Full Garage Conversion!

[Sardoth]

I scored. Out back behind my shop there was a brand new steel building that I was renting to a framing crew. Long story short, they left and I had an un-rentable space... so I'm converting it into a building dedicated to making yeast poop alcohol. If you don't mind I'd like some help and feedback on this total refit. I'm even buying new equipment to make this complete. :rockin:

So this is what I've got going. The building will finish out inside at 18'X16'. 288 sq ft for the calculator challenged. The walls are steel, but rigid foam insulation with OSB will insulate it. I will be pouring a concrete floor, bringing power, water, and electricity into it. This is a photo of the current state it is in:

I did a quick sketch on the building and I'll walk you through it. Starting on the left, a 5' chest freezer for lagering and storage. Next my 3' converted fridge. It's all set up for 5 kegs in the fridge area and 1 fermentation bucket in the freezer. Next is a laundry tub washout, followed by a 3'x3' shower pan in the corner to wash out kegs and big stuff. From the shower, a small knee wall and the long brewing rig. Totally making it all new, so I'll worry on that in a month or two. Lastly, in the corner will be a narrow slotted shelf system to hold all my kegs. I've got 12 kegs, some ball lock, some pin lock, depending on if I need CO2 or nitrogen I won't get it confused. From that corner is a dedicated rack to hold buckets during fermentation. After that is a rolling rack that holds my grains. The front wall has a 5' section of base and wall cabinets to store equipment. The door finishes the outside on the room. There are no windows. HEATING will be done with a few oil heaters with thermostats. AC will be a portable rolling AC unit. We are under 300 sq ft, so it won't be too bad... besides I live in the Appalachian mountains and we don't get too many scorchers, and I can always buy a second unit or focus on the two fridges for fermentation. I'll toss a big comfy chair in the center and guy a stainless steel table for the rooms center.

What else can I mention... Not planning to spend the extra money to go all electric right now, this will cost enough. So propane for my burners, but there will be a 500 CFM vent fan to suck out all the vapors, and I'll put up a bug screen on the door to keep some fresh air coming in and bugs out. Floor drain. Check I'm doing one of those. No windows in this building at all...

Any questions? How's the overall plan? And most importantly... what did I miss?

Cheers!

 

[Spartan1979]

Big screen TV?

 

[Texconsinite]

Very excited for you, and wishing SWMBO would let me build one like this
Just a few minor ideas

Is the fermenting Bucket/carboy rack two levels or one? Ive seen some cool builds on here with two levels of shelves.

Also, dont know how you track and take notes on recipes, but room in your storage space for some kind of filing system might be good to keep track of all the projects you are working on. Also, a way to put recipe in front of you while working like IPAD or clipboard holder on the wall might be nice

-Drying rack for equipment?

-Grain Mill as part of Grain storage area?

-A trellis next to the outside of your building to grow your own hops on, if you are so inclined.

-Pegboard on the wall might be an easy way to hold some equipment and cover electrical lines.

Some wine racks up above if you decide to branch out and have a few of those going while you crank out the beers

That's all that comes to mind now.

 

[Hello]

I would definitely do some sort of pegboard system to hold things and an easy way to dry your equipment is key.

To say that I would be excited to have this on my property would be an understatement. This is definitely awesome. I can't wait to see the build pictures.

 

[nosnhojm20]

Brewing network had an episode back in 2007 that is DEFINITELY worth a listen. I also posted here a few days ago soliciting feedback for a possible brewshed that had some brilliant replies to it.

 

[worthogg]

You might consider doing some sort of small walk-in type refrigerated room that is super insulated and can maintain temps of 50 degrees or so. That is if you plan on cellaring any beer or wine and don't already have a space like that. If it's big enough you could also ferment lagers in there, hang hams and salamis, or store extra produce from the garden. Plus, it's badass...

 

[nosnhojm20]

Sunday session 12-09-07 is the episode I mentioned. You can find it on iTunes.


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[Texconsinite]

You might consider doing some sort of small walk-in type refrigerated room that is super insulated and can maintain temps of 50 degrees or so. That is if you plan on cellaring any beer or wine and don't already have a space like that. If it's big enough you could also ferment lagers in there, hang hams and salamis, or store extra produce from the garden. Plus, it's badass...

Or at least small insulated area big enough for lagering several batches that can be diff temp zone from rest of room.
One thing thats helping me start to improve is taking better notes, not just of gravities and ingredients, but tasting notes over time, so make sure you have a system in place to record these things throughout the process so good batches can be remembered and repeated.

A big dry erase board on one wall might help plan out upcoming batches and keep note of transfers and additions you need to remember for existing ones, especially with planning around any upcoming life events. Just having 2 batches in process at a time, its easy to forget stuff, and with a setup to do 5+ in various stages, it'll be alot to juggle unless its all in one place

Also, for your keezer, a labelling system so you know whats on tap and ABV would be nice. Dry erase would work here too. Also, inside the keezer, itll be hard to tell which line runs to which keg, and whats in each, so labels on top of kegs is a good idea. Im a fan of blue painter's tape and sharpee markers.

A drip tray that runs the length of keezer would also be a good idea. We made one w/ welded stainless at slight ane, with a hole in corner for tube draining to a bottle from liquid laundry determent back against the wall out of the way. Small opening, easy to pour out when gets full, then dump some bleach/starsan water into tray to clean system and keep detergent bucket from stinking. Dont want to have tap drips cause sanitation problems

 

[nosnhojm20]

For my keezer I have colored zip ties at both ends of the beer line (line out and right near the tap). Tremendously helpful.


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