I want to start homebrewing but I live in a small apartment and my wife is concerend that the apartement will smell bad from the fermentation. Is this a legit concern?
PLEASE ANSWER THIS ONLY IF YOU ARE A HOMEBREWER.
2006-12-27 05:19:49 · 5 answers · asked by pilgrim 3 in Food & Drink ➔ Beer, Wine & Spirits
As some fellow home-brewers pointed out, fermentation "smell"
isn't a problem - the other aspects as pointed out, well, yes, especially if you don't have adequate ventilation (which is why I was evicted by wife to the garage for my brewing) if you "boil
over" on the stove it will cause quite a mess and be very difficult to remove the staining.
My advice would be to coat the stove with Dawn prior to putting any brewing vessel on it - makes clean-up soooo much easier if you boil over. Also make sure your stove puts out enough heat to bring your liquid to a rolling boil and be careful not to put too much in it to cause a boil over. The addition of hops to a boiling brewpot will cause a large enough "foaming" effect. keep no more than 2/3 of your brewpot filled.
Another trick is to take a a plastic spray bottle, and after sanitizing it, fill it with water - if you notice your pot about to "go overboard" - spritz it with water. This trick works really well.
Good Luck and Good Beer
2006-12-27 08:34:20 · answer #1 · answered by pheasant tail 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You shouldn't be afraid of the smell of fermentation. This part actually smells pretty good (similar to baking bread). We actually enjoy this smell and often "sniff" near the air lock when the beer is fermenting.
If it's your first brew, I'm assuming your using an extract and not an all grain brew. An all grain ("from scratch") brew could take the better part of a day and has quite a few smells (although not bad smells).
The part that is a little smelly is when you are boiling the wort (the sweet mixture created by the extract are from the grain) and you add the hops to the wort. This is a pretty strong smell, and typically you boil at least some of the hops for about and hour in the wort.
This strong smell disipates quickly once the boil is over. It would help if you had an exhaust fan.
2006-12-27 15:16:54 · answer #2 · answered by a_homebrewer 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I just cracked a Rye Ale that myself and a buddy brewed in our basement. Really the only smells you have to deal with are grainy or malty during the actual brewing process. This is a half day or less process. As far as the fermentation goes, you should be doing your fermenting in a sealed glass carboy so you might get a bit of a green apple/candy type smell for a few days, but it isnt that potent and rather pleasant in my mind. Good luck with the brewing, hope the wife consents.
2006-12-27 16:16:49 · answer #3 · answered by klubbandy575 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Would an ex-home-brewer do? I quit after health probs meant no more alcohol. The first answer may be correct as far as the actual fermentation goes but whilst cooking the wort there will be quite a bit of odor and you might get complaints from that stage of the brewing! It's going to depend on your neighbors and the physical layout of the building and weather as to whether or not you get complaints about it.
2006-12-27 14:36:04 · answer #4 · answered by departed lime wraith 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually it does not smell that bad. We put ours in a closet. no smell. Make sure you do put the bottled beer in a cool place.
Husband is a homebrewer. Have fun. Honey Beer is very good
2006-12-27 13:26:44 · answer #5 · answered by Livin in Maine 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋