Brewing in the kitchen

[MRMARTINSALES]

Hi,

Anybody else brew in their kitchen?

If so, any tips and techniques for being successful. Equipment /methods etc.

What does anyone think of a potential Kitchen brewing system for smaller batches.

[Oginme]

I brewed in my kitchen for many years before getting an all-in-one system.  I had the luxury of having a commercial gas stove top which had enough heat produced from the high output burner to comfortably bring 16 liters to a fairly vigorous boil.  My batch size is typically 10 liters into the fermenter, though I had produced a fair number of 4 liter batches when testing new recipes.

The biggest concern in brewing indoors is proper ventillation for the steam from the boil.  Condensation on walls and ceiling can make a significant mess as well as damage to the house.  As the gas stove top already had an internal system for venting the fumes from the combustion of the gas, this was less of an issue for my set up, but should be considered as well.  I do have CO monitors near the kitchen and never had any issues, but safety should always be first on your mind when dealing with the heat and gases of combustion.

[MRMARTINSALES]

Thanks for the reply.

I wonder if there was a way for me to condense the steam coming out of the boil.

Do you think a small kitchen brewing system would be a good idea, much like the 10 gal / 20gal brewtech / spike system but smaller would be a good idea?

I know there are systems like minibrew or Picobrew that do them but they are really expensive.

[BOB357]

I brew in the kitchen with a Digimash all in one system. I sit it on a stand, right next to the sink, open the window above the sink and turn on the hood fan above the range. The only time I get much condensation is when it's very cold outside.

[Kevin58]

Modern day homebrewing began in the kitchen. I started (in the 1990s) making extract kits on the kitchen stove using only the overhead exhaust fan to deal with steam. It was never a problem. More recently I started making BIAB small batches on the stove using the same stock pot and a brew bag. Here is a video I made doing a small batch about two years ago.

https://youtu.be/46ABGxngbJc

[MRMARTINSALES]

Thanks.

Anything different to an outdoor set up that you think is needed with a kitchen set up?

[Sandyfeet]

Extract is easy in the kitchen. The downside is that unless you open a window, your house will smell like beer for about three days. If you are using a wort chiller, you either need to adapt for the sink or have a faucet outside right next to your kitchen.
Most of the all-in-one systems get complaints if they are not using 220. The ones I have seen don't have a whole lot of head space for a 5 gallon batch either. If using BIAB, I like the 15 gallon kettle, and that would not work very well on a stove.
I like brewing outdoors, but with a canopy, I can be outside the vast majority of the year in my climate. I just have to brew early in the summer before the thunderstorms.
 

[allhomebrews]

I brewed in my kitchen for many years before getting an all-in-one system.  I had the luxury of having a commercial gas stove top which had enough heat produced from the high output burner to comfortably bring 16 liters to a fairly vigorous boil.  My batch size is typically 10 liters into the fermenter, though I had produced a fair number of 4 liter batches when testing new recipes.

The biggest concern in brewing indoors is proper ventillation for the steam from the boil.  Condensation on walls and ceiling can make a significant mess as well as damage to the house.  As the gas stove top already had an internal system for venting the fumes from the combustion of the gas, this was less of an issue for my set up, but should be considered as well.  I do have CO monitors near the kitchen and never had any issues, but safety should always be first on your mind when dealing with the heat and gases of combustion.

Wow thank you for this information.