Certain luxuries seem to surface as we reach our 30s. Better paying jobs, for one. And with better paying jobs comes the ability to buy things for ourselves. I recently purchased a new coffee maker for example (it has changed my life, making Prospect Perk's Organic Fair Trade dark roast every morning literally makes going to work bearable). Sometimes, you get so rich and successful that you start to acquire more than one of certain household appliances. That is what happened to Ben’s friend Evan, which prompted the conversation below. And thus, the story of the two fridges (and what to do with all that beer) was born. If you have ever considered brewing beer in a small apartment – this post is for you.
Evan’s Q: Since I bought a new fridge I now have the dilemma of figuring out what to do with my old fridge. Obviously the thought of turning it strictly into a basement beer fridge has crossed my mind. However, the recent thought of turning it into a keg-o-rater with a tap line run to my kitchen has been brought up with hopes and aspirations of brewing my own beer is small kegs and running it from the basement. I'm just going through the pros and cons of this idea now but I wanted to get your input.
Ben’s A: Good questions deserving of good answers…
First, kegging homebrew is a pretty serious endeavor, requiring quite a bit of equipment. If you were to buy, brand new, everything required for a kegging setup including a keg, you’re probably looking at close to $500, and never mind the project of actually learning how to use it. To be honest, I wouldn’t have the foggiest idea. That said, when/if you get to the stage of kegging your beer, there’s absolutely no point in ever buying any of this stuff new.
Second, where/what to buy: Craigslist, homebrew forums/websites, ebay, and DIY conversions of various scrap metal all work to bring the price point waaaay down. But—still getting ahead of ourselves. My recommendation for you is to purchase either a 1 gallon or, better yet, a 5 gallon homebrew kit or buy the necessary supplies individually (often cheaper because you can source them yourself). The problem with only getting a 1 gallon kit is every little flaw is magnified at such small volumes, and you’ll drink it too quickly. 5 gallon is a good natural size because when/if you move to kegging, there are a variety of cheap 5 gallon keg designs out there (“Corney” kegs are the real cheap ones and have a different clamping mechanism, Sankey kegs are the ones you’re used to seeing and are a bit more expensive, but both are available in 5 gallon sizes). Plus, if you buy equipment for 5 gallon batches, you can of course still brew smaller batches in it. The one problem you may have with 5 gallon batches is getting a good rolling boil. It takes some pretty serious BTUs to boil 5 gallons on a stove top, particularly because wort (the stuff you’ll be boiling to make beer) has a higher specific gravity than water. Do you happen to know the BTUs on your new stove? If your burners are all same sized and 9000 BTUs or below, it may be tough. Two ways to overcome this – buy an outdoor propane burner/turkey fryer, or get some heat-shielding for whatever pot you use to make your beer. But definitely find out the BTUs on your new stove.
Now here’s what you should do with your fridge. The most important part of brewing beer is the fermentation. This part is important because without it you wouldn’t get drunk, and you’d pretty much just have malted barley soda, which nobody wants. I feel like I’m lecturing the wrong person here, but in case you missed this in your 6 (?) years of science-y grad school, fermentation only happens in certain conditions (DISCLAIMER: WHILE EVAN WENT TO GRAD SCHOOL FOR “SCIENCE” – I, DID NOT. I STRUGGLED THROUGH MIDDLE SCHOOL CHEMISTRY, BUT EVEN I UNDERSTAND THIS). Having the right temperature is important. Some yeast isn’t very particular and will ferment just fine at any condition, but that’s not ideal. You should buy a temperature controller – you plug the fridge into the controller and the controller into the wall, the controller has a thermometer that you stick in the fridge and the controller will keep the temp at whatever parameter you set. This saves electricity, and saves your beer. Johnson Temperature Controllers are pretty popular models, but really just find the cheapest one. They’ll all do a fine job.
So in summary – buy the stuff for 5 gallon batches (see below link for a good checklist), or if that looks too pricey or overwhelming then just go with smaller stuff. Also remember, home brewing is definitely NOT a hobby where you need to buy the expensive equipment, cheap and/or used is good. The only thing worth spending a little money on is the pot you’ll be boiling in – it can’t be aluminum and I wouldn’t get anything too flimsy simply because it won’t hold heat. Aside from that, do everything as cheaply as possible. I bet the guys at Willibrew (DISCLAIMER – EVAN LIVES IN CONNECTICUT, SO ALL YOU NEW YORKERS, FIND ANOTHER BEER BAR TO GO TO) can point you in the right direction or even sell you some old used stuff. Use your fridge + a temp controller as a controlled fermentation environment. And if you want a good book, I highly recommend How To Brew by John Palmer. The 1st edition is actually available online for free, or you can just buy a copy so you can scribble notes. It’s a flimsy paperback, probably 5 bucks. Link to the site with the free book is below. Something important to note – despite everything I wrote and all of the equipment and the convolutions, brewing a batch of drinkable beer is actually pretty easy. It takes time and attention to detail, but just getting a batch that tastes decent is easily attainable. Let me know if you actually go ahead and do this stuff, I’ll most certainly come up for brew-days. Alternatively, turn your fridge into a kegerator, run a tap up to your kitchen, buy someone else’s beer, and drink it.
Checklist link: http://www.beertools.com/html/tutorial/phase01/step01.php
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