My Brew Shed in the works, guidance needed.

[luhrks]

What size batches? For 10 gallon batches you should be fine with a normal 30amp dryer or oven outlet and wiring. Just have an electrician run it to your shed!

You do realize a lot of us actually live in houses that were built before "grounding" and "3 wire" were common yes?

That and if he's going to "just" have someone run 30a to his shed, he might as well get water plumbed at the same time as he'll already be digging a trench.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

IE, will you insulate the floor of your brew shed for winter? In Wisconsin that is my first consideration, but you live in a warm state.

I bet all those people in Mass. Will be surprised to find out they live in a warm state!

 

[Brian4x4]

Thanks guys,
yes I am going to take it as slow as I can in building.
I will keep brewing the good beer I brew at the moment and let me brew shed take form.
I have been looking into those hoses with the heated wire in them as an option for water.
For electric for now I plan to keep it simple. (plans may change someday if I do a electric brew setup) I just don't have money for all that stuff yet.
I can tap into my garage circuit easily just to get a light and fan and plug for my fermenting chamber.

I used some old countertop and recycled wood to make this part so far.
All is move-able for now since I still need to figure out if I am putting wood on walls, drywall, or hole board.





I plan to have storage for my grains in tuperware under the counter.
Also my wife thinks I should paint it and make some simple doors for the spaces.

I have a small soda fridge for the right side, then my big RC cola fridge will be over on the right as well.
Kinda the center piece when you walk in the shed on the back wall.
I used panoramic picture mode on my cell phone, so don't think it looks so non-square in real life.

My father is taking out his old kitchen floor soon so I will probably clean the whole shed out and do the floor and walls soon using hid old flooring.

 

[Surly]

I bet all those people in Mass. Will be surprised to find out they live in a warm state!

Cyber...I look out my window and it is snowing. I expect 4"s overnight. Ran into St. Paul to pick up supplies at Northern Brewery today. Rushed back home because between the town rd. and my home is a trout stream. My bridge crossing that stream is real, real close to flooding. I made it today but do not believe I will leave my property for the next couple of days unless I walk out to the neighbors to the north. Life be good.

oh yes my friend, MA is a warm weather state.

 

[Surly]

Thanks guys,
yes I am going to take it as slow as I can in building.
I will keep brewing the good beer I brew at the moment and let me brew shed take form.
I have been looking into those hoses with the heated wire in them as an option for water.
For electric for now I plan to keep it simple. (plans may change someday if I do a electric brew setup) I just don't have money for all that stuff yet.
I can tap into my garage circuit easily just to get a light and fan and plug for my fermenting chamber.

I used some old countertop and recycled wood to make this part so far.
All is move-able for now since I still need to figure out if I am putting wood on walls, drywall, or hole board.





I plan to have storage for my grains in tuperware under the counter.
Also my wife thinks I should paint it and make some simple doors for the spaces.

I have a small soda fridge for the right side, then my big RC cola fridge will be over on the right as well.
Kinda the center piece when you walk in the shed on the back wall.
I used panoramic picture mode on my cell phone, so don't think it looks so non-square in real life.

My father is taking out his old kitchen floor soon so I will probably clean the whole shed out and do the floor and walls soon using hid old flooring.

Looks good Brian. A word of caution....many brewers are concerned with crushing malt in the area they also ferment.

My plan is to separate the two processes. Dunno just a thought others may comment upon.

 

[Brian4x4]

hmm why is that? If it is kept neat and clean what is the problemo?

 

[Surly]

hmm why is that? If it is kept neat and clean what is the problemo?

Malt dust spread around. BTW - please use the quote function so we know the source of your comments. It allows us to follow your thread more efficiently.

 

[bucfanmike]

hmm why is that? If it is kept neat and clean what is the problemo?

grain dust will carry lacto with it.. could be a source for infection when in contact with anything post boil.

 

[Brian4x4]

Looking at fans to use with my custom made condensate hood.
See either inline duct fans or inline exhaust fans that have a more round bubble look to them and not really knowing the difference as to what to get..
figure it needs to be 500+ CFM though and I think 8" duct would be good.?

 

[Brian4x4]

Could I use propane burner in my shed without keeping door open if I had installed ______??? just wondering (thinking ahead to winter...)
I do plan to re-use and install 2 windows from my house into my shed for light and ventilation...
Just wondering it I wanted to shut the doors what I would need to keep the room healthy.
like if it is doable and what it takes? on a budget. I will be sure to have a carbon monoxide detector to be sure..
Everything I have read says that if I have good ventilation I can be fine. just looking for the pro opinion,.

 

[mjohnson]

Pesonally, I don't think I'd run propane with the door closed. I'm sure someone can make it safe, but I'd probably opt for wearing long underwear, instead.

Are you going to put some sort of cement board or something to protect the wood by your burners? Something about running turkey fryer propane burners right next to the wooden walls kinda raises a little warning flag in the back of my mind.

I'm not trying to be a debbie downer or one of those "you're gonna kill yourself" types. I have an old shed that I hope to use for brewing when I replace it with something a bit bigger so I'll be running into some similar issues, I'm sure.

 

[Brian4x4]

Pesonally, I don't think I'd run propane with the door closed. I'm sure someone can make it safe, but I'd probably opt for wearing long underwear, instead.

Are you going to put some sort of cement board or something to protect the wood by your burners? Something about running turkey fryer propane burners right next to the wooden walls kinda raises a little warning flag in the back of my mind.

I'm not trying to be a debbie downer or one of those "you're gonna kill yourself" types. I have an old shed that I hope to use for brewing when I replace it with something a bit bigger so I'll be running into some similar issues, I'm sure.

good point,
I also was planning on putting something on all the walls, but maybe metal behind the burners..

 

[Brian4x4]

hi all, So I have been doing some more work and also thinking more. I think I may want to pony up and have my shed ran with some higher power so I can someday do a electric brew day. I am going to be adding wires to it anyway why not figure out how to get it ready for that future mod. even if I dont buy heating elements and run that setup just yet...

anyway. added this new floor.
Also have bought a new SS chugger pump and some other goodies.
I have a drop ceiling and wood panels free to use so those coming up next.

floor done. check...
100%free used from my folks..!!!!






I had to shuffle stuff all around from one side to the other









used some scraps to make the bottom shelf. not sure if it will stay forever but works great!









Next up electrical, water, walls and ceiling. ugh...



I have a lot of drop ceiling I can install.




Also I have installed a hot water heater in my house and why I did that I piped hot water outside to my house..



I picked up a nice 12v pump for my rain barrel and I plan to integrate that into my brew day. At least in summer. I plan to pump water from that 275 gallon tote to my wort chiller then dump it back into tote to be used to water my garden.
All solar powered.

 

[Surly]

Looks good.

 

[Brian4x4]

Looks good.

thanks dude,

I have brewed in the shed a few times now and I love it!
BUT the last time I did (July 4th) it was over 90* here and inside the shed was even worse! Not sure I like that at all.
Had a big fan blowing heat out and that helped but still was so hot in shed..

My friend who was helping me brew that day is an electrician so we where talking all about wiring the shed.

He gave me some good pointers and offered to help in the future.
Since I am running power to the shed I am going to save and try to at least run 1 30amp plug for future electric brewing.

It would be so nice to work inside with the door closed and a AC running in the hot summer. LOL
And as you all said before, door closed in winter and free heat from kettles.

So that is all still in planning.

But here are a few pics from my last brew day.



lol this worked great!








pumped water through my 50' 1/2" immersion chiller then back into my rain barrel to be used to water garden later. I was surprized how much water was used in cooling process. it filled up tote to bottom steal bar.



In the future (next few weeks) this rain barrel will be all setup and working.
So in the summer at least I can use my solar / battery powered 12v 300gph pump to pump the rain barrel water to my chiller then back into bucket.
Just something fun I figured I could do with my rain watering setup in addition to watering garden.

We used my old wort chiller as a pre-chiller in the beer cooler we where using at the time.
cooled down on its own whirlpooling in 10 min or less.

I have decided I want to get some tile and make a rectangle pad under the brew kettles. Kinda like a stove hearth.
That way for now I don't have to worry about the heat heating up floor.
Also if I spill on the laminate over time it will ruin it.

I would love to have the wall behind my kettles be that stainless steel mirror like restaurant stuff.

here is a pic of what it will look like when done..



a family member is pawning off a pinball machine on me I hear soon. I don't have room in my house so it may go in the brew shed.
Pic is not to scale just a quick MS paint drawing to show you my idea.

thanks all
post progress as I make it.

 

[nosnhojm20]

I'm hoping to get this thread walking again. Any progress?

 

[Brian4x4]

I'm hoping to get this thread walking again. Any progress?

I wish Dude!

But it now has TV!!! Over HDTV air waves antenna. lol
It also has 2 arcade units in it which will be moving to my basement.

As for water, heat and electric so far no good. I will be using a hose still. also for electric I have a Solar panel setup for lights and pump power but thats it.

Someday when its warm again (winter now) I will be able to work on wiring the 220v for my electric brewery. Once I get that wiring done things will move fast.

Exhaust hood, electric heating elements, temp controlled HERMS system. so forth. my winter brew project is turning a keg into a conical fermentation chamber just the basics. Someday it will be the brewery of my dreams .. some day. cant come soon enough. thanks for your interest!

 

[HS1864]

Any updates on this project?

 

[mullet6577]

Any updates on this project?

I doubt you'll get a reply anytime soon

Brian4x4 was last seen:

Dec 6, 2015

 

[eric19312]

Cool project and you have some great ideas.

I don't think you are going to get a pro opinion saying it is safe to use propane indoors on a home built brew stand with outdoor rated burners. You may well find a bunch of people here that have done this and feel ok about what they have done having established adequate (define?) ventilation and running a CO detector. But don't expect a pro to say that's gonna be ok.

Utilities are a big part of brewing. Just as important as pots and fermentors. I looked at a frost line map and can see why you don't want to run a permanent water line. 30 yards x 50" feet deep ground probably full of big ass rocks. Guess that's not an option. I would be careful of getting garden hose taste in your beer though. Investing in an RV hose will help and don't leave it in the sun. What are you going to do with waste water? From cleaning etc? Any chance you could move the shed closer to the house and do the utilities right? Go full electric with water and wastewater lines?

 

[eric19312]

I doubt you'll get a reply anytime soon

Brian4x4 was last seen:

Dec 6, 2015

Oh crap who resurrected this old thread? Guess I was right on no pro opinions in support of indoor propane on a home built system.

 

[a1amberrenae]

Oh crap who resurrected this old thread? Guess I was right on no pro opinions in support of indoor propane on a home built system.

Not a pro opinion but I use propane in my brew shed BUT with safety precautions. I have the 6 ft wide doors open and I installed an industrial gable fan that pulls fumes... and heat. It stays reasonably cool and I make sure the air is safe.
The walls have fire/heat resistant hardy backer too so the walls are safe. Otherwise the wood gets hot enough to scorch with the kettle stand against it!
I also tiled the whole floor as the original poster thought to do under the kettles. I can spray the whole place down, even brought a power washer in once. Its awesome.
I run a thick gage electrical cord 50 feet from the house on its own circuit. In the shed, Its hung high with power strips for cut off safety.
I have a water hose connection at the exterior of the wall to a manifold on the inside that gives me 4 hookups to water. This was a game changer to cut down on brew time and hassle. One routes to a cieling mounted swing arm that services the kettles and swings to the other side to clean fermentors, one routes over to the chiller, another for quick grabbing. I can be chilling while I'm cleaning Thought routing cheap water hose was easier than pvc and easier connections too.
Wastewater flows to drains in the middle of the floor on to the ground below. I catch trub and take it to the toilet in the house.
I boxed in an area with insulation for the fermentors and surplus kegged beer temp controlled with an ac unit.
Complete with an old fridge turned keggerator.
Did i mention how fun it is just to hose the place down at the end
Post resurrected!

 

[eric19312]

Not a pro opinion but I use propane in my brew shed BUT with safety precautions. I have the 6 ft wide doors open and I installed an industrial gable fan that pulls fumes... and heat. It stays reasonably cool and I make sure the air is safe.
The walls have fire/heat resistant hardy backer too so the walls are safe. Otherwise the wood gets hot enough to scorch with the kettle stand against it!
I also tiled the whole floor as the original poster thought to do under the kettles. I can spray the whole place down, even brought a power washer in once. Its awesome.
I run a thick gage electrical cord 50 feet from the house on its own circuit. In the shed, Its hung high with power strips for cut off safety.
I have a water hose connection at the exterior of the wall to a manifold on the inside that gives me 4 hookups to water. This was a game changer to cut down on brew time and hassle. One routes to a cieling mounted swing arm that services the kettles and swings to the other side to clean fermentors, one routes over to the chiller, another for quick grabbing. I can be chilling while I'm cleaning Thought routing cheap water hose was easier than pvc and easier connections too.
Wastewater flows to drains in the middle of the floor on to the ground below. I catch trub and take it to the toilet in the house.
I boxed in an area with insulation for the fermentors and surplus kegged beer temp controlled with an ac unit.
Complete with an old fridge turned keggerator.
Did i mention how fun it is just to hose the place down at the end
Post resurrected!

that sounds awesome have you posted pics somewhere?
for the water supply are you using drinking water hoses? That green garden hose can make water taste pretty bad.

 

[ImperialDrHops]

I have a water hose connection at the exterior of the wall to a manifold on the inside that gives me 4 hookups to water. This was a game changer to cut down on brew time and hassle. One routes to a cieling mounted swing arm that services the kettles and swings to the other side to clean fermentors, one routes over to the chiller, another for quick grabbing.

This sounds like what I want to do. Do you have a picture?

 

[a1amberrenae]

This sounds like what I want to do. Do you have a picture?

Which part were you wanting a picture of specifically?

 

[a1amberrenae]

This sounds like what I want to do. Do you have a picture?

The swing arm is kind of hard to see and there is excess water hose curled up there so the pic could be confusing. I used black iron pipe. If you need close up of that or more detail, let me know.

The manifold is home depot Brass 90 degree elbow to a water hose quick connect to the manifold. I had an a$$ whip of a time to get this water tight and tried several different pieces and probably 4 hours cranking wrenches and a roll of plumbers tape. Careful with those spin in place connections . They are not any good. Which is why i have the quick connect between the elbow and the manifold. Fortunately, the connection of the manifold seized up on me and it stopped leaking at that spot.

I also built tall 15', instead of larger footprint. I store grains or empty cans up high.

 

[a1amberrenae]

that sounds awesome have you posted pics somewhere?
for the water supply are you using drinking water hoses? That green garden hose can make water taste pretty bad.

I'm using black. Green is for rinse water. No issues in flavor so far. Good point though.

 

[a1amberrenae]

Oh, in addition to questionable propane indoors, the other off approach i did was used galvanized steel for the stand. I didnt have a welder at the time. So the slotted angles and bolts like an erector set was feasible for me. Of course, you have to let the stand burn off the vapors first. That was awful but after that, no isses there. Now i have a welder and would maybe make it differently if I'd to do it again? But this set hasn't had any issues and is a great affordable DIY option compared to purchasing stainless or if avoiding welding. Complete with wheels for easy moving, steps to get up in that mash, and in line oxygen mount.

Next I want to make a lift & tilt for the mash tun so I can tilt it forward to dump the mash for speed. Right now i use a half gallon size pan to scoop the most out. Then rinse in place.

Washing everything in place is a mf dream.

@Lass_Haüs_Ales

 

[ImperialDrHops]

The swing arm is kind of hard to see and there is excess water hose curled up there so the pic could be confusing. I used black iron pipe. If you need close up of that or more detail, let me know.

The manifold is home depot Brass 90 degree elbow to a water hose quick connect to the manifold. I had an a$$ whip of a time to get this water tight and tried several different pieces and probably 4 hours cranking wrenches and a roll of plumbers tape. Careful with those spin in place connections . They are not any good. Which is why i have the quick connect between the elbow and the manifold. Fortunately, the connection of the manifold seized up on me and it stopped leaking at that spot.

I also built tall 15', instead of larger footprint. I store grains or empty cans up high.

Thanks for all the pictures. I'm looking to do just what you did with water connections, drainage, and your pictures give me some great ideas.

I see the swing arms on the ceiling which is a really nice touch. The picture showing your shed lengthwise really brings it all together. I love the floor drain too and may consider that. So much water and wort spill when disconnecting hoses, etc.. must be nice to just squeegee into the drain and rinse.

Do you wash hop/malt/wort through that drain? Any issues with ants or bugs or are you rinsing with plenty of water? My shed sits on 12 inches of gravel with a French drain underneath so I may be good with being able to rinse everything out directly underneath through the rocks.

Are those three separate fermentation chambers?

Also like the fan and have been considering options. One thought was to just purchase a wall mounted fan and blow directly towards the double doors but I like your idea better as it will bring steam directly outside.

 

[a1amberrenae]

Thanks for all the pictures. I'm looking to do just what you did with water connections, drainage, and your pictures give me some great ideas.

I see the swing arms on the ceiling which is a really nice touch. The picture showing your shed lengthwise really brings it all together. I love the floor drain too and may consider that. So much water and wort spill when disconnecting hoses, etc.. must be nice to just squeegee into the drain and rinse.

Do you wash hop/malt/wort through that drain? Any issues with ants or bugs or are you rinsing with plenty of water? My shed sits on 12 inches of gravel with a French drain underneath so I may be good with being able to rinse everything out directly underneath through the rocks.

Are those three separate fermentation chambers?

Also like the fan and have been considering options. One thought was to just purchase a wall mounted fan and blow directly towards the double doors but I like your idea better as it will bring steam directly outside.

Awesome!
Take time to make sure that the floor slopes the right way. I had someone help me and I should have checked their work. Its not perfect on one corner. Just make sure you get it right, it's worth it. I could stand for a bigger drain somewhere too that i could dump water buckets quicker. This one is a little too narrow. Imagining the janitor rooms with that square splash pad.

Spent grain goes in the trash. Trub in the toilet in the house. I was warned about yeast growing. Ideally not too much hop/malt/wort gets dropped . But the occasional (or frequent) oh $h!ts go down the drain. I think it gets followed up with so much water, it's eventually diluted. At minimum, the shed is clean so the sweet stuff would attract them to the outside. I do have roach bait pods outside under the shed and mouse poison houses out. No issues with proper pest control. Never had ants out.

There is no divider between the fermentors or below them where I store full kegs. I have just one a/c to circulate air through the area. But would be nice to only cool a single chamber as needed.

The gable fan is , sized to pull certain CFM so im positive the fumes are gone. Pushing air with fans just didn't do the trick and it got unbearably hot in there, over 100 degrees. They weren't big fans though so maybe something more powerful would work. Also the air movement from push fans knocked flames around and made boiling take longer. The gable fan keeps it cool and further combined with the radiant plywood roof, it can be cooler in the shed than outside.