Basement Brewery Suggestions.

[dieselboy]

Hi All,

I've been out of the home-brew circuit for a while. It was mostly due to lack of space for my brewery. I just bought a house and have a room that is dedicated for the brewery that about 12'x20'.

My current brew gear consists of the brewery which is a RIMS setup with Electronically controlled HLT, MT, and manual control propane BK; a kegerator, 48" hood, stockpot, and small tool box full of random triclamps and gaskets.

I also have a 48" commercial style range that I bought for a house I never built. Is there is any use for it? I don't recall much stove top or oven need the last time I brewed.

My main question is what would you put in your perfect brew room? I was thinking a 2 bay sink for cleaning and some shelves. Anyone have good inputs on grain storage? Maybe a whiteboard to keep track of brew information.

Throw your ideas at me!

 

[jsprinceiii]

Definitely a sink and a pre-wash sprayer.
Are you thinking Electric, or Gas?

 

[wisconsinitebrewer]

I am actually using a hood range to vent the steam out of my basement. A friend had one for free that he gave me. Free was cheaper than building one so that's what I'm using. Plus, another stainless item in the brewery!
The one thing I did to make the hood range work is I took out "stock" fan that the hood range came with. I then used a reducer and put a Vortex fan to throw the steam out.

 

[IslandLizard]

Why not put the 48" commercial range to use in your kitchen? That's if there's space and you like cooking. If it doesn't fit, and you do "catering" maybe put it to use in your brew room.

I brew in the kitchen, on a 3500W induction plate. I use the kitchen stove to boil down the occasional extra runnings that don't fit in my 8 gallon kettle (a bit small for 5.5-6 gallon batches), heat water for steeping dark grains outside of the mash, make sugar syrups, yeast starters, toast grains, etc.

 

[dilligafbrewing]

while the thought may make you shudder at first, i use these plastic jugs that kitty litter come in for grain storage. they hold 10 lbs of grain, are air-tight and have a nice handle. got the idea from a brewer in my neighborhood. after using all the litter i just wash and sanitize really well. they fit nicely on shelves and the caps are large enough to write contents on them with a sharpie. i guess if you dont have a cat then this may not be helpful.

as far as brew space, i'm building my basement brewery currently. i'm doing all electric biab to save space and material. I use an rv water filter with garden hose adaptor for my brew water, havent found anything wrong with it and my mashes run at 5.2-5.4 ph consistently. good lighting is key, as is a designated area for washing and sanitizing. also helpful is a comfortable place to sit and enjoy a homebrew between hop additions.

 

[augiedoggy]

while the thought may make you shudder at first, i use these plastic jugs that kitty litter come in for grain storage. they hold 10 lbs of grain, are air-tight and have a nice handle. got the idea from a brewer in my neighborhood. after using all the litter i just wash and sanitize really well. they fit nicely on shelves and the caps are large enough to write contents on them with a sharpie. i guess if you dont have a cat then this may not be helpful.

as far as brew space, i'm building my basement brewery currently. i'm doing all electric biab to save space and material. I use an rv water filter with garden hose adaptor for my brew water, havent found anything wrong with it and my mashes run at 5.2-5.4 ph consistently. good lighting is key, as is a designated area for washing and sanitizing. also helpful is a comfortable place to sit and enjoy a homebrew between hop additions.

nothing wrong with that... it was used for clean unused litter afterall... although I would be curious if the scented stuff left an oder in the pail.. I saved one myself but havent reused it for anything yet.