Hello all,
Well I brewed my first batch and I do not have high hopes for it, quite a few mistakes. I cannot wait to get it into bottles so that I can start the next batch. I do have one question though. How does one remove the malt aroma out of the house? When I leave and come back, it hits me hard. Personally, I like the smell but my wife has other opinions.
Nathan
Try Febreeze. Unfortunate though. I love that smell.
Open the windows for a while.
I feel your pain. Leave some windows open while you’re brewing to get some cross-ventilation going. Close the door to your bedroom while you’re brewing as well, so at least it doesn’t get into your sheets or her clothes. She’ll appreciate you for it.
I’ve been toying with trying my hand at a hops-scented candle using some hop extract. I figure if anything can cover up the smell of malt, it would be hops…
It goes away in about 2 days… I love the smell but others in the house don’t. I’m in Florida so the a/c is blowing constantly which helps.
Opening the windows for a few hours worked. The smell is gone and all is well. Thank you all for the tips.
Welcome! I’m just a few batches ahead of you, and I had the same low hopes for my first batch (pale ale) when I bottled it. You may be very pleasantly surprised how drinkable it is when it’s been bottle conditioned for a few weeks.
I’ve got the same issues with the malt smell in my house. My 17 year old son (my brew partner) and I like the smell, but my wife and daughters all hate it. I haven’t tried to do a whole lot yet to deal with it. We’ve been brewing in the kitchen, and here in the northeast the air conditioning doesn’t get shut off until late august - early september, so windows haven’t been much of an option.
Fortunately, everyone in my household likes the “bready” smell. They come through the front door on starter day when I’m working in the kithchen and holler, “Pin’s making beer again!”
The smell of boiling wort was the only thing that soothed my wife’s “morning sickness” with our first child. It was actually evening sickness, about 7:00 pm or so. If I was brewing when she came home, she didn’t hurl. If I wasn’t…
Needless to say, I had free rein to brew as often as I wanted for awhile.
I understand your pain. I live in Oklahoma and the AC might not get shut off until late September early October, which really makes it hard to brew in the summertime. We just hit a perfect spot where it was cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon and opening the windows in the morning made the smell go away rather quickly.
Funny, after I brewed my first batch, the LHBS in my former home state asked me what I thought of the smell. I said “we all LOVED it!” I guess they knew I’d be back pretty often!
Welcome to the hobby, I myself have been brewing for a couple years though I am also new to this forum.
The best sure fire way to get rid of the smell is to buy a propane burner to go outside with the brew day, keeps the kitchen cleaner and the wife happy. Other than that febreze should help and open the windows to air it out.
Fry up a whole bunch of bacon.
Should cut the smell with the added benefit of bacon.
You could also try cooling up some Thai food. The curry and fish sauce should get the malt smell out.
Or try Ozium. That seemed to work well in my college dorm room.
+1 to the buying a propane burner and getting the heck out of the kitrchen comment. You will want to get off your kitchen stove ASAP if you continue in this hobby. Nothing ruins a stove faster than a wort boil over.
It looks like I will have to brew most of my beer in the winter months due to the hot climate here. Will the propane still work in the middle of the winter?
If the tank ices up put it in a bucket or big pot of room temperature water.
+1 again to the water submersion trick. I have brewed outside in snowstorms and blizzards and, aside from constructing a rudimentary windshield with aluminum foil have never had a burner problem. If you have a garage you can move the brewery in there to provide a bit more comfort.
Funny. I just watched an episode of the NB guys brewing in the middle of winter on a frozen lake while ice fishing. Their propane tank froze so the used a smaller propane bottle attached to a heater to heat the frozen tank :-\ It worked.
I have yet to brew in the winter since I’ve only done 5 batches so far. I’m definitely looking forward to it because I’m in hot @$$ Florida brewing in the garage!
First batch was brewed inside as well and although I don’t really mind the smell too much, it’s something I could do without, so the propane burner was the next logical step and out to the garage it went. Besides; going to full-boil with my extract brews pushed me in that direction anyway - my stove couldn’t handle a full-boil - win-win!
Luckily my wife also doesn’t mind the smell - she brews every other batch, my partner in crime, so to speak. Keeping it out of the wind, even in very low temperatures, shouldn’t be a problem for propane - never had one freeze-up during winter BBQs, but then again; I’ve not yet brewed in my garage during the winter months so I guess we’ll see…