Apartment Brewing

[outbreak]

Having just signed the papers on my first home, I am going to be going from a house on a massive block of land with a large backyard area to a 1 bedroom apartment. I just wanted to know what kind of AG setups are people using for apartment brewing! I am torn between a 40l Urn for BIAB or a 20l Braumeister (however now that I have a mortgage the urns is winning).

It might sound weird but I was also thinking a setup with an Urn and a Round Esky as a mash tun then doing the boil in the urn...

If anyone has pictures of their apartment setup it would be appreciated!!


Unfortunately the keg fridge has to go :angry: I'm going to have to ferment in a bar fridge and maybe if I have room have a keg fridge in a smaller bar fridge....

 

[Acasta]

How about mashing in a minimal sized mash tun cooler and just boil ~20-30L on stove?

 

[Phoney]

Pistolpatch (one of the founding fathers of BIAB) started off by brewing in a one-bedder apartment.

Given that you're limited in space, single vessel would definitely be the way to go, then when you're not using it you can store a lot of your brewing gear inside your urn/pot. Also consider using plastic jerry cans instead of round fermenters as these can take up a lot less room too.

 

[outbreak]

Both good points!

I was thinking of BIAB smaller batch size say 17l and then ferment in the Willow Jerry cans as I already have 2 of those. Smaller batch size is no issue as I don't actually drink all that much beer ( yes I know, I know! I actually like brewing beer more than drinking it!).

 

[keifer33]

If the round esky and urn where of a perfect size one could fit inside the other for storage. Also is your apartment going to have a store room or are you stuck in one of these '50m2 what you see is what you get' apartments?

 

[Bizier]

Is there a balcony or common area? I brewed exclusively in the carpark of the apartment I used to live in.

 

[Pollux]

Is there a balcony or common area? I brewed exclusively in the carpark of the apartment I used to live in.

I loved the fact that your neighbours all seemed cool with that.....

I live in a two bedroom shoe box. But I have a garage so I can't offer much in terms of brewing in the apartment. Although I used to do BIAB in the kitchen and ferment under the table. 40L and you have all you need.

 

[Ironsides]

I'm brweing in a two bedroom joint, in the kitchen. I made up a 12L mashtun which will take about 3.5kg of grain, then i boil in a Big dub 20L SS pot. I can comfortably make 15L batches. The small mash tun allows for doing a proper sparge. The only thing about this setup is that you end up adding cool water to bring it up to volume, rather than boil down to volume. That said though, adding cool water helps bring the temp down.

IS

 

[Effect]

Do you have a carpark? When I lived in a 2 bedroom apartment the balcony was so narrow that I used out undercover carpark to brew under. Just parked the car on the street for the day.

I used to also live in a one bedroom apartment (was actually an apartment hotel - so quite tight). Brewed out on the balcony. Both apartments had the same brewery. 50 litre keggle, 55 litre willow mashtun, big w 20 litre hlt.

Cheers.

 

[scott_penno]

Might also be worth looking at high gravity brewing and then diluting. In doing this you could use smaller vessels for the mash and boil and then top the fermenter up to the required volume.

sap.

 

[jkmeldrum]

I live in a house, but my setup would easily suit a flat....I have a 38L Rubbermaid cooler with a false bottom, a 50L SS pot which I use as both HLT and boil kettle...use the wok burner & backburner of my stove at the same time, it's a little slow but it gets there....use gravity for all transfers and it works okay....lifting pots is only down side but it doesn't take up much room to store and I get pretty good quality brews. Provided I remember to turn all the valves off when transferring liquids all goes pretty well with little mess!!!!

 

[argon]

In my opinion the most sensible option is urn and a bag. If you're not concerned with batch sizes larger than a standard 23L then it's pretty good option.

:icon_offtopic: Congrats on the purchase of the new place... i cringe at the thought of having to get into the market now. I thought i payed alot for our place 8years ago. Don't think i could afford it these days.

 

[HoppingMad]

BYO Magazine Article (USA) on Small Space Brewing:

Overcome your closet anxieties in small space brewing

Quite a long read but you might pick up a few pointers specific to your situation. Some pointers on keeping sweet with neighbours etc.

Many small spacers I know use Stovetop brewing as a space saver (helps to have a forgiving room-mate or partner).
Other options include building a vertical stand for your equipment or brewing smaller batches more frequently. (ie. so don't invest in massive pots and eskys go the mini-route). Brew in a bag is also an effective method.

Good luck.

Hopper.

 

[proudscum]

This is nearly the whole brewery sitting in my laundry tub is good for small spaces and easy to clean.Laundry is about 2800X3500 so a nice workable space once i get rid of all the washing stuff.can put a brew on and go off and do some study read look at AHB then stroll back to check brewery.Am thinking of getting a submersible pump to put in an ice bank for when i crash chill the wort.dont like the thing of hoses going out the window as happens at present but it does mean i use my 13500 gallons of rainwater tanks as my water source which then goes back to the tanks.

 

[Wolfy]

40L Urn for sure, but then either a BIAB-bag or a mash-tun of your choice.
I'd make that judgment more on what and how you'd like to make your beer than space considerations, since there will be little difference for either option.

 

[ekul]

What are you running currently? If you already have a single batch pot then you could just buy a 2200W element from craftbrewer for $40 and some voille, then you'd be ready for BIAB. If not get an aluminium 50L jobbie for $75

Or you could get massive equipement and do big batches at a mates places and take the cubes home with you to ferment. This is what i'm going to do when i move next. I'll go home every few months and knock out 10 cubes in a day. (double brew day with 140L pot (8x cubes) and single brewday with 80L pot (2x cubes). Sort your mate with beer and everyone is laughing!

 

[[email protected]]

I'm in a 1 bedroom apartment, but luckily I have a large storage space, with power for a ferment fridge. It's a bit of a pain getting everything up from the store but I have a nice little trolly for that. I have 20 L bucket mash tun, 50L pot, 4 ring burner, and all other bits and pieces plus I store about 50kg of grain.

 

[yardy]

If I was brewing in limited space I'd buy a Braumeister and be done with it, BIAB seems like a pita to me.

cheers

 

[stux]

Or get yourself some 9.5L kegs and then you can pop one in your food fridge

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=50930

Perhaps start out making 10L brews on your stove with a small pot?

Or, kick it up a notch and get a 40L URN.

I would *definately* be doing BIAB if I was in a 1 bedder appartment

10L cube + 20L pot + halfsize fermenter and a few 9.5L kegs... all the brew stuff would fit in the pot

And you could even do your ferment in a 15L FWK cube.

 

[[email protected]]

Or get yourself some 9.5L kegs and then you can pop one in your food fridge

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=50930

Yep do that too, and got those kegs from there