Any All Grain Kitchen brewers out there

[JONNYROTTEN]

I've been brewing in my kitchen from day one. There's plenty of "hot sticky mess" talk about BIAB. I have not found that to be the case. I bring the hoist up out of the basement at the end of the mash and bring it back down after it drains. It might seem like a lot of work to some but I just flip it on its side and throw it on my shoulder like a 2x4..Its really pretty easy.
I lower the bag in a 5 gallon bucket next to the hoist and dump it outside. Maybe one or two drips hit the floor that I just wipe up with a sponge...no big deal.
The yellow extension cord goes down the basement stairs to the spa panel and dryer outlet.
An old chair does the trick for a "brew stand"
The whole setup takes just a minute to setup and break down
I really like the portability and brewing indoors in the winter and on rain days( like today) in a nice clean "normal"part of the house...it makes it feel like a normal day and not work as most of the brew day is wandering around, watching TV and looking up homebrew topics on the couch.

Anybody else brew all grain in there kitchen?

 

[jekeane]

My wife would lose her mind if I put that set up in the kitchen.

 

[Mainer]

I'm an all-grain kitchen brewer. A hoist? You're fancy. I just haul that sucker out by hand and hold it til it drains. Then again, it looks like you're doing more than a 5 gallon batch there.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

My wife would lose her mind if I put that set up in the kitchen.

I'm blessed to have a pretty cool wife that supports my hobbies. Plus it does no damage whatsoever. You'd never know I brewed by the end of the brew day

 

[dstockwell]

My wife would lose her mind if I put that set up in the kitchen.

Oh yea, this is never gonna happen here either..

 

[jekeane]

My wife loves the hobby just doesn't want to see it in the kitchen. The ironic thing is I do 90% of the cooking too. I do 2 gallon biab on the stove every other week and it needs to be wrapped up and cleaned up quickly.

 

[Owly055]

I'm blessed to have a pretty cool wife that supports my hobbies. Plus it does no damage whatsoever. You'd never know I brewed by the end of the brew day

I'm blessed with being single (by choice), and all my brews have been in the kitchen. I brew small, I brew often. Brews have ranged from as little as 2 gallons to as much as 4 gallons.

Wives should be understanding, if not, they need to find a husband who likes to be controlled...... I'm told some guys thrive on that. I think they're called masochists.


H.W.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I had a wife like that once.....and once was enough LOL

Its a giant spaghetti pot that everyone has in the cabinet and a dining room chair that everyone has in the dining room. The hoist has wheels and just rolls around and is in the kitchen for an hour....If my wife gave my a hard time doing something that I enjoy and does no harm....she wouldn't be my wife...and that goes both ways

 

[Mainer]

I'm blessed with being single (by choice), and all my brews have been in the kitchen. I brew small, I brew often. Brews have ranged from as little as 2 gallons to as much as 4 gallons.

Wives should be understanding, if not, they need to find a husband who likes to be controlled...... I'm told some guys thrive on that. I think they're called masochists.


H.W.

My wife's attitude is basically, "I like your beer and I like that you brew, but the process stresses me out, so tell me when you're brewing and I'll make sure I have plans with the girls."

 

[lewandowski46]

I'm an all-grain kitchen brewer. Just plug the Grainfather into the 20amp plug under the sink where the disposal plugs in and I'm off!

The key is to get the SWMBO involved. I have her help me with dough-in, fly sparging, and tossing boil additions in when ready. She is an avid beer drinker as well and somewhat enjoys the process as she also does cider, mead, and kombucha.

 

[jurgenph]

Its a giant spaghetti pot that everyone has in the cabinet

my spaghetti pot is 2 gallons, so that's my boil size.
and i can easily lift the bag that fits in my 2 gallon cooler by hand
the most i've mashed at once is 4lbs

how long does it take you to get that giant pot to a boil on your kitchen burner?


J.

 

[bajaedition]

I have done 3 vessel all grain in the kitchen. that was years ago, I graduated to my workshop just to keep the wife from freaking out if water go on her floors.
as if she actually used the kitchen to cook, only thing she makes is resrvations

 

[TomVA]

I never thought of any place to brew other than the kitchen. That's where the sink is, as well as the stove top and lots of counter space, plus it's warm. I clean most equipment during the boil, and when I'm done I clean the rest and give the floor a quick mop with a wet sponge. Wife never complained - in fact the kitchen is usually cleaner when I'm done than when I started.

TomVA

 

[Henbrew]

In the winter time I'll make my batches in the kitchen. I just wrap the pot with reflectix to help with retaining heat in the mash and boil. It may not boil as vigorous as with my outdoor propane burner but I've never had an issue reaching my numbers. Making a mess shouldn't be much of an issue if you're comfortable with your equipment.

The plus side is that boiling wort indoors is a great way to humidify my dry house in the winter months.

 

[Pkrd]

My wife would lose her mind if I put that set up in the kitchen.

Yeah, it needs to be painted designer colours.

 

[davidg410]

I used to BIAB, but I got tired of not being able to mash for big beers. I switched to a cooler mash tun. Still brewing inside with it using 2 gas burners at one time.

 

[jschein]

Checking in, brew on!

 

[z-bob]

I do 4 gallon BIAB's in my kitchen. 5 is too much for my stove to handle, and too much for me to manage without something to hang the bag from. I was planning to put a hook-eye in the ceiling soon, but I really like that portable hanger pictured in post #1.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I was planning to put a hook-eye in the ceiling soon, but I really like that portable hanger pictured in post #1.

Thanks..I call it the Dead Mans hoist

 

[z-bob]

@jonnyrotten: Is the top beam hinged on one side, and the plywood gussets removable? (hanger bolts and wingnuts, or something equivalent) I think I would need the scaffold to fold up for storage.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

@jonnyrotten: Is the top beam hinged on one side, and the plywood gussets removable? (hanger bolts and wingnuts, or something equivalent) I think I would need the scaffold to fold up for storage.

No..it is what it is.
I've tried to come up with some sort of lightweight telescopic/retractable hoist but cant think of anything that that would work with the ease of the ATV winch. It's a one finger effortless hoist that works really well

 

[bleme]

I brew in the kitchen, but i'm not terribly happy with it. My pot isn't quite big enough to cover 2 burners so I tent aluminum foil around my pot to capture the heat going up the sides and it still takes forever to get to strike and boil.

My wife loves when I brew though because I leave the kitchen sanitized.

 

[z-bob]

No..it is what it is.
I've tried to come up with some sort of lightweight telescopic/retractable hoist but cant think of anything that that would work with the ease of the ATV winch. It's a one finger effortless hoist that works really well

No, no, I was just talking about making the scaffold break down for storage. When set up, it would still be just a rigid beam to hang stuff on.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Yes, I BIAB in my kitchen, mostly 2.5-3 gallon batches. Did a 5 for a party last year- there was almost too much in the grain bag for this 50 something woman to manage without a pulley, but I did manage it by hand. As long as hubby gets fed, he doesn't much care what the kitchen looks like for a few hours.

 

[madscientist451]

My wife would lose her mind if I put that set up in the kitchen.

My wife already lost her mind when we got a divorce, now I can brew in my kitchen whenever I want. My new G/F loves my homebrew, so I couldn't be happier. I don't recommend divorce, but if brewing in the kitchen you PAID FOR, or helped pay for, causes problems, I would recommend an honest discussion of how hobbies can help create a happy life.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yep, I'm a kitchen brewer.
The wife doesn't want to own the kitchen, so I do most of the cooking, etc. We both like it that way.

Using a 3500W induction plate, 8 or 15 gallon kettle, and a cooler mash tun. The stove comes in handy for boiling extra wort down, making sugar syrups, toasting grain, etc. The floor is wood planks, so keeping lots of towels on the floor prevents spills from spreading. Have yet to brew or handle beer without spilling something at some point.

I do mill outside though!

 

[patthebrewer]

Wow that is a quiet a piece of engineering......Love it!

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Wow that is a quiet a piece of engineering......Love it!

Thanks

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Yep, I'm a kitchen brewer.
The wife doesn't want to own the kitchen, so I do most of the cooking, etc. We both like it that way.

Using a 3500W induction plate, 8 or 15 gallon kettle, and a cooler mash tun. The stove comes in handy for boiling extra wort down, making sugar syrups, toasting grain, etc. The floor is wood planks, so keeping lots of towels on the floor prevents spills from spreading. Have yet to brew or handle beer without spilling something at some point.

I do mill outside though!

I'd like to hear more about this. I don't have a gas stove, so trying to boil any decent amount of wort is really not feasible on my glass top electric stove.

I've got an induction ready brew pot, so I've been thinking about doing that. I figure I could do 220V by plugging in where the stove is plugged in.

I was thinking I could chill with a 5 gallon bucket of ice water and a fountain pump (just recirculate).

I don't mind brewing in the garage when the weather's nice, but winter time here can be sub zero temps. The garage is insulated, but with propane burner I'd need serious ventilation and the humidity in the garage probably wouldn't be good.

On the wife front, my wife loves the beer I brew. She's not fond of the accumulation of equipment, but I've tried to keep it largely out of sight, out of mind.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'd like to hear more about this. I don't have a gas stove, so trying to boil any decent amount of wort is really not feasible on my glass top electric stove.

I've got an induction ready brew pot, so I've been thinking about doing that. I figure I could do 220V by plugging in where the stove is plugged in.

I was thinking I could chill with a 5 gallon bucket of ice water and a fountain pump (just recirculate).

I don't mind brewing in the garage when the weather's nice, but winter time here can be sub zero temps. The garage is insulated, but with propane burner I'd need serious ventilation and the humidity in the garage probably wouldn't be good.

On the wife front, my wife loves the beer I brew. She's not fond of the accumulation of equipment, but I've tried to keep it largely out of sight, out of mind.

I used to brew on the glass top stove, but had a hard time keeping a boil going in my 8 gallon triple ply bottomed kettle, even with the lid on half way. The large triple element burner would cycle off and on perpetually. The sheer weight of that full kettle on that glass top was scary too.

Then I found the main thread on the Avantco IC3500. There are a few other threads you can find by doing a search in Chrome like this:

site:homebrewtalk.com IC3500​

Although you could use the receptacle your electric range is plugged into, beware that's usually a 50A circuit, so the cord of the IC3500 will be the "weakest link" in that. To remedy that issue, some users have built "adapters" with a 20A 240V double pole breaker in it. It can also be a bit of a hassle to get to that stove receptacle, as they're typically behind the range, near the floor, likely too far away for the attached cord to reach.

I installed a permanent 240V 20A circuit in the kitchen with a NEMA 6-20 receptacle, exactly where the plate sits. I use that plate for a lot more than brewing beer. Large pots of stock, making starter wort, even wokking.

Chilling is best done with cold tap water to get it down to say 100-120F. It will go fast. Using ice at that point is a sheer waste. I reclaim that hot water for cleanup in a couple big buckets. Save the ice for where it counts the most, to take it down those last 30-50 degrees with or without recirculation.

 

[motosapiens]

Dang. there are alot of complicated people out there. I used to brew in the kitchen, but a $100 gas camp stove put out so much more heat in made sense to move the operation into the garage and laundry room. I'm still able to watch football on TV while I keep an eye on stuff.

Gotta say I don't get the appeal of BIAB in large enough quantities that it requires a hoist. It would make total sense for 1-3 gallon batches, but if i'm going to have a hoist, i might as well just buy a cheap cooler.

 

[shoengine]

Chilling is best done with cold tap water to get it down to say 100-120F. It will go fast. Using ice at that point is a sheer waste. I reclaim that hot water for cleanup in a couple big buckets. Save the ice for where it counts the most, to take it down those last 30-50 degrees with or without recirculation.

Ice works great for me, and I get a good break each time. Guess I could try it without ice but I wouldn't really call $6 in bagged ice a "waste". It is actually more efficient for the volume, and I would have to use a lot more water to get the same amount of cooling with the water at ~50F and the ice at under 32F.

 

[IslandLizard]

Ice works great for me, and I get a good break each time. Guess I could try it without ice but I wouldn't really call $6 in bagged ice a "waste". It is actually more efficient for the volume, and I would have to use a lot more water to get the same amount of cooling with the water at ~50F and the ice at under 32F.

I doubt a delta-T of more than 60-80°F makes any significant difference in the speed of chilling. But everyone's system and methods are different, so do whatever works for you. I have a plate chiller. During the warmer seasons I hook up the (immersion-type) pre-chiller, but won't load the bucket with ice until the temps become steady to around 100-120F using recirculation back through the whirlpool port. I then move the hose and chill down in one pass straight to the fermentor. I monitor the output temp and adjust the flow accordingly.

 

[shoengine]

I'd like to get a recirculating chiller at some point, and get a large heatsink on it, like a radiator from a car and see what breaks I can achieve. Plus I hate wasting all that water.

 

[Vedexent]

Yep - 2.5 gallon batches, 5 gallon kettle, all-grain, BIAB, full volume mash/boil.

Done in my kitchen, mashes in my oven ( preheated to 170F and turned off ), boils on my stove-top, ferments in a home built climate controlled box on my balcony - easy to do this time of year with ambient air temperature being colder than target fermenting temperatures ( contemplating "ice packing" when the weather warms - or just brewing Saison beers ).

2.5 - 3 gallon batches is pretty much the limit of my brewday equipment; unless I want to do multiple boils and mix wort in the fermenter, or graduate to an Igloo cooler/mash tun and do sparging.

Boils are small enough I can drop sanitized plastic soda bottles full of ice into the kettle, while it's sitting in a sink of ice water, and it drops the temperature pretty effectively - although my last batch I just sealed up in a carefully sanitized food grade HDPE 2 bucket and let cool naturally.

For now, a 2.5 gallon batch every 1-2 weeks ( 17 x 500 ml bottles final production ) matches my consumption levels nicely.

 

[Hopsimus]

I do 3 gallon all grain batches on my electric kitchen stove. The stove can handle boiling about 5 gallons, so 3 gallon batches are about my limit.
I use a 10 gallon cooler as my mash tun and batch sparge.
I guess it would be considered a 3 tier system, since I have a second kettle that I use to heat the sparge water.

For cooling I use a copper immersion coil that is hooked up to the kitchen sink.

I almost always end up with some water on the floor before the brew day is over, but that is ok because we have tile in the kitchen and it stands up to water pretty well.

I brew every 3 or 4 weeks. With 3 gallon batches that works out to around 7 to 10 glasses of beer per week that my wife and I need to drink, which is about right for us. All in all, I'm pretty happy with my current setup!