Moving brewery to garage

[awoitte]

1. Store grain in an airtight container.

I've read/heard people talk about not allowing (something along the lines of different yeast, beers -ales/lagers-, etc. near each other due to the possibility of cross contamination. Is this something to worry about / keep in mind while storing?

 

[day_trippr]

For unmilled grains - even specialty grains?
No. That's really not something to waste a second on.
I store full sacks together above one of my cabinets and keep all of my (bagged) unmilled specialty grains in a 50 gallon rolling trash bin.
Together.
Like dogs and cats
No issues...

Cheers!

 

[seatazzz]

I brew in my garage, and have a ferment fridge out here too so don't have to lug things too far. I don't prop the garage door open during brewing but I do have the door to the house open, with a fan going to keep the air moving. Can't keep the door closed because the critters I live with (2 dogs and 3 cats) raise holy hell if they can't come out and be part of the brewday, to the point that every brewday a "brewcat" is selected by whichever one decides my lap is the place to be. Never had an issue with CO since I keep the air circulating. Hops are in their own freezer, and grain in a closed container; also learned a while ago to mill grain the night before to keep the dust out of everything.

My garage is my woman cave; got my laptop out here, with nice speakers, and the kegerator is only a step away. Husband can get squiffy if he sees me drinking before 9am so I have a nice selection of glassware in the freezer side of the kegerator, and a bag of red solo cups for sampling. And did I mention my super cushy recliner? Oh yes I could live out here.

 

[mongoose33]

I brew in my garage, and have a ferment fridge out here too so don't have to lug things too far. I don't prop the garage door open during brewing but I do have the door to the house open, with a fan going to keep the air moving. Can't keep the door closed because the critters I live with (2 dogs and 3 cats) raise holy hell if they can't come out and be part of the brewday, to the point that every brewday a "brewcat" is selected by whichever one decides my lap is the place to be. Never had an issue with CO since I keep the air circulating. Hops are in their own freezer, and grain in a closed container; also learned a while ago to mill grain the night before to keep the dust out of everything.

My garage is my woman cave; got my laptop out here, with nice speakers, and the kegerator is only a step away. Husband can get squiffy if he sees me drinking before 9am so I have a nice selection of glassware in the freezer side of the kegerator, and a bag of red solo cups for sampling. And did I mention my super cushy recliner? Oh yes I could live out here.

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[seatazzz]

Pics or it didn't happen.

next time I clean...it's a sh*tshow right now

 

[balrog]

Envious, am I.

 

[mongoose33]

next time I clean...it's a sh*tshow right now

Well, OK.

I'm having the LHBC at my house in early May for the monthly meeting. I've already started cleaning up my garage brew area in anticipation.

 

[ITV]

next time I clean...it's a sh*tshow right now

Pics of the speakers & stereo please. Klipsch fan here

 

[sleev-les]

I brew in the garage and ferment. Using spikes and their temp control I have zero issue maintaining ferm temps. In the winter, I leave the door to the house open to get a bit warmer while I'm in there and summer use a fan to circulate air. Garage is insulated so it isn't bad regardless. Kegerator is out there as well.

 

[mattdee1]

I think the best answer is, just brew wherever the process is the most painless. I have always brewed in the garage, but for a while I was strongly considering moving down into the basement because that is where I was storing all of the gear. With everything that you need to do on a brew day, it's just a monumental drag to have to lug a hundred pieces of equipment and gadgets and buckets up and down stairs.

I have plenty of space in the basement but I wasn't ready to spend the money to install the provisions in the basement for brewing so as a compromise I spent a weekend building a bunch of shelves in my garage to move all kinds of crap out of the way, which then freed up room along a wall to store my brewing gear out there. I also built a simple cart that I can just wheel out and wheel back when I'm done (see picture - on nice summer afternoons, I wheel it out into the backyard for nicer surroundings). I find that every little inconvenience that you can eliminate - no matter how small - makes a big impact on the enjoyment of brewing. When you're 5-6 hours into a brew day, eliminating a single trip down into the basement is money.

 

[awoitte]

I think the best answer is, just brew wherever the process is the most painless.

If I had your backyard I'd have 1/3 of it dedicated to growing hops.

 

[Saunassa]

I store supplies and equipment in the basement but do the brewing in the garage. The hardest part is carrying the full fermenter down the stairs, luckily only a half flight, to my fermentation closet.