garage brewing

Hello- I am new to this site and so far love all the great info! I am thinking about getting my brewing out of the kitchen and into the garage. I got a big garage that we dont use and our kitchen range is electric. Anyone have any tips on getting this thing going out in the garage. Where to find sinks, counters, propane burners, etc?
Thanks and Cheers!!!

A place like Lowe's. You can get deep sinks, turkey burners, cabinets, and counter tops there. My brewing stand is made of industrial shelving units.

could you send a picture of your set up? Much appreciated

Unfortunately, it isn't setup at this time. I had a new garage built & I'm still settling into what the new arrangement will be.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, I'd keep my eyes open on Craigslist. People are always redoing their kitchens, so you might be able to find some old cabinets, countertops, sinks, etc. for nothing more than the gas to go pick them up. I've seen stuff listed in the local papers, as well. Is the garage attached to the house? Do you have a water line in there?

Keep you eyes open for old fridges, too, you won't want your fermenters exposed to the temperature changes most garages go through. I've never done it, but a lot of people here have hooked up external thermostats to old fridges either for lagering purposes or just to maintain a consistent temp in the high 60s. I am assuming that if you are setting up shop in the garage, you want EVERYTHING in there, you don't want to be lugging carboys into and out of the basement.

Remember, no propane in enclosed spaces. Unless you like CO poisoning.

AHammer16 said:

Remember, no propane in enclosed spaces. Unless you like CO poisoning.

Click to expand...

I think that ahammer is saying that adequate ventilation is required

thanks for the advice. I was planning on a hood over the burner b/c CO poisoning isn't all that much fun. I have a water line out there as well.
Craigslist hasn't turned up much yet but the craigslist for this area is just getting around, not like it is for larger metro areas, yet.
thanks again!
It is seems like brewing specific websites are charging alot more for the same items at home depot. For example, a single propane burner was $40 at home depot at $90 on Austin Brewing's website. Anyone else run into this? It seems like the hardware store is the way to go for that stuff

Along this same line of questioning has anyone ever installed an air conditioner in their garage or used a portable air conditioner in their garage? I have a single car garage that I use to brew in but on hot days it gets into the low 90s. From the research I have done, it sounds like the fridge may be a cheaper and less expensive route to go than an air conditioner that uses up a lot of energy.

You could build yourself a walk-in cooler. Frame it out, insulate the hell out of it, and install your A/C. You may want/ need to insulate the garage anyway if you are going to do any serious brewing in there, but I've seen some pictures (maybe on this site) where people have made some very, very cool-looking setups for storage and/or lagering. Depends on how into it you want to get, but doing something like that - with the assumption that you don't skimp on the pink stuff - could be a cheaper way to approach it. That also assumes that the garage doesn't need to remain a garage on non-brew days.

If you're actually going to be brewing in there, I'd hate to be bringing 5 gallons of watter to a roiling boil at the same time I was trying to keep the whole space at 72. Better, perhaps, to separate out the cooling area.