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Brewing - inhouse or outhouse?


Ramjet

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Just looking at the Sam Adams website, reminiscing of a night in a bar in Dallas/Fort Worth. I asked the barman if they had anything other than Bud, Millers or Coors. Well b*gger me if he didn't produce a stubbie of Sam Adams Boston Lager. [love] What a brew that was! Haven't tried one for a few years now, as they're not a commonly stocked brew here - but it made my night back then. [biggrin]

 

Anyway, looking at the website, came across these couple of gems of wisdom:

 

3l6s.jpg

 

Reminds me of one of my early stouts, which I bottled and stored upstairs in our A-frame house in a north Queensland summer. I wasn't home when they started exploding, but SWMBO was. [roll] By the time I got home, there was stout trickling down the downstairs walls and pooling on the floor ...

 

Anyway, after the eruption (not talking 'bout the stout either [lol] ) the remaining intact bottles were relocated very carefully to an outside location.

 

Since then I've been allowed to do a very limited amount of prep in the kitchen, before being banished outside. So a question to my fellow brewers : Is brewing an indoors or an outdoors activity for you?

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It's a bit of both, sort of. I wouldn't really class the laundry as outside, though it is out of the kitchen and general house area.

 

Anyway, SWMBO actually takes a keen interest in beer and brewing as well, so she helps out with brew days when I do them, which is pretty awesome. I normally crush my grain bill in the kitchen, she weighs the grains out (I do it in 500g lots except the specialty malts) and once that's done we head downstairs to the laundry where the urn is set up to do the mashing, boiling etc.

 

It makes it go a bit quicker having two people to help with the brewing process and the cleanup of equipment etc, but I don't think I'm in any danger of being banished anywhere to do brewing.[biggrin]

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I used to brew in the house; starting from kits all the way to stove top AG. But when I got my burner I moved outside; firstly to the garage and now I brew on the back patio.

 

I ferment my beer in a fridge in the garage and store my bottles in the house.

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No SWMBO to contend with' date=' makes that process a whole lot smoother too. [wink']

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

 

The boyfriend doesn't mind?

 

I heat my strike water on the stove but then sneak off to the garage. I have gas bottle OCD.

My missus is really cool about my hobby, in her eyes if Im brewing it for $20\\keg Im not buying it for $50\\slab

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[cool] Hi Roger H4 your are not wrong about Samual Adams Boston Lager. We were in the States last September and getting sick of drinking Coors, Bud etc. flat and tasted like gnats p--s except for a couple of IPAs that were drinkable. We were in L.A. and asked the guy at the bar for something different, he produced the Sam Adams Boston Lager "WOW" what a difference also had a Sam Adams October Fest which was great. The Mooses Drool in Cody wasn't half bad either! As for brewing, started in the house but because of flack moved to the garage. Have a couple of $20.00 exploder stoves (propane cyinder type)for all the boiling, 10ltre urn for hot water. Store bottles and equipment in the garage cupboards, the beer fridge is close by as well.

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living in a semi city location second story apartment.. i brew inside. kits n bits.. but i have a 92L 7-10day ice box i bottle condition in. during winter this only requires a couple of 2L hot water bottles placed inside of it to bring it up to a nice and steady 23-25. have only had one bottle break so far and that was weight poor placement on my part had a few bottles not standing upright and laying on top of the others. one shifted slid and landed on another. and bam.. stout goes everywhere.

 

SWMBO is also quite keen on helping out the brew days as Philbo has experienced, with her attending 2 brew days at philbos with me. she asks as many questions at times as i do.. she is also capable of bottling days by herself due to my work rosters. even this week ill probably depart and leave her with the bottling day duties..

 

 

not bad for a misses who doesnt even drink beer![love]

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No SWMBO to contend with' date=' makes that process a whole lot smoother too. [wink']

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

 

The boyfriend doesn't mind?

 

I heat my strike water on the stove but then sneak off to the garage. I have gas bottle OCD.

My missus is really cool about my hobby, in her eyes if Im brewing it for $20\\keg Im not buying it for $50\\slab

[lol]

 

No, not one of those either! Sorry to disappoint you there Graham. [wink]

 

That would just mean someone that would poach my beer! [pinched] Purely a one man operation here at the Beerlust brewery. [rightful]

 

A woman with a practical way of thinking? [w00t] A very rare thing indeed. Good catch Graham! [cool]

 

Cheers & good brewing,

 

Anthony.

 

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my GF thinks the same.. as a non drinker ( 1 glass of wine a month kinda girl) me spendig 50$ on a box of beer each week... once.. or twice... its better off to brew 2.5 cartons for $30! im averaging a kits n bits with grain and hops out at 12-15$ a box! cant argue with that.. and im starting to fast prefer my own beers than the mega swill at the shops!

 

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Brewing kits n bits in the kitchen. Brew fridge is just outside the back door under the verandah. Bottling is also done in the kitchen.

 

I think I am stretching the friendship with SWMBO with the amount of space being taken up with bottle storage in the house. Might have to look into clearing out more of the spare room & disguising a stack of boxes in there somehow. [cool]

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Hey Folks

I'm trying hard to stay inside, the garage even though its reasonably new is dusty and cob webby. I brewed my last lager in the garage brew fridge, after a 10 litre boil in the kitchen. I added the cool wort to the FV in the kitchen and then filled my cube and topped up the remaining 13 litres in the garage, I hope its not unlucky [bandit].

So far I've kegged two lagers out there without issue. I am currently up to a 14 litre boil for my partials and close to my limit.

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my spare room currently has.. remains of 5 brews... plus.. 150 bottles of wine in it.. to go with the 72bottles in the kitchen.. and god knows how many bottles of spirits.. be over 40..

 

 

she thinks i have a drinking problem... so do i!!!

 

i obviously dont drink enough if i have that much just sitting around!!!

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Wow - what a great cross-section of 'brewhouse rules'.

 

The degree of understanding and active participation of partners, GF's, misses and all is fantastic. What a hobby!

 

My wife's not really a beer drinker, but as long as I don't hog the kitchen for too long, clean up my mess, and keep the wine flowing, we're a happy pair. [smile] (And the occasional wee dram from the Isle of Skye is a joint-indulgence.) [love]

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I'm with Roger, although I don't think I would try a hop boil on the stove with something like Amarillo whilst SWMBO is home, that probably wouldn't go down well[pinched]

 

Having said that, she was happy to buy me the kit for Father's Day from the kids. I will have to consider making a Cider soon to keep the balance, not a beer drinker either. And I'm getting a steam beer kit for xmas[love]

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Philby.. your Cider.. is my wheat beer! jot one brewing at moment.. and since im running away for work today.. the misses is bottling it up herself!

 

which is good.. as its kinda been brewed just for her!

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I use the bath to sanitise my bottles and fermenters

 

I use the kitchen to get my brew started and fermenters filled

 

they then sit out in the sauna room to ferment

 

bottling is done out in the back rumpus room.

 

bottle conditioning either in rumpus room bar or back in the sauna room

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I've taken to doing my brewing in the loungeroom; I pop the FV on a coffee table (on castors) to make up my brew, then roll it to my plastic tub, lower it in, add water and ice bottle and Bob's your uncle.

When it's time to bottle, I pop it back on the coffee table, and use the tub to catch any drips when bottling.

I may leave the tub in the loungeroom against the wall, or maybe move it to the spare room, depending on how motivated I am, and how tolerant the mrs is that week.

I don't have a shed or anything outside other than a courtyard, and I don't trust that microbes won't invade if I try to put my kit together outdoors.

I condition my bottles either in boxes against the wall in my spare room, or if I'm running low or planning to drink it next, I put it in a small cupboard under the desk where my laptop is.

I rotate my bottles and have a label sheet for each batch, rather than individual labels on bottles; I just have to be disciplined and not mix my bottles up as I move them around.

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So just moved into a new house and had a room with nothing to go in it. So of course I moved all my brewing gear into the room and set up my own little brewery. The missus thought it was unfair I had a whole room to do my own thing in so I said "darling when you get a hobby as inportant as this you too might be able to have a room to yourself".....I think theres still a hand print on my cheek. [love]

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