Question for garage/shed brewers

[user 263363]

I am in the middle of relocating my brewing operation from the kitchen to my garage. I unfortunately do not have any source for water in the garage.

I don’t know if I just used the sink in the kitchen so much because it was there or if I will not miss it when I go to brew outside. Even inside I would generally use table bussing containers for sanitizing and that set up has worked great.

Do you all have a utility sink or do you make due without water on tap during brew day? Or have you figured out a work around? Just trying to figure out if I need to start calling plumbers to get quotes on putting some water lines in the garage. Thanks!

 

[Dland]

I brew behind garage and use water from hose with a aquapure filter on end. If using hose, it is good to have a dedicated one for brewing that is good grade material and kept inside and sealed so it does not get critters in it.

 

[3toes]

I am in the middle of relocating my brewing operation from the kitchen to my garage. I unfortunately do not have any source for water in the garage.

I don’t know if I just used the sink in the kitchen so much because it was there or if I will not miss it when I go to brew outside. Even inside I would generally use table bussing containers for sanitizing and that set up has worked great.

Do you all have a utility sink or do you make due without water on tap during brew day? Or have you figured out a work around? Just trying to figure out if I need to start calling plumbers to get quotes on putting some water lines in the garage. Thanks!

I had a utility sink installed in my garage specifically for brewing. It was pretty costly for me, but I don't regret it one bit. It's made all aspects of my brewing so much easier. Not just for the water supply, but the drainage as well!

Most importantly, I'm brewing a LOT more often as a result of having the sink. If you can get a good quote, that's the route I'd go.

 

[pvpeacock]

I brew in my driveway next to the garage. For brewing water, I use a dedicated RV hose and filter. For my wort chiller, I use a regular garden hose. For everything else (e.g. cleaning, mixing sanitizer or PBW) I still use the kitchen sink. Never had a problem and I get a lot of steps on my fitness watch.

 

[kgranger]

I pretty much do the same - food grade drinking water hose from house. I rigged up a pretty elaborate system to make it as easy to set up and distribute as possible. I have a garden faucet attached to the outside of the garage with a quick disconnect, so during a brew day, I just bring my hose over from the house, hook it up, and water is running. This all goes to a manifold I built to distribute the water to a few places: one to a water filter for kettle filling, one to the cold hose on the utility sink, one to a portable propane fired tankless water heater to provide instant hot water to the hot hose on the sink, and one to a garden hose and nozzle for spraying down equipment during clean up. Everything is tri-clamp so I can quickly disassemble after brew days in the winter (to avoid any hose freezing).

I also do not have a waste water drain, so the utility sink just drains into a 5 gal bucket, which I periodically will dump in the alley. I find that it fills slowly enough to manage. I plan to throw in a small sump pump at some point into the bucket, so it can drain out of the garage via PVC pipe.

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[kevin58]

I have a detached garage and my water supply is on the outside of the house on the other side of our patio. I use a hose called Flexzilla. It is flexible and not prone to kinking and is safe for drinking water.

 

[Spartan1979]

I brewed in my garage until earlier this year. All the brewing water was collected from my RO system in the basement and hauled up the stairs. Chilling water came from the garden hose. Most of the cleaning was done in the sink in the basement.

I now brew with electricity in the basement and I love having everything at hand and not going up and down the stairs 30 times on a brew day.

 

[kh54s10]

I brewed on a porch. No sink for a while. I then used an RV hose to bring water to a utility sink that then drained into a plastic barrel. If you can possibly do it get a sink nearby.

 

[eric19312]

I brew in garage where I have utility sink - kinda far from where i brew - and a hose bib near where I brew. I get my brewing water from the hose bib using an RV hose and an inline filter. In the summer I do most of my brewday cleaning in the driveway with the hose and in the winter I more use the utility sink. I do drain my chiller to the utility sink in the winter to keep from creating a sheet of ice on the driveway.

 

[CharlieW]

I brew on the back deck during the summer and in the garage during the winter. I have a 4" sediment filter and a carbon filter in line and and a UV light on the water coming in to my house. Haven't noticed any problems brewing and all the beers are very good.I just use the hose. Same water. Easier than walking back inside and back out carrying pots of water.My well water PH is 7.8.

 

[user 263363]

So many great responses. I appreciate them all!

I should have specified that I get my brewing water from work as we have two 50gpm RO skids and I can pull straight from the discharge all I want. I will also be recirculating ice water for cooling with a small 12v pump.

I was just mainly concerned about general purpose water and the water hose hooked up to a manifold going to a utility sink and a portable water heater sounds like a great idea that can provide me water without the expense of having a plumber run water permanently to my garage. That setup will also allow me to go outside when the weather is nice.

 

[seatazzz]

I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I don't care. I don't have water laid on in my garage either; when I first started brewing out here I had a 25' potable water hose that I hooked to the kitchen tap and ran out to the HLT. After a few brews with both me and the dogs tripping over the hose I started thinking of an alternative. Our hot water heater is in the garage, and has a spigot on it for draining; so I attached a connector to that, and took water from the heater. The heater itself is only three years old so I'm not worried about crud in it. The beers made from that water are plenty good enough, and having hot water going into the HLT, and mashing in faster, is pretty awesome.

 

[frankvw]

I've been brewing outside for years (not having any room indoors) and I've been using my garden hosepipe as a water source. Everything is fine. When brewing "on location" (market demo's and that sort of thing) I've made do with buckets without any problems.

A nearby water source is extremely convenient and not having one can suck, but it's never stopped me from brewing or impacted my beer quality.

Let's not forget that brewing beer has for many centuries been the method of choice to make crap water (yes, sewage, essentially) safe to drink. You can brew beer with pond water, algae and duck poop and all, and still be fine. Seriously.

So, at the end of the day, how you get your water into your brewing gear is mostly a matter of convenience and personal choice.