We're moving to an old house that requires substantial renovation. Generally it's a pain and I'd recommend against it, but one plus for me is that I can get a brewery installed in the basement at little additional cost. I've decided to go electric as carbon monoxide in the house where my kids sleep scares me. I'm having a 220v/30a dedicated circuit installed for my use, and a quality kitchen ventilation hood to deal with the steam. I'm also planning on a chest freezer to use as both a kegerator and a fermentation chamber.
I'm looking for advice both on the brew equipment/setup and general stuff. I'm certainly willing to do easy DIY projects to keep things cheap, but I'm not that handy and afraid of screwing up any serious electrical work. Are there any all electric home breweries that come highly recommended? I'm open to just buying a system if the price is reasonable or to buying a few key parts and assembling the rest. I have no experience with using pumps, but I definitely hate racking so either pump or co2 driven is important. I'm also looking for something that'll give me more precise control over mash temps.
I am also looking for advice on other equipment that would be useful - basically I want to take advantage of the massive renovation to get everything setup as it should be. I will have some bins for bulk grain storage - I will also need a mill if there are suggestion on either of these. There will be a utility sink (used as a sink and also as a source of water for my chiller). I plan to have a chest freezer as a fermentation chamber and keg storage/serving (I'm thinking something big enough to hold 4 kegs + fermenter with 2/3 taps). Other than that I have no specific plans.
Basically, what would you do on a reasonable budget for a basement brewery built essentially from scratch?
I'm looking for advice both on the brew equipment/setup and general stuff. I'm certainly willing to do easy DIY projects to keep things cheap, but I'm not that handy and afraid of screwing up any serious electrical work. Are there any all electric home breweries that come highly recommended? I'm open to just buying a system if the price is reasonable or to buying a few key parts and assembling the rest. I have no experience with using pumps, but I definitely hate racking so either pump or co2 driven is important. I'm also looking for something that'll give me more precise control over mash temps.
I am also looking for advice on other equipment that would be useful - basically I want to take advantage of the massive renovation to get everything setup as it should be. I will have some bins for bulk grain storage - I will also need a mill if there are suggestion on either of these. There will be a utility sink (used as a sink and also as a source of water for my chiller). I plan to have a chest freezer as a fermentation chamber and keg storage/serving (I'm thinking something big enough to hold 4 kegs + fermenter with 2/3 taps). Other than that I have no specific plans.
Basically, what would you do on a reasonable budget for a basement brewery built essentially from scratch?