Homebrewing in an RV

[robertsfd]

My wife and I live full-time in a fifth wheel recreational vehicle. When we owned a "sticks and bricks" house we home-brewed using the extract method. Now that we live in an RV we don't have the luxury of space but would like to continue the home-brew hobby as we travel around and sample craft beers in the US.

My questions are:
- Does anyone out there also home-brew in an RV?
- If so, what equipment do you use specifically, considering the small storage area?
- Is it OK to ferment while traveling down the road or do you wait until stationary for a period of time?
- Do you keg your beer or bottle?
- Any othere information and tips would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the assistance. We'd really like to figure this out before I retire in four months and hit the road.

Dwayne

 

[wobrien]

Ok, first, I'm sorry I can't help answer your questions, but I just can't help but point out the obvious parallel to the show Breaking Bad.

 

[Kolsch_Meister]

My son in law brewed an extract batch on a 29 foot sailboat. He made a gimbal mount for his carboy so it would stay level while sailing the great lakes. When the batch was done, he bottled it. The beer turned out pretty good.

 

[Ridire]

Ok, first, I'm sorry I can't help answer your questions, but I just can't help but point out the obvious parallel to the show Breaking Bad.

Stole my thunder. I was going to post a picture of Walter White and Pinkman in yellow haz-mat suits in the class C mobile meth lab.

EDIT: but here's a logistical problem I thought of (I am a weekend warrior RV guy): if you are moving around, as opposed to staying in one park seasonally, where will the fermenting beer be stowed? You said you have a 5th wheel, correct? Can you put a carboy or ale pale in the trailer and hit the expressway without screwing it all up? Would you want a 5 gallon open alcohol container traveling with you in the cab of your truck? I guess if you're planning to be at the same place for 2+ weeks, you could brew, wait to hit FG and then keg/bottle before packing up camp and hitting the open road.

DOUBLE EDIT: I now see that I am asking basically the same questions you were asking in the original post. Sorry my complete lack of help.

 

[flipfloptan]

Ive brewed on 36ft yacht when traveling up and down innercoastal.

1 gallon brews using partial mash and dme. I built a gimball/swamp cooler for ferm chamber. Left ferm chamber in shower in case of any rough water.

Bottled in the grolsch style bottles using carb tablets.

Would do brew day during 2-3 day port rests at dock.

Always an adventure and lots of on lookers during brew day. Good times.

 

[evrose]

I can't answer all of your questions... but I grew up in a family that traveled a lot in an RV, so I'm familiar with some of the challenges.

First, DO NOT try to brew IN the RV. Get a turkey fryer. They aren't big and are very portable and easy to store. Home Depot has one for $60 that is plenty big enough for 5 gallon extract brews.

The rattling and movement of the RV while the brew is fermenting may prevent some clearing, particularly near the end of the process. However, I don't see any reason why you couldn't do the early fermentation while moving... assuming the bucket/carboy is secure. Temp control could be problematic.

Bottling vs. kegging is something I can't address... I only bottle. Keeping that many bottles in the RV could be hard. Maybe consider smaller batches? 2.5gal batches would allow you to ferment in a 3 gal carboy, which is a little smaller. And that's only a case of bottles.

The rest of the brewing equipment is pretty small and compact already... hydrometers, siphons, etc. Get a small plastic tote to keep all of the little Brew Day trinkets in one place.

Interesting challenge, keep us up to date on your solutions...

 

[Phunhog]

I know space is at a premium but what about a stand alone burner and pot? Otherwise I think your best best would be 1 or 2 gallon batches. Easy to boil and fast to chill in a water bath. Plus you don't want to store cases of beer/bottles. Kegging would be awesome but then you have to put a mini keg in an already cramped rv fridge.
As far as fermenting...I would think you would want to stay stationary. I think the bigger issue is how are you going to control fermentation temps?

 

[JJL]

You could do small batch BIAB as opposed to extract. Just depends on wht you prefer. Small batches are probably the way to go. Maybe 2.5 gals as others have suggested. Keep in mind, the batch size will dictate the size of your largest pieces of equipment - BK, MLT, fermenter, kegs, etc. If you do small batches, you might even be able to use your existing stove, but an outdoor burner would probably give you more room to work. Also, I don't know how your wife feels about her entire living space smelling like beer all the time. Just something to consider. As others have said, keeping the fermenter stable and secure during travel will be difficult. You are definitely going to want to use a Better Bottle style fermenter. They're air tight and they won't break. Temp control is going to be tough as well. You can use a temp controller and heat wrap to warm it, but cooling it is going to be tough. For serving, I would suggest getting some 2.5-3 gal stackable mini kegs with a portable paint ball style CO2 cartridge and regulator. These are by far the most compact, and don't require bulky tanks and lines. You could also use something like a Party Pig that you can just set in your refrigerator with no lines attached at all.

 

[robertsfd]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I already have all the materials to brew extract in 5 gal. batches and bottle or 5 gal. keg (prefer kegging though). I'm leaning toward 1-2 gal batches and carbonating/serving in 2.5 gal keg(s).

I do expect to be able to stay in one place long enough to brew and hopefully ferment. We want to stay and explore an area for 3-4 weeks at a time. I also am planning a small, dorm-style, refrigerator in the storage compartment so I can use it for the process as well.

Any other ideas and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Zamial]

I do expect to be able to stay in one place long enough to brew and hopefully ferment. We want to stay and explore an area for 3-4 weeks at a time. I also am planning a small, dorm-style, refrigerator in the storage compartment so I can use it for the process as well.

This should have been mentioned in the OP.

I would switch to 2.5 gallon kegs for fermenting and serving. Staying in place for that long means you can brew anything from lagers to ales. You could even set up a temp controlled chamber someplace. You should look into the Completly Closed Pressurized Fermentation thread.

The last thing I would do before leaving "camp" would be to have my next recipe planned out and make a yeast starter. Then drive to the next spot. The driving should help the starter act as if it was on a stir plate. This sounds like a perfect job for a 2.5 gallon corney keg and a spunding valve to me.

Ferment CCPF style in a keg, you could even push the yeast from the "starter keg" into the "fermenter keg". Then clean out the starter keg and sanitize it, now it is the serving keg. You can even filter it with a pleated filter (cheap at US Water).

I can not think of a better use of CCPF.