#brewshack

Ok so the cat is out of the bag (or Mash Tun if you prefer) …

"Brewshack" is now a place, not just the name of my blog! After brewing for just over a year now, things were getting not only a little hectic but also a bit more serious in my kitchen and the space under my stairs becoming just a bit too small to store all my gear, coupled with my wife’s dislike of the smells associated with brew day, made me consider my options - continue to struggle a bit with my current set up and maybe consider moving brewing to the yard with a burner and risk the wrath of the neighbours and leave me at the mercy of the elements or…

My friend has a studio space / workshop in an old Manchester cotton mill, he jokingly suggested that we set up a brewery in his space. He works in the garment / fashion industry and is a bit of handy man, fixes furniture and makes bits and pieces there. Now despite the fact that he’s built a little office, with small photo studio setup, the place was fairly cluttered with off cuts of wood, old bits of furniture, a multitude of power tools and all sorts of odd curiosities - I’ll openly admit I naturally had some reservations about cleanliness, peeling paint and dust, water quality, power supply etc etc…

But in January we started talking about things a bit more seriously, plans and requirements were discussed with a bit more gusto, logistical kinks were ironed out. In March we started in ernest with the making of a fermentation chiller, the temperature of the space fluctuates all over the place so this I suggested was a must - as yet we still have to finish it off with some doors and chilling / heating devices (but we are close to having those sorted soon - old fridge & seed tray heaters).

Next we set about constructing some walls for the brewing space, painting existing brickwork, fixing a tarp was set up to catch any paint flakes & dust off the ceiling. Then polythene was used to cover the walls and roof of the space. By mid may we had painted the floor - bright green - looks like a miniature/crazy golf course right?!

Soon after we quickly installed all of my brewing equipment, existing inventory, a fridge and freezer that one of my cohorts had in the space from a house removal. The pace was beginning to build and we were nearing the initial brew day…

More on that later…I have already posted some live 1st and second brew day pictures so check them out if you have chance!

Currently, we have some cosmetic touches to add, like a sink with waste water container, brewing water storage and pump (which probs will be 1000ltrs capacity) and the fermentation chamber needs finishing off with doors, chilling / heating devices. Pretty pleased how it’s shaping up, photos are of the build, chamber build, a neat stencil I found when mopping the floor and me making a stir plate out of an old tea box.