Brew Shed Pointers

[PokeHer]

Afternoon all,

I am going to be building a dedicated brew shed pretty soon now that I have moved and have some space! Will cheer the mrs up a bit after she had to re-paint the kitchen ceiling after my last brew oops!

I have a reasonable size of about 10ft x 12ft available. I will be actually building a much larger shed (18ft x 12ft) but the intention is to split it, 1 half (or a little less!) for my tool shed and the other for my brew shed.

I'd like to ask for some advice from those that have done this before. Are there any "gotcha's" that you can share so that I don't make the same mistakes? Are you happy with your builds and is there anything you'd change if you were to do it again? Any pointers at all will be appreciated.

I'm currently a BIAB brewer but I have the shiny gear ready for full mash. I will be using gravity as my friend to start with but will be installing pumps as time goes on.

I'm basically starting from scratch here, I have a concrete base ready but that's it! So this is a great time to change my design based on your advice. I'm going to be insulating the whole lot and will be putting electric and a sink in there.

I'll post up my design when I have it ready but at the minute, I have a blank canvas :)


Cheers

 

[Brett]

..................we're gona need a bigger shed!

 

[Fil]

fit drainage into the floor, allow capacity for u to spill a complete brew vessel down the floor drain.
or buy a big box of towels.
:)

 

[pittsy]

Was gonna say a sink but you mentioned it . Plenty of sockets , i use gas but i still need lots of plugs for fridge , radio , pumps.
Personally i'd keep pots at same level (waist height) and use pumps , easier to mess with and less likely to spill over you (head ).

 

[PokeHer]

fit drainage into the floor, allow capacity for u to spill a complete brew vessel down the floor drain.
or buy a big box of towels.
:)

This is a great idea. I was just going to use bog standard chipboard for the floor. I'll re-think that, cheers!

Was gonna say a sink but you mentioned it . Plenty of sockets , i use gas but i still need lots of plugs for fridge , radio , pumps.
Personally i'd keep pots at same level (waist height) and use pumps , easier to mess with and less likely to spill over you (head ).

That is the plan re. the pots at waist height. I think this shed is going to cost me a bomb so the pumps will have to wait for a few more pay days yet but I'll do it in a way where I can tier them and when I have pumps, remove the tiers.

Cheers, keep the good tips coming :)

 

[LeithR]

I suggest you read thru this lengthy post, It covers all the points you will need to consider. He did a magnificent job from start to finish and much of the materials were free to him.

 

[halfbakedpixels]

Alright dude. Thats ace to hear as we are about to embark on the same journey here in Norfolk.
Have a look at our blog, my thread is in the forum section under Norfolk brew shed.

 

[Hawks]

plumb in a tap to sit above your HLT

 

[PokeHer]

I suggest you read thru this lengthy post, It covers all the points you will need to consider. He did a magnificent job from start to finish and much of the materials were free to him.

Thanks for the link, I am indeed ploughing my way through that thread, it's real interesting! I'm at page 20 atm lol.

Alright dude. Thats ace to hear as we are about to embark on the same journey here in Norfolk.
Have a look at our blog, my thread is in the forum section under Norfolk brew shed.

Hey mate, excellent, I will have a read good luck :)

plumb in a tap to sit above your HLT

One thing that I did actually think of! :)


I reckon I might be able to squeeze an extra 2ft to make it 14ft x 10ft but we'll see. It would mean that I'd have to build over a manhole. I guess I can put a kind of trapdoor in!

 

[PokeHer]

What a fool! What is under the manhole cover? Why a drain of course! There's my floor drain designed!

 

[beermaker]

How about incorporating a split "stable" type door? That way when its nice weather you can have the top half open but the bottom closed to keep kids and mutts out!

Good lighting is a must, and a radio, kettle and comfy chair!

wassail!
Phil

 

[Fil]

things u may want to consider..

45-50L Ex-Mango chutney blue barrels are both great grain storage vessels rodent and moisture proof, And are just the right height for a comfy stool :)

Using 16A commando (blue caravan type) electric plugs and sockets for hlt/boiler element power supply (if using lecky power) helps distinguish your high power supply and wiring ensuring you dont overload anything.

if you want to do any biab brews a hoist capable joist in the ceiling could be useful.

 

[PokeHer]

I'll slowly get started with this! I have a massive hole in my garden at the moment, which I am going to fill and slab, but anyway, I'm going to use the opportunity to lay some water pipes down. I'm going to route off the pipes in the garage but I want hot water as well. I'd be travelling about 10 metres to the shed. What kind of pipe can I use? This stuff says it's for cold water, does it matter too much? I imagine the water will cool a bit from garage to shed particularly in the winter. Should I need to insulate it at all? My water isn't that hot anyway, maybe 70 degrees...

 

[Fil]

instead of running hot water why not install a small water heater 1.5-2kw over sink type heater for washing/cleaning purposes, for larger volumes bang on the hlt again when u have done sparging?

you may need to be carefull not to overload the electricity supply cables by not using any water heating during the boil? but it may be easier and more effective than heating the ground between the shed n house with a hot water pipe.

u will want to dig deep enough to avoid ground frost.

 

[PokeHer]

That's a good idea thanks. How deep do you think is deep enough? 500mm? More?

I'm running 3 different electricity cables down so I'm hoping it will be enough not to have to worry about using the heater and the kettle at the same time

 

[orlando]

Where are you in Norfolk, I'm near Holt.

 

[PokeHer]

I'm not from Norfolk... Not far though, Peterborough.

 

[beermaker]

Took advantage of the building work in my kitchen to run a 10mm supply into my used in preparation for the new 20 gallon brewery :-)

 

[PokeHer]

Ok so I haven't forgotten about this! I've had a busy year, my boy is now 6 months old and I got a nice (but busy & stressful) promotion at work so my spare time has been otherwise occupied so far! Nonetheless, I am making progress! I have been using a program called Sketchup to draw up my shed design. Initially it was going to be rough, just to get a feel for measurements and window sizing etc. But, me being the perfectionist (OCD) that I am, I have designed it to the millimetre, it's taken me ages!

Here is my area, you can see that I have mains water and in the ducting is a 10mm armoured cable. I guess I have left myself the option of routing a gas pipe down there one day:

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Here are my Sketchups:
BASE

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WALLS

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CLADDING

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ROOF IDEA 1 (UNFINISHED)

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ROOF IDEA 2 (UNFINISHED)

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Now, I should at this stage point out that I am an engineer... but a software engineer! Therefore my knowledge and experience of structural design is limited so please do criticize my design as required.

The building on the left as you look at it will be my tool/storage shed and the shed on the right will be my brewery :)

It's all accurate to scale. The roof is where I am struggling. Due to the size of the thing (5.3m x 4m square), I'm struggling to come up with a design that has a decent pitch. I think in design 1 it's 10% and in design 2 it's 20%. Both pretty low from what I have researched.

I am limited in height. As this will be less than 2.5 metres from my boundary, I can only go up 2.5m total height, which kinda sucks. Also, if a building is to be between 15 and 30 square metres, I need to follow additional regulations (such as cannot be less than 1m to a boundary and more restrictions) (I have calculated this to be about 17sq/m). Because of this, I am thinking of redesigning the base and wall studs to be 2 different sheds. Then just bolt them together and clad as 1 shed. Then if someone moans, I can separate them by 10mm and I'm ok right!?

Again, for the roof, I'd like a design which is separable. I might go for design 1 but go higher than the 2.5 metres, until someone moans... at least then I get a decent pitch. What do you guys think.

I'm really open to suggestions here.

Does anyone have any experience of the building regs people? In reality, there is only 1 neighbour that's going to see it. I don't know him very well but he seems nice enough, not the type to complain but you never know. The trees hide it from view on the left hand side (which is a road).


Questions:
1) Will Roof 2 hold at the point where the 2 join? (It's unfinished, I will obviously add more supports)
2) What roof style should I go for?
3) Should I build as two separate sheds bolted together?
4) What have I not thought about!!?

Restrictions:
I want the sheds to be as large as possible without blocking light to the house, hence the decking area. Therefore, 5.3m x 4m is a maximum. If I use the maximum, I will be 300mm from my boundary in 2 directions. Building regs say I must be less than 2.5 metres total height and lass than 15sq/m floor area if within 2.5 metres from a boundary (I can't get around that). I don't care too much about building regs (they can smell my ass) but I want to be able to rectify it fairly easily if someone complains!

Thanks all