Organizing For Dummies (aka Drew)

[drewbage1847]

Ok, gang, here's the thread.

I need your help and your help could come around to helping the whole of the army and the AHA.

So let's have it - what do you do to make your brewery organized and looking spiffy?

[brewranger]

I rent an apartment in a house and have a basement, but I can't do any permanent changes.

I got a bunch of metal shelves on craigslist for about 20 bucks. I keep all of my bottles/carboys on them.

I have an old armoire that i keep all of my smaller equipment/fittings and racking canes, tubing in different drawers. I have a bunch of old kit boxes from northern brewer that i use to further separate within the drawers.

I have some wire metal shelves (just the shelves) that i use to keep other equip (mashtun, kegs) off the ground.

[dminnery]

There are so many small parts for brewing and kegging that I found a cloth shoe rack/holder to work fantastic. The one I have is heavy cotton with numerous pouches for shoes, maybe 10-12 pairs.
I'm able to store everything in these, measuring devices, airlocks, brewing salts, kegging parts, etc.

I can see everything at a glance and it's easy to tell when I'm running low on inventory.
this is close to mine.

[Bugeater]

So let's have it - what do you do to make your brewery organized and looking spiffy?

Organized and looking spiffy? That is certainly not my brewery. Actually I do have a couple things that keep complete chaos from happening. First I have a 5 shelf metal storage rack. I have 16 plastic bins (2 sizes) with tight fitting lids on the shelves that hold all my specialty grains. Since I live 30 miles from the nearest LHBS, I can't just run down to pick up something at the last minute. With all these labeled, it is easy to take inventory or make up a recipe.

A second help is a big piece of pegboard on the wall that holds all my hoses and misc. brewing implements. Little stuff (when it is all put away) goes into the drawers of an old dresser that is too ugly to use in anyone's bedroom but in too good shape to put out to the curb for the garbageman.

Wayne

[thatguy314]

Organizing supplies is something that I'm still working on.

-Also, I have a few sets of hooks that I sling hoses over to let them dry, and they provide good storage.

-I live in an apartment. In order to keep things from taking over my place, I just dedicate a specific space and say that's it, I can't expand beyond the designated area. Stackable storage lets me get a lot of use out of that space. These are great for base malt. http://www.amazon.com/Vittles-Vault-STA ... B0002H3S5U
I know John Blichmann advocates that you use clear containers to visually , but they're about 4x the price. Again, I just mark how much I have left on a clip board that I track all my grains with.

-These are great for specialty malts that I use a lot of (Munich, Vienna, Honey, etc.,) http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Snapware-Fli ... 356&sr=1-1 . In a pinch I was also using old PBW containers. Anyways, these specialty grain containers are too many to stack, but they all fit inside a large stackable container I have.

-I keep my equipment grouped and clearly marked. One box for water salts. One box for tubing. One box for measuring equipment (hydrometer, scales, thermometers). I don't have to think about where things are all the time anymore.

-Things I use frequently stay in smaller boxes at the top. That's stirplates, DME for starters, etc.,

-However, organizing my brewday has been very helpful. I emailed you my checklist. Being on top of everything has shaved an hour off my brew day. I hang it on a clip board by my stove. It's got some standard things (make sure fermenter is clean, sanitized, clean out mash tun, compost grains) and times that i can do them (before brew day, during mash, during boil, during chill, etc.,). It has a few blank spots in case there's something specific to each beer (e.g., dealing with coffee for a coffee stout, etc.,)

Anyways, I'm far from complete getting this set up, but these have already been steps

[Junket]

There are so many small parts for brewing and kegging that I found a cloth shoe rack/holder to work fantastic. The one I have is heavy cotton with numerous pouches for shoes, maybe 10-12 pairs.
I'm able to store everything in these, measuring devices, airlocks, brewing salts, kegging parts, etc.

I can see everything at a glance and it's easy to tell when I'm running low on inventory.
this is close to mine.

Wow, that's some rack of brewing equipment. Do you get all your Beer Informazione from Lunchmeet? (btw, your inventory looks to be running low on hand lotion)

[drewbage1847]

Great suggestions so far. The re-purposed shoe "rack" is pretty clever actually. I could even see that being used as an impromptu glass holder.

Keep em coming so that we can make an awesome article that will help poor defenseless slobs like me keep things organized and peaceful.

Also, if you have photos of what you've got and how you've got the brewery arranged we could use them for the article as well.

[dminnery]

Wow, that's some rack of brewing equipment. Do you get all your Beer Informazione from Lunchmeet? (btw, your inventory looks to be running low on hand lotion)

Ha!

Adding any further comment would probably just make it worse.