Downsizing Homebrewing Operations -- Approaches?

When I downsize to an assisted care facility, I will gladly go back to 5 gal batches, insist on a good gas stove, and pay someone to bottle/assist : )

 

I'd buy a gun and one bullet. One single bullet.

I would buy a heat stick and rock an 8 gallon pot on top of a stove burner. If I had to I'd give up kegging and go back to bottling everything. I'd find milk crates behind C stores and use those for storing bottles. You'll need a large tupperware bin half full of water for keeping your temps pretty consistent. Buy a few 3 liter bottles of Faygo and drain pour them. Fill with water and freeze.

Sorry to hear you have to give up some of the good stuff.

 

Listening to a thing about Juggalos on NPR right now. Crazy coincidence!

 

See if your local homebrew club can help out - maybe shared space, club brews, etc.

I've stopped brewing for a couple of years several times. Shit happens; it's not the end of the world... better days ahead.

 

I'd be glad to hang on to your gear. I'll be up for some more New Glarus too

 

What size apartment are you moving into and do you have a roommate/significant other? I have been brewing in small apartments (550 sqft and 750 sqft) living with my girlfriend (currently fiancee) for the last 2 years. I do all grain brewing and keg and have temperature control. I had previously been brewing at my parents house with an outdoor setup and tons of space (no kegging setup and no temp control). If there is a will there is a way.

Anything specific you need help with I am more than happy to give some advice.

Edit: I am hoping to buy a home in 2 years and can not wait to be able to expand past what I currently have.

 

5.5 gallon batches, stove top, partial mash, ferment in cool brew fermenter cooler. Bottling or kegging is up to you. It's not the end of the world. Good luck!

 

Find Mary Izett's article in Zymurgy either last year or year before about apartment brewing. She's been doing crazy mad fermentation and brewing in a 500 sq. ft apartment in Brooklyn.

 

When this happened to me, I just found a place to brew outside. There will invariably be a common area to set up in. You just have to scare the shit out of the nosy kids right away. Dumping the mash tun into the dumpster can be a skanky experience but you do what you have to do.

 

protip: move to suburbs around nyc.. if that interests you at all bm me and i would have no problem aiding with you search... lots of hidden costs you dont think of when living in the 5 boros

 

Good point. Except for the refinery wasteland and a few ugly spots near Philly that don't matter to the OP, NJ is a pretty nice place; likewise for CT and the lower Hudson Valley of NY. Some far-flung areas have pretty good train service into the city (http://new.mta.info/mnr).

 

I'm going with 1 gallon or 3 gallon BIAB batches. It'd be easy as hell, and you wouldn't have to worry about boiling a large volume of water.

 

When I was brewing from an army barracks room*, I had a very clever system of storing everything in the closet to where not only did it fit, but it didn't look like a bunch of brewing equipment.

So you'll have to consolidate items into smaller spaces, increase organization, and be creative.

Funny, but I noticed that I became less organized and more chaotic when I moved into a MUCH larger space. Part of that is the fact it's not just me moving stuff around now tho. We're working on the storage system along with the upgrades. The man cave/breuhaus is about 3/4 complete, it's got a roof, floor, stud walls, and two giant windows, it just needs the siding, and then to obtain another air conditioner (we already have the insulation). Oh, and to run the new water lines, re-do the electrical lines (including a new bigger breaker and splitting the existing circuit into two circuits), also need a shit-ton of hardware for the brewing system that I don't have yet, plus, plus... Damn, I still have a lot of work to do!**

*BTW if you are in the army I don't recommend doing this. I just got away with it for various reasons, including not getting in trouble, and of course slipping a few homebrews here and there to a few sergeants so that nobody would "know" about it, even tho everybody knew about it

**this should get done by the end of summer

 

You might consider co-brewing with someone that has the room to store everything. I co-brew, my brewing partner barely has enough room to store his empties. Our normal brew day consists of brewing an 18 gallon batch of a favorite and 6 gallons of something new, or one we don't need a lot of. We split equipment and supply costs, and its always a party when we brew or bottle.

cheers

 

Looks like you may have more space than you're thinking. You can probably get a decent 2BR apartment (guess what you can do with the extra BR) for a reasonable price.

Let me know when you come up here for your first Heady Topper run!