garage brew space
- Thread starter jlash630
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Lucky! With a full size truck, suv, sedan, 4 bikes, tools, workbench, 15 cuft fermentation fridge, my cheese/sausage cave, and all of my lawn care stuff, I can barely turn around in there. Gah! No hope of ever brewing in there, though that would be ideal.
My suggestion is using strut channel and associated hardware to build your new system. Use an angle grinder to cut to length and just build it up like an erector set.
My suggestion is using strut channel and associated hardware to build your new system. Use an angle grinder to cut to length and just build it up like an erector set.
Oh don't get me wrong, it's still full of dirt bikes, bicycles, trash cans, woodworking equipment, kids toys, kids bikes, and the wife's car. She made it very clear that she wanted to still be able to park in there.. I guess she'll just have to move her car out of the garage when I'm going to brew 
Interested in this too! We're enclosing the covered patio area I used to brew in to make it a more dedicated (and clean) brewing space, and I'm interested in seeing what other people are doing.
doogie
Well-Known Member
Not a dedicated space. My stuff gets stored against the wall next to my car.
When I'm going to brew (I'm a morning brewer) I put my car outside the night before and roll my structure over to the door. Milling is done while my mash water is heating.
While mashing I heat my sparge water and pump it up to my HLT.
When I'm done my hot water from my chiller is used for most of my cleanup.
My latest change is that I no longer carry my wort downstairs, but now, after I'm down to pitching temperature, I roll my structure over to the top of the back stairway and have a 25' hose transfer it directly into my fermenter in the basement.
When I'm going to brew (I'm a morning brewer) I put my car outside the night before and roll my structure over to the door. Milling is done while my mash water is heating.
While mashing I heat my sparge water and pump it up to my HLT.
When I'm done my hot water from my chiller is used for most of my cleanup.
My latest change is that I no longer carry my wort downstairs, but now, after I'm down to pitching temperature, I roll my structure over to the top of the back stairway and have a 25' hose transfer it directly into my fermenter in the basement.
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I've managed to carve out this space. I actually have about 5 feet of clear space directly in front of the brew stand. It's the most space I have had in there for many years! I find that wheels really help to utilize the smaller space of the garage. I have a table saw, router, and miter saw on wheels to the left that I can wheel out of the garage to use. Of course, I just cluttered up the brew area with a folding table but I'll be done with that by tomorrow and it will actually increase floor space as I was storing some wood inside the garage for some chairs that I will be able to assemble shortly. Maybe in the next year or two I will be able to frame and sheetrock.
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I brew in my back yard where I have: power, gas, water etc. I ferment and serve in my garage with a Inkbird attached cooler for fermenting, and a converted Over/under refrigerator with holes drilled in the side for four taps.
ITV
Well-Known Member
What no pictures of your garage brew space?
I moved my brew space into my basement since I store my equipment down there and I got tired of hauling the equipment up/down the stairs.
Normally the brew space is my basement kitchen, I slide the oven out and put my burner in place (both fueled by natural gas). The overhead vent fan vents to the outside. I also installed a CO and a gas detector as a precaution. On the other side of the wall, I have my fermentor inside an upright freezer that I can pump my wort directly into, thanks to a sleeve I installed in the wall.
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My garage is in pieces at the moment, I just hung drywall on an exterior wall where I plan to have a permanent spot for the brewery. Prior to this, I was hauling everything up from the basement. I have been using gas, but am in the process of procuring the parts to build a panel.
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I figure that spot close to the door will be a good location, as so I can just run my IC chiller outlet right out the door and also keep an eye on the kids out front. As you can see, the builders never did more than a level 2 drywall finish in most of the garage and had none on this wall. I think I've acquired too much stuff to try and bring the entire area up to level 3 or 4.. hell, some of the tape even needs redone.. so, rather than waste all that time and money, I think I'm just going to put some FRP on this wall to keep the moisture off. (And to hide my hack mud job
) you can definitely tell it was my first drywall job. I should probably stick to electrical day job..
Anyhow, it's only about a 30' run from this location to my main panel. I'm going to run a 3/4" conduit up and install a couple 120 outlets along this wall and rather than the normal ebrew panels with cords and outlets, this will be hard piped and wires direct. I'm goin to have a 50a gfi down stairs at the panel, 6awg wire coming up (have to derate since I'll also have the wall outlet wires in the same pipe) and there will be a 50a breaker din rail mounted inside the panel along with the main contactor to act as my local disconnect. I'm not really a fan of all the plugs under the panel, so I'm going to have one 14/5 SO cord come down to a local jbox to power the pumps. RTDs will be wired as normal with the microphone cables, and the elements will be the only twist locks on the panel and will mount to the vessels via tri clamp.
) you can definitely tell it was my first drywall job. I should probably stick to electrical day job..Anyhow, it's only about a 30' run from this location to my main panel. I'm going to run a 3/4" conduit up and install a couple 120 outlets along this wall and rather than the normal ebrew panels with cords and outlets, this will be hard piped and wires direct. I'm goin to have a 50a gfi down stairs at the panel, 6awg wire coming up (have to derate since I'll also have the wall outlet wires in the same pipe) and there will be a 50a breaker din rail mounted inside the panel along with the main contactor to act as my local disconnect. I'm not really a fan of all the plugs under the panel, so I'm going to have one 14/5 SO cord come down to a local jbox to power the pumps. RTDs will be wired as normal with the microphone cables, and the elements will be the only twist locks on the panel and will mount to the vessels via tri clamp.
What are everyone's thoughts on the new condenser lids? Since I'm going to be running conduit up from the panel, I am also going to pull wire for a 10kw garage heater and it'd be really nice to finall be able to have the door closed on cold brew days..
For the last several years I've been brewing with my brother at his house on a 10gal 3V EHERMS rig we built. When COVID kicked in I decided it was finally time to have a brew space at home again. Dug out the 10 gallon kettle I bought at least 27 years ago for my first all-grain batch and cobbled together a 5gal EBIAB system. Everything is along the back wall so we can still comfortably park 2 cars and a motorcycle. When brewing I pull the cars out and roll the table that the kettle is on out from the wall about 10 inches. That allows room for the Steam Slayer and centers the kettle under the eye bolt attached to the bottom of the shelves above the cabinets to mount pulley to lift the grain bag.
ContinuousD
Well-Known Member
Not a perfect picture, just what I had on the phone. The full front of the garage is bew space. Hard to see but the far side has kegerator and stainless utility sink. 3rd car garage has all of the ingredients and storage for stuff.
ITV
Well-Known Member
Now you need a Plumber/Pipe Fitter friend to hard pipe your beer lines.
ITV
Well-Known Member
I really like my 30Kbtu infrared natural gas garage heater.
Mtozbun
Active Member
We have a small garage (1.5 car) for our townhome. Plan to build a dedicated space once we move in the next year, but I make do with the current setup. Still have room to park the SUV in the garage with all of this. Wheel out the brew bench on brew day and ready to roll. Kegerator and ferm fridge on the other side, deep freeze for storage behind the bar.
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Here's my current set-up. I just redid my whole space last year. The wall behind was never finished (we rent)... I insulated and sheetrocked it, painted it a nice neutral grey. The fridge is my kegorater and the taps are on the other side. Beyond that is the door to the kitchen so I just need to step out the door and pour me a cold one.
ITV
Well-Known Member
No, I had that type but I replaced it since the heat shot up to the ceiling .
The type I have now hangs from the ceiling.
My "2 1/2 vessel" setup. I heat all my water in the Spike kettle, then pump what I need to the mash tun when I hit strike temp. The rest I heat up to about 200F and drain it to the HLT. By the time I need to sparge, the temp has dropped to about 170. I've been scaling back a lot in my brewery and getting rid of things I don't need/want anymore.
One thing I'll add, I really like my mesh screen to keep the flys out of the garage during brewday. Best $20 I've spent.
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
That's what I've got going on here. Our patio was enclosed a few owners ago. This would be an awkward little room to most, but I saw 'beer room' all the way.
The kitchen sink is right on the other side of what used to be the window so I have water. The cleanout is under my table, so I will eventually put a drain-only sink in there too.
Some slat wall, shelving, and a couple of ferm chambers later, it's one of my favorite rooms in the house.
I'm using a lid-mounted Steam Slayer from BrewHardware and have been very happy. My garage heater sucks so brewing with the door closed in winter is a must.
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This is incredible! Where did you get the metal pegboard? That would look sharp behind my brewing set up!
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Wall Control makes that system. I have two panels in my brewery for tools and other accessories.
ContinuousD
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@CanaHomebrew, matt_m is correct, the metal pegboard is from Wall Control. I got mine on Amazon but they sell direct too.
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They do! Just bought a system last night. Great deal currently if you buy direct.
Here's an in-progress look! (This space is attached to my garage, so I figure it counts for this thread!) Working towards getting my brewing set up out of the kitchen and into a dedicated space. I used to brew in our covered patio, sharing space with a built-in grill. It was nice, but because it was open to the elements, it was really hard to keep things clean. Every brew day started with a few hours of cleaning grime and dirt off of everything, and leaving things on the counter to dry wasn’t great.
We decided to enclose the space to make it my brewery. We also decided to make the grill portable to make more room for brewing. Our contractors have been hard at work, so here’s some before and “during” pictures (since it’s not quite “after” yet) to show what the space will be like. We’ll be putting in a big sink, dedicated space for the grainfather and future systems, dedicated space for fermentors and chilling, and lots of storage. I'll post again when it's finished and we move everything in.
We decided to enclose the space to make it my brewery. We also decided to make the grill portable to make more room for brewing. Our contractors have been hard at work, so here’s some before and “during” pictures (since it’s not quite “after” yet) to show what the space will be like. We’ll be putting in a big sink, dedicated space for the grainfather and future systems, dedicated space for fermentors and chilling, and lots of storage. I'll post again when it's finished and we move everything in.
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I know your pain. That's exactly what I went through...lol. The best thing is you'll love it when it's done. Enjoy!
This is the current setup, minus the hoses that crisscross when I am filling the HLT or running cold water through the plate chiller. The plywood box in front is a lagering fridge with hop storage in the mini-fridge freezer area, it holds 3 kegs at 40F and is piped for CO2 so they carbonate and condition. On the right you can see the collar for the keezer, 3 kegs on tap always at 36F, and storage for yeast, hops, and sour cultures. The fridge is family overflow and cans/bottles, but the bottom of the freezer side is all hops. I don't move any equipment other than milling outside and hoses to brew/cool. DIY Glycol chiller can handle 3-5G fermenters at 40F. There are glass carboys with aging sours on the shelves behind the floor kegs. It's tight but functional.
That is beautiful!
Here's an update for my project..
Drywall and painting is complete, I have gotten most everything organized and tossed a bunch of junk I had laying around. I really want the whole wall for brew storage so I don't have anything in the basement that has to be schlepped upstairs in brew day.
I have also acquired 99% of my custom 50A Cal clone panel. Im waiting on my controllers and RTDs to be delivered. On this panel I opted for 1/4DIN Controllers because in my opinion, the 1/16 DIN are just too darn small.. especially with a 20"x20" panel..
I'm about to run to the big orange box store to pick up the conduit and 50A GFCI breaker. Hopefully by the weekend I'll have the panel started and or conduit ran and various additional outlets installed.
Drywall and painting is complete, I have gotten most everything organized and tossed a bunch of junk I had laying around. I really want the whole wall for brew storage so I don't have anything in the basement that has to be schlepped upstairs in brew day.
I have also acquired 99% of my custom 50A Cal clone panel. Im waiting on my controllers and RTDs to be delivered. On this panel I opted for 1/4DIN Controllers because in my opinion, the 1/16 DIN are just too darn small.. especially with a 20"x20" panel..
I'm about to run to the big orange box store to pick up the conduit and 50A GFCI breaker. Hopefully by the weekend I'll have the panel started and or conduit ran and various additional outlets installed.
Good Job! Very nice and nicely organized... I like it.
Nice Faction sign... now you need something from Alameda Island or Admiral Maltings...
Oh, I do need a Admiral sign! However, 5 of those containers have their malt inside!
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