I greatly enjoyed the “Urban Brewing” article, which had some ideas I hadn’t thought of (such as the bucket heater) and may also inspire me to try BIAB.
I did have a question. The author recommends 3-gallon Better Bottles for fermenting 3-gallon batches. I do have a couple of BBs this size, bought in a sale on Amazon, but actually haven’t used them in a couple of years because in my experience, there isn’t enough headspace for fermenting a 3-gallon batch, even after factoring in the loss from hops, etc. (I use a 5-gal BB and a 4-gal fermenter I made from a food-safe bucket purchased at a restaurant supply store.) Comments? Fermcap?
I have to admire someone who “downsizes a couch” to make room for a kegerator! (I actually am thinking about a home office reorg to make room for a small fermenting fridge)
Remember that there’s also the school of thought that blowing off the ‘braun hefe’ is a good thing. I ferment my 5.5 gallon batches in a 6 gallon BB with blowoff hose setup.
Agreed that such a school of thought exists, but it wasn’t mentioned (and I don’t see where the blowoff setup would fit in the “urban brewing” scenario).
Glad you enjoyed the article! I have used a blowoff tube in the past. I’ve only needed one for the first few days & then replace it with a traditional airlock. However, since I started using Fermcap, I rarely need a blowoff tube. Ack - I can’t believe I didn’t mention Fermcap in the article - it’s a miracle for urban brewers.
From the first mention, I assumed you were using Fermcap, but glad to see that confirmed. Having lived in a tiny NYC apartment I’m impressed you would live with a blowoff tube, but then, you did trade in your couch for a kegerator… serious zymurgophilia!
