Brew in the garage

I want to move brewing out of the kitchen and into the garage. I just bought a propane burner and she's afraid I'll burn down the house if I brew in the garage. I'm convinced its safe, what do you all think?

I wouldnt be afraid of burning down the house but carbon monoxide poisoning could be a real danger here. But if you have good ventilation i would give it a try (with co detector plugged nearby).
I brew in the garage, its detached and i wide open big and small door and im fine but i also use NG instead propane and i think it has less of the CO risk

I brew on an enclosed porch. Open the doors and get good ventilation. Keep away from the walls and you should have no problems. I did slightly melt vinyl siding in the porch I now have moved the burner farther away and put a sheet of plywood between. I need to get even better insulation there.

Have a fire extinguisher handy.

Don't leave for any longer than it takes to relieve yourself of the homebrews consumed during brewing!

In good weather you could move to the driveway.

I brew in the garage all the time. Just do it near the door with it open or cracked open. No worries.

Here's what I did:


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-garage-hood-heat-shield-375755/

I brew in garage 100%

I also brew in the garage 100% of the time. Never had an issue, even when I couldn't open the big door to get my car out because of snow. The normal sized door to the back yard provided sufficient ventilation when open.

Showed the wife this forum as proof it's ok to brew in the garage and now she think I need some sort of heat shield and a fire extinguisher first. I'm going to be brewing ing the center of the garage away from the walls with the garage door open for ventilation. Should be fine without a heat shield right?

All garages should have fire extinguishers no matter what. Also should have one in the kitchen and on each floor.

Next time you brew in the kitchen, let a massive boil over occur on the stove... That'll get her wanting you to brew in the garage pretty quick!

I brew in the backyard. Not for heat shields, but for windshields, I use ceramic floor tiles right against the burner stand. I've had three of four sides shielded and no problems.

gavball6 said:

Next time you brew in the kitchen, let a massive boil over occur on the stove... That'll get her wanting you to brew in the garage pretty quick!

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HaHaHaHa! besides, does she not think you need a fire extinguisher in the kitchen???

I brew in the garage 100% of the time 12 months long with propane. Always have some ventilation and be smart, it's fire and lots of hot liquids. A little common sense goes a long long way...........

We have a mini extinguisher under the sink ill just bring it down with me. I've decided I'm going to brew in the garage regardless, I know it's safe. As everyone said you just have to be smart about it. It just makes sense, I have too much equipment to lug up to the kitchen all the time. I like the boil over idea, except for the part where I'll be cleaning it up! Thanks for the feedback all!

Every time. Both garage doors open with a fan blowing out an a fire extinguisher handy

Mtn_Brewer said:

Here's what I did:


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-garage-hood-heat-shield-375755/

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That is an awesome bit of metalworking! It reminds me of the exhaust hoods in college chem lab.

Damn, now I want to build one....

I set my burner up about 5 feet in front of my garage door. When I get to the point of building a HERMS, I'll move it into the garage completely and set up some ventilation.

Another garage brewer chiming in. 100% of the time I brew in the garage. I started there because I thought sunlight would skunk my beer. Now I just do it because that is where all my stuff is. I open the attic door and the garage door and have no problems. I have a carbon monoxide detector in there but it has never so much as made a peep when I'm brewing. It goes off if I leave my car running with the garage door open so I know the detector works.

10 years of brewing in my garage on a "turkey fryer" propane set up. I set up near the 16' door, with it wide open. In the winter, I may wear a sweatshirt...

I generally brew outside (under my deck) but sometimes during snowstorms I've brewed in the garage, as others have said I always keep a fire extinguisher on every level of the house, so I'm ready for the worst, I also have a CO detector in the garage (we don't keep cars in there) and thus far it's never gone off while I've been brewing. I do however keep the garage door wide open.

I brew in the garage 100% of the time. I leave the garage door open for ventilation. Not a problem at all.

Garage has been awesome for me for about 9 months out of the year, when I won't freeze my sack (of grain).

It's big enough that I don't need to worry about opening a door or anything, but it's a good idea if you have a smaller garage.

Nowadays I use an electric kettle most of the time, but when it was Propane Burner, I'd just be careful not to walk away from it while it was on. The danger is really very low if you just keep flammable sht form getting too close to it.

Homercidal said:

Garage has been awesome for me for about 9 months out of the year, when I won't freeze my sack (of grain).

It's big enough that I don't need to worry about opening a door or anything, but it's a good idea if you have a smaller garage.

Nowadays I use an electric kettle most of the time, but when it was Propane Burner, I'd just be careful not to walk away from it while it was on. The danger is really very low if you just keep flammable sht form getting too close to it.

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You have grain in your sack?

Actually, the bigger danger when brewing in a garage is carbon monoxide poisoning. Even if you have a big garage you need to ventilate unless it is something like 10,000 sq ft.

I brew in my garage,but the door at least half open with a CO monitor. The propane tank is always on the outside of my garage. I have a fire extinguisher, but worst case I can just roll the entire stand out the door.

OP, I was in the same boat as you. The only difference is that my wife and daughter both hated the smell of the brewing process. So much so that this spring my wife bought me a propane burner. I now have 2-3 batches on it. I just set it out in the driveway in front of the garage, keep the tank as far away as I can. I haven't had any problems yet. The bonus is that it's faster than brewing in the kitchen, and the girls in the house complain less... which means I get to brew more. Come winter, I dont know what I'll do. I'm hoping to have a a decent pipeline so I dont have to brew cause it gets damn cold here. Brewing with the garage door open during a New England winter isn't all that appealing to me.

I went garage months ago and I will open the garage door and one of the back doors for ventilation. In the winter I run a box fan to help circulate any air in and out of the garage in the event of any CO.

I finally brewed in the garage last weekend. It was great. As they say in the movie Step Brothers "so much more space for activities." Easy clean up too. Only drawback is it's been about 100 degrees all week! About 37-38 degrees Celsius for you European chaps. So I may bring down a box fan next time, not as much for ventilation but for air circulation.

if your propane burner is burning properly there will be almost no CO present. you could run the burner all day and have less CO then if you ran your car for 15min.

i have run propane heaters and even kerosene heaters in my garage and have never set my alarm off. but if i start my Gator up without the door open it will go off after 30min of so.

But on the safe side, i do have 2 fire extinguishers and i leave my man door open some.

I use NG and brew in my garage exclusively. I brew on a stand and generally have 2 burners going. I have a CO detector and fire extinguishers just in case. I usually just crack the garage door about 1/3 of the way for ventilation. I have rubber flooring, so I put a piece of cement board under the burners to deflect the heat.

Couldn't wait to brew in the garage. Trying to boil 7-8 gallons on an electric stove is borderline futile. I always brew with the garage door up and the hose is on for any just-in-case moments. I also have a fire extinguisher but I've never come close to needing it. Now that my daughter is old enough that I don't have to worry about her bumping into anything hot, I would never go back to brewing in the house.

I set up my burner just outside the garage door, and set up a folding table with my mash tun and other brew day supplies inside the garage. Never had any problems with fumes from the propane. The plus is that I can close the garage door if the damn cat needs to get into his litter box when I'm brewing.

m3n00b said:

All garages should have fire extinguishers no matter what. Also should have one in the kitchen and on each floor.

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Or just don't smoke and don't leave candles unattended.

Those 2 things cause virtually all home fires outside the kitchen.

kombat said:

Or just don't smoke and don't leave candles unattended.

Those 2 things cause virtually all home fires outside the kitchen.

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this is sure true in Canada anyways.

Do you have any pics of your setup?

I do my brewing in the garage. I open up the door and relax on the old couch I keep in there. Neighbors see the door open and pop over to see whats brewing.

We don't park in the garage, it's my workshop/mancave.

MaddBaggins said:

I do my brewing in the garage. I open up the door and relax on the old couch I keep in there. Neighbors see the door open and pop over to see whats brewing.

We don't park in the garage, it's my workshop/mancave.

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Since we have kids, half of the garage was commandeered by their things. Its a 2 car garage so I still have plenty of space. I have an old kitchen table with 6 chairs to work / drink with friends at during brewing.

@TxBrew, not sure if you were referring to my setup but I sure do have pictures. It's nothing fancy right now but I'll be adding more equipment in the future. For the record I brewed with the garage door and garage window open. But I closed it really quick for better lighting in the second picture.