Virtual Tour of the Brewhouse: Grain Storage

At the gentle nudging and not-so-subtle suggestion of some of my Homebrewtalk brethren, I was recently inspired to photograph the basement brewhouse and fermentation room by way of a virtual tour.  My house is a classic example of 1930s amateur architecture and construction with lots of idiosyncratic design features; the brewhouse is certainly indicative of that trend.

I am a firm practitioner of KISS in both my brewing process and the brewhouse.  Simplicity writ large, as it were.  I conduct full volume boils outside on the back patio using a turkey fryer burner and 10 gallon kettle.  A modified 5 gallon round cooler serves as my mash lauter tun and I use gravity to my advantage when draining to the kettle and then on to the fermentation vessel.   

As an all-grain brewer, I quickly realized substantial cost-savings when purchasing base malt in bulk.  

The first shelf is mostly quart jars of speciality grain;  I've discovered that these jars conveniently hold approximately a pound so I can gauge at a glance what my current stores are.

The second shelf holds 12 quart Rubbermaid bins of additional malt (crystal malt, Munich, Vienna, etc) that I use in larger percentages that some other speciality grains.  These containers hold approximately ten pounds each with room for a bit more as need arises. The bottom shelf is all base malt,  Pilsner to the left and Maris Otter to the right.  I buy full 55 pound sacks and each of these containers holds a single sack easily.

And of course, my beagle (and the brewery's namesake) sniffs around with intent curiosity.