Basement brewery build.

First, thanks to all you guys whoes pictures inspired me to work a room over for a brewery. Homebrewers are not gonna just have a bunch of crap scattered all over the garage anymore!

I bought a house two months ago I started converting an old bedroom in the basement to a brewery. it's dated, old shag carpet on top of a 6" subfloor and old plywood "wood" paneling and a false ceiling with those old fiber staple-in ceiling tiles. In the middle of the room there was a 6' closet and on one end a sink room. I tore down the closet and the sink room and not knowing what to do with all the paneling i screwed it to the floor joists for a ceiling, now i have at least 7' ceilings.

I thought it would be fun to start a thread showing my progression, purely for selfish reason if anything





*FIRST UPDATE
I gave the ceiling and the walls a coat of paint. Ceiling is white and the walls are a wintergreen variety. Installed a lenoleum tile floor, a sink, and starting on the ceramic tile to go around my boiling stand.




next update.
The Holidays, new years, girlfriend, snow and ice killed the power for 2 days. I'm ready to roll. It just takes a lot of time and work to get all this stuff together.

Lots of good potential there! Have fun with the project!

next i'll rip the carpet up and put a coat of paint on it. I'm not looking forward to painting inside the hundreds of little 1/8 " groves in the paneling. But i'm allways suprised on what a coat of paint will do for a room.

That carpeting & paneling brought back memories of the house I grew up in. That stuff is old.

Looks like you got some work ahead of you. Look forward to seeing the progression.

That place looks like a murder scene. Can't wait so see it progress!

DocRobinson said:

That place looks like a murder scene. Can't wait so see it progress!

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thanks man. Murder scene LOL

You have to save that paneling, It is too awesome.

Is that a stripper pole?

it's a stripper pole NOW!

the paneling is getting a coach of paint. it's sucks the light out your eyesballs.

That carpet rules!

If you spray the paneling, you'll have a MUCH easier time of it.

I didn't sray the paneling - i dont have a sprayer. it's a little spotty, but it will work. I think the color turned out all right.

I am somewhat doing the same thing... Only now do I have some time to dedicate to THIS part of the house... slowly. My brewing gear is finally all under the same roof.

Details on running water lines and drain..?

Cool :rockin:

Water lines and drain. The wall that my sink is next to was an area that had just a sink. little shaving sink bathroom nook thing. so i had copper hot and cold lines there, with plenty of length to spare. The drain is a floor drain in the basement, i'll just run a 1.50 in pvc line through the wall to it, it's only 8 feet away . The filter is your typical whole house filter with flexible sink lines connecting it all. I'll get some better picks tonight. It's a pain to get all the fittings together - especially sifting through rows of parts bins.

If you have access to a better supply store than I do, like a lowes, Home depot, Menards, i recomend staying away from compression fittings and using JIC. If your using copper lines, that is.

one more post to bump it- trying to brew my first beer in my new brew room. I'm using a yeast pack that is at least 10 months old. I made a slurry for it to brew in last night so i'm crossing my fingers.

Features. Built in fermentation closet, sink with water filter, side by side fridge with digital temp control for lagering, a freezer, shelves, two windows that open for ventilation and a fan to blow fumes out above the boil pot. The main thing with renovating the room was simple functionality on a budget and easy cleanup.

That's probably my main concern, if the place will vent well enough or get super cold when i have it all opened up. I have CO2 detectors in the room and upstairs, so i just have to be conscious for this first brew.

Anyway, i'm excited. using new stuff and new set ups can sometimes cause headaches on brew day but i know this will make brewing a lot easier and I advise anyone thinking about renovating a room for brewing to go for it.

nice project, looks like you've got a pretty sweet setup there. I think it should vent well enough with the fan blowing out right above the bk, and i really don't think cold will be a problem (although that may be relative, i brewed in my garage last saturday and the high was 0*f). You have to be doing it right with those rogue imperial flip tops in the mix. Good luck on your first batch

THanks man. Were expecting 31 with a 20% chance of white stuff so i should be good.

Those flips tops are awesome, they come in pretty handy for beer club meetings.

Great job, looks very tidy. I'm sure you'll enjoy having all your brewing stuff in one place. Just be careful storing those carboys that high. If one falls the explosion will be impressive and very dangerous to anyone in the blast zone.

Cheers

been thinking about putting them on the bottom, might be something i can do while i'm waiting on the boil. thanks dude.

I am not an expert by any means but are you sure that will be adequate ventilation. people are worried about brewing in the garage with the door partially open. I dont see how a small fan can be sufficient. I am soon goin to be setting up my stuff in the basement i was thinking about ventilation.

i have the 12 inch fan blowing out of the window, and the other window open to let air in. And the stairs leading to my room has a outside door - with a fan blowing that air in. it still gets too hot for my taste, that burner kicks out a lot of heat. Seriously underestimated the heat it puts out. i also have a co detector 10 ft away from the burner and in a room above the basement room. I think it's important to have CO detectors, and after using it i know i need more fresh air blown in. Next time i'll put a fan in the open window blowing air in. Hope this helps you out.

you're lucky. my woman insists i have to keep it in the garage. you get to use your basement. good job, keep the progress postings coming

crawford said:

i have the 12 inch fan blowing out of the window, and the other window open to let air in. And the stairs leading to my room has a outside door - with a fan blowing that air in. it still gets too hot for my taste, that burner kicks out a lot of heat. Seriously underestimated the heat it puts out. i also have a co2 detector 10 ft away from the burner and in a room above the basement room. I think it's important to have CO2 detectors, and after using it i know i need more fresh air blown in. Next time i'll put a fan in the open window blowing air in. Hope this helps you out.

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Along with the carbon monoxide detector that you already have (CO not CO2 just so you know ), I would also recommend getting a good fire extinguisher and mounting it to the wall near (but not too close) to your burner. An ABC dry chem extinguisher like this should work just fine.

Eric

thanks,i do need a fire extinguisher, thanks for reminding me.

crawford said:

thanks,i do need a fire extinguisher, thanks for reminding me.

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No problem, it's the Firefighter/Paramedic in me.

Eric

looks good!

Propane is heavier the air. So if you get a propane leak, etc.. I will pool up in the low spots. If you windows are at the top of the room, this would present a problem. Most forums I'm on, if someone mentions using propane in a basement they get stern stern warnings..