerous apartments with "fake" exhaust fans over the stove - the ones that don't exhaust, they just blow steam or smoke back into the room. Fortunately this one has a real exhaust fan that exhausts outside. I boil 7-8 gallons on an electric stove with a canning element. I suppose it could be faster. It does have the huge advantages of being comfortable, weather-proof, insect-free (or at least reduced) well lit and fairly clean, as opposed to brewing outside - and I can't brew outside here, so I don't worry about it. Could probably speed things up with a heatstick (in addition to the stove), but don't know that I'll bother - it's not _that_ slow.

 

[ldog]

+1 for apartment brewing. Recently moved to a new apt. (ca from ny) and just had my first brewday at the new place last weekend. The new stove is pretty weak! Could barely get a few gallons boiling... In the city, so no outdoor space and will need to stick to extract for awhile... On the plus side, more space here for bottles / fermenters.

(Btw, another reason to ditch the carboys, in a small place buckets are pretty stackable when not in use).

 

[FreakinA]

Im fine being an apartment brewer, but I would like to move to all grain brewing, and my stove even when split on 2 burners cant bring 2 gallons to a roaring boil, only a very soft one. One of you posted about the heatsticks, how well do those puppies actually work? I think my dad and I will build a few this winter break if they are actually good.

 

[WDC]

FreakinA & Coolbeerluke: The heatstick is great. Just for the love of god make sure it/they are plugged into a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) I have a few built into the kitchen but you can also buy them. http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p991351dt.jpg .

Take a search around HBT as well before you get started. Every electrician in the country appears to be posting here.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/heatstick-questions-why-appliance-cord-why-3-gr-wires-64350/

It's made all the difference for me but it's only useful if you don't yourself.

 

[Austin_]

I love my little apartment. I don't really have the desire to go AG yet, so the BYO Countertop Mashing is how I do it. My brewery is my kitchen. As you can see from the pictures it is not very big. I am backed up against the wall taking these pictures.

 

[coolbeerluke]

FreakinA & Coolbeerluke: The heatstick is great. Just for the love of god make sure it/they are plugged into a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) I have a few built into the kitchen but you can also buy them. http://ace.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p991351dt.jpg .

Take a search around HBT as well before you get started. Every electrician in the country appears to be posting here.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/heatstick-questions-why-appliance-cord-why-3-gr-wires-64350/

It's made all the difference for me but it's only useful if you don't yourself.

Do you have any problems with blown breakers or anything, apparently...these thing suck a lot of juice! But, I just might be making one.

 

[john from dc]

one hard earned piece of advice from an apartment brewer: hardwood floors get damaged by liquid really easily. even if you think the risk of spill is low use a tarp!

 

[WDC]

Do you have any problems with blown breakers or anything, apparently...these thing suck a lot of juice! But, I just might be making one.

Nope. I'm on 20a rated circuits in the kitchen. Just be sure the element you use is well under the rating for the circuit you are on.

I run my heatstick + burner to get to the boil and then just use the heatstick. No burning, no scorching, no trouble.

Austin_LSU: love the thermomter holder. I'm going to try that...

 

[TeleTwanger]

I used to brew in a flat....For you not-so-great boilers check out this tidbit of info I found on Bass Brewing from 1871

"the Burton Brewers achieve the soft agreeable flavour to thier ales by never boiling their worts hard. They use higher quantities of hops and merely simmered them for an extended period of 3 hours or more."
-James Herbert, 'Practical Brewer of Burton-upon-Trent'

However by 1887 they were boiling thier worts hard for 1.5-2 hours.

 

[coolbeerluke]

I used to brew in a flat....For you not-so-great boilers check out this tidbit of info I found on Bass Brewing from 1871

"the Burton Brewers achieve the soft agreeable flavour to thier ales by never boiling their worts hard. They use higher quantities of hops and merely simmered them for an extended period of 3 hours or more."
-James Herbert, 'Practical Brewer of Burton-upon-Trent'

However by 1887 they were boiling thier worts hard for 1.5-2 hours.

it makes sense, sort of like a crock pot configuration, but like it says, several years later they became too impatient to stand around the stove for 3+ hours. I just don't think I could do it. :cross:

 

[Austin_]

Austin_LSU: love the thermomter holder. I'm going to try that...

Yeah, it's space age technology applied to homebrewing.

 

[BeerNewbie]

I live in a "ground-level" apartment that's partially in the ground (like I said I'd never do, but it was cheaper). So, I don't have any direct outside access. Electric stove that took forever to boil my first batch. My wife kept looking at it going "it looks like it's about to boil, what's the next step?" when actually, it still had a long way to go.

 

[coolbeerluke]

yeah, i had a choice at living in the "ground-level" here, but, not for me. What do you mean by direct outside access, though? Patio? I don't have one either but I'm thinking about going outside in the parking lot or there is a little designated area for grills and such in the yard behind the complex.

 

[BeerNewbie]

By direct-outside-access, I mean that the only way to get outside is to walk through the hallway and don't have a sliding door or anything, unless I want to crawl out a window. ;-) -- We do have a little driveway area outside our garage doors that I could probably start up something.

Maybe it's called a "garden-level" since it's submerged a little. I don't want to call it a 'basement' apt. Even though sometimes I feel like I'm in a dungeon!

 

[coolbeerluke]

Yeah, I'm going to have to set something up outside, at least if I want to go all grain (which I do). Yes, "garden" sounds more pleasant than basement or ground.

 

[popeiam]

I started brewing in a dorm room. I had to use a hot plate and brew in the bathroom. the whole building would complain.

 

[Unkle Danky]

Uno mas apartment brewer. Of course I have only 2 batches under my belt but I am lucky because I have a laundry room that stays at 68 in my apartment. Also the old people that live below me have left me alone. At first I think it was because I was the tattooed freak upstairs.. Now its because I helped them grill their steaks when it was real cold out the other day.

 

[Pivzavod]

Uno mas apartment brewer. Of course I have only 2 batches under my belt but I am lucky because I have a laundry room that stays at 68 in my apartment. Also the old people that live below me have left me alone. At first I think it was because I was the tattooed freak upstairs.. Now its because I helped them grill their steaks when it was real cold out the other day.

They dont know that you are a beer brewing tattooed freak yet

 

[vanhanz]

I'm curious to find out how many people get complaints about the smell. I'm renting a house now but due to money I'll probably move to an apartment soon. I'm worried about smell complaints.

 

[bradsul]

I'm curious to find out how many people get complaints about the smell. I'm renting a house now but due to money I'll probably move to an apartment soon. I'm worried about smell complaints.

Considering some of the disgusting smells I've come across in the hallways, I can't see brewing causing much of a stir.

I've never had any complaints about my brewing. A lot of strange looks and some questions, but never complaints.

 

[Revvy]

Somebody this weekend posted a scent free fermentation setup becasue his wife was complaining...I can't recally the thread title though.

 

[jay672]

I brew in an apt , and im on the 2nd floor doing all grain and boiling on the deck i know its illegal but after moving here from Asheville and having ahouse there but an apt here i couldnt go back to extract so a fire extinguisher and a watchful eye no problems. As far as the smell ive actually had compliments no complaints. The bext part is we moved recently from a 1 bedroom apt to a 3 and the wife gave me a whole room for my junk. Also ive been looking at Pol's all electric setup may build one so i can brew in that spare room.

 

[bump8628]

As a college student I started brewing extract on an electric stove. My roommates would occasionally complain about the "extract smell" but they were happy to have free beer around (being that we were underage). Now that I'm 22 I've been doing all-grain for about a year now on my balcony. Just the standard turkey frier/ cooler mlt setup. My all-grain beers have all been fantastic so far. My biggest problem is controlling fermentation temps. I have a chest freezer for my lagers but ales are a different matter all together. I generally brew my ales for the season. In the winter my fermentation closet in 60-65 degrees so thats when I do my English ales and other ales that require a lower fermentation temp. In the summer my closet can hit 75 degrees so thats when I like to brew various Belgians, especially saisons. At times, brewing in an apartment sucks. You can't control all of the variables of your brew. But at the same time it forces you to adapt your process to your living situation and I think that in the end you become a better brewer for it.

 

[SilverKing]

Apartment brewer here. I am lucky and have a large balcony that faces the forest behind the apt. complex. Also, I have a girlfriend that's loves the hobby almost as much as me, so space isn't a huge issue.

I decide to put together a "brew rig" to make things a little easier on brew day. No more lifting/dumping hot water from pot to cooler.

this leave even more space for the rest of the gear.

The turkey fryer is bolted down to the platform....and that is bolted down to the shelving. Only thing that can move is the pot. I don't need any extra burns on brew days.

 

[sirsloop]

Propane setup, cooler, 40' of 3/8 hose to run from my sink to my deck. Cardboard box to hide my propane tank from big brother.... its possible...

 

[Danny_P]

I have always been an apartment brewer. Once I was making a Grand Cru and after transferring to my secondary fermenter (a glass carboy), I must have placed the cheap carboy on the ground with more force than I thought. And the entire floor of our apartment (which was a glorified efficiency) Was COVERED in sticky fermenting wort.

It was a blast. Just thought I'd share one of my horror stories.

 

[wtwerner]

I'm currently a student in Madison, WI. This city has some pretty strict open flame laws so I need to do all my brewing on my girlfriend's electric stove. I'm pretty lucky that it puts off enough heat to boil 7 gallons of wort pretty violently. The only downside is that my brew kettle has some marks where the coils were. Does anyone know of a remedy for this problem? I'm only concerned about my apartment next year. I hope it has enough juice to do my full boils. If not, it's back to the girlfriend's place.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Im a student in Montreal, I brew in my apt after getting into it while at home this summer. Ive managed a 9 gallon boil on my stove, I spread my brewpot between two electric burners.

Unfortunetly I only dont have a MLT, so doing a BIaB gets tricky with large grain bills as I only have one pot that is big enough to support large amounts of grain and water...

I just moved to all-grain though, so Im still working the kinks out

 

[SkewedBrewing]

I was just looking for/thinking about starting a thread like this.

I, also, started in college with a bunch of roommates and an electric stove, but I had a hall closet all to myself that was a constant 70 degrees, which wasn't too bad.

Now, i still have an apartment (albeit a decent sized one) but no roommates, however I don't control the temperature in here. They have radiators in this building.

Its already ruined one of my acoustic guitars

Also, I have a cat and he's annoying as hell to begin with, so I have to lock my fermenters in the cabinet below my bathroom sink or else he'll try to play with the airlock...

As far as the smell goes, the girl across the hall from me must dabble in the purple stinky plants because its smells like "hops" a lot of the time anyway...

 

[mkorpal]

I'm also an apartment brewer. Just started. I'm able to get full boils on my stove using aluminum insulation and cool it down with a 30 gallon tub from wallmart and 2 bags of ice. It seems to be working very well.

 

[darkestdays]

I rent a duplex and have recently finished my seventh extract batch. I've been cooling the wort in a snow bank outside with no problems. Everything has been going ok so far. My closet is beginning to become a haven for bottles and brewing equipment, but I'm not complaining in the least. Thank god our electric stove is powerful enough to bring the wort to a raging boil.

I would like to start doing AG and using corny kegs, but I'm going to wait until I have a house to do it in.

 

[GlowingApple]

I just got into homebrewing last Winter. I've been reading these forums a lot lately. Great community, you've been a huge help! My Dad used to brew years ago, and I'm a chemistry grad student. As a Catholic with Austrian/German roots, I love beer, so I'm not sure why I didn't start this sooner!

one hard earned piece of advice from an apartment brewer: hardwood floors get damaged by liquid really easily. even if you think the risk of spill is low use a tarp!

I found a larger Rubbermaid tote works great to keep the primary fermenter in and large plastic trash bags over beer cases for the bottles (in the off chance I end up making some grenades!).

I started brewing in a dorm room. I had to use a hot plate and brew in the bathroom. the whole building would complain.

That's awesome; sounds like fun! I wish I had started brewing when I was an undergrad in the dorms.

I'm currently a student in Madison, WI. This city has some pretty strict open flame laws so I need to do all my brewing on my girlfriend's electric stove.

I did my undergrad at UW-Madison. I never brewed then, but we liked to grill out often. We kept a large, sealable Rubbermaid tote on our balcony. It was just large enough to fit a small Webber grill, charcoal, etc. We'd store the grill (once it was cold of course) in the tote and take it out when we grilled. I figured the fire marshal wasn't going to be working after 4 pm or on weekends, so those were great times to grill!

 

[GlowingApple]

not a problem now, but I live on the mid level of my building and it gets a little toasty during summer, is there an efficient way to keep the wort cool during fermentation when it gets too hot?

I'm running into the same problems. My apartment stays at about 80 ˚F during the dead of Winter if I don't open my patio door. During the Summer it can get over 100 ˚F here in Nebraska, and as a grad student I really can't afford to keep the AC running that cold.

I've heard (from the owner of my local homebrew store) that keeping the fermenter in some water with towels (to keep wicking the water up) can keep the fermenter cooler. The evaporating water will help to cool things down, but I'm not sure how good it will be in humid weather (I'll give it a try this Summer). Not only will it evaporate fairly slowly, so it may not cool enough, but the extra humidity will just mean more work for the AC to keep things comfortable indoors.

 

[coryforsenate]

I'm all good except for not having enough room for 4 refrigerators and a couple kegerators.

 

[hector]

I'm running into the same problems. My apartment stays at about 80 ˚F during the dead of Winter if I don't open my patio door. During the Summer it can get over 100 ˚F here in Nebraska, and as a grad student I really can't afford to keep the AC running that cold.

I brew also in an Apartment and the Primary is always in my bedroom .

In Winter the Temp. of my bedroom is at about 72F and in Summer it goes up to 80F . It can be warmer inside in the

Summer actually ( up to 95F ) , but we use an Air Conditioner .

To keep the Primary cool ( 63-65F ) , I use a Cooler made of Styrofoam and fill it with cold Water .

In the Winter , it can keep the ambient Temp. constant for 3-4 Days .

In the Summer , on the other hand , for 6 Hours and I use freezed bottled water to keep the Water Temp. constant for a longer Period .

Hector