Garage or shed? Seeking opinions and advice

[Setesh]

We are building a new house, they will break ground in about 2 weeks. It will have a total of 3 cars worth of garage but they are separated in an L shape. 2 on one side and 1 on the other. Hard to explain but hopefully that makes sense. The neighborhood bylaws say you can't have a detached building (shed) so we are building what amounts to a 4th garage on the back of the house for storage of chemicals, lawn mower, yard care equipment, etc. I am moving to all electric brewing with a clean in place setup. I will have a floor drain, heater, and hot/cold water put in. The shed will be 8x24 whereas the garage will be 14x20.

Now for the question: Which one should I plan on using for brewing?

So far I am leaning pretty strongly towards the garage for the reasons I outline below, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

The garage faces the street, the shed is on the back of the house.
I like the idea of using the garage since it would be cooler in the summer with the bay door open and the back door open. It gets very hot during Oklahoma summers, so cooling is a big factor on brewing comfort. I could put in a window unit in the shed but it would have a workout to keep up.
In the garage the steam/humidity will have ample room to escape compared to the shed so I might have to install a vent hood in the shed.
The shed will only be accessible from the yard whereas the garage will be accessible from the house. If it's raining, yard is muddy, etc, it seems way more convenient to be in the garage.
If I choose the shed there will be things that are normally in sheds, like gas cans, lawn mowers, weed eaters, etc. I don't like that idea. Seems like a contamination problem waiting to happen. Maybe I'm being paranoid.
My wife is griping that I am taking over a garage that she could use to fill with her stuff. She will want to put my daughters stuff in it too, power wheels, bikes, forts, yard toys, etc, etc. I will have to fight for the garage more than for the shed.

I'm sticking to my guns on this one. I've made a lot of concessions on building this house but I WILL have a dedicated brewing area, I just have to decide where it will be and plan from there. Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Braufessor]

Could you Divide off a portion of the "shed" that would be exclusively for brewing .... Seperated by a wall, even its own door maybe. Set it up as a "man cave" with a bar, TV, etc.... Put a wall across it that essentially makes it two 8x12 rooms??

Might be able to do the old "Ok, I see your point on the garage, but if I am going to have to use the shed, I want it set up like this" and truly get your OWN brew space that is not shared with anything at all.

When we built our house 15 years ago, my wife let me dedicate a room in our basement to brewing. About 12x15 or so. Tile floor, floor drain, natural gas, etc. etc. etc. It is BY FAR the single best thing I ever did for my brewing. There is NOTHING that is better than not having to "set up" and "tear down" - it is just always ready to brew whenever I want. It is easier to keep clean, organized and knocks a couple hours off any brew day.

I would say go with whatever is going to allow you to truly have an exclusive space that is all your own (if that is a possible option).

 

[northcal]

I'd say go for a dedicated section of the shed, like mentioned above.

Put in big windows or doors, a concrete sidewalk and you're good to go.

Seems like garages have to perform lots of functions and stuff gets put "wherever". I think a brew room in the shed would only have one function.

Good luck,

 

[Setesh]

Could you Divide off a portion of the "shed" that would be exclusively for brewing .... Seperated by a wall, even its own door maybe. Set it up as a "man cave" with a bar, TV, etc.... Put a wall across it that essentially makes it two 8x12 rooms??

I spent a few minutes looking at the plans and I think I could do that without a problem. I don't think it would cost much more to do, will have to talk with the builder. I am going to ask him how much it would cost to extend it another 2 ft. I actually have a shed right now which fits our needs pretty well, it's 8x10. If I made an 8x10 section of this dedicated shed I would lose 6" for that wall. That would leave me a roughly 16x10 room (interior) for brewing. That would be plenty. I'll have to see what the extra concrete will cost too. But I really like that idea now. Thanks! I can even have the water lines on the inside walls so it won't be a freezing hazard. Now the big problems will be cooling and ventilation. I think I'm going to have to break down and just air condition it if I go that way. I could do lots of windows, but it still won't flow very well as it won't have a cross flow. It would be open on two sides of an L, which in my experience doesn't work very well.

 

[MaxStout]

Since you mentioned doing electric brewing, I can assume you will have decent electric service in the space? Maybe do a sub panel so you have a few 240 and 120 circuits.

A few years ago I moved my woodworking hobby out of the garage and into a 10' x 20' shed I built. Best thing I did--60A electric, heat and a window AC.

You won't regret having the dedicated space for brewing.

 

[milldoggy]

Make sure you plan for a nice big sink, storage space and ferm fridge or temp controlled space. I would at least budget for a 20 cf upright fridge for temp control. In the winter you mostly will be heating it

 

[Setesh]

Since you mentioned doing electric brewing, I can assume you will have decent electric service in the space? Maybe do a sub panel so you have a few 240 and 120 circuits.

Yes, definitely will have a 240 circuit for my Kal clone panel and probably 6 120 outlets for fridges and such.

Make sure you plan for a nice big sink, storage space and ferm fridge or temp controlled space. I would at least budget for a 20 cf upright fridge for temp control. In the winter you mostly will be heating it

Definitely going to have a nice big sink, and I'll move my fermentation fridges into it as well. As far as heating/cooling I'm going to run another 240 circuit for a ceiling mounted electric heater, and I'll probably end up putting a vent hood in above my kettles go get rid of the steam.

 

[Setesh]

Good grief. I just took a look at vent hoods or "condensate" hoods, and they are extremely expensive! I figured a few hundred would do it, but apparently it's a 1000+ and that doesn't include the fan/ducting/installation. The brew shed just became a lot more expensive! Anyone have a cheaper solution?

 

[Setesh]

I wonder if I could get away with one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E6DM2M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I can't see why I would need one over my mash tun, and this would be long enough to cover my HLT and BK.

 

[Braufessor]

Good grief. I just took a look at vent hoods or "condensate" hoods, and they are extremely expensive! I figured a few hundred would do it, but apparently it's a 1000+ and that doesn't include the fan/ducting/installation. The brew shed just became a lot more expensive! Anyone have a cheaper solution?

Don't use a vent hood......

Make sure there are adequate/extra windows/doors/ventilation. Put a vent fan in the wall as well perhaps.

I don't know why you would need a "hood." I brew inside with no hood. Window, vent fan in the wall. I really don't even hardly need that.

 

[Chrisl77]

I built one of these and it works out great. I think it cost me $150 for the materials including the duct fan and flex duct.

 

[milldoggy]

You could also construct a hood out of a plastic tote.

 

[Setesh]

Don't use a vent hood......

Make sure there are adequate/extra windows/doors/ventilation. Put a vent fan in the wall as well perhaps.

I don't know why you would need a "hood." I brew inside with no hood. Window, vent fan in the wall. I really don't even hardly need that.

Well, I just assumed I would need one....that might make me an a$$

If I don't need one I will save myself the expense for sure. How big is the space you are brewing in and how tall are the ceilings? I looked through your threads but didn't see anything showing your setup, sorry if I missed it! So you just put a box fan or something similar in a window and open up another window and that does fine for you?

 

[Setesh]

I built one of these and it works out great. I think it cost me $150 for the materials including the duct fan and flex duct.

That's a very good solution Chrisl77. Did you find that you needed it and that is why you created that or did you just do it so you didn't have to open any windows?

 

[northcal]

I had a room in the garage I used to brew in 12x14'?

I had the sanke kettles set up perpendicular to a window. A box fan blowing out and the door to the brew room open (as well as the back garage door) and no problems.

 

[Setesh]

I had a room in the garage I used to brew in 12x14'?

I had the sanke kettles set up perpendicular to a window. A box fan blowing out and the door to the brew room open (as well as the back garage door) and no problems.

Yeah, the garage door being open solves the problem handily. That was one of the biggest things pushing me towards using the garage. But now the idea of having my own space has really taken hold, and I don't think it's gonna let go. I just know I would have to fight constantly for my space in the garage, and I won't have to in the shed.

 

[Setesh]

Don't use a vent hood......

Make sure there are adequate/extra windows/doors/ventilation. Put a vent fan in the wall as well perhaps.

I don't know why you would need a "hood." I brew inside with no hood. Window, vent fan in the wall. I really don't even hardly need that.

What about winter brewing? You can leave the doors/windows open to brew but you're gonna be really cold on brew day. If you have a hood you can leave everything sealed up, leave the heat on, and be nice and cozy. Am I thinking wrong on this?

 

[Braufessor]

Well, I just assumed I would need one....that might make me an a$$

If I don't need one I will save myself the expense for sure. How big is the space you are brewing in and how tall are the ceilings? I looked through your threads but didn't see anything showing your setup, sorry if I missed it! So you just put a box fan or something similar in a window and open up another window and that does fine for you?

This is what my room looks like. It is in the basement, but it is a full walkout basement - so the back of the house is all above ground. Full window that I can open and you can see the permanent vent fan in the wall. Leave the door to the brew room open too.

To be honest, taking a hot shower seems to generate WAY more steam, humidity and moisture than brewing a batch of beer does. Been doing it this way for 15 years, no problems.

 

[Setesh]

This is what my room looks like. It is in the basement, but it is a full walkout basement - so the back of the house is all above ground. Full window that I can open and you can see the permanent vent fan in the wall. Leave the door to the brew room open too.

To be honest, taking a hot shower seems to generate WAY more steam, humidity and moisture than brewing a batch of beer does. Been doing it this way for 15 years, no problems.

Nice! I really appreciate the help/advice! Do you just bundle up in winter or is it such a low are draw that it doesn't cool off the room much? That is a beautiful setup by the way! Very nice. I especially love the sloped floor drain. I'm going to try to have them do that for mine, but I may just have to squeegee.

 

[Braufessor]

What about winter brewing? You can leave the doors/windows open to brew but you're gonna be really cold on brew day. If you have a hood you can leave everything sealed up, leave the heat on, and be nice and cozy. Am I thinking wrong on this?

I usually just open the window from the top about 6 inches and turn on the fan. That gives enough ventilation for my situation. There is some heat being generated by brewing, and the room does cool down some while brewing - but it is on the south side of the house, sheltered and the room is still in the 50's easily - even when it is cold out.

But, you are right - if you had to open things up a lot to ventilate, and it was cold, that would kind of suck.

 

[Setesh]

This is what my room looks like.

I'm sending that pic to my builder now. That is exactly how I want the floor drain to be. It looks like the floor is all level except for a roughly 3x3 area in the middle that forms the drain cone. That seems perfect. Thanks for the pic!

 

[Braufessor]

yeah - that floor drain is great. It was really, really great the time I dumped 5 full gallons of cooled wort. What a sticky mess. But, hooked up a hose, turned on the hot water, squeegied it down the drain.

The biggest thing though, as a couple others have chimed in, is just having the permanent space. A totally dedicated area that you can sort of leave ready to brew. I can just get up on a whim on a saturday and decide to brew - 15 minutes later, I have water heating and i am ready to roll. It makes brewing enjoyable.

I also have a big basement right off of that room with TV, stereo, Bar, computer area (I use an old laptop for recipe's, Bru'n water, etc.). I keep grain in an area under the stairs outside the room. So, I am actually right outside that room in the rest of the basement quite a bit on brew day - not necessarily right there all the time.

 

[Braufessor]

I'm sending that pic to my builder now. That is exactly how I want the floor drain to be. It looks like the floor is all level except for a roughly 3x3 area in the middle that forms the drain cone. That seems perfect. Thanks for the pic!

Yep - that is exactly what it is.

The tile is all cheap menards stuff - leftover pile basically. The budget was about out when we built the house, so had to get by with what I could when it came to the floor. But, it is functional.

 

[Setesh]

I also have a big basement right off of that room with TV, stereo, Bar, computer area (I use an old laptop for recipe's, Bru'n water, etc.). I keep grain in an area under the stairs outside the room. So, I am actually right outside that room in the rest of the basement quite a bit on brew day - not necessarily right there all the time.

That sounds awesome. That actually brings up another good point. I think I will run a few drops of Cat6 into the room and hang my extra 32" TV up out there. That way I can have some entertainment out there too. A receiver and some speakers wouldn't go amiss either! Rock out to some good tunes while brewing.

 

[Setesh]

Yep - that is exactly what it is.

The tile is all cheap menards stuff - leftover pile basically. The budget was about out when we built the house, so had to get by with what I could when it came to the floor. But, it is functional.

I think I'll have to stick to just concrete floor on mine, but I can tile it myself later if I get the itch, I've done plenty of that. I'm also digging your double utility sink. I haven't decided yet to do a single or double, but I'm definitely going to have one. There should be plenty of room underneath it for most of the RO system too. Storage tank will have to go beside it, but that's no biggie.