3RiverBrewer
Active Member
So I have finally convinced myself (my fiance actually) that I needed a designated grain and fermentation area. I've found out if you leave enough equipment laying around and make enough mess around the house... the convincing part is much easier .
The final straw was with the Belgium Wit that I am currently making. I refused to move it down the basement (58F ambient in the winter) because it wouldn't ferment and had it sitting right next to a heating duct in order to get it around 70F (still not ideal). The agreement was I could build/do whatever i needed to but it had to leave the living room that day.
In the short term it is sitting in my basement bathroom with a space heater which has been keeping it at 74F. Obviously this is probably one of the least efficient ways to do this so I am building a fermentation chamber and building in a milling station and grain storage.
Here is where I'm at so far. The frame is build and the start of the fermentation chamber is being constructed. The fermentation chamber is going to be for ale's only not for lagering (future plans for that as I should be able to get a free chest freezer in the coming months).
Having some issues with the fermentation chamber which is 100% on me due not having a truck to get the material's i wanted and instead I've been forced to compromise.. As you can see I had to use styrofoam insulation which is nearly impossible to my exact specifications. I am thinking of buying some fiberglass insulation (because it will actually fit in my car) and just covering it with left over particle board that have. I haven't seen any other builds using fiberglass insulation though so I'm not sure if I'm missing something.
Also I'm not sure which temperature control to buy. Idealy I would just like to heat the unit with a light bulb or a space heater and maintain the temperature between 65-80F. Any suggestions?
The grain mill/grain storage should be relatively easy to do once I get the fermentation chamber done then its just a matter of putting the finishing on.
I couldn't get the 8x4 pink insulation that I wanted
The final straw was with the Belgium Wit that I am currently making. I refused to move it down the basement (58F ambient in the winter) because it wouldn't ferment and had it sitting right next to a heating duct in order to get it around 70F (still not ideal). The agreement was I could build/do whatever i needed to but it had to leave the living room that day.
In the short term it is sitting in my basement bathroom with a space heater which has been keeping it at 74F. Obviously this is probably one of the least efficient ways to do this so I am building a fermentation chamber and building in a milling station and grain storage.
Here is where I'm at so far. The frame is build and the start of the fermentation chamber is being constructed. The fermentation chamber is going to be for ale's only not for lagering (future plans for that as I should be able to get a free chest freezer in the coming months).
Having some issues with the fermentation chamber which is 100% on me due not having a truck to get the material's i wanted and instead I've been forced to compromise.. As you can see I had to use styrofoam insulation which is nearly impossible to my exact specifications. I am thinking of buying some fiberglass insulation (because it will actually fit in my car) and just covering it with left over particle board that have. I haven't seen any other builds using fiberglass insulation though so I'm not sure if I'm missing something.
Also I'm not sure which temperature control to buy. Idealy I would just like to heat the unit with a light bulb or a space heater and maintain the temperature between 65-80F. Any suggestions?
The grain mill/grain storage should be relatively easy to do once I get the fermentation chamber done then its just a matter of putting the finishing on.
I couldn't get the 8x4 pink insulation that I wanted