Hi guys, I have a 6x10 room in my basement that looks to be an old shelter or something that I want to convert to my brew room. It's basically all concrete accept the ceiling which is partially concrete because it's under my front porch. I'm going to put some finishing work into it but I am trying to figure out the best way to control the temp in the room. Any ideas would be great? Thanks guys
Brew Room
- Thread starter HoshBrew
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ghetto_brewer
New Member
The title was brew room, but I'm thinking you want to use it for fermenting or aging.
For brewing, think about draining and being able to hose things down along with ventilation and gas/water supply. If you want to ferment or age, you will probably want a separate system for temp than the rest of your house. Keep insulation in mind as well as sealing up drafty air leaks. Is there any exposure to light? If so, block the radiant heat of the sun.
If it were me, I'd use it for aging/storage. I would also use it for fermenting because a basement usually has constant/low temps, and I wouldn't worry about temp control. I use a lot of ale yeasts and make quite good beer fermenting at 72-78 F (loving that WLP001!)
Cheers!
For brewing, think about draining and being able to hose things down along with ventilation and gas/water supply. If you want to ferment or age, you will probably want a separate system for temp than the rest of your house. Keep insulation in mind as well as sealing up drafty air leaks. Is there any exposure to light? If so, block the radiant heat of the sun.
If it were me, I'd use it for aging/storage. I would also use it for fermenting because a basement usually has constant/low temps, and I wouldn't worry about temp control. I use a lot of ale yeasts and make quite good beer fermenting at 72-78 F (loving that WLP001!)
Cheers!
HoshBrew
Well-Known Member
Yeah the title is off, I would be using it for fermentation/aging. It has zero exposure to light but here in Missouri there is quite a temp change with the seasons so I think I will need some control. Insulation is no problem in the room. I guess I'm more looking at ways to heat and cool without costing myself tons of money.
goybar
Well-Known Member
isn't that was kal in the electric brewer had, a room under his porth that was turned into the brewery? The Electric Brewery
Huaco
Well-Known Member
I am on another forum (ArcheryTalk) and in the DIY section there, guys are using the CoolBot for their DIY walk-in meat coolers. They are VERY happy with them! I have a room on my garage that I am thinking of sheathing with panel insulation and mounting a wall/window unit in the door. I would love to be able to lager/ferment in a walk-in room!
Huaco
Well-Known Member
However, It sure seems like there would be some other type of controller that could be used for FAR LESS than $299!!!!
irishbrewman
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i am the opposite from you guys i need a way to heat my basement brew room/ferment room it is great for storage but fermenting is tough it stays a constant 50 degrees down there even if it is 100 outside any cheap ideas for that
Varmintman
Well-Known Member
Short of running power and putting in a baseboard heater you are kind of screwed.
I am in the same boat myself so I primary in a insulated heated room in the winter and after everything is carbed I box up the bottles and store in my room that never gets warm.
Trying to warm all the concrete up is going to take some time and more that a lot of energy in my head. Not to mention if your room is like mine there is no ventilation in it and boiling a gallon and a half of water off in there just sounds to me to be asking for mold.
I am in the same boat myself so I primary in a insulated heated room in the winter and after everything is carbed I box up the bottles and store in my room that never gets warm.
Trying to warm all the concrete up is going to take some time and more that a lot of energy in my head. Not to mention if your room is like mine there is no ventilation in it and boiling a gallon and a half of water off in there just sounds to me to be asking for mold.
TopherM
Well-Known Member
The basic jist is you need to insulate the crap out of the room, top to bottom (not too expensive) to simulate a walk-in cooler, then add a small AC unit that draws air from an ajoining room, preferably another basement room to start with colder air and help with the efficiency of the AC condenser.
Once you get up to the $299.00 or so range on AC units, they have their own digital temp controllers, but they typically have about a +/- 3-5 degree margin of error, so you could additionally add a temp controller unit to the AC unit to more accurately control temps.
That's about all you need. If you do all the work yourself, you could probably complete this whole project for about $600-700.
Once you get up to the $299.00 or so range on AC units, they have their own digital temp controllers, but they typically have about a +/- 3-5 degree margin of error, so you could additionally add a temp controller unit to the AC unit to more accurately control temps.
That's about all you need. If you do all the work yourself, you could probably complete this whole project for about $600-700.
Huaco
Well-Known Member
What about controlling each fermenter with a "controlled" heating blanket... You could get a thermowell in your fermenter and a temp controller would turn the heating blanket on and off as needed to keep that one fermenter at whatever temperature you desire...
space heaters can be found for pretty cheap.
