I moved into a small NYC apartment over the summer and now that we're starting to get into fall temperatures, I'm looking to return to homebrewing. As fits all the jokes we have a tiny kitchen with not much counter space (though thankfully the stove burners have proven efficient) and limited storage space. Has anyone brewed in a similar setup and found any particular equipment/jerryrigging helpful in tight quarters? I've been considering a wort chiller at the least to aid in reaching pitch temperature and possibly a wide-mouth fermenter to make cleaning easier. Let me know if any of you have played in a similar space.
I just got a Big Mouth Bubbler. Cleaning it is a sinch and when you're not using it you can store some of your equipment in there. Would definitely recommend a wort chiller, it will save you money in the long run and is way more efficient (make sure your sink will fit the adapter though).
I brew in a smaller apartment right now, and I like using the BrewDemon: http://www.amazon.com/BrewDemon-800...UTF8&qid=1413475692&sr=8-1&keywords=brewdemon Cheap, smaller (2.5 Gallon Batches), and offers some nice benefits of being conical. Make sure you heed all warnings of using it, though, because there are lots of warnings about the spigot being fragile, and my first one came with a slight leak in in it.
2.5-3 gallon brew in a bag batches. Kettle doubles as a mash tun. Fermenter fits inside kettle for easy storage. Boom.
Hey HopRoz! I am a college student and I live with my fiance in a one-bedroom apartment, but I still find ways to brew. At the moment, I am doing one-gallon brew in a bag all-grain batches and I ferment with a one-gallon glass carboy sealed with a universal rubber plug/air-lock. With this method, you only need one semi-large kettle (which serves as your mash tun and boil kettle)- mine holds approximately 5 gallons of water total, but I really only need to heat 3.25 gallons max for one-gallon batches. I don't use a wort chiller, but my boil kettle fits nicely inside of my sink filled with ice cubes. All of my brewing equipment- including grains, Erlenmeyer flask, boil kettle, thermometer, glass carboy, and finishing agents, fit on one shelf above my computer. To ensure the fermenter stays at a decent temperature (we have our thermostat set to 75 degrees, which is not friendly to most fermentations), I wrap a cold towel around the glass carboy and set it in front of our air conditioner vent. This keeps the wort temperature within a good ale-yeast fermentation range. Granted, I cannot do lagers. Even though one-gallon batches don't seem like much actual beer volume, they are quick to make and fun to experiment with. I'm about to purchase two more glass carboys so that I can brew one batch a week, and for Heaven's sake I can't drink that much beer by myself in good conscience. The only problem that I have noticed with brewing in an apartment is that people tend to not enjoy the pervasive wort smell that inevitably comes after brewing for hours on end. Also, my neighbor relentlessly pounded on my wall after I had to grind 2 pounds of grain in my tiny coffee grinder one cup at a time. I did everything I could to cover up the smell: light candles, leave the window open, blow fans everywhere, febreeze, and even still the smell lasted for quite some time (much to my fiance's dissatisfaction). In conclusion, I guess, you're going to have to stick to relatively small batches and I would recommend picking days to brew when most of the residents might be out (or at least while your fiance is not able to complain about the smell) to prevent getting angry complaint calls from your landlord. And even if you think that no one could pinpoint the source of the smell to your apartment, you are wrong. The smell permeates into the hall and basically paints a red target on your door. Cheers!
Everyone seems to be recommending smaller batches. That isn't necessary. The difference in space of equipment between 3 and 5 gallons isn't much. I've brewed 5 gallon batches consistently in small apartments since I began brewing 7 years ago. I do concentrated boils because my burners cant handle full volume. If you are doing full boils, you will need a wort chiller. My way with 3gallon boils chills fine with ice in the sink. One tip I have is get a hose attachment for your sink faucet. Cleaning is the hardest aspect with limited space, and that hose will make that a lot easier. Brewing small batches is a negligible difference in effort with a considerable difference in end product.
I brewed full 5 gallon batches in my apartment, no problem. The only limitation in my mind is if you have a stovetop that can get the wort up to boil, which mine could. As for wort chilling, I had no access to a hose and my faucet did not have an adapter I could screw in to. Instead, I got a small fountain pump and submerged it in my sink and pumped water through the cooler that way.
Which pump did you use? My ground water isn't cold enough in the summer to get beer down sub 70 and I'll need to rig something up like that.
Here's the one I use and it's great. No problems getting quickly down to lager pitching temps in the summer. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AX09E/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00 It's "currently unavailable" at amazon, but at least you can see some specs.
I think I grabbed the 92gph small one from Harbor Freight, it gets the job done in about the same time as hooking it up to a hose. I'll probably grab something more powerful next time. The output nozzle on it hooked up perfectly to my existing immersion chiller hose. http://www.harborfreight.com/outdoors/fountain-pumps.html?hftref=cj
I brew AG inside. When stored, the equipment plus up to ~110 empties takes up about a 2x3 footprint (roughly the size of my rectangular cooler MT). When I've got stuff fermenting, you can just about double that for to accommodate a Rubbermaid ferm chamber that's either a swamp cooler or hot box, depending on the season. Granted, I live in a 2 bed, with a decent sized kitchen and an office. And I have a fairly tolerant wife, but I do have to take up as little space as possible. If I were to really try, I could probably tighten it up by a couple square feet, but that's not necessary or worth it to me.
IMO...the 1G batch size is hardly worth the time and trubble; altho ...this is quite often the same argument about brewing 2.5G v. 5G batches. Considering limited space ... the difference between brewing 1G and 2.5G is more or less negligible. Then again ... there's that pesky pipeline. Details @ #8
