Help Me Customize My New House for Brewing!

We are getting ready to build a house! And, luckily for us, we know the builder and are going to be able to do some customizing.

We can't go crazy (so the refrigerated beer room is out). We have a small budget for the house/lot. But, I am getting a two-car garage that the SWMBO has already agreed will be my brewing HQ.

I found out yesterday that the new neighborhood is set up for natural gas. So, I'm definitely thinking gas outlets on the patio and maybe in the garage. I'm also going to be asking for a utility sink and a floor drain.

What else can I do? If I wanted to brew in the garage, what sort of ventilation would be necessary? I'd love to do a bar, too.

Help me dream up some other requests I can pass along to our builder. Go nuts! :fro:

you might want to consider pushing the side wall of the garage out a little bit so you can fit you brewing equipment in the garage with two garages.. so it would be a 2.5 car garage.

i think my width is going to be limited. although i am willing to park my car outside in the driveway!

So, I'll have one car and a few yard tools (lawnmower, edger, etc.) - the rest is for BEER.

Assuming your going to brew out side, I would love to have a 4 by 8 Cement slab, out side the garage, That was slightly slanted to allow the water to drain off. I would then add a 4 foot ledge roof over the slab, hot and cold Water and gas access on/in the slab.

It would allow you to brew in the rain. you could screen in for bugs, wall in for weather. long term use one end for a cooler, all the storage would be in the garage.

I like the idea. i may be able to pull off some sort of awning for weather protection. If we do a screened porch, then i will have to get a gas outlet and water spigot.

If you have a large enough yard you could always build a guesthouse type brewshack seprate from your house that is plumbed for gas, water, and electric. Just sayin'.

The brewhouse-shed would be sweet, but the lot isn't going to be huge. I'd rather have the setup in my garage where it can be hidden/shown off at will.

I know I've seen threads where people have hooked up brew stands to natural gas lines and brewed in their basements/garages. How would you ventilate an indoor brew station?

I'm in the planning stages for brewing with propane in my garage. Ventilation is high up on my list and I'm currently stalking craig's list for a commercial grade hood...

Run a lot of electricity into the garage. 2 or 3 220 50amp circuits. Think about what you will need, then double it.

Well, they often put the main panel right in the garage but if not, have a 100amp subpanel put in.

thanks for the electricity tips. It's now on the list!

My garage is a two car tandem, it is basically two cars wide, and two cars deep on one side. I love that setup because there is plenty of room for a shop or brewery in front while still allowing normal parking for cars without worry of a cooler or keggle falling on a car



Edit* +1 on tons of power in the garage, I have two 50 amp 220v outlets and 110v outlets every 5 feet along the walls. I even have six outlets in the ceiling for drop lights or whatever

johntangus said:

We are getting ready to build a house! And, luckily for us, we know the builder and are going to be able to do some customizing.

Click to expand...

Definitely on the gas and plenty of electricity to the garage. You don't need all that juice unless you are going to be welding or running an all-electric set-up, but you only get the easy way of planning it out one time, so make sure you allow for all of your plans and ideas.


Oh, and if you can convince the builder to build you a 2 car +1 tandem garage instead of the standard 2 car, that's the best of all possible worlds, IMO.

Utility sink and floor drain are a must, IMO, but you are starting to get cramped for space if you are going to stick with a standard 2 car garage.

100A subpanel dedicated
Big dual bay wash sink
Floor drain
Hot and cold water lines to sink
Heated and cooled.
That's what I'd want.

Just an fyi, I out grew my garage for brewing. It's 24'x28' with 2 cars parked in it at night. It's now so full of brewing/kegging stuff and 3 freezers, it's ridiculous. My suggestion is build a lean-to off the back of the garage, that's what im doing.

1. Space/storage
2. Electric service, more than you think, I would say 3 110VAC circuits and at least one 220VAC circuit.
3. Gas service
4. Plumbing, both easily accessed stubs and a drain in a convenient location.

Those are the important things. Everything else can be added after or when you need it.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

1. Space/storage
2. Electric service, more than you think, I would say 3 110VAC circuits and at least one 220VAC circuit.
3. Gas service
4. Plumbing, both easily accessed stubs and a drain in a convenient location.

Those are the important things. Everything else can be added after or when you need it.

Click to expand...

Yep, and have a Wolverine Epoxy floor installed before you get oil and brew junk all over the damn place. Just cleaned mine out from a winter of salt and debris... some water, a broom, looks like new again.

Here is a link:

Can buy it through Fred at AlphaGarage:
http://www.alphagarage.com/

There are threads on a garage website linked below and you can see what I'm talking about. Seriously, don't even think of wasting your money on some cheap crap from Home Depot or Lowes or wherever because you will be repairing/replacing it constantly. This stuff is legit and Fred will step you through the whole process.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=20

Here is a pic of my floor with a closeup:

Wall paneling that can be hosed off. Maybe not to the ceiling, but waist height.

Having built a year ago, I would recommend adding 10% to your total expected price, running that through a mortgage calculator, and subtracting the difference between that monthly payment and your current monthly payment from your current monthly brew budget. Then I would recommend having a drink.

*Pre-wire for speakers and cable, internet - the brewhouse is where you should spend most of your time.
* Add some truss blocking, etc. to allow a strategically placed lifting hook. Get a block and tackle and expand your gravity flow capablilties
* Add a recessed area in the floor - over in the corner or something - that you can place a fermenter in for lagering/aging. Not sure where you live, but if you can add a little 4x4 area for instance, and cover it with an insulated wood hatch, that would give you a sweet little 50-degree area to age. Maybe that's overboard....
* put some conduits in the floor to allow you to run electrical from your subpanel to under your brewery area? Conduits are good.
* Remember to slope your floor! There is no such thing as level concrete, make it slope outward or to trench drains or something!


Good luck!