Help with basement brewery pre-design

[summerofgeorge]

We're in the process of putting an addition on our house. As part of it, we're adding to our existing basement. I just got the ok from SWMBO to make part of this my brewing area!

I don't really want to shell out the cash now to get everything up and running right away. I also don't know how much of the space will be mine or where exactly in the room I can use (I have a general idea). I'd like to try to plan ahead as much as possible and do things now while the rest of the construction is being done (plumbing, electrical, ventilation).

Is it worth trying to have things taken care of now or should I just wait until we have the space? I have no idea what it might cost to add hot/cold water lines and a drain with a pump after the fact vs doing it now. There will be existing lines for all of this above the new area so it shouldn't be an issue tapping into them.

Ventilation is another concern. I could just make sure there's a window close enough and then have my ventilation hooked up that. If not, what kind of vent pipe size would I need to vent it through the foundation wall?

Am I missing anything obvious for this project?

 

[mongoose33]

Do it now. It'll be far cheaper as an add-on now than it will be to put it in later. If you have a general idea where a sink might be, run water lines to that spot. Same with electric--all you need to do is have a few outlets here and there.

And--if you're thinking of going electric brewing, have the 220-volt lines run now.

As far as ventilation, you can run it out a window if you want, but I'd consider a dedicated vent out through the foundation if you can do that. Probably 8" in diameter at minimum.

The hard part is imagining where you want things, exactly, so if you can ahead of time stand in the space and lay rope or whatever on the ground to simulate where a sink would go, where the brew stand would be, and so on. If you already have concrete floors, use masking tape to delineate where these things go.

When we built our house we had a bathroom roughed in down in the basement. Water lines coming out of the wall, floor drains for a toilet and a shower. They sat that way for 13 years until I finally finished that part of the basement. And when the time came, it was child's play to add the fixtures. When I finished the basement I had masking tape on the floor to see where the walls would be, the doors, the hallway, and so on. It helps in visualizing it.

I'm slightly jealous, but good on you for thinking ahead.

 

[summerofgeorge]

I think I have the corner that will be mine but I need to look at the drawings again. Where I'm looking would be right under the laundry room so it should be easy access to the plumbing. I have some time on running the plumbing but I think the foundation will be poured next week. I need to decide if I want to have a pit for a waste pump or just one that sits in a bucket under the sink. Do I want a floor drain? If I vent to the outside, how big and where?

The electric should be easy too. Part of the original plan was to put outlets and lights in this space. I also used to have a hot tub outside where the addition is going. The 50A spa panel is still there with plenty of wire to relocate it to the basement. I already have a 50A panel that I've been brewing with but I'm looking forward to having a permanent setup.

Really, what I need to figure out now is anything related to the foundation. I want to do it right from the start.

 

[The_Dog_42]

Floor drains will be nice. If you decide to, you can hose everything down and let it drain away. If you don't, then the drain doesn't hurt anything. The ducting should be as close to where you brew as you can make it. 6-8" is likely fin, but the 8 will give larger options for expansion later. Could leave the ceiling open to be able to reroute the ducting later but it's a pain...

 

[jmark]

+1 on food drains. We finished our basement last year and I had my brew room overhauled as part of it. Knowing how much spilled water and wort I had on the old concrete floor, it was a no brainer adding the floor drain!

 

[John Paul Stoddard]

Plan for a Walk-in with Floor Drain...
You won't want to haul the Beer Upstairs.

 

[summerofgeorge]

This might be a dumb question but where does the floor drain drain to? Would it go to a sump like pit with a pump to get it up to the main waste line?

I like the idea of the easier clean up of the floor (I inevitably disconnect a hose before closing a valve every brewing session). I just don't know if I can get everything planned out without actually being in the space. I'm better at that when I can look around and visual everything.

 

[John Paul Stoddard]

Are you lucky enough to have plumbing in your existing basement? If so you tie into it.

Will you be your own General Contractor?
Not an experienced plumber so I can't tell you anything.
Different City, County and State Codes..

If your Lucky you could drain "plain water, nontoxic waste" to a French drain outside.

 

[jmark]

Yeah, my floor drain just tied into the bathroom plumbing which is next door to the brewery. I have to flush the drain once a year apparently and have been lucky so far not to have needed it much but I'm sure someday it's going to save me from having to replace the flooring outside the brewery! As an FYI, for the brewery floor we just used an epoxy like some folks do with garages... so far it's held up well.

 

[summerofgeorge]

I don't have plumbing in the basement per se. The water lines right above where I'll be brewing so that's not a problem. And the main sewer pipe is pretty close too. I can handle running the hot/cold water. Not sure if I'd do the waste.

I have a GC handling most of the work because of the larger project we're doing. I talked to him about potentially having a brewery and he suggested putting an empty sump basin in the corner where I'll be brewing and then pump the waste from there. Would I just have a floor drain run to the pit too? Having the pit might not be a bad idea. If I use it, great. If not, I would just cover it. I'm only out the cost of the sump basin.

 

[jmark]

Yeah, that's a good idea. We have a sump in our basement and that's where most everything goes. Before we finished the basement, I used the same room as my brewery and had to have a pump installed for the waste water from the sink I put in... bottom line is that's pretty much "de rigueur" for below-grade construction.

 

[dmcman73]

This might be a dumb question but where does the floor drain drain to? Would it go to a sump like pit with a pump to get it up to the main waste line?

I like the idea of the easier clean up of the floor (I inevitably disconnect a hose before closing a valve every brewing session). I just don't know if I can get everything planned out without actually being in the space. I'm better at that when I can look around and visual everything.

If you're main sewer lines are below your house, you can tie right into it with the proper traps. If your sewer lines are above (usually hanging midway or a little higher on the concrete basement wall) then you would install a sealed Pit that will contain a raw sewage pump (that way grains, hops, etc won't jam it) and then the output of the pump will go up to the main sewer line and the "inlet" to the pit will get connected to the drain opening.

 

[dcbw]

Figure out your ventilation story now. 6" DWV works fine paired with an inline vent fan at least a couple hundred CFM. 8" might be overkill. Use a standard dryer vent or such (eg the ones with flaps) outside.

Put the fan closer to the vent and farther from the hood. Slightly incline the duct to the fan so condensation runs back to the hood. You may also need to drill a hole in the fan case to let condensation out, because there will be some in the fan.

Next size your hood correctly because if it's too big it will grab too much room air and not enough steam from your kettle. It should be a somewhat bigger than your boil kettle and low enough that it'll capture the steam, but high enough that you can easily do stuff in the pot. I don't know how Kal does it with his coffin style hood, but mine (which is smaller but still 5x3) is way too big. You really only need to cover the boil kettle.

Lastly make sure you have a makeup air source into your basement. You really don't want to suck fumes into the brew room if you have a natural gas water heater or furnace that's vented up a chimney. A CO detector is a good idea.

 

[summerofgeorge]

I'm not sure what I'll be doing about the ventilation (through the wall or through a window) and don't know that I'll be able to figure that out before having things constructed. I'm just not sure where I'll be venting from until I see the area (or until SWMBO allots me part of the basement). I thought about just going out the window. I figured I could make something that goes over the opening to attach the duct to. In this case, sliding windows would make more sense. Is there any downside to going with sliding ones vs hopper windows? Is one more secure? We live in a pretty safe area but you never know.

I'm also planning on having windows on opposite walls and opening them both during ventilation to create some airflow and prevent CO issues.