Im getting a brewery

[Frisp]

Im in shock. :shock:
I jokingly just said to the wife "we dont use the dining room dear, why dont I turn it into a brewery and storeroom"
Expecting a swift tap on the nads from her broom I braced myself.
I nearly fell over when she said " Aye cause Im fekin fed up of what your doin to ma Kitchen" ( Imagine one of the Fat Slage from Viz, meets Mary doll fae Rab C NEsbit).
Once recovered I double checked and yes its official I have a 12'x 12' room to turn ito a brewery.

Woooooo Hoooooooooo Woop Woop Wooop :party: :party: :thumb:

Here is the question. What do I put in it.
I would say that as it is to perform a dual function I will have a 12 foot wall including a window to permaneantly dedicate to brewing. Empty / movable kit will be located in the storage side.

So my plea today to you guys is this. What would you do with it if it was yours

 

[BrewStew]

one side would be the brewery for me... then in whichever corner the boiler would end up i'd have a table on the next wall for all the fermenters so i could pump the chilled wort straight to the fermenter, and later rack off into cornies without lifting a thing. on the third remaining wall (assuming the window is too big to feasibly put anything near) i'd have shelves on the walls, with all my ingredients, and underneath that a load of firdges/freezers with ATCs and fonts/engines for which to pour beer from

actually no. i'll amend that. because you're inside i'd have the boiler close to the window and mount some for of extractor. you dont want your walls going a brown colour with drip runs down them :lol:

 

[Frisp]

Im thinking at the moment anout building oversised kitchen units each one big enough to take a FV and some kind of heating cooling system each one temp controlled and insulated I do kind of like the Idea of having all of the fermenters above corny height as BS says to pump the cooled wort in and then allow gravity to fill the kegs post fermentation
Line my 70L HLT. 80L thermobox MT and my 100L boiler up on the top like on a worktop and set up pumps and PIDS as per Vossys Pictures
Im thinking of fixing a water in and water out tap system for my IC to carry all the coolant out to a water but.

Another thought is to build the shiney onto its own wheeled table setup so I can wheel the dead grain outside to the goats without doing my back in.
I also fancy some kind of extractor for steam removal

 

[BrewStew]

spose you've gotta weigh up what your chances of moving house are. you dont wanna be spending money again to put it right for an easy sale later down the line.

 

[Frisp]

I am not moving from here for a very long time. I have been here for 15 years and have no intention of moving. Setting the brewery aside we do need to have a store of some kind as the rooms dont generally have any great storage so we have piles of stuff everywhere. So if its designed to turn into storage if the breing ceases then its a worthwhile project

 

[BrewStew]

then good luck to ya mate! that's gunna be awesome.

in that case you could even go so far as to set up a bar immediately behind the door to the room, so when your entertaining, you can just open the door to the brewery, and presto your bar is ready and waiting (and stopping the drunken friends from helping themselves to the fermenters and or fiddling with equipment :lol:

i plan on doing something similar with my garage for entertaining in the garden in the summer

 

[Frisp]

Im sitting here fantasisng about the room. The temp stays pretty stable it doesnt fluctuate much even though its a bit cool in the winter. Im thinking rather than faff around with Fermenting chambers how about I look at keeping the room constantly at 18 to 20C . Its well insulated and how much would one of those small AC units cost to fit for the summer. In fact why not brew like hell in the winter and build up a stock

 

[BrewStew]

that's all good for fermenting, but what about conditioning (which should be about 12'c IIRC)?

 

[Frisp]

that's all good for fermenting, but what about conditioning (which should be about 12'c IIRC)?

Fair point. I suppose a fermentation bin will be easier to regulate

 

[Wez]

Your own brewery

:party: :party: :party:

 

[Frisp]

I just have to tread carefully with she who spends my money. I get a feeling that this is not a freebie on he part, there will be a price.
Im undecide whetehr to jump in and crack on before she changes her mind or to plan this out first. I do have the small matter of electrics and water to overcome. That realisation just struck ne a few moments ago.

 

[MEB]

I would control the temp of the room for fermenting. Get a chest freezer controlled by atc800 and have that set at conditioning temp. The reason behind this is that you often want to take readings whilst fermenting. If you have the whole room at a temp for this you can put your FV's anywhere. Once they have finished they just need to sit somewhere-ie the freezer set at 12C.
Plus it'll be a nice temp to work in year round if you control the temp of the room. I picked up a portable AC unit from B&Q a few years ago for £175. It's a great little unit and will keep a room that size at 16C no prob's.

I'd also move the power sockets from floor level to head height. Probably a bit of expense for you but the houses here are made of matchsticks and therefore it's easy. For most of my life i've had a fish house and power near the floor isn't good when you spill 50 Gallons of water onto the floor next to a socket. :shock: I only did it once, after that all the sockets were moved to head height. At the least put a drip loop in every lead-ie make sure if a drip of water runs down the lead it'll reach a low point BEFORE the plug. There it will sit untill another comes along and they'll drip harmlessly onto the floor rather than into your plug/socket.

Nice one on getting a dedicated brewing space. :thumb: She'll moan that you spend too much time in there though. Best to put a lock on the inside too-then you can lock yourself in and if it all gets a bit heavy, escape through the window

 

[BrewStew]

Best to put a lock on the inside too-then you can lock yourself in and if it all gets a bit heavy, escape through the window

but not before drinking and or taking your stocks with you :lol:

 

[percival]

i'd put shelves up rather than kitchen units. much quicker, cheaper and easier, and also lets you admire your stock, equipment and products at ease. with money you save on units perhaps that could be used to get one of those wine units (if you make wine) for holding the temperature steady too. And a nice big sturdy work surface would be a must.

the chest freezer idea is great, and perhaps the motor/pump/compressor will significantly contribute towards heating the room.

 

[Vossy1]

You're a very lucky man F :clap: :party:
I'd be tempted to find out what price 'SHE' is quoting before doing anything.......you may be paying for a very long time :twisted: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[Frisp]

Aye you are right V its a tad worrying. I brought it up again tonight and she didnt flinch or object.. Im trying to get an emergency snip just in case thats the tarrif she has in mind :shock:

 

[Wez]

:shock: :shock:

Quick Draw McGraw for a while F

 

[Vossy1]

:lol:

 

[Frisp]

Right there are soem ideas for the general layout. Lets get down to the finer points of the kit. Do I go for a permenant 3 tier cascading setup i.e. HLT into Mt into boiler. Or do I joint the uber shinet set and go Herms.

I have a 70L NO pot for converting to an HLT. An 80L Thermobot in need of conversion and a dogs bollox 100L boler all ready to go. So lots of shiney to hand.

My instinct , beaing to mind that some dosh will have to go on fixtures and fittings the cascade method might be the easiest and less expensive route. And if I want to get all techie I can rejig the space later for HErms.
I do want to have a water inlet though a permanent water filter feeding the HLT so that there is no spalshing / carrying or filling of water. As I said earlier I want a drip free Water in water out for the IC again to minimise teh amount of water in transit. Im thinking a tap with a hozelock snap connector for teh water in. Hozelock connectors on the In and Out on the IC and leading dirsctly to a second "Out tap " which would drain away to a water but.

I envisage this Teir sustem to be on 4 Levels HLT, MT Boiler and then place the FV at floor level. Which should involve the minimum of lifting / material handling. Im even considering whetehr to have small bogeys to move FV's around but that is probably a step too far.

What are your colectiove thoughts on steam extraction? Any designs come to mind? Do I just buy a fan and blow it toward a door or wiondow. Do I build a big extraction hood or what about a budget cooker hood vented to the outside.

**** im on the point of colapse with excitment. I havnt been this excited since big senga dragged me behind the bikesheds in 1st year of senior school. Lets hope that his lasts longer than that character shaping experience.... lol

 

[Frisp]

just read through my typos and it reads like her flik from alo alo