Student Brewer - Delay to the Brewery (#1)
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The brewery is being installed in the old bin store. It was wasted space, having just one industrial bin and two glass bins in it, and ended up being filled with random bits of kit that would 'one day' be repaired. But now it has a purpose, and the brewery fits (I may need to loose some weight though), and most of the junk is out. The bits that are left in may well come in useful in tarting it up - like a door and a table with a broken leg, for example:
Obviously a roof would be handy, and it just so happens that a building across the road has the low-cost solution I was looking for:
A simple corrugated roof, with a window at either end to let some natural light in. The height of the roof would allow for a simple yet effective grist case. The idea is you pour your malt into the grist case, which is a big metal funnel, which mixes the grist (the malt mix) with water at approximately 65C. You can regulate the flow of water and grist to ensure the correct consistency is made (thick porridge - if you take a measuring jug, fill it and stick a thermometer in it, the thermometer should slowly fall over. Without a grist case you need a big wooden spoon and a good stirring action...
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The walls need to be clad - I was looking at stainless steel sheeting which I could pick up from the same people I got the brewery from. The idea was simple enough - waterproof membrane (visqueen) against the wall, construction-grade batons screwed through visqueen into wall, insulation and clad in stainless steel.
Playing the 'better safe than sorry' game I emailed Brecon Beacons National Park to see what they had to say. Building Regs was the answer. It's a small project, less than 3m x 5m, shouldn't have any issues. So today I went down and spoke to the building regs bloke in a meeting that took 4 minutes. It's for a business, so full plans needed.
So, the labour would take a couple of days (to get the roof on), but before that I have to get architects drawings done, the forms filled including how and by whom the electrics will be done, and send it all off where it will more than likely sit in an inbox for 3 months before someone looks at it and says 'he only wants to put a tin roof on it - approved'.
But, this is all about learning, and this is my first venture fully self-employed, so it's learning how to play the game. One of the locals, upon hearing about this, suggested that it's by far easier to apologise than get permission, which I could well believe. But I only want to do the job once, and that means getting it right from the start.
Now just to find an architect within my budget. Funnily enough, as I type that last line I look up to see my 2 year old son colouring in with wax crayons...
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