Combining winemaking and beer brewing in same cellar

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sjjan

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Hi: I have been searching for information on the potential risks of brewing beer (or just fermenting it in a fermenter) in the same cellar as where the wine is made. I find some information saying that it is no problem, but others suggest it might not go well together in the same cellar.

Would anyone know? Are there winemakers around on WMT that also brew beer?
 
No harm. In Virginia, there is a push to allow wineries and breweries to exist in the same space and use the same equipment. The only block is Alcohol Beverage Control regulations. I use the same equipment and last week had a carboy of beer fermenting right next to three buckets of juice in primary. I wish the beer fermentation had encouraged the wine yeast but it had no effect.
 
Aside from legal issues, there are some ingredients in beer that you absolutely wouldn’t want to infest your winery. I’m not a beer maker, so I may get this wrong. I recall that if you make beer, you may add Brettomyces at some point in time, or at least with certain styles of beer. Brett infections are devastating to wineries, and very hard to put a stop to. Just food for thought.
 
Aside from legal issues, there are some ingredients in beer that you absolutely wouldn’t want to infest your winery. I’m not a beer maker, so I may get this wrong. I recall that if you make beer, you may add Brettomyces at some point in time, or at least with certain styles of beer. Brett infections are devastating to wineries, and very hard to put a stop to. Just food for thought.
Brettomyces is only used in Lambic and Flanders red ales - sour ales and you MUST, MUST, MUST never use the same equipment for Lambic and any other fermented beverage. Most homebrewers never mess with Lambics anyway nor do most commercial breweries.
 
In fact the regulations in Virginia for winery/brewery operations are that the two only need be divided by a low wall. Other than the Brett yeast mentioned above there are no brewing ingredients that can cause cross contamination.
 
I have heard it said that if Brett gets into your winery, the cure is to burn it down, cover the ashes with 5 feet of new ground and move 10 miles away. It is a major fault in a wine and if it ever gets into your winery, it is nearly impossible to get out and your wine will always taste of barnyard.
 
Hi sjjan, I think the only problem of mixing two kinds of "fermentation" in a winery is when the wine maker is also making vinegar from a mother. The acetobacter that converts alcohol into vinegar in the presence of oxygen will seek out the alcohol you want to drink as wine so you want to work hard to avoid the presence of acetobacteria in your winery. But brewing beer and making wine should not be a problem (again, as long as you know what bacteria or fungi you are introducing). And I am sure that many of the people on this forum (OK , perhaps not many, but certainly some) brew beer and make wine and mead and we do so in the same space.
 
The acetobacter that converts alcohol into vinegar in the presence of oxygen will seek out the alcohol you want to drink as wine so you want to work hard to avoid the presence of acetobacteria in your winery.

This only is correct if you really are making traditional wine, I am in France - a lot of us make natural wine. We basically "brew vinegar" as the critics say :D :D :D

I am planning on making both in the same celler as well (it's my brother-in-law who makes the beer, I am not a brewer) but I'll have a wall in between and I'll install an aeration system. I hope that this will work out! Good luck :)
 
This only is correct if you really are making traditional wine, I am in France - a lot of us make natural wine. We basically "brew vinegar" as the critics say :D :D :D
You make me curious. Where are you located in France. In the Provence? Tell me more about your natural wine as compared to “traditional“ wine. What do you do different?
 
I don't see any real problems. I brew beer and make wine in my cellar. I also make sausage and cheese there. Only thing about the beer, don't use the same plastic fermenters for both beer and wine; hops can permeate the plastic and impart bad flavors to the wine
 
I've been making beer and wine in the same space for decades with no problems.

Only thing about the beer, don't use the same plastic fermenters for both beer and wine; hops can permeate the plastic and impart bad flavors to the wine
I've never had a problem, but I am also a once-in-a-while beer brewer -- twice a year is a lot, and often every other year.

However, it may be that I've simply been lucky.
 
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Good to hear all this good news. I had read it somewhere that it was ok to brew beer and make wine in the same cellar but could not find that article anymore. Since the wine is made from grapes in our cellar once per year, we need something else to do the rest the year hence the beer brewing!
 

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