Due to our new housing arrangements, we are limited to brewing indoors.We rent an apartment so we don’t have a garage, basement or outdoor living space. Everything is done in the kitchen. Previously, we had a gas stove and had no problems. We are having difficulty bringing 5 gallons to a boil on our electric stove (it took close to 2 hours when we tried). Does anyone have any suggestions or know of any indoor-safe burners that we could purchase to expedite this process?
Thanks!
K&B
You can purchase electric elements for indoor brewing. Check this site out. There are more sites with differend methods. Some cheaper some more expensive.
www.theelectricbrewery.comLots of options. The cheapest and easiest is to split the batch into two or more smaller boils. I used to do this when I brewed indoors. Another cheap option is to build or buy a bucket heater to help with the boil.
Something like this might be exactly what you need. Induction cooking is at least as efficient as gas. This little thing should boil your stuff very quickly. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6896112056
Neat burner. I may get one for indoors, too. I was going to brew on Saturday, but -30 was just a bit much.
-30 degrees!
Good golly, sir! Move before you die!
[quote=“RIBrewer820”]Due to our new housing arrangements, we are limited to brewing indoors.We rent an apartment so we don’t have a garage, basement or outdoor living space. Everything is done in the kitchen. Previously, we had a gas stove and had no problems. We are having difficulty bringing 5 gallons to a boil on our electric stove (it took close to 2 hours when we tried). Does anyone have any suggestions or know of any indoor-safe burners that we could purchase to expedite this process?
Thanks!
K&B[/quote]
I recently bought a 2-burner propane-fueled campfire cooker that I’ve used both indoors and outdoors when I brewed.It cost $35, I think, and the little propane tanks that it uses cost around $4 each,or $6 for a 2-pack.Each tank will keep a burner going at full-flame for at least 90 minutes, and much longer if you keep the flame low. I use it to fire my directly heated mash kettle and my brew kettle. It’s not terribly fast at getting an entire kettle of wort up to a full boil, having burners that only put out 10,000 BTU, but it’ll do it a lot faster than 2 hours, especially if you can start heating the kettle while you’re sparging the wort into it.That might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it’s a fairly cheap option that will definitely work, and it doesn’t take up much space at all. You can search this website for more powerful burners, but you’ll find that they’re not especially cheap, and they use the big propane tanks that cost a good $40 a piece. An apartment complex isn’t likely to allow you to keep such a big gas-fired setup in your unit, either, if they know about it. But if you’re willing to spend $100 or more and you can smuggle it into your pad, you can fix your problem easily.
Man, I’d sure think twice before bringing a propane burner into an apartment building. You’re not just messing with your own life at that point, you could be endangering hundreds of people. :shock: How much would you hate yourself if you caused another person’s death over a batch of beer? Even the loss of property, etc would be a horrible burden to bear.
When I lived in an apartment, I was able to brew out on my balcony, although in retrospect even that was probably not smart and not legal.
I think you should work on making your brewing setup portable, and then finding a buddy who will let you brew in his/her garage once or twice a month. Make a day of it. I built a gravity-fed tiered system that is based off two sawhorses, takes up a very small footprint, and fits in my van or car. Try to hook up with a local homebrew club and make some connections that way. Brew at a relative’s place or something.
I’d think hard about finding a better option than bringing open flame into an apartment complex. Hope you find a solution. :cheers:
Yikes. As El Capitan pointed out, don’t use a propane burner indoors because it’s a really good way to kill yourself and possibly your neighbors too. If you’re willing to roll the dice and risk death for your beer, at least get yourself a carbon monoxide detector, so you have a few minutes of warning before you slump over your boil kettle. It would also be kind of you to give your immediate neighbors CO detectors too so they have some warning. Carbon monoxide is no joke, you don’t know that it’s killing you until you fall asleep… and it’s not the sleep that you wake up from.
Yikes. As El Capitan pointed out, don’t use a propane burner indoors because it’s a really good way to kill yourself and possibly your neighbors too. If you’re willing to roll the dice and risk death for your beer, at least get yourself a carbon monoxide detector, so you have a few minutes of warning before you slump over your boil kettle. It would also be kind of you to give your immediate neighbors CO detectors too so they have some warning. Carbon monoxide is no joke, you don’t know that it’s killing you until you fall asleep… and it’s not the sleep that you wake up from.[/quote]
You guys are totally flipping out over nothing. I’m talking about a puny little 2-burner campfire cooker that uses a propane tank the size of a double deuce of Sheaf Stout. Restaurants use them all the time in situations when it’s impractical to be doing prep cooking on the production line. I’m not making this up, I know from experience. There’s absolutely no noxious gas leaking out of the tank, believe me. It’s all being used in the flame. And even if there were, you’re going to be ventilating your apartment any time you brew beer to avoid steam buildup, so there’s no way any appreciable amount of carbon monoxide would ever build up. And if there was any real chance of some kind of spontaneous explosion, there’s no way they would even be on the market in a country like the USA, where corporations will not take even the slightest chance of expensive lawsuits resulting from morons hurting themselves because their equipment was less than fool-proof. Chill out, guys. If you’re smart enough to make delicious beer from scratch, you’re not going to kill yourself with a little propane burner, believe me. Give yourself -and me- a little more credit for intelligence than that.
Well, I’m trying. :roll: I just saw you encouraging the OP to sneak some equipment into his apartment and fire that mother up, even if it’s against the rules.
Having lived in apartments, and having a cousin who lost all of her possessions to an apartment fire (not caused by her), I guess a little voice of common sense just spoke up inside my head. Anytime you’re messing with open flame inside, there’s a chance of a fire. Especially with a brewing setup, where there is equipment everywhere, hoses, etc. There are lots of trip hazards, and apartments are generally NOT set up for having huge open spaces.
Accidents happen all the time in brewing, and if the OP was to start a fire, at the very least he’d probably be liable for the damage, which could be a huge cost. Then you factor in the other people (elderly, kids, etc.) living there, and it seems like the risk wouldn’t be worth it. But then, I’m a guy who has kids so I’m always thinking about safety first.
Not to be a jerk, but for a board noob, you’re pretty bold there fella. Go crank out a few more youtube comments.
Well, I’m trying. :roll: I just saw you encouraging the OP to sneak some equipment into his apartment and fire that mother up, even if it’s against the rules.
Having lived in apartments, and having a cousin who lost all of her possessions to an apartment fire (not caused by her), I guess a little voice of common sense just spoke up inside my head. Anytime you’re messing with open flame inside, there’s a chance of a fire. Especially with a brewing setup, where there is equipment everywhere, hoses, etc. There are lots of trip hazards, and apartments are generally NOT set up for having huge open spaces.
Accidents happen all the time in brewing, and if the OP was to start a fire, at the very least he’d probably be liable for the damage, which could be a huge cost. Then you factor in the other people (elderly, kids, etc.) living there, and it seems like the risk wouldn’t be worth it. But then, I’m a guy who has kids so I’m always thinking about safety first.
Not to be a jerk, but for a board noob, you’re pretty bold there fella. Go crank out a few more youtube comments.[/quote]
Dude, seriously, if you can operate a gas-fired stove indoors without setting anything on fire, you can operate a propane-fueled burner indoors just as safely with a little plain old common sense. This is not rocket science. We’re talking about a flame intenisty that’s not even as high as a gas-fired stove produces. Stop freaking out. You sound worse than my anxiety-ridden 66-year-old mother, really. And I have a child, too. The kind of laws and regulations you’re referring to are for teenage stoners and white trash high school dropouts who can’t even pass the GED test, not adult professionals who work a stressful full-time job and brew beer for a hobby in their spare time. Okay, maybe smuggling a full-size propane tank inside an apartment and operating a high-BTU burner is more than most people are willing to do. That may be a little over the top. But a puny little 2-burner 20,000 BTU campfire cooker?? Please, man. Go grab your inhaler or your zanax or whatever you need ( preferably a good homebrew ) and try to think rationally for a minute. Have you ever in your life heard of such a thing spontaneously combusting EVER, outdoors or indoors? I didn’t think so. Besides, the person whose post I’m responding to is quite capable of thinking for himself and making his own decisions, whether he chooses to follow my advice or not. And if he’s the kind of person who’s careless with his equipment or his processes, he’s going to start a fire or do some kind of damage to himself and/or others whether he’s brewing inside or out. Oh, and I’ve been brewing with all kinds of setups for over 16 years now, with no deadly accidents or irritated neighbors, so I’m pretty confident in saying that I know what I’m talking about. Kindly stop trying to play internet safety officer and let others here make their own decisions and comments, okay?
This. ^^^. I use a 5g and 4g pot and boil up to 7gs on the stove.
:cheers:
Trolling is one thing we don’t really do on this board. I’m out.
Trolling is one thing we don’t really do on this board. I’m out.[/quote]
Trolling? Who’s trolling? I have no intention of turning this forum into some stupid YouTube-type comment war zone, but seriously, just because someone has the ability to think rationally, weigh their own risks and options, and act accordingly, doesn’t mean they’re doing something wrong. We’re all adults here (or at least I would think so), so please let other people think for themselves and stop lecturing.
This. ^^^. I use a 5g and 4g pot and boil up to 7gs on the stove.
:cheers: [/quote]
Yeah, I did this for probably my first year or so of brewing, 7 gallons pre-boil split between two 4-gallon canning kettles. It was super easy, and it made for quick chilling with just ice baths. Come to think of it, I sometimes think it would be easier to go back to doing it this way on winter brewing days.
:cheers:
This. ^^^. I use a 5g and 4g pot and boil up to 7gs on the stove.
:cheers: [/quote]
Yeah, I did this for probably my first year or so of brewing, 7 gallons pre-boil split between two 4-gallon canning kettles. It was super easy, and it made for quick chilling with just ice baths. Come to think of it, I sometimes think it would be easier to go back to doing it this way on winter brewing days.
:cheers: [/quote]
365 in the kitchen, 365. 
FWIW, it is no coincidence that a televised football game and a brew session are the exact same time intervals. Plus, the time-outs are strategically placed so as to facilitate and enhance the brew process 
:cheers:
Regarding the OP, I used to brew in a small galley kitchen in the winter. In that case, I just did very small batches. You may want to do 1-2 gallon batches (scale down a 5 gallon recipe). This gives you a lot of variety of what you can brew, but the down side is less beer for each session.
Another option would be to co-op your operation with somebody that has a little more room for a 5 gal AG set up.
When I used to do it in my old house, like I mentioned, I did smaller batches and then took all my equipment to my Dad’s shed and brewed there for a few years. It was some of the more memorable brewing experiences that I had.
Good luck and happy brewing!
