Design & Kitting out my Garage Brew room - Part 1

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T.E.D.B.P

T.E.D.B.P

Active Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2015
Messages
87
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Location
East Durham
Hi all,

I've been spending some time deciding how to make a start on this. I have a completely blank canvass garage to work with.

I guess the most important part to mention from the start is that the garage is 20 meters from the house and has no water nor electricity.
Yep. That's the challenge :lol: - but hey, at least the rent is free (well, not quite, its going to cost over £500 to get the place ready to even make a start, primarily because it needs a new garage door)

So heat will be achieved by propane and burners. Water will be stored in a potable water container and cooling & temperature control pose their own challenges.


Before I start with the millions of questions, may I ask - its is appropriate for a newbie such as myself to come to these forums and ask such questions - or is that a little bit too much "taking but not giving" ?
Free beer samples are available for anyone who can stop by, if that helps?

I'll await replies before posting my actual plan for discussion.

Cheers,
Peter
:cheers:
 
I would say that is what these forums are for! I'm sure over time you will put in as much as you take from it.

From my experience, everyone on here seems to be more than happy to pass on their knowledge.
 
The_East_Durham_Project said:
Hi all,

I've been spending some time deciding how to make a start on this. I have a completely blank canvass garage to work with.

I guess the most important part to mention from the start is that the garage is 20 meters from the house and has no water nor electricity.
Yep. That's the challenge :lol: - but hey, at least the rent is free (well, not quite, its going to cost over £500 to get the place ready to even make a start, primarily because it needs a new garage door)

So heat will be achieved by propane and burners. Water will be stored in a potable water container and cooling & temperature control pose their own challenges.


Before I start with the millions of questions, may I ask - its is appropriate for a newbie such as myself to come to these forums and ask such questions - or is that a little bit too much "taking but not giving" ?
Free beer samples are available for anyone who can stop by, if that helps?

I'll await replies before posting my actual plan for discussion.

Cheers,
Peter
:cheers:
Click to expand...
Ask away Peter theres loads of people on here with years and years of brewing behind them and most if not all are willing to help as they did with me, Where abouts are you based if you dont mind me asking
Regards Steve
 
Hops_and_Dreams said:
I would say that is what these forums are for! I'm sure over time you will put in as much as you take from it.

From my experience, everyone on here seems to be more than happy to pass on their knowledge.
Click to expand...
stevej said:
Ask away Peter theres loads of people on here with years and years of brewing behind them and most if not all are willing to help as they did with me, Where abouts are you based if you dont mind me asking
Regards Steve
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I didn't want to presume to make the forum my personal Q&A tool. But since I've heard such good things, I also didn't want to go down the trial-and-error path without at least asking.

I'm in Peterlee, Steve.

Ok then. Lets call Part 1 the garage itself as a viable premise.

I'm planning to jet wash the inside and check for leaks. Its a brick garage with a concrete roof.

Obviously a jet wash to clean the place up - then a good coat or two of white/cream masonry paint on the walls and floors so that it is easy to wash on a regular basis.
Is there anything I should do to sanitise the room? Boil a pan of some solution and let the vapours fill the room?

There is no ventilation - I was hoping that ~2 air brick additions would be enough to create a draft and then maybe opening the door a few inches would give me enough to manage my boils. Will that suffice?

Power will come from a car battery and a small solar panel to keep it topped up.
Lighting will be a strip of 12V LEDs that will be mounted to the ceiling.
I'll only be using the room 1-2 times per week, so my electricity requirements are hopefully very low. There will also be a 12V socket with inline fuse - I'll explain that, and the drainage system in a later thread.

Look forward to hearing feedback, problems and suggestions. Thanks.
 
The_East_Durham_Project said:
Thanks for that. I didn't want to presume to make the forum my personal Q&A tool. But since I've heard such good things, I also didn't want to go down the trial-and-error path without at least asking.

I'm in Peterlee, Steve.

Ok then. Lets call Part 1 the garage itself as a viable premise.

I'm planning to jet wash the inside and check for leaks. Its a brick garage with a concrete roof.

Obviously a jet wash to clean the place up - then a good coat or two of white/cream masonry paint on the walls and floors so that it is easy to wash on a regular basis.
Is there anything I should do to sanitise the room? Boil a pan of some solution and let the vapours fill the room?

There is no ventilation - I was hoping that ~2 air brick additions would be enough to create a draft and then maybe opening the door a few inches would give me enough to manage my boils. Will that suffice?

Power will come from a car battery and a small solar panel to keep it topped up.
Lighting will be a strip of 12V LEDs that will be mounted to the ceiling.
I'll only be using the room 1-2 times per week, so my electricity requirements are hopefully very low. There will also be a 12V socket with inline fuse - I'll explain that, and the drainage system in a later thread.

Look forward to hearing feedback, problems and suggestions. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Im just down the road in wynyard lol
Loads of people brew in garages for the condensation issues so id say yes just crack the door open
Infact check this link out he does a brewery tour out for a tenna or something including something to eat and a couple of his beers lovely lad and thats a big shed out back of his pub !https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...jSgOgD&usg=AFQjCNFgscRtQGCAV7vjzO3cjosVnU6ARg
Hope that helps a bit
Regards Steve
 
Ok then - sounds like Part 1 is simple and nobody has thrown up any huge issues.

I thought storing the water might throw up a comment or two - but I guess as long as it comes from one food safe container and is stored in another larger one, then it won't be an issue.

Hopefully the garage guy will be round soon to replace the door - I literally cannot get in until this is done as the old door has been jammed for over 5 years.

I'll get to Part 2 later tonight.
 
So I finally got access to the garage unit today. New gliderol door has been fitted

First impressions were that its a good size - much bigger than a typical new-build garage. And also, there area 4 large air bricks already in place, which is a bonus.

Bought a jet wash at the weekend, so by the end of this week, I hope to have it cleaned and the first coat of pain on all walls, floors and ceilings.
 
Good luck matey:hat:, I've just moved house and thought that I had problems, at least the outbuilding that I will be using has running water and electricity, just moved my brewing fridge in there and need to give the area a good clean and start my first brew.

Wherry for starters and then back to the AG brewing(not brewed for a year or so as the last place was not ideal)
 
Banbeer said:
Good luck matey:hat:, I've just moved house and thought that I had problems, at least the outbuilding that I will be using has running water and electricity, just moved my brewing fridge in there and need to give the area a good clean and start my first brew.

Wherry for starters and then back to the AG brewing(not brewed for a year or so as the last place was not ideal)
Click to expand...


Thanks.
Looking forward to getting back in and finishing this paint job off. I've got the weekend free, so should have the first coat down on the floor, maybe even the second.

Also got a fair bit of the kit I need on the shortlist, ready to hit the "buy" button now.

I should be brewing within a month.
 
Are you planning on doing BIAB as doing a full boil kicks out a lot of water vapour, even my 20L boil give off a fair amount. Just opening the door a ew inches wont do it, you'll need to have that door wide open and some sort of fan arrangement to blow the condensation out or you'll be brewing in a real man cave complete with dripping ceiling.
I don't use a gas burner myself. will fumes be an issue if you've just got the door open a crack?
 
There are 4 large air brick vents at the rear, and the door will be open a few inches.
If that's not enough, I could connect up some 12v fans and fit them to the vents.

I'll do a test run for boiling and cooling first, and tweak depending on how that goes.

Have no plans to try biab so far. But then, I have no AG plans at all yet.
 
I don't think that'd be enough personally, my first GF brew was in the kitchen with all windows and doors open but I still spent most of the boil wiping the walls and ceiling. I now brew in the conservatory with doors and windows open and the ceiling fan on and I don't have any issues.
 
DoctorMick said:
I don't think that'd be enough personally, my first GF brew was in the kitchen with all windows and doors open but I still spent most of the boil wiping the walls and ceiling. I now brew in the conservatory with doors and windows open and the ceiling fan on and I don't have any issues.
Click to expand...

tbh, there's no reason not to have the garage door open. I think 4 large fans blowing wet air out on either side of the boiler will make a huge difference too.

Just need to find some suitable fans now! And a couple of car batteries.
 
The_East_Durham_Project said:
tbh, there's no reason not to have the garage door open. I think 4 large fans blowing wet air out on either side of the boiler will make a huge difference too.

Just need to find some suitable fans now! And a couple of car batteries.
Click to expand...
fans are the answer. i've been brewing in the kitchen with the back door open and everything, ceilings, walls, work tops were dripping. the last couple of brews, got the old stand up fan out and whoosh, blows straight out the door.looks mad from the outside, loads of steam coming out but before the kitchen was more like being at a rave with a smoke machine.
 
davereal said:
fans are the answer. i've been brewing in the kitchen with the back door open and everything, ceilings, walls, work tops were dripping. the last couple of brews, got the old stand up fan out and whoosh, blows straight out the door.looks mad from the outside, loads of steam coming out but before the kitchen was more like being at a rave with a smoke machine.
Click to expand...

Ha, Dave the Rave! :party:
 

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