I'm soon giving up my swanky Simi Valley digs for an itty-bitty apartment in the valley. Of course my foremost worry is, "what will happen to my homebrewing???" Surely I'm not the only homebrewer trying to make great beer in an apartment. So, I ask you, how is it with apartment brewing? What are the common obstacles? Opportunities? Innovations? Necessities?
I really would like to NOT have to move my brewery into a friend's garage, but my extravagant brewing days are coming to a (temporary) end. So I'm looking for a way to make it work.
Right now I do all-grain, full-boil, therminator-chilled 5 gallon batches. My first obstacles: No hose or water source of any kind beyond the kitchen sink (so much for the therminator). Electric stove (so much for stove-top boils, I would think).
Advice appreciated.
Brew on.
McGowan
Hey, Just saw this post...
I've brewed about 3 all-grain batches now in my tiny 1-bedroom apartment. I've managed to do some stove top boils by putting my brew kettle over 2 burners. My pot has a thick bottom so it has worked alright. You can also get hose adapters that fit your kitchen faucet, which can get you going for a wort chiller or water filter. Though I recently used my pur filter with decent results, although it took a while to fill.
I haven't used a therminator before, so I don't have much advice on that. Overall, apartment brewing isn't exactly the best situation, however you can do it. Let me know if you have any other questions...
-Steve R.
You might try smaller batch sizes. I know there's a time-to-beer ratio that makes all-grain brewing not so economical in smaller batch sizes, but then again, the More you brew the better you'll be ;)
Another option, depending on how you feel about quality, is to just make a few brew-in-the-bag or extract/steeping batches to tide you over in-between heading over to your friend's house for a nice full brew day.
I've been brewing in my one bedroom apartment for three years now. I've been all grain brewing for the last six months. In the beginning when I was extract brewing I was doing partial boils (mainly because I only had a 5g pot). Once I stepped up to an 8g pot I had to put it over two burners on my stove both on high to get a full boil. I have to use the 5g to fill the 8g because the 5g just fits under my sink.
I have a gas stove so I'm not sure how an electric one will do. One of my friends uses an electric hot plate to brew with. It takes a while to get heated up but then it keeps a nice rolling boil.
Cooling will be a bit tough. I use long hoses that run to my sink with a standard copper wort chiller. I keep my carboy in my bedroom covered by a blanket, sometimes you can smell it a bit but of course I don't mind it. Storage can be tough in a small place, I manage to fit it into the corner of my closet but have been looking at some storage for my balcony (possibly bench storage).
Cleaning equipment is the toughest part. I usually clean as much as I can in my kitchen sink but a lot of it doesn't fit so I have to clean it in my shower. It can get quite messy, a lot of the time I end up just getting into the shower and cleaning.
I think the only real reason I can do all of this is because I don't have a girl living with me. I had an ex that used to live with me come over one day durning a brew day and she said "I sure am glad you didn't do any of that while I was living here"
Good luck with your apartment brewing.