As you can imagine transforming an old horse barn into a brewery starts with a lot of demolition work. Shown here in one of the earliest pictures of the Remodel (October 2018), I was in the process of tearing down the wooden walls on the side where the previous owner boarded horses. You can see supports where the stalls existed (most of them had already been removed by the time we bought the place). For lighting there was 8 incandescent bulbs that ran along the sides (3 are shown here) which provided very dim light. Can you spot the growler of homebrew to make the work go easier?
All lumber that could be salvaged was stored and has already been used in a few projects. One example was filling in the windows (shown above). I did this for a couple of reasons, natural light is not conducive to beer-making and also it will help better insulate the barn. In this picture you notice I have redone the electrical receptacles (added some outdoor ones as well) and installed energy-efficient LED lights. Removing the rubber mats on the floor was an absolute chore! They were so large and heavy I ended up sawing them in half with a Sawszall to get them out of there and into the dumpster. Under the mats was stone which should help make a good base for the concrete pour.
All in all the final product should look something like this (blueprint above). Originally the blueprint had included an addition with a taproom, but due to legal hurdles this location will be limited to manufacturing and (hopefully) to go sales. I plan to start off with distributing kegs to local bars and restaurants. Eventually, I will be able to buy/rent a taproom in the area where I can deliver my kegs and serve beer on a more regular schedule. This is the first of many Remodel updates, so stay tuned!