Building a brew room

[Konadog]

WOW, that's white.................. Oh, wait............ where's the pic?

Nice work so far. A trick for the ceiling tiles is to use clean cotton gloves to "lift them out" not slide them over with dirty hands, and for small cracks or where the white pealed off, use whiteout correction fluid. For the big stuff, DAP works well.

 

[Harry482]

Looking very good!!! Did you consider just painting the ceiling instead of the drop ceiling? I did that in my basement, painted it black. It looks really good and I really like it over a drop ceiling!!!

The thought actually did cross my mind and I like that look. The problem would have been spider webs - lots of them. The open floor joists kept getting filled with webs. I would vacuum them every few months and run a dehumidifier, but they kept coming back. Sealing up the ceiling gives the spiders less options. Although, spider webs could be good for a lambic...

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Looking really good! Super impressed and looking forward to seeing it all come together.

 

[mongoose33]

I think that floor looks great.

One thing about not having a uniform colored surface is it won't show dirt and such as easily.

 

[Carlscan26]

The floor looks great!! Can you come do the same for my garage please?

 

[John Paul Stoddard]

going that route what was the cost?

 

[Harry482]

going that route what was the cost?

The stain and sealer was just the under $100 and the muriatic acid was $7. In my mind, the labor was the cost. Pulling the tiles, scraping adhesive, then having to etch was more work than I was expecting. If it doesn't hold up over a few years, I'll say screw it and put down a garage floor epoxy.

 

[Harry482]

On another note, I got to test fit the sink last night. The riser for the pre-rinse faucet was too tall at 24" and was not clearing the plumbing soffits above. Luckily, I can order a shorter one.

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[Stealthcruiser]

. If it doesn't hold up over a few years, I'll say screw it and put down a garage floor epoxy.

That'll be more etching, won't it?......

 

[Harry482]

I installed the drain last night after work and hooked up the supply lines to the faucet. I'm happy with the clean placement of everything.

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The drain held water fine, but noticed about 15 min. later that the npt adapters behind the faucet were leaking very slowly. The threads were pretty rough cut and I guess that I just didn't use enough thread tape. I had to remove the sink from the wall, take everything apart, add more thread tape, and put it all back to stop the leaks. After the shorter faucet riser gets here, I just need to drill some holes through the tile for the support that attaches it to the wall and that should complete the sink.

 

[Calfj60]

Man that looks fantastic

 

[max384]

Looking great! I'm super jealous!

 

[Harry482]

The shorter riser arrived and I finished hooking up the sink. As I mentioned before, the npt threads on the faucet are very poorly cast. I had to take everything apart and put it back together 3 times to get it to stop leaking at every threaded joint. The hose spring needed to be flipped upside down for it to clear the low ceiling.

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I was able to add enough thread tape to stop the leaks everywhere except the lowest joint in this picture, which is actually a factory joint and not threaded. It's a slow drip (into the sink) only when the valves are on, but the faucet arm and pre-rinse head are off - pressurizing the entire unit. I can live with it!

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At this price point (170$), I think it's still a decent faucet considering most commercial grade pre-rinse faucets are $600-1000$+. Also, most of these issues were well documented in webstaurant store reviews - so it wasn't a surprise that it has some issues.

 

[Harry482]

The hood arrived from Fast Kitchen Hoods well packaged and exactly to my specs. I'm very impressed with the quality.

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I measured and measured, then came up with 2x4 hangers that I attached to the hood before raising it. I started some 3.5" deck screws ahead of time to be ran in with my impact driver after lifting it into place.

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My buddy came over last night and helped me lift it in place (140lbs.) Everything lined up and it just took a few seconds to run the screws in. I've since wired the light and connected the duct with an elbow.

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The hood has a gutter along the inside perimeter and a threaded drain connection to catch condensate that doesn't make it out the vent. I don't imagine that being an issue with this big of a fan, but it's nice to have the option of running a piece of tubing into a bucket if needed.

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The last thing I have to do is build the shroud that slides on above the hood. I hope to get that glued up today and painted sometime next week. Then I'll start moving the equipment in. So close!

 

[deprecated]

Looks great, Harry! Seeing how awesome your setup is gives me a much needed kick in the pants to get back to work on mine.

Can you tell me about what I assume to be rheostat controller on the wall?

 

[Harry482]

Looks great, Harry! Seeing how awesome your setup is gives me a much needed kick in the pants to get back to work on mine.



Can you tell me about what I assume to be rheostat controller on the wall?

Thanks, I can't wait to start putting it to good use. Yes, it's a rheostat with a heat sink. You can check it out at stir-plate.com - it's the 240V brew pot boil controller, which they retail on amazon. I'm using natural gas to control the mash and boil up to 12b batches, but I'll use the electric controller when using my larger 30g kettle. The gas just doesn't provide enough heat to get a 30g kettle to a rolling boil. I thought the price a bit steep for what the controller is, but I had no interest in fabricating one myself. It's a simple, nice looking unit.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

So freaking awesome!

 

[yourlastchance89]

I've been subbed to this page since I stumbled across it in December. As a recently new homebrewer, and a college student currently occupying a small apartment, your setup is the ultimate example of the goal I'd like to reach for my setup.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

Brewing porn!

 

[Harry482]

It took me a few evenings to glue up and paint the shroud for over the exhaust hood. Here it is with the disposal switch installed for turning the fan on and off.

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Here it is slid in place after connecting the hose to the air switch. Pretty good fit!

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I immediately moved my rig in like a kid in a candy store.

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The stainless steel coat rack mounted behind the door keeps my hoses organized and dry.

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I'm so glad to finally have this finished so I can get back to the real point of this - brewing beer. My wife is quite happy I'm finished too. She has been patiently waiting for her kitchen makeover to commence.

We had a ribbon cutting the other night. Here is a vid of me two beers in.

https://youtu.be/W9KIbgaWMZw

I'll be sure to post how my first brew day goes. I'm looking forward to seeing how the hood and fan perform. Thanks for all of the encouragement along the way. I hope I have lent some inspiration in the same way I've received it the past few years from this forum.

 

[ITV]

I'm very impressed with your new brew room. Very well planned and executed.

For safety concerns I suggest adding a shut off valve before your natural gas quick connect and add a CO detector.

 

[mongoose33]

I'll be sure to post how my first brew day goes. I'm looking forward to seeing how the hood and fan perform. Thanks for all of the encouragement along the way. I hope I have lent some inspiration in the same way I've received it the past few years from this forum.

Wait a minute...you're not having all of us over?

That's the only reason I've been following this thread!

 

[Calfj60]

Congrats on a great job! Looks awesome

 

[BrewKaiser]

Awesome job! Very impressive build in a short amount of time. :rockin:

Any future plans for brewing controller or automation?

 

[Harry482]

Awesome job! Very impressive build in a short amount of time. :rockin:



Any future plans for brewing controller or automation?

Sorry it took me 3 months to respond, but I've been busy brewing and enjoying the new setup. I'm going to post some videos soon.

I use a blichmann top tier controller to control the mash temp through my HERMS. As far as automation goes, I'm keeping it simple by initiating every step manually. I do have the blichmann software that will run step mashes automatically, which is why I ran USB through the wall.

 

[Shepbrew]

This looks amazing, well done!