Building a Brew Room

[tony b]

I've always wanted a dedicated area in my basement to brew in. I'm tired of schlepping all my gear up to the kitchen to brew, having to hook up my immersion chiller to a hose on the deck, then schlepping everything, including a full fermenter, back to the basement. Then, trying to clean everything in my downstairs bathroom shower stall.

Now that I've more time to brew, I want to make it easier to do, so I will want to brew more. I just had my first walkthrough with the contractor to see what was feasible (mostly plumbing concerns). Things look good, so I'm now looking for helpful hints - do's and don'ts. Need details on things like ergonomics - what makes things easier? Heights of counters, faucets/sinks, burner/vents, etc. to minimize heavy lifts (I'm not getting any younger!) Open shelving ideas for storing carboys, grain buckets, etc. Drawers for the small stuff (How many/sizes?) I don't do all grain now, but probably will in the future, so I want to be able to grow my brew room, as I grow my brewing practices.

Pictures of your brew rooms and/or guided tours would be greatly appreciated.

Construction probably won't start until October, so I have most of the Summer to plan/design this.

[czubak]

Simple storage things like nails in the ceiling joists to hang buckets, brushes, etc is a big saver if your ceiling is unfinished and high enough (damn near free also). I have several things hung to keep the one set of shelving I have clear for others smaller items. I am terribly unorganized and need to streamline my storage into bins of various sizes. The biggest thing I would want is a large sink with a sprayer head, chiller hook up and drain shelf for multiple kegs, bottles or buckets to drain back to the sink.

I brew in the garage and haul my fermenting to the basement and I hate that also. I dream of brewing in the basement, but ours is 80% finished and the unfinished part is pretty cramped and would lose a lot of storage for household items. BUT it has all I would need and easily accessible like water for a sink, NG and sewer for a drain. It would be heaven to pump my cooled wort into the carboy and do clean up all in the same area. Running water and NG to my garage is possible, but would further cramp the garage to a level I can't imagine getting the cars in.

[Matt F]

Tony, you have seen my brewery before but I could give you a more focused tour on some of the things I like about my basement brewery. Need to host a tasting before October anyway. Having a dedicated space to brew where you can clean easy and not have to tear down, set up, haul around stuff is great whether in a basement, garage, shed, whatever. Basements are great because of the steady ambient temps. Here are a few things I really like about my brew room. One is mentioned above I use a lot. Nail in a stud is a great place to hang hoses, brush, lots of stuff.

-Flexible hose with QD on my sink: Quick disconnects are a must have and the plastic ones I use are less than $3 for each part. I use the same QDs on my home made keg washer, kettles, hoses, pumps, everything. My favorite is on the end of a 2’ long tube attached to my main sink faucet. I never take it off. It can fill carboys, attach hoses to clean or to fill nearby kettles. I have not seen anyone else with a similar sink set up and I don’t ever want to brew without it.

-Epoxy Seal the floor: This helps keep the floor clean and makes clean up a breeze. Relatively cheap and easy to install too. You can keep a large towel in the room to clean up any spills really easily. Keeping a clean floor keeps you from tracking crap on to other floors nearby where it is less welcome. Help prevent growth of mold and other unwanted things too.

-Drip buckets: Another cheap and easy thing. Whenever you disconnect a hose a few drops fall on the floor and create a mess during a brew session. Drip cups catch this and keep your floor clean. I have had a few brew sessions where I had no liquid at all on the floor. I usually brew barefoot now. Good enough idea to make the Zymurgy Gadgets Issue. http://www.crbeernuts.org/phpBB3/viewto ... f=8&t=2326

-Grain Bins; Once you go all grain you are likely to have a few sacks of grain around. Keep it fresh and don’t worry about mice by putting in a large plastic bin. Sam’s seems to get a few for sale each fall. I use the same ones Joe has at BIY. They fit under a standard height (36”) countertop with ease and roll in and out on wheels. Here is what I have. http://www.crbeernuts.org/phpBB3/viewto ... f=4&t=2665

-Floor drain; I do not hose down my floor often because it rarely needs it with the epoxy seal and a towel, but nice to have when I do. I can hook up a long brew hose to my sink (see above) and hose it down. Make sure you have an opening large enough in the grate, or like me, be able to easily pop the cover open. When I clean I can hook a tube up to a kettle and the other end of the tube place in the floor drain. Wash, rinse, whatever, and just send down the drain. Helps minimize some heavy lifting. I just have the circle PVC drains and they work great. Paint them with the epoxy seal at the same time you do your floor and they look nice too. Also a great spot to place a carboy in a dryer/holder and let it drip dry down the drain to keep your sink open.

-Keep stuff you use within reach; Make sure you can get to stuff you use a lot on brew day in reach. I have some posts on the wall where I hang brushes over the sink. Easy to grab and good place to dry.

-Have tasks together; Basic but just means keep brew day equipment together, fermentation stuff, packaging, kegs all together according to their use.

[tony b]

Thanks for all the great advice.

Will definitely want to do a more-detailed walk through of your brew room, Matt, which is my model right now. Also, willing to host folks who want to come over and look at the space and give ideas.

Looking at options for faucet designs on the sink - hoses, sprayers, faucets (seriously thinking about a separate faucet over the burner to fill the brew kettle in place http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Chinese-Man ... 0667635625), etc. In-line water filter?

Wall/floor coverings - definitely epoxy-sealed concrete floor with trough drain. Existing wall covering come off anyway to access water/gas/electricity, so looking for ideas on what to put back in their place.

Countertops - stainless steel, Corian, Formica, other? Leaning towards stainless because of durability and ease of cleaning and not worrying about chemical attack from PBW/StarSan/OneStep products. Initially concerned about getting cracks, scratches in the Corian/Formica type materials that would be hard to keep clean, as well as how heat resistant they are. But would like options if the stainless is too costly. What about a short (1/2") lip on the front of the counter to catch small spills, with maybe a corner drain hole/plastic tube to a bucket or the floor drain. It would also be handy for not letting stuff roll of onto the floor and break, like thermometers and hydrometers. Or, am I giving up ergonomics (lip would hinder lifting/removing large/heavy objects off the countertop) for not much improvement - let the spills run onto the floor, where I can squeegee it to the floor drain?

Burners - natural gas. How big (100K BTU)? Some of the jet style http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jet-Burner-32-T ... 4897.l4275 easily get that high, but are they super noisy?

[jjbuck]

A floor drain is a very convenient and very helpful fixture. Trying to be careful to not get water all over the floor hinders your cleaning. Cleaning (sanitizing) floors is much more efficient with a drain than just a mop and bucket. (mtc). Oops! I didn't read carefully. I'm guessing you already have a floor drain.

[tony b]

Actually, no, there's currently no floor drain in that part of the basement, so I'll have to cut into the concrete floor to install one. So, I'm not encumbered by existing size/placement and can be flexible in what I put in. I'm leaning to a trough style, just have to work out placement and length.

[Matt F]

You don’t need the separate faucet (but would be cool) over the burner if you have a nearby sink you can hook your brewing hose up too. I hook up a hose to my faucet and the other end right to the ball valve of the kettle so it does not fall out or something for filling. I can reach all three kettles from my sink with my longest brewing hose.

I have painted drywall but the plastic stuff you cover walls with, or if really spending some coin, tile would be sweet.

My countertop, cabinets and sink I use were from my mom’s kitchen remodel so I kept it green and cheap by just using what I had available. Stainless would be ideal but depends on what you want to spend. Would be nice to score from a restaurant sale. Not sure on the lip since I do not have one. I like the flat one I have for sliding carboys and heavy items off but catching spills could be cool too.

Burners, absolutely do not get that jet burner! I have a much smaller one in my drawer at home because it was not useable in my brew room. If you think they are loud outside wait until you are in a small room. Heat up the room like crazy too and more difficult to exhaust. Not very good flame control either. I have a Hurricane burner which is a lot like the Blichmann burner. I bought the burner with no stand which is a big money saver if you do not plan to use the stand. They are ring style burners and are perfect for indoors. Difficult to find a plumber to install for you since rated for outdoors only. I installed mine myself. Quiet and more efficient than jets. Good flame control too for working with boil overs. I do 10 gallon boils easy with mine and it is rated for 60k btu. I start the burner after I have 5 gallons in the kettle and by the time my sparge is done I am ready to boil. No waiting. I have no desire for a more powerful burner than what I have. Seems like plenty of power. Banjo has some high btu burners that are ring style burners. Ideal would be to get an actual indoor use rated stock pot stove but those are not cheap.

[tony b]

Thanks for the feedback on that burner, Matt! That did look like it would put out some serious noise, which is why I asked. But, they kick the heat. Found another vendor who's 10" burner (23 jets) is 200K BTUs - serious output. Will stick to the conventional brewing ones.

[tony b]

Construction has gotten underway, so I thought I'd post a couple of pics of the work in progress. Plumbing is roughed in - new floor drain and sump system, sink arrived last week, painter is supposed to do the floor this week. Hoping the electrician can come in next week. Starting to get excited.

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[tony b]

Painters came today and epoxied the floor. Had to open lots of windows and patio doors as I was getting loopy from the smell! (Yeah, ha, ha, I know what you're thinking - how could you tell, you're always loopy!)

Faucets and tables ordered. Now, we just have to get the electrician in to do his thing and we're just about done!

[brianhall1024]

Looking good!

[czubak]

Jealous. I want too bey setup indoors. Main reason for selling my rig was to at least mash indoors to make winter brewing tolerable.


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[tony b]

Electricians at work today. New circuits and upgraded lighting and outlets (GFIs) to bring it all up to code. Vent fan is here and all the faucets/plumbing stuff. Tables are at HomeTown to be delivered after the plumbing and electrical work are all done. Fingers crossed, could be up and brewing again by Turkey Day!!

[tony b]

Electrical is all done. Boy, it's bright in there with the new lights!

Carpenter is scheduled for Monday.

Moving right along. Just need to get final plumbing tie-ins done.

[tony b]

Colony HVAC came today and installed the vent hood over my burner. Big milestone - had to cut through the concrete basement wall to vent it outside.

Monday is install the mop board along the floor, put up the stainless steel flashing around the burner area, and assemble the stainless tables.

Tuesday is final plumbing tie-ins, install sink & faucets.

Then, it's just odds & ends to finish up. Could be up and brewing again by next weekend - HURRAY!!