DIY Project - Brew Room

Take a look at my brew room. Instead of building a RIMS system like all the others in my homebrew club, I worked all last summer on my man cave. I had brewing and winemaking stuff scattered all over the house, and in an effort to preserve my marriage and my wife's sanity, I went to work on this project. I don't have any before pics, so you have to imagine a 21' x 6' x 8' raw shed on the end of my garage. I decided to go the cheapest route I could find but still get the job done. At first I was going to make a cold room. I didn't really understand what the term "cold room" meant at the time.

I started with R30 plastic coated insulation in between all studs and ceiling joists. I then went with Reflectix 25' x 16" rolls, which I stapled to the back of all 4' x 8' sheets of fiber-board sheeting. This added an extra R5 insulation value and helped reflect radiant heat back outdoors. I probably should have put the reflectix against the outside walls instead of on the inside of the plywood sheeting, but it seems to be working fine.

I then added the cheapest laminate flooring I could find. After the floor was complete (I added a layer of reflectix below the laminate to insulate the concrete slab and stop it from becoming a heat sink), I put an 8000 BTU air conditioner in the wall. This is where I didn't understand the meaning of "cold room". It would have taken a huge air conditioner, like 21,000 BTUs and a CoolBot controller to keep that much space at 40°F or less. So, I settled for a place to put all my stuff and to come and work on the computer formulating recipes. I can ferment in the fridge and keep kegs in the kegerator, but at this time, I just don't have enough room to brew inside (plus no way to vent the moisture).

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