Shed Expansion for Dedicated Brew Space

[mongoose33]

The sink-table that I built. I need to cover the top, most likely will be FRP, and I will use FRP around the walls to protect them from splashing.

I have the water and drain plumbing complete. This was a major improvement over the way I used to have to move the water.

Still have a ways to go on this project but it is coming along.

Hmmm....now you have me thinking....which can be dangerous, of course.

I have an old metal sink w/ sideboard I salvaged from a junk day here in town. You can see it here:



But while it's great compared to not having one, it's shallow, and doesn't have a sprayer, and isn't as large as I might like. I have to clean my kettle and fermenters in the kitchen, and I'd rather do it right where I'm brewing.

So--your approach above has me thinking....instead of buying a ready-made sink system, I could build my own cabinetry to fit the space, and drop in whatever sinks I could find to fit. I could use whatever faucets I'd like, and perhaps even permanently install the RO system underneath someplace.

Hmmm.....

 

[Doed]

@mongoose33 - that sink-table is just 2x4's and some left over plywood from the roof. I doubled the plywood on the top for strength. I got the sink from a buddy of mine who is remodeling his home. It isn't exactly what I wanted but the price was perfect -> $0

The table top has now been covered with FRP. I'll post some more pictures when I finish the drywall and paint. BTW, I can stand on the table and it doesn't move and I'm 200 lbs. It took me a few hours one afternoon to build.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

looking really great, nice work

 

[Doed]

This project is just about complete. I have to cover the rafter sticking through the ceiling sheetrock and that should finish this phase.

Here are some more pictures.

 

[Doed]

Brew pot area

 

[Doed]

Sink/Prep area

 

[Doed]

Storage rack - need to move my stuff from the basement to here

 

[Doed]

This virtual tour around the brewery continues with the fermentation freezer

 

[Doed]

Heater

 

[Doed]

Need to get rid of the moisture and fumes so I installed this 8" exhaust fan above the brewery venting outside.

 

[Doed]

Hopefully the first brew run in this new space will happen this Saturday.

 

[John Paul Stoddard]

Happy Brew Day....

 

[shaky6]

Looks great. Perfect for stashing away a nosy tax assessor's corpse.

 

[Doed]

So after using this space for 9 months, I have decided that the counter top is not big enough. I am going to add a 18" x 48" section perpendicular to the end of what is already there. This will create an "L" shape counter. I also decided I need a pulley above the pot for removing the grains when mashing is complete.

 

[Transamguy77]

That is an awesome space! It's nice to have all your stuff in one place, the house I moved into last year has a bug enough garage that all my brewing stuff can be all in one place.

 

[bueschen]

Looks great Doed! Are you regretting not installing floor drains?

 

[Doed]

Looks great Doed! Are you regretting not installing floor drains?

Not really. One would have been nice but it isn't an issue that I didn't put one in. Sponge mop works too.

 

[Jday086]

I like this idea a lot, and must say, your "shed" turned out nice. I've also thought about doing something like this or finishing a room in the basement to brew. From the pictures, it looks like you are brewing with propane in there, correct? I would like to continue brewing with gas, so I've been on the fence about moving from outside. So long as there is adequate ventilation, that shouldn't be a problem right? I know cooking with gas indoors is a little sketchy.

 

[SirHC_]

also interested in using propane indoors... I was just eyeballing an electric set up but would rather not go that route...

 

[Doed]

I do this at my own risk. I have an 8" exhaust fan directly above my pot and I leave the door fully open the whole time the burner is going plus some extended time after I turn off the burner. I haven't noticed any issues...yet.

My intent is to go to electric at some point in the near future.

I should also say that I would never do this inside my house. This building is set away from my house.

 

[Doed]

This is the Amazon ASIN number for the fan - B00CAHM75W

 

[Jday086]

Electric is the way I am leaning as well, I just was thinking out loud there. Just trying to convince myself that being able to brew indoors is worth the cost, especially in the cold winters here. Not sure how elaborate I will get, but I'm sure it won't be cheap.

 

[thekraken]

Electric is the way I am leaning as well, I just was thinking out loud there. Just trying to convince myself that being able to brew indoors is worth the cost, especially in the cold winters here. Not sure how elaborate I will get, but I'm sure it won't be cheap.

It doesn't have to be crazy expensive. But that's a discussion for another thread.

This shed is awesome!

 

[Doed]

So I have added something to my brewery that I have been wishing for since I built it. I don't have water in the brewery because of the possibility of freezing water lines over the winter. I have a yard hydrant outside and added plumbing to the inside for water when I brew. What I was missing though was hot water for clean up. Not any more. I added this Camplux portable propane water heater. Tried it out yesterday and man does it work nice. I got this from Amazon and paid $209. I still have some minor hose connections to work out so that I can have both hot and cold going at the same time.

 

[Esmitee]

Yes Sir, those propane fired , tankless water heaters are awesome.
My old RV water heater died last season and I cringed at paying $500. Bucks for a new 6 gallon RV water heater. So, I got a 12 Liter per minute tankless water heater like you got for $90.00 shipped to my house. It gets hot in seconds and you have an endless supply of hot water. I know you will be pleased with it.
YOU can get like 140° f water out of it and use it for pre heating your brewing water, and/or sparge with it for a time saver.

 

[Doed]

A while back there was talk in my thread here about propane brewing inside and though I did that for quite a while, I have an update to my brew space...I moved over to electric. I purchased a 15 gallon 240v Blichmann Boilcoil and the Blichmann Power Controller.

Here is a pic of the controller and 30amp GFCI circuit breaker.

 

[Doed]

I have brewed once on it and everything went well. It took about 30 minutes to get 9 gallons of water from 45° water to 155°. I did not track the time to get to boil from the end of the mash.

Here is an external pic of my Bayou Classic 60 quart pot with the BoilCoil installed.