Tiny brewery tips?

[oscarlundberg]

Hello. After a few batches of scattering homebrew stuff all around the house I managed to convince "the boss" to allow me to setup a brewery in a storage room. The only problem is that it is a tiny space, roughly 3.7m2 (40 square ft)
Of course I want to cram as much stuff in there as possible, but as I am very new to this I wanted to see if anyone has any advice on setting up shop in a tiny room.

I made a sketch of 3 layouts I came up with.
All of them house a fermentation chamber, a sink and the brew kettle in some way, which felt like the "must haves".
The sink will have a tank (bucket) underneath since there is no drain present so I cant really store much underneath it.
Overall I havent accounted for much storage, but I'm hoping to store a lot of the small stuff either mounted to the wall, mount some shelves up high, or worst case, store things in another room.


1:
A small sink, keezer and a dedicated space for the brew kettle

2:
Large sink, dedicated space for brew kettle. No keezer - I will have to carry stuff back and forth to the keezer (Wherever I manage to place it)

3:
Large sink and keezer, but no dedicated space for the brew kettle. On brew day it just lives in the middle of the room = almost no space to move around in.


None of these examples have any counter space, though the larger sink may be sized down to allow for some counter space. I am also hoping the keezer is able to double as a temporary counter sometimes.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Am I completely stupid? Which one would you pick, or would you do something else entirely? Thankful for any help!

 

[Jonakr]

Are you kegging or bottling? How much of that equipment do you currently own, vs plan to buy? Also, what are the length X width? 4' X 10' isn't the same as 3' X 13.3'

 

[khannon]

So, speaking from the state I am in(which may be a few beers)..

Is your goal to brew, ferment or serve from this space?
If brew, cleaning(and maybe brewing) is king, maximize that.. Add whatever makes that best for you.. Music, sink(with hot water)..
If ferment, add temp controls, etc..
If serve, add Keezer with taps, Barca-lounger etc..

Make it your own, enjoy life, rdwhahb...

 

[khannon]

So, speaking from the state I am in(which may be a few beers)..

Is your goal to brew, ferment or serve from this space?
If brew, cleaning(and maybe brewing) is king, maximize that.. Add whatever makes that best for you.. Music, sink(with hot water)..
If ferment, add temp controls, etc..
If serve, add Keezer with taps, Barca-lounger etc..

Make it your own, enjoy life, rdwhahb...

Also how young and how tall are you? shelves, cabinets and other sturdy things are great for the young and strong.. if so, maximize that, if like me, recognize your limitations..

 

[Whisky River]

Someone here built/bought a large sink with a stainless grill that went over the sink basin, turning that area into the counter to put the brew kettle on during the brew. It still allowed for use of the faucet while brewing and caught any boil overs.
There are lots of tricks to brewing in small spaces, I think the apartment brewers have come up with some of the most efficient uses of space out of necessity. Maybe you can borrow some of those tricks.

 

[oscarlundberg]

Thanks to everyone for the tips!

Are you kegging or bottling? How much of that equipment do you currently own, vs plan to buy? Also, what are the length X width? 4' X 10' isn't the same as 3' X 13.3'

I am planning on kegging.
I already own all of the equipment except for sink and cabinet.
The room is about 6.9' X 4.3', I see now that I jumbled the numbers. it should be 2.7m2, ~30 square feet... it is tiny anyway!

So, speaking from the state I am in(which may be a few beers)..

Is your goal to brew, ferment or serve from this space?
If brew, cleaning(and maybe brewing) is king, maximize that.. Add whatever makes that best for you.. Music, sink(with hot water)..
If ferment, add temp controls, etc..
If serve, add Keezer with taps, Barca-lounger etc..

Make it your own, enjoy life, rdwhahb...

Thank you very much for the advice!

Someone here built/bought a large sink with a stainless grill that went over the sink basin, turning that area into the counter to put the brew kettle on during the brew. It still allowed for use of the faucet while brewing and caught any boil overs.
There are lots of tricks to brewing in small spaces, I think the apartment brewers have come up with some of the most efficient uses of space out of necessity. Maybe you can borrow some of those tricks.

Yeah I've been thinking about doing something like this too. I think tricks like this are the way to go. I actually have such a grill for the kitchen (though I would not trust that particular grill with the weight of my kettle when filled) Will try to look for apartment tips/hacks

 

[Dland]

When choosing a sink, perhaps consider the largest items you will want to clean, and get it at least big enough for them, also have sink deep enough to wash kegs, and get one of those restaurant flexible spray nozzles in addition to water tap.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14985/pre-rinse-faucets-and-pre-rinse-spray-valves.html

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

That's a small space. Are you using electric for your brew pot? In a small area like you have your boil is going to produce a lot of moisture you're going to have to vent, plus have good air make up. A window to the outside is ideal.

All of the suggestions made above are great ideas.

My brewing area is small, but large compared to yours. All of my pieces of equipment are on wheels to move them into place for brew day. Pegboard is helpful for hanging a lot of items on the walls.

Fun project building your own brewery, no matter the size. Keep reading, lots of folks here with the same limitations.

 

[hotbeer]

My initial thoughts were about moisture too. If you are going to be boiling your wort or even just mashing in that room you need something to get rid of the steam created.

Here where I'm at, opening the window in the summer isn't very desirable. So a good exhaust vent that moves a lot of CFM will be desirable. And if the exhaust ducting will be going through a area that might be cool or cold, then it probably needs to be insulated so the steam won't condense inside the duct and run back down into the room or worse, into your kettle.

 

[Ninoid]

My initial thoughts were about moisture too. If you are going to be boiling your wort or even just mashing in that room you need something to get rid of the steam created.

Here where I'm at, opening the window in the summer isn't very desirable. So a good exhaust vent that moves a lot of CFM will be desirable. And if the exhaust ducting will be going through a area that might be cool or cold, then it probably needs to be insulated so the steam won't condense inside the duct and run back down into the room or worse, into your kettle.

I did not initially think about the amount of steam that is released during boil. However, despite all the fans, I couldn't get all the steam out because I brew in a bathtub, in a windowless bathroom. The solution is very simple (or maybe not) - an air conditioner.Since I installed the air conditioner in the hallway right next to the bathroom door, it manages to accumulate all the steam, especially in warmer weather.

 

[oscarlundberg]

That's a small space. Are you using electric for your brew pot? In a small area like you have your boil is going to produce a lot of moisture you're going to have to vent, plus have good air make up. A window to the outside is ideal.

My initial thoughts were about moisture too. If you are going to be boiling your wort or even just mashing in that room you need something to get rid of the steam created.

Yeah, I have been a bit concerned about moisture too. There is a vent that leads directly outside. I'm planning to install a fan to push air out, either like a bathroom fan or a kitchen "hood", depending on if I can find a used one. But I am no expert, it may not be enough...

 

[Whisky River]

As you are planning the space, if you are going to be dealing with steam and water in a small space, I would think about the materials you want to use to cover the floor, walls and ceiling. l don’t think you want to rely on regular interior drywall and flooring with that much moisture in there.
What is the tall rectangular thing in your renderings? And can it be moved or used as storage?

If it were my space I would focus on making as many spaces/objects useable for multiple purposes. And think vertically, stack as much as you can to minimize how much floor space you are using up.
Maybe consider a medium sized sink with a stainless backing panel and a drain board on the side and a tall restaurant style spray nozzle. If you can clean your items vertically you won’t need as wide of a basin.
If the keezer needs to be in the brew room, maybe you can store the AIO on the top when you’re not using it, move the AIO over the sink or drain board while brewing and use the keezer top as counter space during the brew. Once you have your beer in the keg/fermenter and put it in the keezer, wash the AIO and put it back on top of the keezer for storage. You could even put a few taps on the short side of the keezer to have the option of serving from it in between brew days.