@ratflinger Very slick setup and process. I hope to be there some day. Nowhere near there yet.
New Wine Room Design
- Thread starter Raptor99
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My goal is to never need to handle full carboys. If I have enough counter space, I can use my AIO wine pump to move wine between carboys and for bottling. If I have a shelf below the counter, I can rack wine into a carboy there for bulk aging, and then use the pump to rack it out for bottling. The only time I need to handle carboys in the sink is when I am washing them.
I'm 66, handling full carboys is asking for disaster. I can handle them, but I'd rather not. I'd rather think harder and act smarter.
@ratflinger Very slick setup and process. I hope to be there some day. Nowhere near there yet.
Thank you. I didn't get here overnight either. This process works for me, but you may come up with a process that works better for you. That's the nice thing about this, someone else's process does not negate what you feel works well for you. The best process you can have is a fluid one. If someone else is doing something that also works for you then you fold it in. Most of what I've learned has come from reading and studying this forum. There are many people here much smarter than myself.
And here I thought that ALL laundry tubs were concrete!
My son recently bought a 1920's house in Cleveland. It has a 3 compartment concrete laundry sink. Other than that, except for a commercial floor sink, I haven't seem a concrete one in forever.
I'm a few years behind you and can still handle full carboys, but the handwriting is on the wall. Regardless of age, the best way to prevent a problem is to completely circumvent it. Using a pump is a wise choice.
You're living vicariously through the mistakes of others -- that's wisdom! Don't sell yourself short!
I'll cheerfully post a description of my mistakes -- if I prevent one person from making the same mistake I did? The post was worth the time.
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I find it interesting no one has said a floor drain yet.
Number one is storage area, you will never have enough as for full carboys/ empty glass/ pumps/ filtration/ fruit press/ cases of bottles. Storage can be lesser grade as formica or wire racks. #2 is a wet process area which is smaller than storage, I like stainless but the key is being able to clean it, yup I have cleaned both walls and floor. A lot of my transfers are gravity with vacuum assistance so I have milk crates and metal stands to adjust height.
#3 is a dry chemical/ sugar/ weighing/ lab test area. My Chemical bench is the smallest section. Some club folks keep a desk with the chromatography or Hacch meter
#4 some club members have a display area for ribbons.
A lot of what you need is based on your style. One club member has a chest freezer to precipitate tartrates from northern hybrid grapes. I do a lot of country wines so I wind up having a freezer with five gallons of rhubarb juice or grape or fresh gooseberry or raspberry etc. If you make the same wines every year you can lock in your benches & the tools you always use, I change the country wines every season so flexibility is a key.
Number one is storage area, you will never have enough as for full carboys/ empty glass/ pumps/ filtration/ fruit press/ cases of bottles. Storage can be lesser grade as formica or wire racks. #2 is a wet process area which is smaller than storage, I like stainless but the key is being able to clean it, yup I have cleaned both walls and floor. A lot of my transfers are gravity with vacuum assistance so I have milk crates and metal stands to adjust height.
#3 is a dry chemical/ sugar/ weighing/ lab test area. My Chemical bench is the smallest section. Some club folks keep a desk with the chromatography or Hacch meter
#4 some club members have a display area for ribbons.
A lot of what you need is based on your style. One club member has a chest freezer to precipitate tartrates from northern hybrid grapes. I do a lot of country wines so I wind up having a freezer with five gallons of rhubarb juice or grape or fresh gooseberry or raspberry etc. If you make the same wines every year you can lock in your benches & the tools you always use, I change the country wines every season so flexibility is a key.
Ah, a basement, yes that is nice. I live in South Texas, basements are in commercial buildings, none in homes. The house contractors wouldn't know how. 
We have no freeze lines so the ground doesn't get dug out to set a foundation. A floor drain certainly would be handy.
We have no freeze lines so the ground doesn't get dug out to set a foundation. A floor drain certainly would be handy.
south Texas, HUM,
when I lived in Houston Heights a few houses had them, and then again ones close to the bayou would flood every hurricane.
AND Houston had surface water so the winery and food lab would have carbon filtered water.
Thank you everyone for your input. I am building my wish list, and then I will see what is possible.
Bossbaby
Senior Member
installing a comercial sink was a game changer for me for sure. You will not regret being able to fit a carboy under the faucet and the overhead sprayer is sweet.
MisterEd
Backwoods, but not backwards...
I use the same sink outside in my vineyard/garden area to clean carboys, etc. If you use treated support posts for the legs the thing is good for almost forever. A frost free hydrant comes up the back for the water so it works out well.
"Romania wasn't built in a day." Archie Bunker@ratflinger Very slick setup and process. I hope to be there some day. Nowhere near there yet.
That is one wicked mad scientist setup you have there!! I don’t see ever getting that technical with my wine production but very cool nonetheless.
Brilliant! Looks like you removed the casters and bolted the jack to a wooden platform. Did you build the platform from 2 by lumber? Can't tell from the picture but did you re-mount the casters on the bottom of the platform so that you could move it around your space? What type of drill is required to raise and lower the unit? I see what appears to be a DeWalt drill on the bench. Could you post some more close up pictures of the stand? That is ingenious!
Is this the jack in question?
450 lb. Low Lift Transmission Jack (harborfreight.com)
Yes That is the jack.
The drill is a 3/8 battery powered but 1/2 would be better. Going up with a full carboy/fermenter sometimes get wobbly so I steady the carboy/fermenter with my left hand while raising.
I did not use the casters but that's not a bad ideal. I'll have to look for them.
2x12 base, plywood and 2x4. My highest counter top is 36" so everything was figured to get to that height.
Like a lot of us young guys in our 7th decade, lifting full carboys/fermenters is not going to happen.
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I'm a bit luckier than most since I make wine in my warehouse and space is not an issue. The only advice I can recommend is no space is too small.
I started with the traditional laundry sink which had a fixed water spout too low for a Carboy to fit. I was lucky to find a commercial 2 large bowl sink w/ sides of all places, at my local brew shop. The owner had one sitting in his garage unused for years 
I started with this:
and now have this to work with
I had to place the sink on blocks to have proper drainage when tying into the existing drain. The side benefit is much easier on my back!
As for work space, the cabinets were repurposed to the basement when the kitchen was remodeled, so I’m using slat wall for hanging storage along with the cabinets. I have a large table in the center of the work area which I keep working & aging Carboys with empties below in milk crates.
I also installed a wire grid above the work table using bungee cords to help manage the AIO pump hoses and to keep things organized.
this is a long way from my first batch in the kitchen & dining room
I started with this:and now have this to work with
I had to place the sink on blocks to have proper drainage when tying into the existing drain. The side benefit is much easier on my back!
As for work space, the cabinets were repurposed to the basement when the kitchen was remodeled, so I’m using slat wall for hanging storage along with the cabinets. I have a large table in the center of the work area which I keep working & aging Carboys with empties below in milk crates.
I also installed a wire grid above the work table using bungee cords to help manage the AIO pump hoses and to keep things organized.
this is a long way from my first batch in the kitchen & dining room
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Now that’s what I’m talking about! Someday I’ll have my wine room.
