Building a brew house...

[DMA]

So, I'm getting ready to build a brew house in the back yard.



The size of the brew house will be 16' x 20' and will have power (both 110v and 220v), water in and sewer out. When finished, the goal is to have a walk-in cooler, brewing area, bar area, and small lavatory. The position of the brew house will put one of the 20' walls (back) and one of the 16' walls (right side) along fences. The external entrances (lavatory man door, primary man door, and possibly a roll-up garage door) will be along the other 20' wall (front).

[See attached image.]

My question is this, if you had a space this size to work with, and knew the aforementioned amenities needed to be present, how would you design the floor plan?

Thanx.

 

[broadbill]

more info on your brewing set up needed...how big are you planning to go?

 

[DMA]

Sorry 'bout that...guess that would be kind of important.

I have a 3-vessel 1bbl electric system (hence the 220v) and 2 temperature-controlled 55-gal conicals (figured they'd be in the walk-in).

This brew house will serve my production needs until I'm able to move to something bigger (approximately 3 years from now).

 

[broadbill]

I'd probably stick the bar in one corner, the cold room in the next corner along the 16' wall (leaves you the option to possibly serve from it if you could figure that out). The bathroom in an opposite corner and brew rig in the middle.

Alternatively, you could build the cooler larger so it take up the entire end of the unit and put the bar in front of it. Same option for serving.

 

[DMA]

Looks like the smallest I can go with the lavatory is 5' square, so that gives me a little idea of where to put things. Of course, with this layout, I am assuming the lavatory would be in the lower left corner of the image I previously posted.

[See attachment.]

 

[Turkeyshot]

Looks like the smallest I can go with the lavatory is 5' square, so that gives me a little idea of where to put things. Of course, with this layout, I am assuming the lavatory would be in the lower left corner of the image I previously posted.

[See attachment.]

Is all this just for personal use or trying to use it for a business type setup?

 

[applescrap]

So cool. What about sliding glass door and/ panels that open up wide instead of a garage door? really like the idea of a garage door (or wharever) and also strong ventilation. Are you also planning flat screen, stereo, room for couch or stools, shelving, stotage? All the breweries I've been to have a nice long drain in the middle that they squeegee into. In remodeling our house, we had luck looking at pictures of what we wanted and then just copying it.

View attachment 1463702874920.jpg

View attachment 1463702883237.jpg

 

[DMA]

Is all this just for personal use or trying to use it for a business type setup?

Yes, this will be the beginning of production that will lead to a full-scale brewpub down the road.

 

[DMA]

So cool. What about sliding glass door and/ panels that open up wide instead of a garage door? really like the idea of a garage door (or wharever) and also strong ventilation. Are you also planning flat screen, stereo, room for couch or stools, shelving, stotage? All the breweries I've been to have a nice long drain in the middle that they squeegee into. In remodeling our house, we had luck looking at pictures of what we wanted and then just copying it.

I thought about articulated doors/panels, but I was leaning toward a roll-up canister as it takes up much less room. Yes, as pertains to the ventilation, I will have multiple windows as well as a large stainless hood and fan above the brewing area. Yes, I was also planning on an audio/video solution as well as storage, sinks, dishwasher, full bar with stools, but no couch.

 

[applescrap]

Love it.
I like b&w speakers!

 

[Turkeyshot]

Yes, this will be the beginning of production that will lead to a full-scale brewpub down the road.

I guess I should have asked if this space will have the public coming into it, shouldn't the bathroom be wheelchair accessible? If so 5 feet seems really tight.

 

[DMA]

I guess I should have asked if this space will have the public coming into it, shouldn't the bathroom be wheelchair accessible? If so 5 feet seems really tight.

Nope...no public (aside from family and close friends), meaning no sales at this location...only production.

 

[Turkeyshot]

Nope...no public (aside from family and close friends), meaning no sales at this location...only production.

Okay thanks for clearing that up. Sounds like it is going to be a great area for brewing though.

 

[broadbill]

Nope...no public (aside from family and close friends), meaning no sales at this location...only production.

I still think the bathroom needs to be handicap compliant. The law is written to accommodate handicapped employees as well as customers.

Edit to add: considering you plan to have a production facility on the spot, that opens up another can of worms about how to build this out so that is conforms to things like OSHA, state and local health inspections, etc. Might be worth doing homework now to save a renovation later.

 

[jddevinn]

FLOOR DRAIN!!!!

I'd also think about going with glycol coolant instead of a large walk in for the fermenters so that they can have individual temp control

 

[Mismost]

have you looked at shipping containers? Brew House in a box...when you move, it could go with you. Check out the insulated shipping containers...finished inside and out, just plug and play the other elements. Since it would be portable, it may have zero impact on your property taxes.

Just a thought.

 

[DMA]

Here are my first rough drawings...two different ways I could think of to utilize the space. I have to say, I'm leaning more toward the second. Whaddya think? Any other ideas/suggestions? Thanx.

 

[broadbill]

Here are my first rough drawings...two different ways I could think of to utilize the space. I have to say, I'm leaning more toward the second. Whaddya think? Any other ideas/suggestions? Thanx.

Am I looking at the second design correctly that you will enter the structure through the bathroom (and having to close that door before opening the second door, possibly standing on the toilet to do so). If so, that isn't going to work.

 

[jddevinn]

I like the bar setup on the second layout better. If you are like me the "brewing area" will never be 100% (or even 90%) clean!

How are you planning on cooling the fermenters?

(I'll assume that you left off the door by accident and don't intend a "bathroom entrance")

 

[The_Dog_42]

The roll up garage door is another entrance, but a man door would be good. I'd be tempted to make 2 changes to though. 1) move the bathroom to be across from your walk-in, door and all. That will open space in the brewery/bar area. 2) move your ac to be on the right wall, so it blows towards the door. You may get a little localized cooling on that wall, but it's less likely that you'll want to store things there and potentially block the airflow. Also, with the door opposite, you'll make sure that your highest leak point is farthest from the unit, ensuring the whole space is cooled. I think the bottom right wouldn't get as cold with the ac mounted where you have it.

 

[Gonefishin]

There are tons of really cool brew spaces out there. I have been inspired by so many I've seen on this site alone. If I had the space, I'd want a urinal. One of those kind like in an old train station. Hey, gotta pee somewhere.