How much space is enough for your distilling?

[Deplorable]

Just like the title says.
I do all my work for this new found hobby neatly in a space about 10 feet by 10 feet. I could easily put together a tidy little hobby distillery in a 10'×12' tall shed with a loft for storage and a barn style roof to provide adequate height for a tall reflux column.
A slab floor with a floor drain to a drain feild, a couple 110v outlets, lighting, and a waterline in would make it perfect.

[Durhommer]

I grind ferment and distill in a 12x14 garage attached

[Deplorable]

Yeah, Im in the two car attached garage, and using less than a quarter of it. Everything is in a comfortable location with plenty of room.

[Durhommer]

I use a quarter too the rest is model cars assorted tools and an extra washer

[Bushman]

I do everything in a 24’ x 30’ Outbuilding and only use a small section as I have my shop my lake boat and assortment of other things in there. The OP said he could run a small distillery in a 10x12 space, we have a micro distillery with a 60 gallon still in our state that distills and ages in a converted chicken coop.

[Deplorable]

I do everything in a 24’ x 30’ Outbuilding and only use a small section as I have my shop my lake boat and assortment of other things in there. The OP said he could run a small distillery in a 10x12 space, we have a micro distillery with a 60 gallon still in our state that distills and ages in a converted chicken coop.

We do? Wheres that at? I want to visit it.

[Bushman]

I do everything in a 24’ x 30’ Outbuilding and only use a small section as I have my shop my lake boat and assortment of other things in there. The OP said he could run a small distillery in a 10x12 space, we have a micro distillery with a 60 gallon still in our state that distills and ages in a converted chicken coop.

We do? Wheres that at? I want to visit it.

It was on Samish Island, two retired restaurant owners opened the distillery and their heat source was a stainless steel commercial grill that the boiler rested on top of. Unfortunately one of the owners died and the partner did not want to run it by himself so he sold all the equipment but still lives there as they have a beautiful view looking out at the islands and Anacortes. Below is a link to what was their distillery.
https://maps.roadtrippers.com/us/bow-wa ... distillery

[Deplorable]

That's a shame.

[jog666]

I would say around 10x10 - 12x12 would be the smallest area needed. Kind of depends on the storage shelves/cabinets and layout.

[jonnys_spirit]

I still in my cellar which I also use for winemaking, laundry, and an electronics shop plus some storage and a hydro lettuce garden. I still on a little 6ft table. There's about 15 carboys and a couple barrels for wines and clearing of ferments - four brute trash cans on wheels for primary fermenters. Carboy storage takes up several feet along a wall. I have a dual basin laundry sink for cleanup... Some bread-rack wire shelves for aging jugs... I could use more space but probably less space too.

Cheers!
-jonny

[XDStill]

I’d love to have a small shed set up for distilling. It’s on my wish list when we start house shopping here in a few years to get out of the suburbs and into the country. Right now I just use a small corner of the unfinished basement, about 10x15. Would be nice to have my aging barrels out in a uncontrolled temp environment.

[Coyote]

24 X 30 purpose built. 8 x 8 walk-in cooler. 24 foot long trough drain. Full bath with shower, 50,000 BTU LP gas furnace, 16,000 BTU window unit A/C.
4 - 2' x 8' skylights in a vaulted ceiling. Sheetrocked taped and textured.

Everything else stainless steel and on wheels except the kitchen sink.


Wifey said I could.

[Demy]

I have a small room that I use for various things like this (beer, distillation, preserves, etc.) with a large sink that I built in masonry and ceramic. You can see it in some of my photos. It is spartan, but it is an environment that makes its own. The other day I was thinking about how it could be to distill in the middle of a wood in full relaxation ...

[n_plains_drifter]

I store all of my gear in the utility room in my basement. I pull the cars out of the garage and set up in there to process. Setup and tear down every time. Mut I'm propane and in suburbia so I need ventilation.

[SuburbanShiner]

I am a suburbia garage stiller also. I park the cars in the driveway most Friday nights and the occasional Saturday. I have heaters for the winter and a small window AC unit I put in the for summer. Fortunately, I have a cabinet that holds all my still supplies and have managed to squeeze in a 55 gal barrel for recirculating condenser water and a 32 gal garbage can for fermenting. I have stacks of 5 gals buckets around the edges that contain wash, corn, and backset. The cars pretty much have to be parked with almost surgical precision. My wife and I are used to that though.

Having the large ferment container in the garage has saved me from toting 5 gal buckets of wash from the bathroom where I used to ferment to the garage which is a huge improvement for me. The biggest pain I have is having to tear down and put everything back in the cabinet after each run so I can get the cars back in the garage. I dream of the day I can have an outbuilding of some sort or a basement where I can have a more permanent setup with a sink and plenty of electric power. Hopefully, next house.

[Birrofilo]

Apartment distiller here. Fermentations have a bed room which I don't use, that's also for beer. Actual distilling (and beer brewing) is performed in the kitchen. I must assemble and disassemble the still for each run, but it's decently fast. I reckon that for an apartment distiller the space problem is mostly given by the fermentation vessels, if you want to perform more than one fermentation at a time. I use a shelf with place for 6 normal fermenters (25 to 35 litres to the brim). When I must distill a ferment, which is around 20 litres, I rack it into the kettle which I placed on a small trolley, and I easily move the trolley to the kitchen. The only lifting I have to do is putting the kettle on the electric stove, which sits on the floor. Not a problem, but I am also installing a pulley in my kitchen so that I can get rid of any lifting work. Another option is to move the shelf (which has wheels) into the kitchen, something which I do when I make beer or when I bottle beer.

[The Baker]

Install the pulley ON THE TROLLEY?

Geoff

[Deplorable]

Stilling in my garage, when I'm in between runs and fermenting, all my still parts fit in the boiler, the boiler goes in the 32 gallon brute with the insulation and blankets, and it tucks neatly into the corner. Buckets and the mop wringer get stored in the rafters. Carboy and corny kegs for storage vessels get stored in the shed with the turkey fryer.

[Birrofilo]

@The baker
No, the pulley will be hung to two hooks which I already have in my kitchen, above the position where the kettle of the distiller will sit. This will be useful in two occasions: when I have to lift the kettle (with all the liquid, around 20 kg) from the trolley and put it on top of the stove, and when after the distillation run I have to lift the kettle to the kitchen sink in order to collect or discard the remainder (around 15 kg) with the tap on the kettle.
The pulley will help me lift the kettle to the sink without any effort. Not a huge problem, but I am 54 and only have one back

[Yummyrum]

OMG , after reading this I feel like a total space wasting arse .

I’m out in country , I got a 6x9M shed thats totally full of shit ( mostly not distilling stuff ) and I still spew out into the carport area , and now , I’m outside next to the carport .

I totally have respect for you guys that are able to pull this off in appartments or even suburban setups . Efficient . Dedicated .

Thing is , I don’t do it often , but when I do it , I do it big .
So big boilers , big fermenters , big still .

I remember when I first started off , I had a little fermenter and still , the foot print was smaller ... but I was at it nearly all the time .

Maybe theres a “Swings and slippery dips” here regarding time and space .

[Saltbush Bill]

I got a 6x9M shed thats totally full of shit ( mostly not distilling stuff ) and I still spew out into the carport area , and now , I’m outside next to the carport .

Aint that the truth Not a hope of distilling inside that shed.

[Deplorable]

@yummyrum
I'm only getting into this craft, and have been at it since August, reading since July. Since getting my still, I've been doing something related to distilling almost every weekend.
I'll be taking a little break after I get my barrel filled, then I feel like I will get into a rhythm of about 4 runs a year, until I empty the barrel and refill it.

[n_plains_drifter]

Deplorable, you and I are at about the same stage, only I've been reading since 2015 or so. took a pandemic to get me over the hump. This has been something I've wanted to do since college, about 1979 or so. How big a barrel are you doing? I've got two 5's that I bought for making wine, but I've been afraid to fill them up as one of the guys at the beer store said kegs are like fish tanks, and barrels are like dogs. You got regular work with a barrel.

My first batch was corn whiskey, then a couple of sugar washes, then a bourbon with rye and 6 row, and the gumball head that I told you about in another thread.

I'm thinking that I need to get started filling a barrel.

[Deplorable]

Deplorable, you and I are at about the same stage, only I've been reading since 2015 or so. took a pandemic to get me over the hump. This has been something I've wanted to do since college, about 1979 or so. How big a barrel are you doing? I've got two 5's that I bought for making wine, but I've been afraid to fill them up as one of the guys at the beer store said kegs are like fish tanks, and barrels are like dogs. You got regular work with a barrel.

My first batch was corn whiskey, then a couple of sugar washes, then a bourbon with rye and 6 row, and the gumball head that I told you about in another thread.

I'm thinking that I need to get started filling a barrel.

I'm doing a 5 gallon. Should be able to fill it next weekend or the weekend after.

[NZChris]

For every hobby I have, it's always about 10 square feet more than I've got

[jayka]

I have a 6m X 3m shed. It's both my distillery and my bar /cafe.
I have to chop and change what equipment is on the bench but it does pretty good. I'm thinking of setting up a dividing wall as even tho I do my best to keep everything clean sometimes it can sit in a bit of a mess.

[NZChris]

My next problem is height. I want to do a run with my Bokakob on a bigger boiler and keep it indoors.

[Deplorable]

Sounds like you need to raise the roof or lower the floor.

[NZChris]

There is one place in the shed that I should be able to use, but it can't be a permanent setup. It's a big run of neutral that I might want to do once every two or three years.

[The Baker]

I am having a Roofing Man check the shed.
He is looking at the tiles on the house, my brother-in-law helped us by spraying some sort of 'spray and wait' stuff on it to
clear off the lichen or whatever and the tiles weren't suitable and they are flaking!
Anyway he is putting some 'gutter guard' on the shed which has an 'enclosed' box gutter that collects the leaves from the next door's
high leafy shrubs...

I would love to get him to fit a false chimney for high columns!

Geoff