Bedroom Brewer

[damof]

Ok I live in a small apartment with a few housemates. There isn't much room anywhere, and I feel a bit bad about taking up a whole bench of the kitchen, plus I don't want to leave the fermenter in the living room or any communal area.

Are there any dangers or bad things associated with brewing in the bedroom? Besides the room smelling a little beery and maybe bottle bombs going off in the middle of the night, is there anything wrong with it? For instance, will my room be filled with yeast and bacteria and mould get all over my clothes and sheets? Or is it relatively safe. Has or is anyone currently brewing in their bedroom? Any advice/opinions appreciated. :unsure:

 

[BjornJ]

I brew in a one-bedroom apartment and it works for sure.

You can do most everything in your bedroom if brewing with the kit beers and malt extract or brewing sugars.
If you can bring the kettle in from the kitchen to heat water for warming the syrupy beer goo, steep some hops (if adding extra hops) and water in bottles/pitcher, you are all good to go.

There will be some (very little) yeast smell for a couple of days, but no one will know outside the bedroom, no mould, etc.

After a week or two you bottle, and then you have to clean the fermenter.
Maybe by taking it into the shower and rinsing/washing it out.

 

[hatchor]

Ok I live in a small apartment with a few housemates. There isn't much room anywhere, and I feel a bit bad about taking up a whole bench of the kitchen, plus I don't want to leave the fermenter in the living room or any communal area.

Are there any dangers or bad things associated with brewing in the bedroom? Besides the room smelling a little beery and maybe bottle bombs going off in the middle of the night, is there anything wrong with it? For instance, will my room be filled with yeast and bacteria and mould get all over my clothes and sheets? Or is it relatively safe. Has or is anyone currently brewing in their bedroom? Any advice/opinions appreciated. :unsure:

Mate, don't worry about the bedroom, worry about the beer. What sort of yeasties and bacteria are floating around your bedroom

Seriously, if you are talking about just fermenting in your room, no probs just watch the temp.

Brewing in your bedroom would be a whole different story....

 

[iScarlet]

Shouldn't be anything wrong with it. I'm sure a lot of people would share a bed with their fermenter if SWMBO didn't get the final say.

Some of us have to plan clandestine business trips and book hotel rooms, wearing too much Lynx or Brut to cover up the Eau de fermenteur and allay the suspicions of loved ones...

But seriously, shouldn't be a problem if there's plenty of room.

Cheers!

 

[brettprevans]

whats a nicer sounds than the gentle 'bloop bloop blopp' of an airlock lulling you to sleep, or the lovely sulfer smells of a lager chucgging away slowly. and where do you think yeast infections started (ok so the last ones BS).

no issue at all. you might not want to brew funk beers (like lambics, flanders etc) as they really stink the joint out. but there is no reason what so ever not to brew in your room. what do you think uni students do?

 

[Katherine]

whats a nicer sounds than the gentle 'bloop bloop blopp' of an airlock lulling you to sleep, or the lovely sulfer smells of a lager chucgging away slowly. and where do you think yeast infections started (ok so the last ones BS).

no issue at all. you might not want to brew funk beers (like lambics, flanders etc) as they really stink the joint out. but there is no reason what so ever not to brew in your room. what do you think uni students do?

reminds me of a funny post staggalee wrote once about doing the business in time with the bloop bloop... and saying just dont brew Imperial Stout. something like that anyway.

 

[Pennywise]

I think it's only a problem if you start getting friskie with the fermenter

 

[Effect]

one word of warning though...

fermenting in the bedroom is fine, but I would do transfering and bottleing etc in the kitchen or bathroom...it is much easier to fix a spill, and at least once in 50 brews you will leave a tap open some where and lose a litre or two (if you are lucky) and that wouldn't be great cleaning out of the carpet...

 

[Renegade]

whats a nicer sounds than the gentle 'bloop bloop blopp' of an airlock lulling you to sleep,

...waking up to your voice ?

 

[O'Henry]

When I shared a house, I just took up the space in the kitchen. Had a fermenter and 4 demijohns on the go at the most. One of the guys was fine with it, the other got the *****, but by then we were all moving out anyway. Out of curiosity, why would you not want it in a communal area (aside from them using up the space)?

As was said before, just watch out for the temp...

 

[Zwickel]

I wouldnt want to sleep next to a bubbling fermenter unless all windows are wide open and a fan is running.

Depends on your batch size, the amount of CO2 is produced, should not be underestimated.

Could be, that in the morning when you wake up, youll realize that youre dead

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[damof]

Thanks guys for the feedback. All systems are go for brewing in the bedroom.

I wouldnt want to sleep next to a bubbling fermenter unless all windows are wide open and a fan is running.

Depends on your batch size, the amount of CO2 is produced, should not be underestimated.

Could be, that in the morning when you wake up, youll realize that youre dead wink.gif

It'll be the standard 23L batch sizes. I'll try to remember to leave the window open.

you will leave a tap open some where and lose a litre or two (if you are lucky) and that wouldn't be great cleaning out of the carpet...

Already done that on my first batch. Lucky I have dark coloured carpets. Just soaked the excess with a tea towel and can't tell, ie there are no stains.

I think it's only a problem if you start getting friskie with the fermenter biggrin.gif

And what is wrong with that? At least I can keep it warm under the doona on a cold winters night

 

[boingk]

No worries about it. I brewed in a ten-foot by six-foot room at uni, in my wardrobe! Best use of space I've ever come across. Only thing is that the next room occupant complained about the 'weird beer smell'

Go for it, mate!

- boingk

 

[seravitae]

The only one thing i can suggest re: bedroom brewing is, port your airlocks or have a window cracked open if possible, i had 120L of high gravity extremely rapid fermentation going on in my room and i started to get massive headaches, i believe i was actually increasing the CO2 level (or other volatiles) in the room so much as to cause problems. they went away after i aired the room



but the 'bloop bloop bloop' as you sleep factor makes it all worth it

 

[brettprevans]

there is a post somewhere about reusing the CO2 produced from a fermentor and then re-using it for another brewing purpose (cant remeber what). But it had figures. Now if you were worried about the CO2 coming from a fementor you'd use the figures from the thread and then work out the absortion/expansion etc rates for an area the size of your bedroom.

I would seriously doubt that the CO2 build up in a bedroom, with a door closed would pose any health issue unless you were sleeping on the floor (CO2 is heavier than O2 hence it drops) . even then there is ventiliation in the room from under the bedroom door. so really there is no issue. you certainly dont need to vent it. maybe crack a window so it doesnt smell like farts but thats about the only reason

 

[Pollux]

reminds me of a funny post staggalee wrote once about doing the business in time with the bloop bloop... and saying just dont brew Imperial Stout. something like that anyway.

You mean this one??

Try this...............get into the habit of lovemakin to the sound of your airlock......as in "gloop"/stroke, "gloop"/stroke, "gloop"/stroke, etc.
Very benificial and relaxing.
Tip.......don`t do that with high gravity beers tho, I tried to keep up with a Russian Imperial Stout and f##@#*n` nearly had a seizure. sad.gif
Mid range beers you`ll be fine.
Let us know how it goes.

stagga.

I still LOL at that one...

 

[Katherine]

Thats the one....

 

[Zwickel]

Toxicity

Prolonged exposure to moderate concentrations can cause acidosis and adverse effects on calcium phosphorus metabolism resulting in increased calcium deposits in soft tissue. Carbon dioxide is toxic to the heart and causes diminished contractile force.[36]

Toxicity and its effects increase with the concentration of CO2, here given in volume percent of CO2 in the air:

* 1%, as can occur in a crowded auditorium with poor ventilation, can cause drowsiness with prolonged exposure.[2]
* At 2% it is mildly narcotic and causes increased blood pressure and pulse rate, and causes reduced hearing.[36]
* At about 5% it causes stimulation of the respiratory centre, dizziness, confusion and difficulty in breathing accompanied by headache and shortness of breath.[36]
* At about 8% it causes headache, sweating, dim vision, tremor and loss of consciousness after exposure for between five and ten minutes.[36]


:icon_cheers:

 

[brettprevans]

Zwick. all good but my point was that i dont think it would get to 1%. I could be wrong and happy to be corrected.

 

[Zwickel]

as you can see in the list, 1% is already given by a crowded room.

Dont underestimate the volume of CO2 produced by a fermenting wort. A rule of thumb says: one litre of fermenting wort can produce up to 50l of CO2!
Thats a lot.

Anyway, its not fun waking up with an awful headache.

Cheers