I don’t think that I would ever suggest full boils to someone brewing in an apartment, even with all-grain. Doing a concentrated boil and chilling/topping off with ice is just too easy. Temperature control, on the other hand, is all but mandatory.
Good lawd - keep that LP outside! Fermentation all the way!
I think of a major reason why people want to upgrade to larger equipment: they cannot keep up with their own consumption- usually one has so called friends to help with this- so believe brewing more beer at once will solve this problem! This situation arrives early on in the brewing experience and promotes equipment purchases and developments that can be poorly planned and thought out due to inexperience- even with a fantastic resource at their disposal such as a beer forum.
I’d say get ferm-control right off the bat once one decides they’re in this thing for the long haul. If just piddling and dabbling with brewing- no. Then get a kegging system before upgrading to a large brewing kit. Brew more often on the equipment one has and learn the process. Develop consistency. Make thoughtful decisions on which direction one needs to go- not “wants” to go. Will it be gas-fired or electric? HERMS/RIMS? How will one mash? How will one cool all that wort? How will the purchase of a single piece of equipment impact the entire system/method and overall experience?
I brought my 80qt back into the kitchen and it straddles two burners. Works fine for me but maybe not for others.
So I guess it would be: 1. Basic equipment (including the appropriate sized fermenters and type) coupled with appropriate chilling method. 2. Ferm-control- freezer(s) or fridge(s) 3. Serving system. 4. Larger kettle if needed- which will almost certainly change the heating and chilling method. 5. Wort transport if needed (pumps or gravity). 6. Perhaps then moving to AG, grain-mill and mash-tun type.
Yes, the LP will go outside. 8) I’m relocating ASAP, as I hate my apartment, and the new place has a stove with a glass top which makes me paranoid, so I’ve got an incentive to take it outside.
thanks euge, just what i needed, ive been reading “How to Brew” before i start my first batch, im trying to do everything right from the start
If your beer is good, upgrade your system to meet other goals (volume, safety, temp control), if not, work on your procedure with the equipment you got…unless that equipment is hampering good beer (such as infected plastic fermenters and transfer tubing).
You can make good beer without exacting temperature control, btw…just don’t expect to make a light lager or other very temp sensitive beers…if you have 78 degrees, make a damn good saison…but more likely, find a cooler place in the house to ferment and lager.
I suggest making the best beer you can with what you have…and then decide what your limitations are and design upgrades to solve for one at a time. It is a bad practice to say temperature control is more important than sanitation…IMHO. There is no substitute for (nor any excuse for not having) good sanitation practices. I like upgrades that make my brewday easier and safer as well as eliminate mistakes and breakdowns…when you upgrade, I like durability…buy it to last.
Unless you are made of money, that is, then just go buy the best out of the gate…it won’t make you brew better, but you won’t be able to blame your equipment if things go awry.
Sanitation is important. Don’t let anyone scare you into thinking this is of more value than fermentation temp control. You’ll never make consistently great beer without it.
I know a guy. Mega expensive equipment and terrible beer.
i spent so much time pondering how to do it right that it took me forever to start. just start and make the changes that suit you.
One really can make excellent beer with just a 2 gallon stock-pot and a food-grade bucket. That simple. I say start with what you got in the kitchen already.
I keep planning to upgrade to mashing in a cooler, instead of BIAB. I even bought the cooler.
And I also have that ol’ turkey fryer sitting in the box in the basement for when I get around to brewing outside. It’s been there for six years or so at this point…
But when it comes down to it, I know my equipment and I know my process and changing it will take more time.
So I brewed 10 gallons this weekend on the stove top. Hit my numbers (actually a little on the high-side, but that’s OK by me). Pitched the yeast and it’s fermenting right now.
I have so little time to commit right now, that it seems better suited to staying with what I know works rather than investing the time in changing.
If you know your system, IMO you should invest your energy in improving your process and making better beer. Don’t change just to change.
I did not mean to imply that sanitiation wasn’t highly important. very little sucks more than getting foot smelling, sour, moldy beer. However sanitiation is really a sinch, and if you have a very basic understanding of it you will not have major problems there. But my point stands I think, you can make excellent beer with minimal or even non-existent sanitation, if you are lucky. with incorrect fermentation temperatures it is simply impossible. Now, temp control doesn’t necessarily mean a dedicated cold room with two way digital temp control down to the .01th degree. Perhaps it’s just a cool/warm place in your house, or a tub of water with frozen water bottles or a fish tank heater. but if you try to make a kolsch at 82* it WILL be nasty. If you forget to sanitize your clean fermenter but you ferment at around 58-62* it’ll likely be just fine. Maybe even amazing.
Let’s remember people have been making (by all accounts) amazing beer with zero understanding of sanitation for thousands of years. but climates that lend themselves to beer making tend to be temperate and cool during brewing season (eg. scotland, northern germany). Those climates that aren’t tend to favor styles that don’t mind as much (eg. saisons in a climate that tends to warm a bit during brewing season).
My point was simply that all things being equal, if you are already making beer temp control is going to give you more bang for your buck then just about anything else you can do to upgrade your system. But don’t aerate the wort with your toilet plunger.
no wonder i make shitty beer 8)
I actually do keep a clean never-used-on-anything-else toilet brush for scrubbing cornies.
That’s a very dangerous game if you have roommates. 
Just a wife. So no worries.
Years ago I came to the conclusion that the brewer makes the beer, the equipment doesn’t. That’s not to diss anyone who ises a fancy system. That’s a personal preference, not a requirement for good beer. After all these years and all these brews (somebody cue “Still Crazy After All These Years”!), I’m still happy with my incredibly down scale Cheap’n’Easy system. It fits my style of brewing, I make good beer and I have fun doing it. Those should be the considerations.
I agree with Denny [quote] It fits my style of brewing, I make good beer and I have fun doing it. Those should be the considerations.
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The gear should compliment the brewer’s style…you need very little else except a little desire to make good beer.
I’ll bet that Denny’s cheap and easy system is pretty impressively clean where necessary, however…
Upgrading can be fun though. I get quite a bit of satisfaction from building and working things out but changing things or the sake of changing things is pointless.
I would also say that process trumps equipment every time. After 10 years of brewing I had upgraded all my equipment, gone from a single burner system to a 3 tiered 3 burner 10 gallon system with a stainless conical. I made more beer in less time, but not better beer. About 7 or 8 years ago I started reading about temp control and how it relates to each beer style I liked to brew, and suddenly I have truly excellent beer. I’m lax on sanitation, most of my kegs have not been taken apart and cleaned for 15 years and I use my equipment for brett and normal beers, but I am relentless in keeping my temps consistent.