Building a House

So... Bought land and building a new house in the next year or so. Realistically, I'm still going to be brewing with my turkey fryer and cooler mash tun for the foreseeable future. However, this is going to be our "forever" house and I'd like to incorporate as many small things into the house as I can to help in future brewing.

The only thing I can think of is hot and cold water with a deep sink in the garage. Any other ideas? I'm just starting talks with the architect.

1. Make that a double sink!
2. Outlets! Never know you might go electric and need 1 or 2 30A outlets...

Congrats,
Beats the hell ouut of renting.

A walk in cooler, or seperately air-conditioned room for fermentation/storage?

Easy hookups for an RO system next to that sink?

Natural gas hookups in the intended brewing area?

Ventilation in intended brewing area for pleasant comfortable indoor brewing year-round?

That's all I got for now. Congrats man!

Put in a big floor drain with a grate over the top. Will be very useful.

a brew room with hot/cold water and 50A service

I second getting your electrical all squared, and it would be pretty sweet to have a super-insulated "fermentation corner" somewhere. Also maybe design it to easily have beers on tap in your kitchen/den/wherever.

Yeah nice set up for taps in a kitchen/bar area would be optimal. Gas stove would be a good thing to consider for making starters or heating up sparge water, even if you are brewing outside.

I would personally do a 3 tier system with a staircase running up the back of it, basically a staircase to nowhere going up a wall. This way you could access the top of your HLT, mash tun, and kettle without messing with a pesky ladder or pumps. You could even make the same stair case be the access to a storage area over your garage.

Put a small(ish) water heater in you brewing area. You don't have to leave it on but just have it there for hot cleaning water. You can turn it on to full temp setting and flip the breaker only when you are brewing or cleaning and such.

That would be my number 1 so that it is separate from the main water heater and not turned on most times.

After that is more electrical outlets in the brew area than you ever think you will need. 50A service is a must at one location at least (GFCI circuit of course).

Seriously do all of this stuff now as it gets so much more expensive to add after construction is done.

Thanks for all of the greet ideas!

I second (or third?) the "fermentation corner". I incorporated this into my dream shed plan. 6" insulation all around including overhead, with a window a/c unit w/ heat capability.

Would be a perfect place to store grain and adjuncts also, to free up fridge space.

Also, if nat gas is available, have a line run to the back patio for the grill.

In landscape design, maybe a place to grow some hops? or a vegetable garden?

It's hard to know exactly what to recommend, since you don't specify what your preferred methods are, or what volume you brew. It's also difficult to be specific about fermentation provisions, not knowing the ambient temperatures in the brew area.
I would endorse the previous recommendations that you have the electrical and plumbing that you think you MIGHT use done in construction, as it will be more cheaply and easily done then than at a later time.

220V 50A service.
120V outlets, how many ???
Hot & cold water faucets, faucets should be outdoor type with screw attachments for hose. These could be on a deep sink, which there is a very good chance you'll want.

NB: I'm not going to comment about ventilation, since building codes can vary quite a bit.

My first choice is still the fermentation corner, but as a second:

I often brew in my brother-in-law's honey processing warehouse in the winter when it is pretty shut down, and he has a GIANT triple-basin stainless steel sink. He got it for free when a guy he used to fish with retired and closed his bakery. Anyways, it is the greatest thing that ever happened to 5-15 gallon brew sessions for ease of clean. Hell you can put an entire ale pale or 10 gallon pot in to soak the sinks are so big and it has great spots to dry things, etc. I'm not advocating a triple basin commercial stainless sink per se (they are absurdly expensive) but it is extremely convenient (and conducive to expediency) in my opinion to have really big ole sinks. Maybe a pair of the deep plastic "mud/laundry" style sinks? And a hose. And a floor drain. I like to clean, messy.

hillhousesawdustco said:

I'm not advocating a triple basin commercial stainless sink per se (they are absurdly expensive) but it is extremely convenient (and conducive to expediency) in my opinion to have really big ole sinks. Maybe a pair of the deep plastic "mud/laundry" style sinks? And a hose. And a floor drain. I like to clean, messy.

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I've got one in my basement brewery, and love it. Check out restaurant equipment auctions in your area, or even Craigslist. I luck out on mine. My dad knew the guy who got the demo rights to an area shopping mall. Mine came from one of the food court shops. I got the sink, faucet, and spray handle for $100.

Not sure what you are planning for the kegging/bottling/ consuming end, but I personally love my thru the wall taps.



Then again, if I were starting from scratch with a house I might have a bigger bar. Just an idea.

Depends on where you are going to set up your brewery, you may want to consider the following:

1) Don't just have outlets, have a service panel with up to 100A. This will allow you to do anything electric you can imagine as well as welding equipment or similar.
2) Hot/Cold water and commercial "sized" sinks. I managed across a 2-basin with sideboard Elkay SS slop sink on Craigslist for $400. Steal of the century, but at least you could have plastic laundry tubs.
3) Floor drain.
4) Cold room and/or fermentation chamber space.
5) If you are in space like a garage, you may want to focus on ventilation (for gas and if it gets hot in the summer) and heating for the winter (if you are in a location that this is a concern).

I am sure there are more or better ideas, but thsoe seem like pretty critical ones from a first pass look.

apparatus said:

Put in a big floor drain with a grate over the top. Will be very useful.

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DITTO.

Getting plenty of elec as well, yeah.

Would veto the suggestion for a walk-in unless you are brewing massive amounts all the time...otherwise not worth the cost and that money can be better spent elsewhere. Personally I'd prefer a converted freezer or fridge for a fermentation chamber and such.

If you do build the walk in....go full tilt and build a walk in humidor right next to it

Poobah58 said:

2. Outlets! Never know you might go electric and need 1 or 2 30A outlets...

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+1 for outlets. I'd do a couple dedicated 110V as well as 220V circuits so that you have the option to go electric. Also might be nice if you have or decide to buy a welder for brewing projects. I just got a 110V one for Father's Day. I probably would have gone with a 220V welder if I had an outlet in the garage.

Also a natural gas line would be nice. That way you could go electric, gas, or a hybrid. I use 110V 1500 Watt heating elements on my HERMS for the mash, then my boil is on a propane camp stove.

Not sure how much land or budget you have, but a small steel outbuilding for a brew shed would be awesome. That way SWMBO can't complain about brewing equipment all over the garage

get a hot water spigot outside near where you brew.

NOt sure how much yard you have, but my neighbor has a 12x16 foot shed in the back with barn doors and then has a concrete slab outside. You could wheel stuff out there to wash or on nice days just take it outside! If you could manage to get this done, run with electric and water and drain, then you could insulate yourself for cheap and even build a small fermenting room with temp control. You would have a mini-brewery without SWMBO getting all pissy about all your gadgets everywhere.

a beer cellar

I think this will mostly echo the above, but here is what I ultimately want my brew area to have:
Large double basin sink with hot and cold water
Floor drain
Heat for winter brewing
Storage space (shelving) for all brew equipment
Natural gas line or sufficient electrical service so i wont need propane
Fermentation chamber or room and also room for a large chest freezer for cold storage, carbonating and conditioning.
Ventilation
Stereo, tv and computer would be nice, but not a priority.