So last xmas my wife got together with my family and decided that they would all get me 'everything' I need to brew my own beer! [ I had been interested for a while, just not made the move] I haven't brewed nearly as much as I have wanted, time being the most limiting factor, but tied into that the amount of time to convert the kitchen to 'brew house' for the day, and back to kitchen again.
So fast forward to now... and I brewed a few beers a couple weeks ago, just kegged one last night and my wife was helping me out when she says, would this be easier if you had a place in the basement to do most of this?... well yes of course and to my surprise she says why don't we find a used gas stove on craigslist, a used countertop for a workspace and you can finally build that fermentation chamber that you said would be easier to use, and eventually even the lager chamber thing you "need". if that wasn't enough she continues talking about the kegerator I want to build ( old fridge has been in the basement for a year holding a keg with picnic tap) and she asks if it would be possible to run a PVC line holding the beer lines to the first floor kitchen, so when we have larger groups of friends over they wouldnt have to go to the basement where the kegerator is!
Of course my first question was and where is my wife? I mean she was always on board with me doing the brew thing, hell she helped get me the stuff... but I didnt see this coming!
This will definitly be a project being worked on over the next few months at least, as I don't really have the time to just dive in , plus I don't have an unlimited budget to work on, so I plan on putting a plan together, then as I find things on CL or other places piece my project together! but I figured I would start the thread now... take some "before" pictures soon, and get a plan started!
Basic set up will include the following
Gas Stove to boil on
Counter top to work on/ place mashtun etc / bottle on etc
fermentation chamber - custom closet type I designed, my basement doesnt get over 70 deg, but does drop to 50, so I really only need air circ, and heat
lager chamber - going to build using an old dorm fridge
kegerator - building from an old fridge/freezer the plan is for 4 taps
kitchen tap line - I plan to run 4 lines inside PVC, not sure on insulate/cooling yet, as the plan is just to use this for parties, if I don't insulate/have it hooked all the time I will get an extra corny keg to hook up after use to simply clean out the lines, so at party time I can just change the beer line quick disconnects from fridge taps to kitchen.. not 100% sure on this yet though
big sink already in basement
water lines - I plan to run water lines above stove so I can fll pots without moving them full... maybe a pump eventually so I can not have to move anything with liquid
So fast forward to now... and I brewed a few beers a couple weeks ago, just kegged one last night and my wife was helping me out when she says, would this be easier if you had a place in the basement to do most of this?... well yes of course and to my surprise she says why don't we find a used gas stove on craigslist, a used countertop for a workspace and you can finally build that fermentation chamber that you said would be easier to use, and eventually even the lager chamber thing you "need". if that wasn't enough she continues talking about the kegerator I want to build ( old fridge has been in the basement for a year holding a keg with picnic tap) and she asks if it would be possible to run a PVC line holding the beer lines to the first floor kitchen, so when we have larger groups of friends over they wouldnt have to go to the basement where the kegerator is!
Of course my first question was and where is my wife? I mean she was always on board with me doing the brew thing, hell she helped get me the stuff... but I didnt see this coming!
This will definitly be a project being worked on over the next few months at least, as I don't really have the time to just dive in , plus I don't have an unlimited budget to work on, so I plan on putting a plan together, then as I find things on CL or other places piece my project together! but I figured I would start the thread now... take some "before" pictures soon, and get a plan started!
Basic set up will include the following
Gas Stove to boil on
Counter top to work on/ place mashtun etc / bottle on etc
fermentation chamber - custom closet type I designed, my basement doesnt get over 70 deg, but does drop to 50, so I really only need air circ, and heat
lager chamber - going to build using an old dorm fridge
kegerator - building from an old fridge/freezer the plan is for 4 taps
kitchen tap line - I plan to run 4 lines inside PVC, not sure on insulate/cooling yet, as the plan is just to use this for parties, if I don't insulate/have it hooked all the time I will get an extra corny keg to hook up after use to simply clean out the lines, so at party time I can just change the beer line quick disconnects from fridge taps to kitchen.. not 100% sure on this yet though
big sink already in basement
water lines - I plan to run water lines above stove so I can fll pots without moving them full... maybe a pump eventually so I can not have to move anything with liquid