Brew Room from scratch

[LostBoy]

Long story short, I got lucky, and the house I am moving into in a few months is undergoing extreme renovations. One of these is the addition of my own brew room. I am looking for design ideas. Right now I am working 5 gal. batches on an electric stove top in a small apartment. Any ideas on square footage? Electrical needs/amperage? How I should have water hooked up? Like a mop bucket sink or a laundry style sink to clean equipment? Type of flooring to handle water/spills (tired of using so many towels to cover the floors and carrying equipment to my bathtub)? Ventilation/windows/door types to move to using a propane burner? I would like enough room for the sink(s) a fridge and/or freezer, storage for everything... Any ideas would be very helpful, or a push to some literature or specific bn episode that goes over these things would be great.

THANKS!

[Kodos]

I think Blichmann had given a couple of lectures on this topic, but not sure where to find the slides/presentation notes nowadays. They're in the net somewhere.

Good luck!

[CRBrewHound]

All that is so dependant on where you plan on ending up with your system.

For example if you are going electric then 30 - 50 AMP 240 VAC is where you want to go, if you are going with gas, then I would suggest natural gas if you are wanting to go indoors.

My suggestion would be to research want you want for your ideal system and design to that, start with the musts, account for the likes and allow for them during build up.

[Monster Mash]

No matter what you should put an exhaust fan where you are going to brew. If you are going electric you only need one big enough to get rid of moisture, if you are going NG you need one big enough to prevent gas build up in the room.

You need to decide how you are going to brew before building a brew room.

[Bugeater]

Ideally I would want a floor drain in a concrete floor with a non-slip epoxy coating and high ceramic base molding. Cover the walls with plastic paneling like you have in shower enclosures. This will allow you to hose down the place now and then and squeegee the water down the drain.

You will want to have both a low mop sink for scrubbing kegs and kettles, but also a "normal" level deep sink with drainboard for cleaning smaller stuff.

As others said, examine the way you plan to brew to figure out things like gas, electricity and ventilation. Give yourself a high counter off in a corner for your computer, recipes and such where they won't get splashed.

Also consider fermentation temperature control. Temp controlled conicals? Converted fridge or freezer? Walk-in cooler? All depends on the money you have to spend. Space needs differ with each as does electrical needs.

Good luck with the project. Let us know what you decide and, of course, post pictures.

[LostBoy]

Thanks for the suggestions. Construction starts in August, so I have time, but want to be prepped well in advance. Any thoughts on square footage? I believe this will be attached to the garage, or at least have a sliding door... I plan on eventually having a propane burner for boil/hot liqour, already have a 10 gal igloo cooler for my mash tun, so I am thinking I might go with some sort of gravity stand, and boil outdoors. Everything else will be indoors... So if all boiling, hot liqour heating is done outdoors, is there a neat to have a vent/fan in the room? I also plan on building a keezer... Anyone have thoughts on the ideal size of a chest freezer to fit 6-8 kegs and a CO2 tank? Perhaps with room for a carboy or 2 for lagering?

[maxwell]

Blichmann had an article about this in a recent BYO. Maybe it's available online? He talks about floor drains, floor coating, ventilation, etc. It's all waaaay overkill in terms of making great beer, but if you have a lot of money I suppose that it could make your hobby more fun!

[Ozwald]

Anyone have thoughts on the ideal size of a chest freezer to fit 6-8 kegs and a CO2 tank? Perhaps with room for a carboy or 2 for lagering?

Mine is a 15cf & holds 7 comfortably, none on the hump. If the freezer was an inch bigger in either direction, I could get an 8th in there. No collar needed, but if you went with a really tall one (made of 2x8 or 2x12) you could get 2 more on the hump. Could make for a tight fit for a 5# CO2 tank though.

You could cut out a few cardboard circles the diameter of a corny, bring them to Lowe's & confuse the shit out of the employee working appliances that day. Not saying you have to buy new, but it'll give you a good idea of how many will fit in what.