Brew Room Organization

[Iowa Brewer]

@micraftbeer
Don't be afraid to sell or discard the stuff you know you won't use again. Garage sales and Dumpsters will set you free!

Great points and the advice on paring down is top notch! I'm moving from all-grain to eBIAB. I'll keep my Coleman-cooler mash tun and old kettle for the occasional small batches, but will pass on other stuff to those who can use it. SO excited to get cranking my 10gal-producing system

 

[Iowa Brewer]

Some good ideas in this video:

Cheers!

 

[shoengine]

My new brew room organization

A little narrow though

 

[gello22]

@shoengine
I need to know what is the big grey hose for?

 

[shoengine]

@shoengine
I need to know what is the big grey hose for?

Cleaning out the fermenter. I don't CIP so I don't need recirculation.

 

[T Murph]

Shelves, pegboard, storage totes
I was given a metal file cabinet from where I used to work, vacuum packed bags of grain store in there great and are "mouse proof"

Thanks for your post. I have two metal file cabinets that I considered disposing of. I like your idea of using file cabinets for grain storage etc. Maybe, just maybe I can store stuff in those and my wife will be nun the wiser. She never looks at those things and I don't suspect she would have a clue I was hiding beer ingredients there. She insist I reduce my beer making inventory. How would one do that?

 

[InspectorJon]

So, Am I the only one that will admit to this?

 

[JAReeves]

So, Am I the only one that will admit to this?
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Wow. The Business is beer, and Business is Good!

 

[Iowa Brewer]

My new brew room organization
A little narrow though

My new brew room organization View attachment 734850

great pics! Got anything going in those casks???

 

[shoengine]

great pics! Got anything going in those casks???

Whiskey in the big one, a mystery sour in the middle, and the one closest is dry and the bands are falling off!

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

One thing I'm trying to do is reduce the number of specialty grains and adjuncts I have on hand. I like to brew different recipes all the time, but it's left me with part pounds of about 20-25 different specialty malts.

One reason why I dislike shops that will only sell you pound quantities of grains, and why I'm thankful my local shop has a Wall-O-Grain and lets me measure out exactly what I need for the recipe I'm brewing. (The grain is priced by the ounce.) If I ran a shop I would do it exactly the same way.

Too bad there's no good way to do this for hops!

 

[Iowa Brewer]

One reason why I dislike shops that will only sell you pound quantities of grains, and why I'm thankful my local shop has a Wall-O-Grain and lets me measure out exactly what I need for the recipe I'm brewing. (The grain is priced by the ounce.) If I ran a shop I would do it exactly the same way.

Too bad there's no good way to do this for hops!

REALLY like the Wall-O-Grain idea!

 

[Gozie Boy]

So, Am I the only one that will admit to this?
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Wow, a heavy duty plastic comb binding machine! Haven't seen one of those in years, tho I'm sure it's still useful to have if you need one!

 

[JAReeves]

Wow, a heavy duty plastic comb binding machine! Haven't seen one of those in years, tho I'm sure it's still useful to have if you need one!

You weren't concerned about the Flow-Bee box?

 

[Gozie Boy]

I'm lucky enough to have more brew space than most, and I have a lot of great space-efficient goodies (lots of table space, huge peg board, wall-mounted parts boxes, etc. But Moore's Law of Home Brew Space Requirements says there will never be enough! One of the biggest challenges is with what seems to be an endless array of hoses that I want to hang ... somewhere! If I could only have just one more wall...!

 

[Gozie Boy]

You weren't concerned about the Flow-Bee box?

Missed that one, although I did spot TWO copies (likely unread) of "How To Operate Your Home".

My A/R wife would dearly love to have a crack at this one for just one hour!

 

[InspectorJon]

You weren't concerned about the Flow-Bee box?

The Flowbee is for the dog…

 

[bkboiler]

My homebrewshop gave me the idea of wire bins. They have a kind of track on their wall that allows them to just hook the bin wherever they want....
I didn't want to spring for anything that fancy, so I took the spare wire bins that came with my chest freezers and secured them to under my shelf I made (out of spare cedar fence stock...an expensive option these days).
I used a few spare lag-eye-screws and bike J-hooks. Essentially the wire bin stores all the glassware I have for serving. I just lift it and pivot the bike hook and the wire bin swings down and I can access a glass. Pretty cool and very secure!

 

[JAReeves]

My homebrewshop gave me the idea of wire bins. They have a kind of track on their wall that allows them to just hook the bin wherever they want....
I didn't want to spring for anything that fancy, so I took the spare wire bins that came with my chest freezers and secured them to under my shelf I made (out of spare cedar fence stock...an expensive option these days).
I used a few spare lag-eye-screws and bike J-hooks. Essentially the wire bin stores all the glassware I have for serving. I just lift it and pivot the bike hook and the wire bin swings down and I can access a glass. Pretty cool and very secure!

Care to share a picture of your contraption? I am interested in better utilizing the wall above my keezer which currently holds broom, mop, granny cart, etc.

 

[bkboiler]

Sure! It does the job and was basically free...but otherwise I'd usually try to get it a bit more perfect ...

So just lift the rack up about and inch, twist the j-hook maybe 10 degrees and the bin drops down and hits on the wall (so the glasses don't dump out).
Oh yeah, and my keezer and ferm chamber open "suicide doors" so I had to make sure they clear the wire bins when I open them.
You could probably find something better but I was lazy so I just put the lag-eye-screw in my vise and bashed it with a hammer to open up the eye about 1/4".

 

[duncan.brown]

Besides the things already mentioned, I'm a big fan of tackle boxes to organize small parts. I have one box for kegging parts, one for triclamp stuff, and one for my assortment of connectors, thingies, and John Guest fittings.

I also have a bunch of photography developing trays from B&W Photo that I use for storage, catching drips, and holding with liquid for cleaning and sanitizing parts. Much easier to fish a part from a developing tray than the bottom of a 5 gal bucket of StarSan.

I'd admit to being a bit of a neat freak...

 

[micraftbeer]

@duncan.brown that's a beautiful brewing space. Well done!

 

[Iowa Brewer]

Sure! It does the job and was basically free...but otherwise I'd usually try to get it a bit more perfect ...
View attachment 736976View attachment 736977View attachment 736978
So just lift the rack up about and inch, twist the j-hook maybe 10 degrees and the bin drops down and hits on the wall (so the glasses don't dump out).
Oh yeah, and my keezer and ferm chamber open "suicide doors" so I had to make sure they clear the wire bins when I open them.
You could probably find something better but I was lazy so I just put the lag-eye-screw in my vise and bashed it with a hammer to open up the eye about 1/4".

We’ll played!

 

[Iowa Brewer]

Besides the things already mentioned, I'm a big fan of tackle boxes to organize small parts. I have one box for kegging parts, one for triclamp stuff, and one for my assortment of connectors, thingies, and John Guest fittings.

I also have a bunch of photography developing trays from B&W Photo that I use for storage, catching drips, and holding with liquid for cleaning and sanitizing parts. Much easier to fish a part from a developing tray than the bottom of a 5 gal bucket of StarSan.

I'd admit to being a bit of a neat freak...


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Amazing setup!
What size is that wee little keg???

 

[duncan.brown]

What size is that wee little keg???

It's a 2.5 gal keg. I have four of them that I've converted into casks for cask-conditioned ales:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/anyone-rocking-a-firkin.689936/#post-9062950
The rubber bumpers are nice when the keg is on its side for conditioning.

 

[Iowa Brewer]

It's a 2.5 gal keg. I have four of them that I've converted into casks for cask-conditioned ales:.

Great idea! Do you add wood?

 

[duncan.brown]

Do you add wood?

No, most cask-conditioned real ale is stored and served in stainless-steel barrels and exposure to wood isn’t part of the conditioning process.

I add a small dose of hops and some isinglass at kegging, and then open it to that air when I’m serving. The oxygen will change the flavor of the beer (first in the positive direction, then negative). I still brew 5 gals, but I use smaller kegs so i can get though it quickly enough that it doesn’t go bad. If I’m drinking slowly, I’ll use a CO2 cask breather so it keeps longer.