Brewing in the basement

[Triskele]

I have a dumb question:
Right now I brew my beer using extracts. Extracts only require boiling 2.5 gallons which I can due easily with my gas stove in the basement.
If I were to whole grain brew I need to boil 5 gallons. By what I'm reading that I will need to use more BTU's. Many brewers use a propane burner either outdoors or in a garage.
I live in Chicago and I'd rather not brew outside in the winter. I have a propane burner that I fry turkeys with. Any opinions on using this burner indoors?

 

[Herm brews]

I am glad that I don’t have that issue, as my stove is radiant electric, and I make 2.5 gallon BIAB batches in a 5.5 gallon kettle. However, I am mulling the idea of getting an induction cooktop so that I can move my brewing to the garage or out on the deck when desired. If your kettle is induction capable, you might consider that option, at least from a safety perspective.

 

[Megary]

I have a dumb question:
Right now I brew my beer using extracts. Extracts only require boiling 2.5 gallons which I can due easily with my gas stove in the basement.
If I were to whole grain brew I need to boil 5 gallons. By what I'm reading that I will need to use more BTU's. Many brewers use a propane burner either outdoors or in a garage.
I live in Chicago and I'd rather not brew outside in the winter. I have a propane burner that I fry turkeys with. Any opinions on using this burner indoors?

What’s the old saying…The only dumb question is the one you don’t ask?

You will get better replies than this, but I wouldn’t use the propane burner in your basement without adequate ventilation to the outside.

 

[Minbari]

What’s the old saying…The only dumb question is the one you don’t ask?

You will get better replies than this, but I wouldn’t use the propane burner in your basement without adequate ventilation to the outside.

Second that. It might be OK. Get a CO detector and see.

You also want to consider the amount of water you are putting in the air as well. My first 5 gallon boil in the basement had water dripping off everything

 

[Craigerrr]

Very strongly recommend that you do not use a propane burner indoors without proper ventilation.
Carbon Monoxide is known as the silent killer...
The amount of steam from your boil will vary based on kettle dimensions and BTU input.
All of that steam will condense back to liquid, and cause all kinds of issues in your home.
A range hood fan will not handle the amount of steam that is created, not to mention that the majority of the vapor will condense back to liquid as soon as it comes in contact with a cool surface. Your exhaust ducting will have liquid in it, and you may even get condensate dripping back into your kettle (bad on a couple levels).
I boil indoors with an electric system, and a steam condenser.
Although many do boil indoors, I wouldn't recommend boiling indoors any other way.

 

[Vodka Drunkenski]

I have a dumb question:
Right now I brew my beer using extracts. Extracts only require boiling 2.5 gallons which I can due easily with my gas stove in the basement.
If I were to whole grain brew I need to boil 5 gallons. By what I'm reading that I will need to use more BTU's. Many brewers use a propane burner either outdoors or in a garage.
I live in Chicago and I'd rather not brew outside in the winter. I have a propane burner that I fry turkeys with. Any opinions on using this burner indoors?

Do you have a friend, or neighbour that might let you use their garage? Maybe a case of finished product could "convince" them to help you out...lol.
Are you using a cooler to mash in? If so, perhaps you could heat your strike water, and mash indoors, but tough it out, and do the boil outside?

 

[Triskele]

My rational is that cooking a pot of soup for 2 hours on a gas stove in my basement kitchen can't be much different than cooking beer for 1 hour on a propane turkey burner, humidity and carbon monoxide.

 

[NorthCoastBrewer]

As was mentioned earlier:

Very strongly recommend that you do not use a propane burner indoors ...​

My rational is that ...

What do the actual CO measurements indicate?

 

[Triskele]

North, I'll take your advice. Thanks

 

[west1m]

Trust what they say. I boil indoors in a basement. It rained in there the first time I boiled. I now use a condenser also. As for propane burner, make sure you have great ventilation or a recent made out will.
Many people have croked in fish houses with a burner going to keep warm.

 

[DarkVader2]

I have a dumb question:
Right now I brew my beer using extracts. Extracts only require boiling 2.5 gallons which I can due easily with my gas stove in the basement.
If I were to whole grain brew I need to boil 5 gallons. By what I'm reading that I will need to use more BTU's. Many brewers use a propane burner either outdoors or in a garage.
I live in Chicago and I'd rather not brew outside in the winter. I have a propane burner that I fry turkeys with. Any opinions on using this burner indoors?

I agree with what others have said about the dangers of brewing in a basement with propane. Your "life expectancy" may be shortened to your first attempt.

I just checked your weather in Chicago and it is 31 F. If you can get out of the wind, brewing in 30 degree weather is not too bad. I've done it many times and I don't consider myself to be physically "tough."

Light the burner, put your pot of water on to start it heating to strike temp and go back inside. Just check it periodically to make sure you don't above your planned temp.

One factor you may not have considered is that once you get the approximately 8 plus gallons amount of water required for 5 gal. of BIAB brew heated up to the strike temp of 158 F plus that serves as a source of warmth. Then only a few more minutes are required to stir in your grains, put the pot lid on, cover it up with something to help maintain the mash temp, and then go back inside for an hour while the enzymes do their thing.

When your finished mashing, uncover the pot, pull the grain bag and drain the sugar water into the pot. Start heating the water to boil. Again, the heat from the propane burner and the sugar water which is getting hotter by the minute provide substantial warmth.

The big factor is the wind. I'm assuming since you mentioned a basement that you have a house. My house is oriented in a North-South vector for the long dimension so I brew on the east side of the house when the wind is out of the west. If the wind was out of the south and less then about 10 miles an hour, I would prop a sheet of plywood against the narrow edge of a picnic table on my patio and help brace the bottom of the sheet with my bottle of propane. That would provide some shelter from the wind.

Pick your day according to the weather and it is doable. Happy brewing!

 

[Steve Ruch]

I have a dumb question:
Right now I brew my beer using extracts. Extracts only require boiling 2.5 gallons which I can due easily with my gas stove in the basement.
If I were to whole grain brew I need to boil 5 gallons.

Not necessarily. You can "high gravity" brew: boil 2.5-3 gallons at a gravity of 1.090 and top off in the fermenter to 1.050-60.

 

[Donoroto]

I have a dumb question:
Right now I brew my beer using extracts. Extracts only require boiling 2.5 gallons which I can due easily with my gas stove in the basement.
If I were to whole grain brew I need to boil 5 gallons. By what I'm reading that I will need to use more BTU's. Many brewers use a propane burner either outdoors or in a garage.
I live in Chicago and I'd rather not brew outside in the winter. I have a propane burner that I fry turkeys with. Any opinions on using this burner indoors?

I strongly advise against that. WAY too much carbon monoxide, and a significant fire risk as well.

So, do not.

Boiling 5 gallons does not need double the BTUs of 2.5 gallons. More like 10% more. So, if you get a decent boil in your smaller batches, the larger batches will also boil just fine.

 

[Hawkbox]

Ignoring the gas part cause it's been covered, depending on ambient humidity you could cause yourself problems with steam and condensation. I'm in Alberta where the humidity is practically in the negatives so all the steam disappears into the air really fast here and isn't a concern. I also use a Grainfather S40 for indoor basement brewing, if you can get one on sale they are fantastic basement units.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Not necessarily. You can "high gravity" brew: boil 2.5-3 gallons at a gravity of 1.090 and top off in the fermenter to 1.050-60.

@Triskele, if you want to continue to boil indoors on your stove, @Steve Ruch's suggestion is the way to go. If you think about it, when you brew with extract you are boiling a high gravity wort and then diluting it down to your target gravity. What ever path you choose we can help get you there.

 

[Zambi]

I do this all the time.
Higher gravity wort and diluting with water.
I'm currently using voss, and use "room" temperature water, but once it cools down I'll start using other yeast again. Then I use water from the fridge to help with cooling

 

[Sandy Feet]

NO propane burner inside!
You can buy an electric burner that is suitable or an all in one. You probably want 220 for those options if you have a 220 plug in the basement.
I'm lucky being in Florida. I can brew most of the year outside, and we don't have basements, just garages.

 

[Triskele]

@Triskele, if you want to continue to boil indoors on your stove, @Steve Ruch's suggestion is the way to go. If you think about it, when you brew with extract you are boiling a high gravity wort and then diluting it down to your target gravity. What ever path you choose we can help get you there.

Appreciate everyones input. Right now I'm brewing from extracts but interested in jumping to all grain. Right now I'm watching YouTube vids to understand the process before jumping to investing in equipment. Don't want to buy equipment that is being sold on some websites only to find I wasted my money.
Watching the videos makes me realize there are many ways to get to the same point. Only through experience, and asking questions will I develop my own way. (Not necessarily brewing in the basement).
I'm still studying and trying to understand the terminology and understanding the recipes.
The comments by Steve Ruch I find interesting. How do you adjust a recipe to hit a target SG? Is that answer in one of the tools on this site? Is there a tutorial or a book recommended to answer these questions?

 

[Zambi]

Just ask and we'll answer

I brew on the stove top and use a 10 litre pot. And I still can make close to 10 litre batches.
I get 7 to 7.5 litre water to just above mash temperature. Add biab bag with grains and mash.
After mashing, I pull out the bag and put into a pot and rinse. Add all back to original pot and bring about 7.5 to 8 litres to the boil.
Do all hop additions ( with volume to fermenter set to 9-10 litres, but ignoring water smounts).
No chill, or part cool in water bath.
Check gravity and adjust by adding room temperature or cold (previously boiled) water to the fermenter.
I'm a metric person and that makes the calculations real easy, but it isn't difficult in imperial either.

Example: you are ending up with wort of 1.050 sg, but you wanted 1.040.
Your water has an sg of zero.
4 litres wort and 1 litre water will get you to 1.040
(4 x 50 divided by 4 + 1 litre. 200/5 = 40).
Since yeast needs oxygen, you just use a sanitised measuring can.

Calculation again
1.050 measured
1.040 wanted
Remove the "1"
50/40 equals 1.25
Every 1 litre wort needs 250 ml water
Hence 4 litre wort, 1 litre water

 

[Minbari]

Just ask and we'll answer

I brew on the stove top and use a 10 litre pot. And I still can make close to 10 litre batches.
I get 7 to 7.5 litre water to just above mash temperature. Add biab bag with grains and mash.
After mashing, I pull out the bag and put into a pot and rinse. Add all back to original pot and bring about 7.5 to 8 litres to the boil.
Do all hop additions ( with volume to fermenter set to 9-10 litres, but ignoring water smounts).
No chill, or part cool in water bath.
Check gravity and adjust by adding room temperature or cold (previously boiled) water to the fermenter.
I'm a metric person and that makes the calculations real easy, but it isn't difficult in imperial either.

Example: you are ending up with wort of 1.050 sg, but you wanted 1.040.
Your water has an sg of zero.
4 litres wort and 1 litre water will get you to 1.040
(4 x 50 divided by 4 + 1 litre. 200/5 = 40).
Since yeast needs oxygen, you just use a sanitised measuring can.

Calculation again
1.050 measured
1.040 wanted
Remove the "1"
50/40 equals 1.25
Every 1 litre wort needs 250 ml water
Hence 4 litre wort, 1 litre water

You can also use this.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/dilution-and-boiloff-gravity-calculator/