Brew House Design

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red82mtu

Well-Known Member
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Nov 14, 2008
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Location
Eaton Rapids, MI
Here's the deal. I've got this "cabin" next to the house currently housing patio furniture, sports equipment, and some critters that found gaps in the previous owners crappy construction. The previous owners lived in it with no running water while they roughed in the house.

It is currently insulated, drywalled (minus the ceiling), and wired for power. It no longer has a power feed from the house unfortunately. The squirrels and mice have made a mess with the insulation and it will be gutted to bare studs for cleanup and pest eradication. SWMBO has mandated that a storage closet be built for holiday decorations and the like. Attached is a sketch of what I'm working with showing the storage closet dashed as future.

I've got a chicken coop to finish converting to a dog kennel, and then this will be the focus. I'm looking to get some feedback as to what I should be thinking about once I start in on this. I'll try and post a couple pics of what it looks like tomorrow.

brew house.jpg
 
Depends on your budget and what exactly you want to have out there. You could make a fermentation closet, but that will run you some cash for the cooling equipment/insulation. I would also recommend more than one door for the closet if it only 2.5 feet deep. Or if you decide to go with the fermentation chamber, you could have the closets side by side and deeper. Here is rough idea:

brew_house.jpg
 
Here is a picture of what I'm working with. Including the 100# propane tank that was found in the raspberry bushes behind the brew house.

My plan is to setup my existing 10 gallon propane 3-tier system in there and possibly make it a single tier with the addition of a couple pumps. Haven't thought that far ahead yet, still trying to decide exactly what all I want to have out there and the layout.

Any thoughts, comments, or rude remarks would be welcomed.

IMG00061.jpg
 
Very cool!

If you want to brew in there, you need to make sure you have proper ventilation.

If I ever get a chance to build a brew hut, I'd definately want to have my fermentation take place there, too, so you're not hauling full fermenters around. A fermentation close would be nice, but you could also put a temp controlled fridge/freezer in there, too.

Another recommendation would be a little sink to handle cleanup. Even if you just dump the gray water out the side into the yard, it would be worth it. You definately want to have a water source out there, though.
 
My plan was some sort of vent hood over the brew area up front, and to have some type of utility sink running to a french drain.

As far as water I had kinda thought that running an RV hose from the faucet on the side of the house to a cheap filter housing on the brew house would work since its less than 50' just to keep things simple.
 
One thing that needs to be done is verify the foundation. I was told when we bought the place that it is a deck block foundation, but the sand has shifted and I can't see a thing. I'm planning on taking the tractor and scraping it back and I hope to find some blocks under there. If not, it'll be a pain to get some under there.

SWMBO's dad can get me marker board for a good deal (usually free :rockin:), so my plan was to cover the brew area walls with the stuff. Should be good for moisture resistance and for making notes / calulations on.

After Parker36's suggestion, here is the modified layout. If I get out there to do some cleaning this afternoon, I'll try and snap a couple pics of the inside.

Anything else I'm missing that I should be considering?

brew house-Model.jpg
 
I agree that the storage closet is taking up too much room. I'd get a freezer to ferment in and make the brewroom bigger. Just my .02.
 
As much as I would like to have that storage closet gone, it is not up to me. That was part of the agreement for setting up the brew hut. Either she has storage space in there or it stays as it is now, just a storage cabin. We have very little storage space in the house and no garage. I was glad for spring to get the grill out of the cabin so there was enough room to actually get in there and move around. If anyone has any ideas as to how to make the best use of the limited space I'd appreciate it.
 
Go MTU! I'm a grad myself.

How about instead of a storage closet you build large table height cabinets around the perimeter and use the space under them for storage. This still gives you room to work a fermentation cabinet into the brew house, a work surface and plenty of storage.
 
Go MTU! I'm a grad myself.

How about instead of a storage closet you build large table height cabinets around the perimeter and use the space under them for storage. This still gives you room to work a fermentation cabinet into the brew house, a work surface and plenty of storage.

It's been almost 5 years since I left Tech and I do miss that place. Even more to i miss the KBC and having good local beer. :(
 
Rafter storage and some under counter built in storage may be the ticket. Should be enough room for everything that way and keep it clean and out of sight.

I'll see what other chores on the hunny-do list I'll have to get done or add for SWMBO to agree, but she's usually reasonable once she sees it on paper and gets a feel for how cramped it will be. I guess being an engineering technician and spending most of your day drafting helps her out with that.

I'll kick around a few ideas with her and get a revised layout up for comment.
 
I would add my .02 for a side-by-side fermentation cabinet (as in my sig) and a keezer for conditioning/serving. It is a great set-up and takes up less space than a built in chamber. Plus, then you can use more than one temperature (ales/lagers/conditioning/serving).

Looks awesome! I can't wait to see it come together.
 
I would add my .02 for a side-by-side fermentation cabinet (as in my sig) and a keezer for conditioning/serving. It is a great set-up and takes up less space than a built in chamber. Plus, then you can use more than one temperature (ales/lagers/conditioning/serving).

Looks awesome! I can't wait to see it come together.

Thanks for the .02, I'm trying to get as much feedback and ideas as possible so that once this gets done I'll be less likely to say "I wish I had..".

Not that changes and upgrades won't be possible, I would just like to have it thought through enough so that I'm not doing more work and doing it twice in the end.

Maybe I'll take a look at doing a storage closet built for a fermentation chamber, and go with side-by-side cabinet for now. I'm sure as we get some more work done finishing our basement I'll come up with some more storage room there. The ideas are flowing now, but I should be working...:(
 
There is a thread around here that has pictures and instructions about doing a undercounter fermentation chamber with a slightly modified refrdigerator. Maybe put that under one side and above you would have counter space plus a fridge to use as well.

BTW Petoskey is one of my favorite towns in up-north michigan. Boyne, Charlevoix, Harbor Springs too, could definetly live up there or at least vacation for extended periods.
 
Rafter storage and some under counter built in storage may be the ticket. Should be enough room for everything that way and keep it clean and out of sight.

I'll see what other chores on the hunny-do list I'll have to get done or add for SWMBO to agree, but she's usually reasonable once she sees it on paper and gets a feel for how cramped it will be. I guess being an engineering technician and spending most of your day drafting helps her out with that.

I'll kick around a few ideas with her and get a revised layout up for comment.

Build her an extra shed/cabin, you know you're gonna have to.:(
 
Build her an extra shed/cabin, you know you're gonna have to.:(

A pole barn will be an eventual for tractor, boat and snowobile storage. As of right now, there are about half a dozen other projects on the list that need to be completed first, like a retaining wall in front of said cabin, topsoil and seed for the entire yard, add bathroom to basement, finish basement, etc.

I'm thinking that I'm going to talk her into building a fermentation chamber that will not be put into actual use as such until the pole barn is built. She can have it as nice secure storage area to keep the critters out of Christmas decorations and such for awhile. Then as more storage space is created, I get what I want. Not ideal, but can be done on a much smaller budget than tacking a 30' x 40' pole barn on our 5 acres.

I'll either go with an under-counter fermentation cabinet or something along the lines of Boerderij_Kabouter's side-by-side chamber for the interim.

That's the plan for today, it'll change tomorrow.
 
Really haven't put any more thought into the final product of this, but here are a couple of shots from my blackberry of the inside of the existing cabin.

IMG00070.jpg
IMG00071.jpg
IMG00072.jpg
IMG00073.jpg
IMG00074.jpg
 
Plans are looking like a whole lot of nothing at this time. I'm guessing this is going to get put in the "dream" pile for awhile. Between work and the projects other people think are more important its on hold indefinately. If I can't do it right, I guess why bother doing it at all.
 
Plans are looking like a whole lot of nothing at this time. I'm guessing this is going to get put in the "dream" pile for awhile. Between work and the projects other people think are more important its on hold indefinately. If I can't do it right, I guess why bother doing it at all.

Let me help you out I'll drive up and pick that cabin up then you can start out with a clean slate.

Thank me later Pat
 
Let me help you out I'll drive up and pick that cabin up then you can start out with a clean slate.

Thank me later Pat

A can of gas could do the same trick.

If i could afford to start with a clean slate, I would love to, but again if we all had the money and the time we'd all be happy.
 
Red,

I suggest modeling it in Sketchup. It makes layout and conceptualization MUCH easier.

Here is a layout of my plans for my brewery...

Full basement:
Basement_I.png


The brewery:
Basement_II.png

Basement_III.png


Top view:
Basement_IV.png


By taking an extra hour or two to model it out, you can be sure your workflow will be easy and the space will be well used. Many components can be taken directly from the 3D warehouse and used without any work at all!
 
Another suggestion red82mtu or for anyone attempting to design layouts for brewspaces/bars/etc... the low-tech old school method.

Get graph paper and layout the floor plan to scale and marking where door openings, windows are as well.

Then use another piece of graph paper and cut out pieces of paper to scale to represent the items you wish to have in the room (brewrig, fermchambers, chairs, work benches, etc.).

Then you can take all of your pieces and place them on top of the graph paper with the floor plan. Move, add things in, take things out, slide things, rearrange, over and over ad nauseam.

Then you can figure out what can fit, how to best arrange things, etc. etc.

It really is useful.
 
It's been almost 5 years since I left Tech and I do miss that place. Even more to i miss the KBC and having good local beer. :(

I'm an '07 Tech grad from Harbor Springs. I got a job here in Houghton at GE Aviation. Kinda switched places, didn't we?

EDIT: any updates on the project? Is this still on hiatus?
 
Do I see a stripper pole in there? wait, is that TWO stripper poles!? Nice planning ahead! Jokes aside, thats a pretty awesome layout. I like the work shop in the back and the huge ferm chamber/room (I assume thats what the empty room is)
 
I'm an '07 Tech grad from Harbor Springs. I got a job here in Houghton at GE Aviation. Kinda switches places, didn't we?

EDIT: any updates on the project? Is this still on hiatus?

Well 8 months ago before I got laid off I would have agreed that we switched places. Now that I'm living downstate in a rental house, no so much.

040600951844[00].jpg

Its a bad picture, but the 5 acres, house, barn, and would be brewhouse is for sale.
 
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