Brew Room Build

[BrewTech117]

Hey guys and girls,

I'm new to the Forum but wanted to get some advice - I have been brewing for the past 2 years on and off and now just bought a house with a Root Cellar which i plan to convert into my brewery.

I only have the basics now a few carboys and pots, a few mr beer kits still and some burners but do plan to grow soon. Hoping to include a few conical fermenters and tables etc.

What is the first thing you guys think of when building your brew room? Right now its a dirty cellar that i plan to go in and clean - pour concrete ramp down to the cellar (So i can wheel kegs out as it has stairs at this point) and seal it all up. Concrete the floors and install propane and water somehow.

Ill get some pix ASAP to post but before i jump into the deep end just wondering if you all have some advice as to where to start planing it out?

 

[Beek]

I'd say that you really need to figure out what kind of setup you want first. Electric, propane, natural gas? A tiered system or a flat pump system? Are you brewing extract and staying with that, or are you going all grain? Are you going to stay with five gallon batches or go up to ten or more? There's a hundred other questions you have to ask yourself before you can really start. My opinion is that it's best to start out with the equipment you'll work your way up to, rather than switch equipment down the road. It'll be more of an initial cost, but it will save you SO much over time. I'm currently just in the planning stages of a brew shed that will still be down the road a couple years, but these are all questions I've answered for myself. But good for you for starting out on this project. It's exciting stuff!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[mblanks2]

I'd say that you really need to figure out what kind of setup you want first. Electric, propane, natural gas? A tiered system or a flat pump system? Are you brewing extract and staying with that, or are you going all grain? Are you going to stay with five gallon batches or go up to ten or more? There's a hundred other questions you have to ask yourself before you can really start. My opinion is that it's best to start out with the equipment you'll work your way up to, rather than switch equipment down the road. It'll be more of an initial cost, but it will save you SO much over time. I'm currently just in the planning stages of a brew shed that will still be down the road a couple years, but these are all questions I've answered for myself. But good for you for starting out on this project. It's exciting stuff!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Agreed! Start with the equipment and build around that.

 

[jceg316]

Do you have a lot of space? If so it would probably be worth getting an all grain set up if you haven't got one already as this will future proof it. Otherwise I agree with above, think about what sort of set up and plan around that. Although, if the cellar is carpeted it might be sensible to go for an electric set up in case any open flames are knocked over.

When I built my brewery I went electric to save on gas cans, plus with pets running around I wouldn't want any accidents. Also electric seems to be a bit more space efficient and I don't have a great deal of it where I brew. Although, If I want to upgrade from 5 gallons I need to get all new equipment whereas if I got a gas system it would be easier to upgrade.

I found a good brew kettle which I use as an HLT, then a good mash tun and also use a fermenting bucket as a lauter tun. I'm actually creating a homebrew blog where I have an article about my setup, but the site is still in development. Once it's live I can post you a link as it might give you some inspiration.

 

[soccerdad]

Propane in an enclosed space?

 

[KEG99]

Go electric. It may seem like it is difficult to figure out, but a little homework and help from the guys on this site, you can do it. Heck, i did it. And never read a schematic before I started.

Propane inside is not an option (without an awesome hood/ventilation).

Also, a floor drain is really nice for cleanup. If you can't drain to daylight (gravity drain), then consider a sump and sump pump. Better than no drain at all.

Don't forget, pour that floor so it drains to one spot. Even with no drain, having a collection spot makes cleanup easier even if you have to suck it up with a wet/dry vac.

As others said, first figure out how you want to brew, then pick equipment, then build your space.

 

[Gunfighter04]

I'm not sure why everyone is so anti-propane, when you get into the country many houses do not have natural gas so you just get the conversion kit for NG to propane, it's not any more dangerous. Install a hood and CO isn't any more of an issue than with Gas. Most of the Ventilation issues will be around water vapor, which is true for Gas, Propane or Electric. Adequate ventilation for water vapor will probably be the biggest engineering feat that you'll have to tackle. Older house generally have a very large sill plate, so you may need to route to the nearest basement window, if you have them. My 1880's farm house used a 12"x12" axe hewn sill plate all the way around.

 

[user 163849]

Propane in an enclosed space?

Many homes and practically all travel trailers are heated by propane. The cook stove and water heater are also usually fueled by propane in these cases.

The propane bottle is normally located outside the envlosed space. On my 5th wheel travel trailer the two 30 pound propane tanks were mounted in a storage compartment under the bed. The compartment was only accessible from outside the trailer and the floor of the compartment was vented to allow any leaking (heavier than air) propane to escape. I owned and used that trailer for over 10 years with no propane related incidents, other than running out of propane one 20 degree f morning.

 

[Hello]

Propane in an enclosed space?

Hopefully not. I think I read someone else who has a shed and they were thinking of propane inside. With proper ventilation you can do it, I do not recommend it at all. I've brewed at a brewery with my own equipment and we all used our propane burners; however, this is a large brewhouse with large doors and cross ventilation. I wouldn't go doing it at home or I'd probably die.


OP Definitely decide how you want to brew. That will determine where you brew. As with many, I would love a dedicated brew room fitted for full electric. It is costly but what isn't these days?

What kind of ventilation do you have today? Is there a window at all? If it is entirely sub terrain then you'll need to find a way to ventilate during brew day. This goes for natural gas or electric. I won't even mention propane as that should be ruled out now. Next, you need to know if you go electric then you'll need proper wiring. Before you go wiring something up, know your space and know where you want things. Putting a plug 10 feet from where you're brewing is likely silly.

How large is the space? You mention conicals so I assume you want to ferment in the brew room. Do you have space to isolate the area you'll ferment in and control the temp? Ambient temps are okay in some regions but I'd prefer to have a way to control my temps even if ambient temps are okay.

Is the space damp? If so, figure that out because you don't want mold growing. Do you mill your own grains? If so, you'll want to isolate that somehow. Lots to consider when you're setting up a space.

It sounds like a neat place. Put up some specs and in no time we'll all be happy to spend your money!

 

[Beek]

If you want electric, build off Kal's design... Just don't spend the money he did! Haha! Also on this site are P-J's control panel schematics. Super helpful.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[BrewTech117]

So here is a bit more information: (will try to post some pix tonight)

Its a Root Cellar that is under the back porch of the house that leads down to the crawl space to get under a prefabbed modular home. The main electric box is in place down there and will be easy to tap into to get electric. There are already lights down there. and we BELIEVE that the floor is concrete -if not it will be a dirt floor and we will be concreting it in. The roof of the place is actually just the DECK of the porch right now (but plan to insulate it and board it up (Installing some exhaust fans etc out the side of the porch for ventilation)

Its roughly (and im just guessing after looking at it 2x) a 12 X 12 room

I was honestly thinking of using propane due to the fact that this house is in the country and the house is heated by propane so i would have virtually a endless supply (i realize allot of you say not to brew with propane in an enclosed area however we would have ventilation and with the doors open it should be enough id assume - as stated above my camp trailer has a propane stove and we cook in it during the winter with just a small window cracked open.

As for what brew set up i want - Honestly I have not decided, but would eventually like to have a bit of everything (As im sure we all do) so my plans were to set this up with the possibility of being able to do Electric as well as other styles, i want it as versatile as possible.

As of this point the stairs leading down to it have collapsed in - was thinking of tearing it out and pouring a concrete ramp - there is no water or drainage so we will be probably going with a French Style Drain by the door leading in connected to a wash sink (with water filtration on it) and tap into the center of the room and slope the concrete towards the drain this way everything drains out inside the room, outside the door leading down, and via the sink.

Than with the Propane we were gona rout a line from my main tank (about 100 yards away under ground and into the wall of the cellar with quick connects to attach burners and a heater for winter etc. - i understand we need vents and those we have yet to decide how / where we will place them. so i can see why this would worry some people.

Thanks for the input guys just want to get some info from yall before i dive into the deep end. Total Projects budget is about 5K (for now)

 

[BrewTech117]

Sorry I should post as well that yes either i will be making a Fermentation Chamber AND OR using Refrigerators (about 3 will fit) to control temperatures.

 

[Hello]

If you use propane and it sounds like you will, buy a carbon monoxide detector please.

Your setup should start with knowing dimensions, locations of electrical and possible future electrical, and equipment. I would say that two walls will end up being tables with a sink in there somewhere. One table will eventually be for your 3 vessel system that is electrical but as of now, it sounds like you'll brew on a burner and likely just have that beside the table on the ground.

It's hard to really lay things out when you don't really know what you want but I think browsing the DIY section of this site and looking at brew room setups is going to be key for you. Safety first though. Flow is key, it's a kitchen basically. If your flow is off nothing will ever be right. I've cooked major meals in terrible kitchens and my brew day setup is only fairly suitable...it can be aggravating. But if you have a blank slate, do it up right and leave room for future awesome improvements such as all electrical.

 

[SmokingGunn]

I'm in the same boat as you. Best of luck. FWIW I'll be going propane as well. I'm not sure why people are so scared of it.

Regardless, I'm just in the planning stages as well. I have the space (in my case a 16 x 32 outbuilding), I just need to decide exactly how I want to use it. I guess I'll start by making a list a features that I want to incorporate and then figure out how everything is going to fit, and from there I can figure out the electrical and plumbing... I guess. I've never built a brew room before.

 

[BrewTech117]

Sorry guys still did not get pictures last night - and Tonight i cant make it over to the new house - Hop fully this weekend ill get pictures and dimensions up