Help me design my Brewery

[sempf]

I do appreciate the remodeling concerns - to be straight, I hadn't even considered that. As I consult with my wife and father though, they really like the idea, and we are planning on making it a lot more kitchen-like. This is a big, expensive house, and I don't want to rot it away.

True, though, I am interested in processes that I can do in this space, recommended equipment to make the process possible, stuff like that. All in all, everyone has been super helpful.

What if I keep cooking upstairs? What should I do DOWNSTAIRS to manage everything except for cooking?

How do y'all do storage? Do you keep hops and grain or malt on hand? How do you store it?

I am REALLY tired of bottles. Should I go to my LHBS and get a carb rig, or piece one together from stuff on HBT?

These are the kinds of things on my mind after reading all of this.

S

 

[homebeerbrewer]

I remembered seeing this somewhere. I had to look it up for you.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/my-new-brewery-alehouse-shed-brewing-porn-99310/#post1082798

 

[brewmonk]

If your cookin it upstairs, then downstairs is fermenting, transfers/kegging, storage for equipment and ingredients, ability to clean, and removing water from the area (is there a pump set up in your basement? I still drain my sink and D/W into buckets that I carry upstairs. At least it doesn't flood the septic.)


If you get yourself set up with kegs, you'll love it. Question is how much time do you have. Piece by piece took me almost a year, by the time I got my big tank from Craigslist.
If you buy a 1 or 2 keg setup, the only other thing you'll need are more kegs, and that's the CHEAPEST part, and you can do it later. go for it.

storage racks are always great to have.

Grain storage, plastic bin - no air holes, one or two layered plastic bags, tied separately.

hey Semf, what do you mean by processes? something like 'wort transfers', or something like 'extract brewing using gravity'? What do you think your needs are going to be? How do you carry it to the basement? What do you ferment in? What size batch?


= = = =
h.b.b. i just followed that link. I liked it.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

= = = =
h.b.b. i just followed that link. I liked it.

Yeah, I'm dreaming of doing something like that soon. My SWMBO gave me the go-ahead to redo the basement. Now, I have to come up with the money. It's probably gonna be a year long project, but slowly is better than never.

Sorry

We now continue with our regularly scheduled programming...

 

[sempf]

@homebeerbrewer: Thanks for that! Schweet! And it's OK, that's not off-topic. glad to see someone else is thinking of this too.

@brewmonk: Process - yeah you got the idea. Like wort transfer. I mean, I pour from one bucket to another. Where is the BEST place to go to learn about something better?

 

[brewmonk]

hbb, good luck with it, im in the middle of the same thing, in the same neck of the woods.

sempf, i think that you are in one af the good places for that right now, but I've just been googling everything I can think of for years, and have saved pics I like ~1000.

keep air away from everything, so no splashing, and put it in hoses! (therefore a pump helps)

Start looking at pictures of peoples brew rigs. here, brewhala.nl, google keg, mlt, mash, 1 tier, and anything else you can think of, and flip through images. you'll go off on tangents, and start reading. got a year?

books, too.

hey, do you have a brewery near you that does tours? go follow all their pipes and vats, and see how far you want to take it.

google,google,google.

 

[brewmonk]

Did you come up with any questions/decisions/ideas?

 

[jspence1]

Good luck with the renovation! I personally brew outside on a propane burner most of the year, but when its freaking cold like now I brew in the garage with the door half open. I have a storage space in the basement where I ferment and store my gear. Just from my experience I would put a floor drain in and tile an area around it before I finished the rest of the space, cleaning inside (winter) is a pain, the big utility sink is too small to be useful. Carboys and kegs are just too big. I envy your location out have great access to water and drains.

Although brewing inside over gas freaks me out a little it can't be too dangerous if done properly. I've seen a hundred threads about people using wok burners on their brew rigs. I haven't seen all Chinese food restaurant kitchens but the one I worked at had six of them and they were all indoors.

Enjoy the space!

 

[Surly]

...

What if I keep cooking upstairs? What should I do DOWNSTAIRS to manage everything except for cooking?

...

S

I boil my wort on the patio then transfer the wort to my basement brewery via tube.

I wanted to eliminate having to carry two carboys to the basement each brew day. I have found though that this system is a lot of extra work though.

 

[brewmonk]

It may be more work to set up or clean, but damn once gravity catches that, I bet you drain it quick.

 

[sempf]

I am planning right now - the insight has been really great. I think my first goal is to plan to cook either in the kitchen or outside, and then use the basement for all the other stuff. I'll start to weatherproof (as it were) the space, and then get ready to try electric. I have a FREE range with a 3700 watt burner that will boil 6 quarts of water in 7 minutes. Surely I can make that work - and I won't have to shell out for as much venting, fire protection and what not.

Having read a lot of other threads, and knowing how my brewing style works, I believe my first step in that direction is to set up kegging rather than bottling. So here is what I will be doing for now - brewing 5 gallon batches upstairs, carrying them down in a buchet, fermenting downstairs, and then kegging. What should I do first second or third? (There are probably other threads for this - anyone have a favorite?)

S

 

[sempf]

I boil my wort on the patio then transfer the wort to my basement brewery via tube.

This is AMAZING!! How do you keep it clean?

S

 

[Surly]

It may be more work to set up or clean, but damn once gravity catches that, I bet you drain it quick.

It does work well. I often brew by myself during the work week when my family members or neighbors are not around. I have become more safety conscience and wanted to deal with carboy transfer.

I may tweak the system, but more than likely I will move my operations to my second home and develop a dedicated brewery in one of my outbuildings.

 

[brewmonk]

well, sempf, you seem to have the luxury of space.
I'd set up a big, sturdy table.
for gravity transfers you need two tiers, figure that out too.
make em easily cleanable.
build a clean fermenting chamber.
tap a keg.