Before I get started

Hi there,
first time post. I'm fairly surprised that it has taken me this long to get serious about home brew. I have always liked beer and am preparing to give it a shot.
I read a bit about brewing indoors or out. I guess the difference is that you can probably brew larger batches outdoors using a propane setup? The question I have is whether I could or should brew in the garage? My garage
has a separate area off to the side that I was thinking of turning into a man cave. The room after I wall it off with a door, has a big window in it which I could crack if venting is necessary. Could I run a propane setup in there safely, or is that a no-no? As it turns out, I have a large propane tank that feeds the gas fireplace just outside the wall of this room and could easily split a line off for brewing in that room.

Thoughts?

Sure you can brew in there!! Of course you may need to set fans, open door, and open/not just crack the window. Are your floors concrete in that room? I'd like to say nothing ever gets on the floor, but I'd be lying!

I brew in my garage when I can't brew outside. It's somewhat finished, and I have wood stove on the opposite side of the garage. I don't have fires going when I brew as a precaution, and usually crack a window and/or door. It can really get like a steam room in there, which is especially nice in the winter!

501irishred said:

Sure you can brew in there!! Of course you may need to set fans, open door, and open/not just crack the window. Are your floors concrete in that room? I'd like to say nothing ever gets on the floor, but I'd be lying!

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The floor is concrete at the moment. I intend to build a slightly raised floor which will go above the flood vents, so that I've got an actual indoor room. My house is built on raised floor and is pretty high off the ground. So, therefore my garage floor which is at ground level makes the garage ceiling very high up - on the order of fourteen feet or so.
I plan on walling this room off so that it's not part of the garage itself except via some exterior double doors leading into the garage. That's in case I or some future owner still want to use it to house a golf cart or tractor. I wanted to be able to cook the brew with the doors and perhaps window closed if possible. I guess you're saying that there needs to be a lot of ventilation. What if I had an exhaust fan set up just like normal kitchen ventilation? Could the window and doors be closed? I'm thinking about a cold day or bugs on a warm day. The darned no-seeums here in Savannah go through screens. Aside from the vapor produced, I'm a bit concerned about fire. I would not use a turkey burner. Is there some more heavy, stable platform that folks might use for indoor use?

Thanks,

Atonk said:

I brew in my garage when I can't brew outside. It's somewhat finished, and I have wood stove on the opposite side of the garage. I don't have fires going when I brew as a precaution, and usually crack a window and/or door. It can really get like a steam room in there, which is especially nice in the winter!

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Bear in mind that I have no experience at all when I ask this -
I thought you had to use a burner of some kind to make beer?
If so, how can you not have "fires going" when you cook in your
garage?

I believe Atonk means he doesn't have fires going at the same time as his brewing burners. I could see that possibly making it too hot in the garage, or at least altering known temperatures he's used to.

When using open flame anything in an enclosed space, there are three "dangers" to avoid. Fire (of course), carbon monoxide, and asphyxiation. The later two can be solved by adequate ventilation (outgoing AND incoming air). Atonk was right on by not using the fireplace simultaneously with the burners if ventilation is minimal, as this could put additional CO in the air and use up more available oxygen. Asphyxiation is certainly a stretch for most residential construction situations (but possible), but CO poisoning is real, and fairly common. Get a CO detector for your room and use some common sense, and you should be fine to continue with your plans. They have some fairly inexpensive detectors that actually display parts per million of CO and could help you fine tune your room/system. Levels of say 3ppm may not engage a go/no go detector, but I would want to know so I could take steps to make sure it remained zero.

I plan on brewing in my garage with my propane setup this winter. Once the snow hits, I'm gonna have to I think. Might feel nice with the heat, and I won't complain about the smell!

metanoia said:

I believe Atonk means he doesn't have fires going at the same time as his brewing burners. I could see that possibly making it too hot in the garage, or at least altering known temperatures he's used to.

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Ok, makes sense. Thanks.

501irishred said:

When using open flame anything in an enclosed space, there are three "dangers" to avoid. Fire (of course), carbon monoxide, and asphyxiation. The later two can be solved by adequate ventilation (outgoing AND incoming air). Atonk was right on by not using the fireplace simultaneously with the burners if ventilation is minimal, as this could put additional CO in the air and use up more available oxygen. Asphyxiation is certainly a stretch for most residential construction situations (but possible), but CO poisoning is real, and fairly common. Get a CO detector for your room and use some common sense, and you should be fine to continue with your plans. They have some fairly inexpensive detectors that actually display parts per million of CO and could help you fine tune your room/system. Levels of say 3ppm may not engage a go/no go detector, but I would want to know so I could take steps to make sure it remained zero.

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Does brewing produce more CO than other forms of normal cooking? I'm trying to understand what the difference is from cooking on a gas stove in the kitchen. Or is it the use of propane that you're thinking will do that. I'm not even sure what I would use for the heat source. I mentioned that I have a propane tank very handy, but I don't have to use that. I'm open to suggestion.
I'm also curious how long a period of time the "cooking" will be. If it's only an hour or so, then it's not a big deal to open the window, but ideally I'd like to exhaust the fumes. I do plan on conditioning the air in that room with a separate source than the house hvac.
I'm editing this paragraph. I read up some on propane vs natural gas and propane burns pretty cleanly unless it's too rich, then it will produce CO. I see your general point now; just to be careful with open flame cooking. I agree it is a good idea to install a CO alarm and I will install adequate ventilation.

I'm finding that beer making can be quite a convoluted task. I see from reading about contamination that it seems pretty much imperitave that I install a sink as well, what with all the bathing in clorox and boiling all the bottles, caps, utensils and even the water to be used for the beer. I can see that there would be some advantage to having experience before designing the layout. It would seem that having a giant sink immediately below a cooking platform might make things a lot easier in terms of dumping and overspill / overboil.
Would a dishwasher work for sterilization? If so, what would you use for the "soap"? I'm guessing some % of clorox or some specially made product. Seems those dishwasher heating elements might help at the end of the cycle. Does anyone do that in lieu of all the manual washing and disinfecting? I'd prefer that step to be as automated and reliable as possible.

jeff_brew said:

I'm finding that beer making can be quite a convoluted task. I see from reading about contamination that it seems pretty much imperitave that I install a sink as well, what with all the bathing in clorox and boiling all the bottles, caps, utensils and even the water to be used for the beer. I can see that there would be some advantage to having experience before designing the layout. It would seem that having a giant sink immediately below a cooking platform might make things a lot easier in terms of dumping and overspill / overboil.
Would a dishwasher work for sterilization? If so, what would you use for the "soap"? I'm guessing some % of clorox or some specially made product. Seems those dishwasher heating elements might help at the end of the cycle. Does anyone do that in lieu of all the manual washing and disinfecting? I'd prefer that step to be as automated and reliable as possible.

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Plastic bucket + star san

This url helped too.
The no rinse part of it seems like a bonus. Is this stuff expensive after awhile? In other words, do some very frugal folks prefer a more home made solution to the problem or is this fairly economical and pretty much a home brew standard.

jeff_brew said:

The no rinse part of it seems like a bonus. Is this stuff expensive after awhile? In other words, do some very frugal folks prefer a more home made solution to the problem or is this fairly economical and pretty much a home brew standard.

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Yes, Star San is pretty much the home brew standard, though others will also suggest iodophor. Star San isn't very expensive at all- my LHBS sells an 8oz bottle for $10. All you need is 1oz for a 5 gallon batch of diluted Star San, and as long as the pH stays below 3, it still sanitizes effectively; I just started using it a few weeks ago, but according to others a batch can last for months if properly stored.

I'll keep it on the list of tools required. I'd sure hate to go through all the steps and expense to make a bunch of beer just to have it get contaminated. I'm curious if even the experienced brewers get contamination now and again without knowing why. Or is it a matter that you never get it if you always follow the same guidelines.

Thanks for info.

There is always a chance, but is VERY rare if you take the right precautions. Stay "afraid" of contamination and the odds will be in your favor to never have one.

metanoia said:

I believe Atonk means he doesn't have fires going at the same time as his brewing burners. I could see that possibly making it too hot in the garage, or at least altering known temperatures he's used to.

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This is exactly what I meant. Thanks

You can store star San for months in a covered bucket depending on how hard your water is. It is also the best sanitizer because it is made specifically for brewing. There is a great brew strong podcast on sanitizing that explains the science better than I can. Check iTunes for the podcast.

Looks like star san is the ticket and to just be careful to follow all
the sanitizing rules.
Thanks everybody.