It was almost self-evident that moving to a house in the country would involve an ambitious home brewery build. In my mind, I could have oak barrels, stainless fermenters, 3/4BBL brew house (electric of course) and all the bells and whistles that go along with all that in a few short months. In reality, financial priorities lie in more practical things such as major appliances and heating oil. My dream home brewery will be an ongoing project for what will likely be a few years to come and that’s just fine with me.
Begin At The Beginning
The basement is sizable- an identical footprint to my single-story custom home. Built in 2001, it was a pre-fab design from a local lumber chain that was shipped and assembled on site. Ninety-something percent of this place is solid, quality, well put together. There are a few spots that have a DIY touch. Nothing a few weekends can’t fix. That being said, the first steps were to give everything a good cleaning. In its past life the basement was home to a wood worker, so sawdust found its way into and onto every crack and surface.
On a snowy December morning, I began the brewery build by taking delivery of a Craigslist sink. Previously used by a hunter, it was in excellent condition and kept pretty clean. In other words, I didn’t have to dig animal hair out of the drains or scrub stains off the steel. By paying asking price I was able to get him to deliver it.
Initially, I planned to install it myself. Being below the outlet for the septic tank, I would need a laundry sink drain pump to get it all going. I realized that not having a working sink was really the only thing keeping me from brewing, which at this point hadn’t happened since we moved in nearly 3 months back. I decided that in the interests of time, I would just pay a pro to get it installed. I found a master plumber nearby on Craigslist and hit up the local plumbing supply for a Saniflo drain pump.
A few days later, I had a working sink! It was truly a revelation as I never had use of such a basic necessity in my 7-ish years of brewing. Unfortunately, the very same day the sink was installed, I managed to hurt my lower back for the first time ever. This put off my first brew day with the new stainless toy for a few weeks. But despite that, everything is working great. A little electrical work (no, there is not an exposed outlet block underneath in a prime spillage area anymore!) and things are as they need to be. Until this sink was up and running did I realize how truly important it is to have multiple basins and a real washing and sanitizing workflow. It’s absolutely critical if you want a smooth brew day.
The investment was well worth it, and now I can focus on establishing a consistent workflow for brewing and fermenting.
