Where do you folks put your beer?

[devilishprune]

As I stand in my kitchen, making sure my first starter doesn't boil over, I realize that in a short few months I will be faced with a terrible dilemma.

I'm going to be moving into an apartment with my future SWMBO in about a month and a half. The problem is that, even though she is fully supportive of my hobby (she bought me all my equipment) she is none too happy with the prospect of our apartment being stuffed full of jugs of foamy amber liquid. Granted, I agree with her, but that still doesn't solve my problem.

My question to you, fellow homebrewers, is what do those of you who live in small apartments do with all your fermenting beer? Is there some kind of clever cabinet that I can construct to discreetly continue with my newfound hobby, or am I doomed to a year of commercial brews as I patiently bide my time until we find a new apartment (one with a designated brew closet)?

 

[DavidHawman]

I put mine at the foot of my bed. Sure makes my room smell interesting when fermentation is going strong but I am the only one that has to deal with it. If you have a spare bathroom you could put them in the bathtub.

 

[SumnerH]

You may be able to compromise and only have 1 fermenter going at a time, in exchange for her dedicating half a closet floor (you can still hang stuff over it) or under the kitchen table (if it's pushed against a wall, keeping a fermenter against the wall may be workable) or something as the space for it to go.

Bottled beer is a little easier to deal with--under the bed, top shelves, whatever. But in a small apartment, you're not going to be able to keep as much in fermenters or in bottles as if you're in a house with a full basement.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

When we had only one bedroom apartment (and bottled) beer was in the walk-in master closet, hall closet, and the end tables next to couches, half the regular refrigerator, and the beer fridge next to the couch.

Now that we moved apartments to fit more equipment. I have the entire floor to ceiling of the 2nd bedroom walk in closet, the mini fridge kegerator, and the utility closet. Switching to kegs and being organized with lots of sturdy shelving finally allowed me to compact my stuff.

The end tables idea was a good one. Got two cheapo desks from ikea, fit a plywood to the bottom, and covered the opening with bamboo. Each one fit 6 cases of beer and they were perfect height for the couch.

 

[devilishprune]

I told her that I would put a shirt on it and leave it in the living room while we pretended that it was a person that we didn't talk to.



She had none of that.

 

[Walker]

There was a guy on here that built a nice looking armoire to sit in the corner of the foyer of his house that held a crazy amount of carboys (and ice buckets to keep temps nice and cool.

You might be able to find an armoire or wardrobe that is large enough for you to use and nice looking enough for SWMBO to not complain about.

edit: http://www.ivgstores.com/IVG2/Y/ProductID-52461-.htm

 

[northernlad]

Hall Closet for little gear and fermenting, my daughter who is only here in the summer's bedroom for conditioning, the garage for big gear.
I am going to have a big problem with storage during the summer...

 

[billvon]

I'm going to be moving into an apartment with my future SWMBO in about a month and a half. The problem is that, even though she is fully supportive of my hobby (she bought me all my equipment) she is none too happy with the prospect of our apartment being stuffed full of jugs of foamy amber liquid.

I find the biggest problem is beer storage space. A 6 gallon fermentor fits in a closet, and everything else can hide away in cabinets. But once you've bottled it you'll have to store it somewhere; even with a garage we're running out of space. (Admittedly I make too much beer.)

 

[jmo88]

I use my storage unit. It's a lifesaver. There is no power in there but it stays a steady 63F most of the year. If I didn't have the storage unit, I'd have to give up the hobby.

 

[devilishprune]

Yeah, something like that cabinet/armoire would probably be the best option here. If it had some sturdy shelves then that would be even better. The problem is its a 1 bed 1 bath apartment, so there's no extra bathrub/bedroom/closet space unfortunately.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

I use my storage unit. It's a lifesaver. There is no power in there but it stays a steady 63F most of the year. If I didn't have the storage unit, I'd have to give up the hobby.

So instead of going to the beer/liquor store you go shop in your storage unit. That's classic.

 

[archiefl98]

SWMBO told me I could take over a corner of the basement for brewing whatnots. I think I'm up to about 1/2 the basement now.

Before the house though I'd shove fermenters and bottles anywhere I could. Closets, cabinets, behind the couch, in corners, under the bed (bottles, not fermenters) It gets crazy pretty quick.

 

[GRHunter]

Skip the apartment and just rent a house.

 

[devilishprune]

Skip the apartment and just rent a house.

Now, that would be a viable option if I weren't on a student budget.

I think that I'll just have to flex some creative muscle here and do what I can. Maybe I'll cut a few holes in the wall, fill them with beer, and patch them back up to cellar them...

 

[JefeTheVol]

I dont know about you guys, but my beer goes in my belly.
-Jefe-

 

[Walker]

I dont know about you guys, but my beer goes in my belly.
-Jefe-

Well... if you want to look at it from that end of the process, mine really goes into the toilet (or the yard sometimes).

 

[ThirdGen]

I'm in the same situation, living with my SO now (not sure what the abbreviation used in the sticky or the OP means?) and I plan on just keeping the fermenter in the guest bathroom shower since we don't usually have people over. The beer will probably all be stacked in my walk-in closet.

 

[adx]

I had a spot in the hallway that I put my fermenters in when I lived in an apartment. I was also able to pack all my equipment and about 6 cases in to the bottom of the spare bedroom closet. My SWMBO didn't mind until I put the kegerator in the living room

 

[ArcaneXor]

Fermenting beer is in my Igloo cube-style cooler in the living room (sitting against the wall). After fermentation, it sits on a kitchen counter under a t-shirt or towel.

My bottled beers, kegs, equipment, etc. take up half of our office.

 

[Teromous]

A shelf will do wonders. It's amazing how much more space you'll realize you have when you build a few good shelves. Just make sure you get one that's deep enough and can support some serious weight. Other than that, you might have to sacrifice a little and not have as many batches going at the same time.

 

[sharpstick]

i live in a small house. i've been building shelves and such in places that weren't designed for it.
i built a set of shelves bolted to an entire wall in our living room with dual track hardware. the bottom shelf is 26" from the floor and has room to store about a dozen fermenters or carboys, or twice as many cases of wine or beer.
next up is a window bench seat that is four feet long with a padded top seat that will lift off.
our bed is an old queen waterbed frame that we have memory foam in. it originally had a pedestal nine inches high. i made six 3" x 3" posts go up through the base plywood and that are bolted to the walls or the bed with carriage bolts. they raised the bed so that we can slide large ikea storage bins under it, vertical clearance of 21". we're currently storing camping gear and winter blankets in it, but it has uh - lessee, 70 cubic feet = 523 gallons(not including space between the bottles)

 

[jmo88]

So instead of going to the beer/liquor store you go shop in your storage unit. That's classic.

hah. Yeah the beer is certainly the only thing worth walking out of there with.

 

[Quan]

I live in a 450 square foot HOUSE. Yeah, you read that right, a house. 450 sq ft. So space is very limited. The house is tiny but the yard is big for my Diesel F350 and my 2 fishing boats. =P It is a temporary situation until my fiance finds a local job.

Anyway, I digress. I think as long as you're organized, it'll work out. I just keep my carboys (I've had up to 4 going at once) in the living room neatly side by side with matching pillowcases fit over top of them. I just bought 4 matching pillow cases from a discount store and cut a lil' hole in the top to slide the airlock through. It really doesn't take up much of a footprint, and with the pillowcases matching the surroundings, it's hardly noticeable. When I want cooler temps, I throw them underneath my kitchen table. As for storing beer, I actually moved to kegging. I found it's easier to have a small kegerator, or now my keezer (which provides extra countertop space)...



....which works as storage, carbonation, chilling, and serving... all in one location.

 

[jmo88]

I live in a 450 square foot HOUSE. Yeah, you read that right, a house. 450 sq ft. So space is very limited. The house is tiny but the yard is big for my Diesel F350 and my 2 fishing boats. =P It is a temporary situation until my fiance finds a local job.

Anyway, I digress. I think as long as you're organized, it'll work out. I just keep my carboys (I've had up to 4 going at once) in the living room neatly side by side with matching pillowcases fit over top of them. I just bought 4 matching pillow cases from a discount store and cut a lil' hole in the top to slide the airlock through. It really doesn't take up much of a footprint, and with the pillowcases matching the surroundings, it's hardly noticeable. When I want cooler temps, I throw them underneath my kitchen table. As for storing beer, I actually moved to kegging. I found it's easier to have a small kegerator, or now my keezer (which provides extra countertop space)...



....which works as storage, carbonation, chilling, and serving... all in one location.

A 450 square foot house and four taps. That is legendary. And kudos for having a fiance that agrees to that.

 

[NorCalAngler]

Get a simple wardrobe from Ikea or, if you're on a tight budget, Craigslist or local consignment store. It won't look out of place in a bedroom or office space and will give you enough room for a couple carboys and storage for bottles above.

 

[Grizzlybrew]

Behold... The Fermoir: http://www.pbase.com/jas0420/the_fermoire

A piece like this won't only keep her off your back, but might result in other benefits...

 

[Synovia]

Now, that would be a viable option if I weren't on a student budget.

I think that I'll just have to flex some creative muscle here and do what I can. Maybe I'll cut a few holes in the wall, fill them with beer, and patch them back up to cellar them...

FWIW, I went from renting an apartment to renting a small single family, and my rent went down. And now I have a basement.

 

[bovineblitz]

I build this "fermentation cabinet" for my carboys. It cost me ~$20 ($10 plywood cut for free at Lowe's, ~$10 spray paint, drywall screws, corner braces [I threw these on cuz I had a few laying around, you prolly don't need them]). It's in the corner of my bedroom and does a good job of both hiding my carboys and keeping the curious cats at bay. My apartment is low on space (both me and SWMBO have way too much crap) so I had to get creative. The "cabinet" more or less contains the fermentation smell, which is nice. I'm considering putting a shelf in just above it for some bonus usable space, but idk, may look weird.

The one flaw is that I forgot to include space for a 1gal blowoff container... in the future I'll just use a 1 liter bottle, that should fit between the two carboys just fine.

The dresser we have in the bedroom is black so it actually looks like it matches perfectly. When SWMBO's parents visited, they didn't even notice that it was an extremely cheap hunk of plywood.

 

[frazier]

I have nothing to add except to note that, judging by the fact that you wrote to us for advice, the term "future SWMBO" is a contradiction in terms!

 

[Skacorica]

I misread the title of this as "Where do your folks put your beer?" And I was going to answer that my dad and my father in law both manage to put quite a bit in their stomachs when they visit