I had sort of the same experience with my first “big” burner. It was a Superb 35,000 BTU plumbed to the natural gas in out last house in the basement. It set off the CO detector upstairs while I was brewing in the basement. Wow, yes scary. The fix was opening a window and I installed a used range hood then while brewing temporarily connected it to the dryer vent. Also moved the detector to the basement.
No basement now and the 200,000 BTU burners would not cut it in one anyway. So out in the garage I go and will keep an eye out for the brewing police :lol:
I’m assuming it was the open flame of the burner that was objectionable to the fire enforcement officer. If so a simple electric system may be your solution. I brew up to 20 gal batches with my electric system in my garage and feel much safer than when I was brewing with gas.
I am right at the edge of the garage, inside to keep away from wind usually.
What you are doing is technically illegal. Does anyone usually get bugged about it? You are the first I have heard in over a decade of brewing
I think you just got a dick fire guy puffing his chest out for some stupid reason.
Propane Grills, tanks, are not supposed to be used garages around my suburbs, or on decks. Tanks and grills are not even supposed to be stored in the garage, does anyone follow it…no.
If used like he said they are supposed to be a certain distance from a building, again does anyone ever follow it…no.
I’ve brewed many 5g all grain batches inside. No mess what-so-ever.
If you’re concerned about the smell, open the windows.
Extract vs. All Grain produce the same odors during the boil. The mash doesn’t really produce much odor nor does it smell bad at all (smells like baking bread or cookies).
The biggest difference will be the dust coming from the grain. Mill your grain outside. Doughing in can also produce a little dust. I’ve gotten to the point of being able to mill inside, if I’m careful, my mill has a base which fits over a bucket to contain the dust.
As far as fire and the garage goes, I know at my apartment I can’t have a lit grill in the garage but I can grill on the pavement just outside the garage, manager says I could even boil my wort out there if I wanted to…
Garage brewer and son of a retired firefighter. Old man still has the certifications and inspects on a case by case basis. Will inquire on specifics. Is your garage attached?
What the heck did you do to your neighbors so they narqed on you?
On a side note, I ALWAYS park in front of the garage when I brew because I want privacy.
I brew 4 gallon batches inside on the stove. I love it. I’ve been thinking about scaling up my operation lately (doubling to 8 gallon batches), but I don’t have a garage and don’t want to have to plan around the elements outside. I used to brew in a garage a few years ago and that was nice. Never had anyone stop.
Now, I don’t have to rely on buying propane, which is nice. That’s kind of the biggest thing keeping me from moving my operation back outside.
Like I’ve said before, there’s no such thing as freedom, only privileges that can be taken away from you at any time.
I brew 4 gallon batches inside on the stove. I love it. I’ve been thinking about scaling up my operation lately (doubling to 8 gallon batches), but I don’t have a garage and don’t want to have to plan around the elements outside. I used to brew in a garage a few years ago and that was nice. Never had anyone stop.
Now, I don’t have to rely on buying propane, which is nice. That’s kind of the biggest thing keeping me from moving my operation back outside.
Like I’ve said before, there’s no such thing as freedom, only privileges that can be taken away from you at any time.[/quote]
If you are in the garage why do you have to plan around the elements outside? Is that the point of the garage, to not have to do that
Yes, that’s what I mean. I don’t have a garage now, so I’m not wanting to move back outside because of that. But I really want to scale up my operation…I’m trying to work out the logistics of it right now. All I really need is a bigger kettle and a burner (which I can get from a friend who has several).
Then there’s dealing with wind by my back door, which is a collector of leaves in the fall. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to move back outside at this point; not until I move somewhere with a deck or garage (preferable).
But yeah, that’s BS about the fireman coming by and telling the OP he can’t brew in his own garage. Like he said, he wasn’t using oil or anything. Some people are just there to be a pain in your side, no rhyme or reason.
It applies to multifamily dwellings with shared hallways or shared egress only, and only if adopted by your local unit of government. It freaked me out at first, because I live in a townhouse that has ten units attached side-by-side in a row, and my city adopted this measure, but then I reread the part about shared hallways and egress, neither of which I have. I’ll just have a fire extinguisher on hand just in case…
[quote=“Beersk”]Then there’s dealing with wind by my back door, which is a collector of leaves in the fall. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to move back outside at this point; not until I move somewhere with a deck or garage (preferable).
But yeah, that’s BS about the fireman coming by and telling the OP he can’t brew in his own garage. Like he said, he wasn’t using oil or anything. Some people are just there to be a pain in your side, no rhyme or reason.[/quote]
technically it was illegal, but like I said that is a first where someone actually came around and said something about it.
I would have brought up other grills on people decks or other things around the area that are breaking the same fire code if he went any further with it.
I brew on my deck next to my outside bar all winter long. My bar acts like a wind shield but mostly I only brew when it’s sunny. In the summer chiller water goes into the pool. I have an outside kitchen planned but haven’t built it yet. I have brewed at the garage door but prefer to be outside. I’ve worked outside all my life all season long so standing around a warm burner is no problem. I’m also an EMT and have been on many CO calls usually from smart people doing dumb things so be careful and check those batteries.
Above 40F I’m in the driveway just outside my garage. Otherwise, I’m usually inside my garage with large door open/partially closed. No one has ever said anything to me, so maybe not an issue in Ohio.
Some of those youtube vids show people with the turkey fryers inside the garage. Of course, the videos usually depict them catching their house on fire. They’re probably from Ohio.
I live in MN too, and after years of brewing outside, I went electric and brew in the basement now. I got so tired of not being able to brew in the winter, and this winter was a back breaker. It gets so darn cold here that I struggle for things to do in the winter… I need to be able to brew!
I suspect a very righteous and nosy neighbor. They’re gone 6 months out of the year and they had just returned from a long vacation. Could be coincidence, but seems suspicious.
See, I checked that; I did read the official rules. Use of a grill on a deck or patio appears to be fine if you’re not in a multi-unit dwelling. At least, the rule is silent on it. The rule also, again, doesn’t really cover our brewing activities. It’s not like it’d be particularly fruitful to argue about it with them, though…
I suspect a very righteous and nosy neighbor. They’re gone 6 months out of the year and they had just returned from a long vacation. Could be coincidence, but seems suspicious.
See, I checked that; I did read the official rules. Use of a grill on a deck or patio appears to be fine if you’re not in a multi-unit dwelling. At least, the rule is silent on it. The rule also, again, doesn’t really cover our brewing activities. It’s not like it’d be particularly fruitful to argue about it with them, though…[/quote]
no but if I had a firemarshal come and ask me to stop the moment I sparked my burner on a batch there would be some discussion on all the other houses around me using propane in the same way
Dad’s on vacation and “not to be disturbed” so I reached out to my buddy who is a fire inspector in another city. He found this whole thing very odd. Firstly, he said there is no way there was a guy randomly looking for violations like this. The fire dept is well aware of many violations occurring on a day to day basis and it is not there job to “police” them. This leads to the next point. Secondly, the fire dept has no jurisdiction to tell you what to do. Technically, it’s just a fire code violation and the police would need to intervene and the only reason for them to intervene would be from a complaint. So there you have it: Stop blasting Insane Clown Posse while brewing!
Now for some real info. For those of us in Ohio which like most states basically that adopt the National Fire Code, using “open flame” LP appliances, we should be 15’ away from a “structure”. Not a bad idea. What is the risk? He said it is well known that insurance companies will deny homeowners claims from a fire started from something like this. OK, never heard that one and that’s kinda scary.
Now, am I done brewing in the garage? Heck no. That said, I am be a bit more cautious and maybe mount an extinguisher near the brewing area instead of relying on the one in the kitchen.
Silent, if I were you and had a killer brew stand, I would hard plumb the garage and jet the orifices for natural gas. Get a nice flex hose with quick disconnects. 100% legit then.
[quote=“zwiller”]Dad’s on vacation and “not to be disturbed” so I reached out to my buddy who is a fire inspector in another city. He found this whole thing very odd. Firstly, he said there is no way there was a guy randomly looking for violations like this. The fire dept is well aware of many violations occurring on a day to day basis and it is not there job to “police” them. This leads to the next point. Secondly, the fire dept has no jurisdiction to tell you what to do. Technically, it’s just a fire code violation and the police would need to intervene and the only reason for them to intervene would be from a complaint. So there you have it: Stop blasting Insane Clown Posse while brewing!
Now for some real info. For those of us in Ohio which like most states basically that adopt the National Fire Code, using “open flame” LP appliances, we should be 15’ away from a “structure”. Not a bad idea. What is the risk? He said it is well known that insurance companies will deny homeowners claims from a fire started from something like this. OK, never heard that one and that’s kinda scary.
Now, am I done brewing in the garage? Heck no. That said, I am be a bit more cautious and maybe mount an extinguisher near the brewing area instead of relying on the one in the kitchen.
Silent, if I were you and had a killer brew stand, I would hard plumb the garage and jet the orifices for natural gas. Get a nice flex hose with quick disconnects. 100% legit then.[/quote]
THen you may have to do something to the walls and such for code to, or do nothing and try to get away with it for as long as you can.
