# Advice for Wine Making Room



## LittleBearGameFarm

Good Morning - I was wondering if anyone had any advice regarding what they like in their wine making rooms or if there was anything they would do different. I will have a couple weeks off over the holidays and am going to build a room in the basement. The area is about 8'x8' and is currently a bar area that we never use for anything other than storage. We have a finished basement with in floor heat and I would say temps down there are typically maintained at 65F (winter) and warmer in the summer. This will be a place mainly to make the wine and have carboy storage. I plan on putting a sink in and am thinking about running an exhaust van in there as well. Is the exhaust needed? Any other ideas that will make everything more efficient/tidy? Thanks for any info!


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## Kraffty

Since you need it to fit your specific needs best I'd suggest listing the biggest inconvenient things you deal with where ever you make your wine now and incorporate fixes to those problems first. Overhead shelves or storage that don't take away from your footprint is good. You can also build heights to your preference of either standing or sitting when you're working. Make all shelves, counters etc. as sturdy as possible.
Mike


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## Thig

Having just finished mine this year I can mention a few things. 

You said you were adding a sink. That was the best thing I did. I put in a plastic utility tub sink so if I bump the carboy against it it will not break, be sure to get a high enough (gooseneck) faucet that you can get a 6 gallon carboy under it while the carboy is standing up. 

You can never have too much work counter space with receptacles close by for the pumps, heat belts, etc. 

You need good lighting directly over the work table. 

Plenty of shelves, some capable of holding a case of empty bottles. 

A small refrigerator for keeping the various ingredients and yeast. 

Consider putting a couple of hooks in the ceiling over the sink and work table (some wines you will want to let the mesh bag drain over the secondary). 

Peg board over the sink and work table to hang various stuff on like your racking tubes and hoses. 

Small microwave, great for heating up a little wine when back sweetening and for Sparkoloid. 

And of course some kind of racks strong enough to hold the full carboys. 

I personally think the exhaust fan would be a waste of time and money.


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## jamesngalveston

I couldnt have a wine room without tv and music..i would drop a 42 inch tv, and a small surround sound system.....othen then that

everything thig said.....


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## JohnT

Some of these suggestions might no be "Do-able", but here goes..

1) a dry well so you can just hose things down. 
2) hot and cold running spigots. 
3) I could not agree more on the TV and/or sound system.
4) Lots of light. 
5) lots of outlets, 
6) lots of counter space (you would be surprised on how you can never have enough) 
7) lots of shelves for storing all your stuff. Peg board is also nice for hanging up hoses, etc.


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## ibglowin

Do you plan on storing wine down their for long periods of time? If so I would let the temps drop to 55-60. Much better for the wine. If you need heat, add a brew belt on heating pad and throw on a beach towel for insulation.


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## Winenoob66

lol man yall sure wanting a lot for an 8' x 8' room


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## Putterrr

i was bored...


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## JohnT

Looks great, but I would add another row of shelves above the sink. You simply can not have enough shelves.


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## kevinlfifer

If you can score a deep well restaurant sink where the is attached "counter" that drain directly to the sink. That is on my wish list.


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## Wade E

Personally with those drawings I would lose the side shelves and opt for as much counter space as possible! Once you start testing acids with a stand and have an AllInOne and stuff like that you will be amazed at how quickly you lose space! Tunes are a sure thing, I can live without the tv, its just a distraction IMO. A little roll around stand comes in very handy also for a laptop or for the AllInOne you will get or some kind of pump for racking and filtering and bottling.


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## moesagoodboy

Make your main work table out of laminate 36 inches deep. This way you can easily slide your carboys around ( two deep) and still have room to work in front of them. The vinyl double sink is a great suggestion.


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## Putterrr

Lets not forget that people have walk in closets bigger than 8 by 8

cheers


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## jamesngalveston

i think it looks great....i would make sure i had a xtra high goose neck faucet with a spray wand, a draining rack for bottles /carboys.
looks very good...


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## DaveL

Why are you limited to 8x8?


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## LittleBearGameFarm

Thanks for the input guys! Awesome drawing Putterrr!

Here is a little update, the reason I am limited to an 8x8 is because I don't want to encroach into the living room too much. I will be going a little bigger than that with the wine racks but the existing bar area was about 8x8.

This photo shows where I am currently making wine. It is the bathroom out in our garage (we lived in garage while we built the house). It is also 8x8 but just very cluttered.


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## LittleBearGameFarm

These pics show the existing bar area/living room. The master bedroom is off the end and our daughter's bedroom is off the side. You can see that the bigger I made this room, the more it would cut into the living room and going too far would not look right as you come down the stairs.


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## JohnT

Hmmmm, 

Ok, 

New Advice, 

Why not combine the living room and wine making area? 

Think about it... You have one big room with one area dedicated to winemaking and another area dedicated to DRINKING WINE. Looks like you were planning on making the wine room look nice anyway, so why not make it part of the living room?


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## LittleBearGameFarm

Had a week or so over break and got started on it. Gutted out the whole area and started painting. I decided to replace all of the flooring and then decided to match the flooring into the master bedroom as well, so the project grew. If I had stayed with the original plan, the project would have only been about $500 or less but the flooring was about $1200 for both rooms.


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## LittleBearGameFarm

As you can see, I cut out the drywall where the wine racks will butt up to the wall, hoping that it will bring the temp down inside there. I will be installing a 6' patio door (that I got for $25) and the walls will be insulated. I might need to rig something up like I have in my incubators to get the humidity up in there. The back side of the wine racks will have two insulated closets. Wall side closet I am hoping to be able to maintain at cooler temps and one warmer one. Agree with having to get a gooseneck faucet and would like one with the wand that pulls out. I am thinking 18" counters just because there would only be about 4' from the closet door to the edge of the counter. There is built in shelves currently above where the counter is but they are only a 2x6 deep. Took the suggestion for plenty of light and found a track light on sale for $50 and it has 5 bulbs, plenty for a 9' x 5' work area. I still need to figure out the sink and how to build sloped shelves for wine storage. One of the panels of the patio door will be fixed. I've been ripping apart old pallets from work, running them through the planer, and varnishing them. That is what is up on the walls. 

The reason I had asked about exhaust is because I don't want the whole house the smell like a fermentation. So, I think I still may do the primary ferment out in the garage, for now anyway.

Any questions/suggestions?

Thanks


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## LittleBearGameFarm

I had thought about that John but I wanted to be able to close the area off. If we didn't have any kids around maybe I would have been more apt to go that way. Also, I thought it would be easier to maintain the environment/sanitation in a closed off area. Maybe not but that was my thinking.

Thanks


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## LittleBearGameFarm

moesagoodboy said:


> Make your main work table out of laminate 36 inches deep. This way you can easily slide your carboys around ( two deep) and still have room to work in front of them. The vinyl double sink is a great suggestion.



That may be a good idea. Reason I couldn't go with deeper counters is because I need the room to be able to open the doors to the closets. Building a larger table would definitely be nice and I could install casters on it to be able to roll it out of the way if I need to get a door open.

Thanks


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## olusteebus

If you don't want to use laminate, get some smooth "tileboard". I suggest placing carboys on a piece of carpet to slide them around. I also suggest you make a wraparound Jacket for the carboys, using velcro.

YOu know, you could always use the shower in the garage bathroom for a winerack, freeing up space in your wine making room.


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## LittleBearGameFarm

That shower has had many uses 

It is now supposed to be the place to give the dogs a bath, up on the platform with the shower wand. I think my wife may like that back sooner than later. It would be perfect to build some racks in there though.... hmmm...


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## LittleBearGameFarm

Slowly but surely, things are getting done. Here will be the bottle storage. Wanted to use this patio door after I ended up getting it for free but it has the one nonoperational side. I built the shelves at an angle so the bottles (hopefully) roll down. I figure it will hold 269 bottles. I need to get some more wine going!


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## Kraffty

I'm really enjoying this post, looking good and you're coming up with some clever solutions. Keep up with the updates. Your bottle storage is like the really old soda machines, just need a slot to drop in change.

Mike


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## jamesngalveston

I was looking at that, and thinking how clever it was to use the patio door...
Very nice...
Then i started thinking of how to make the one door usable.
You could, (with spare time, which none of us have)..
Take the frame apart...cut frame to fit opening.
Cut glass, assemble the frame...and put on hinge pins..top and bottom..
That way , the one door would slide, the other pivot.....
Good job on the wine closet...I like it.


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## LittleBearGameFarm

A little bit more work got done this past weekend. I hope to be able to get to the floor next weekend. I got an apple wine going last week but I still have a lot of empty carboys. The 1 gal's and the 5gal on the left have a Green Tomato Chardonnay in them, oaked the 5 gal and not the 1 gal's, want to see if there is a taste difference. Surprisingly (to me anyway), this stuff tastes awesome! That's a Red Ale on the right. The right side cabinet is consistently 5-6 degrees colder with the exposed concrete wall. Also, you can see some mason jars of Jack Keller's Apple Pie Moonshine, its potent (my wife wants me stay away from it so she has it for Country Fest).

After putting the apple wine together last week in the old bathroom, and then getting some more work done in the new wine room, I can't wait until this is ready. Still need to figure out the sink and counters but that shouldn't take too long. Having the peg board on the doors to the carboy closet so all of the tools are right at arms reach is going to be great.


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## sour_grapes

Love the pegboard idea. I think I am stealing that!!


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## olusteebus

I recommend you go out and get the Feb Mar edition of WineMaker Magazine. They have a article on that very thing. YOu will get some ideas.


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## LittleBearGameFarm

Got the floor pretty much done this weekend and it turned out great. Still have to finish the base trim. false beams on ceiling, and lighting. The actual wine making room has taken a back seat to getting our basement liveable again. I was able to get a WE Shiraz and an Amber Bock going this weekend. Also, divided up my apple wine to make 5 gallons of hard cider and about 6 gallons of apple wine that I am going to experiment with some flavors. I would like to have the wine room done by then so I'm not running all over to get supplies/materials. Even had time to relax yesterday and watch the Badgers beat MSU!


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## Boatboy24

Beautiful floor!


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## sour_grapes

That is beautiful!


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## LittleBearGameFarm

Just about finished, finally, with the wine room. Installed a plastic (cheap) utility sink. Was able to pick up a fridge/microwave combo for $100 from my college alma mater. Used cheap mdf for the counters. Just need to finish some trim and plumbing and she's good to go.


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## LittleBearGameFarm

Cellar is starting to get filled, have 8 gallons of DB that is about ready to bottle and 5 gallons of some apple combinations. Once those are bottled, it'll look a little more fitting. I would like to build a table out of an old wire spool and put that under the three light chandelier. It may be a little crowded then so ditch the couch and get another lazy boy. Great place to sit and watch the Brewers!


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## Runningwolf

Great looking room. You'll never regret putting in that laudatory tray either. Just ensure you have enough support in that corner for a full sink of water. Being split between two counter tops in the corner like that could post an issue. I'm sure you already got that worked out though. You do damn nice work!


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## Kraffty

Really nice room and beautiful work, looks like it really paid off for you.
Mike


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## fstendhal

I use these little sensors that I can put right next to a batch. They connect to an app on my phone that sends me alerts when temperature or humidity are out of whack. That way I can know when to use one of the above mentioned ways to warm up or cool things down without constantly checking the thermostat. Lifesaver! 

sells on amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDI510M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## AbruzziRed




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## kevinlfifer

I used a laundry sink turned 90 degrees. it works great. I added a bottle washer. I have shelves circling the room that are carboy thickness from the ceiling (16") to store unused carboys. Inexpensive and safer on carboys. The drawers hold about 5 cases (60) empty clean bottles each. I used full extension slides rated @ 100lbs.


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## MarcOlivetti

I’m going to use the wine cases for drawers & doors. What a great idea!


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## pete1325

My wine room is 12' x 18' and seems small at times. I didn't see any suggestion for a wine rack. Mine holds 260 bottles, you need somewhere to age the wine while you keep making wine. I also have 12' of old vanity bottoms left over from a few remodel job, I put a countertop on it. the drawers in the them come in handy. My sink is just outside the door in my utility room. hot and cold water with a pull out spigot so my Carboy can be rinsed out on the floor from the spigot. Can lighting and plenty of outlets for pumps and stuff.


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