Space required for starter kit - Apartment?

bluesteel

Hi all,

first time brewer here. I received a gift of a starter kit recently - with 2 Fermentation Vessel (25 litre) -( this - http://www.homebrew.ie/proddetail.php?prod=503&Home-Brew's-Premium-Beer-Bottling-Starter-Kit)

I'm just wondering if it's a good idea to carry out a brew in our apartment? Is there much of a smell etc from the process? We have a bit of a hall/store which opens to the outside, so it might be possible to do it there, though it is chillier than the rest of the gaff. (I might invest in a cheapo sleeping bag if needs be.)

The beer kit I was give is the St. Peters IPA which is a real treat as I'm a big fan of the brewery produced stuff.

Any advice which would help avoid conflict with landlord/girlfriend much appreciated. I could do it in my parents' / sister's garage but it's a bit far away...

Shiny

I brew in my apartment and its pretty small. I store my fermenter's in the bottom of my wardrobe and all the bottles/rest of equipment in a closet. I usually leave the fermenter in the living room as it keeps the beer at a relatively constant 18deg C. Any other room would be too cold.

There is a brief smell while brewing [kit] beer but that will be gone once its sealed up in the fermenter. There also wont be any (stale pub) smell in your apartment as long as you clean up any spills. If you migrate to extract or all grain brewing there will be more of a smell during brewing but I regard that as something to be proud rather than afraid of.

I have had plenty of conflict with the girlfriend (she got over it eventually) and the landlord doesn't know that I brew although I see no reason why he should be worried.

spoofilyj

Well I'm in a similar boat as yourself.

I live in a 2 bed ground floor apartment and as the living room was unsuitable for brewing I stored my fermenters in the kitchen under the table.
My house mate is fairly easy going so it wasn't really a problem.

I've been brewing since the start of december and so far its been great fun and really worth while.
Remember to do your gravity readings when bottling though as I didnt with one brew and had a one explode all over the kitchen, (this should not ever happen if you get Original gravity and final gravity reading before bottling and dont over prime as I did).

As regards smells So far I've made a Pilsner, Traditional Larger, Irish stout, Mexican cervesa, Weiss Bier and I currently have a cider and a Red Ale on the go and to be honest I havent noticed any funky smells.

Dont worry about it being cold, as temps between 18 and 22 are ideal, its higher temps that you should worry about. If it goes too low the yeasty will just have a nap and kick off again when the temp comes back to tolerance.

Although with this recent brew I have them in an old broken chest freezer with a light bulb in the top to maintain 19 degrees C I was using tea lights but this was a bit of a pain.

Best of luck with the first brew and welcome to the wonderful world of brewing, its great craic.

bluesteel

thanks guys,
I might chance it in the hall so- I haven't taken the kit out of the packaging drum yet so I'm unsure exactly where it will fit but I'm a bit more relaxed on the odours...

(still regretting my last trip to the bottle bank !)