Brewing Indoors

I finally got the go ahead from SWMBO to make our downstairs utility room into my brewing area so to speak. I have running cold and hot water, a floor drain and nice shelves and such for my supplies. Ambient temp is 60-65 degrees all year long. I plan on installin a utility sink to help me wash and clean my equipment and fill my brew pots and such.

Here is my my main question, how should I heat mash/sparge water and do my boils in a utility room? Is this even possible? I am sure I cannot use propane, and I am also wondering if doing a full boil indoors is a good idea with no auxilliary ventilation apparutus?

dont worry about ventilation during the boil. nothing noxious comes off the brew. as far as heating your water you may look into electric burners. get the most powerful one you can that will work with the wiring in the basement. I've seen references to "heat sticks" on this site you might think about that.

I have an electric system indoors. Moisture can be an issue- I have a door that opens and a fan to blow out that door, so it's not bad. But in an enclosed area, you may have yourself a sauna. I was talking to a guy who lost all his drywall tape due to the moisture in his garage from boiling in there!

If you can open a window and use a fan, it may not be too bad. But you definitely need some sort of ventilation. Otherwise, all of that moisture would ruin your ceiling. One of my friends installed something moisture proof in his garage where he boils- it's some sort of water resistant wall board on his ceiling. I can ask him exactly what it is, if you want.

TipsyDragon said:

dont worry about ventilation during the boil. nothing noxious comes off the brew. as far as heating your water you may look into electric burners. get the most powerful one you can that will work with the wiring in the basement. I've seen references to "heat sticks" on this site you might think about that.

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Maybe a nice powerfull two burner unit, luckily my breaker box is right there in the basement and has room for a few more circuits. I should call my buddy the electrician and get this going.

Get my faucet, get a few burners going. Heck, I will be in heaven.

I am thinking about using this room primarily in the winter, when it's literally -50 outside. I wonder if a fan pointed out the window would help? Maybe it just isn't feasable to boil inside, I think SWMBO would be a tad angry if I ruined the house with all the moisture!

If there is a window in there, how about installing a bathroom exhaust fan. Or, even better, a used kitchen stove hood.

There sure is a window, the bad thing is that in the winter, the window will be in the middle of a snow bank.

THere is an air exchanger unit in there, I could tap into that possibly. It would sure be sweet to figure out a way to make brewing a one room operation.

Oh, it's awesome to brew indoors! My brewery is on the main floor, in my laundry room. No stairs, no hauling stuff, etc. It rocks! Here's a picture:

YooperBrew said:

Oh, it's awesome to brew indoors! My brewery is on the main floor, in my laundry room. No stairs, no hauling stuff, etc. It rocks! Here's a picture:

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That is perfect! I have to make this happen.

So you use an electric portable camping style range and a simple fan? Do you think installing a ceiling fan would be a better solution or am I better off with a little directional one? I actualy think I am going to work on this tonight! I am so sick of hauling crap>

permo said:

That is perfect! I have to make this happen.

So you use an electric portable camping style range and a simple fan? Do you think installing a ceiling fan would be a better solution or am I better off with a little directional one? I actualy think I am going to work on this tonight! I am so sick of hauling crap>

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No, I'm all-electric. HLT and BK both electric. I have a 1500 watt element in the HLT, and a 5500 watt element in the BK. That way I don't gas myself, or have to deal with fumes or propane. I open the door during boiling, and turn on the portable fan. There's a door to the right of the BK, and the cart has wheels so I can wheel right up to the open door.

YooperBrew said:

No, I'm all-electric. HLT and BK both electric. That way I don't gas myself, or have to deal with fumes or propane. I open the door during boiling, and turn on the portable fan. There's a door to the right of the BK, and the cart has wheels so I can wheel right up to the open door.

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So how long to get a typical 7-8 batch of wort boiling?

I have a 12.5 gallon pot so I am guessing a dual burner broil king would get the job done in a hurry.

permo said:

So how long to get a typical 7-8 batch of wort boiling?

I have a 12.5 gallon pot so I am guessing a dual burner broil king would get the job done in a hurry.

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I bought the system from The Pol: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/all-electric-herms-sale-1-500-a-151679/

He has all the specifics of the build in a thread called, "Bling Bling HERMS" or something like that, if you want to know exactly what is in the build. I only added a CFC. I'll be changing the HLT, but it's fine for now.

It gets boiling lickety-split. I don't know for sure how fast. Maybe 20 minutes? I start it up when I have about 3 gallons in the keggle, and by the time my MLT is drained, it's just about boiling.

I know that my engineer friend, lschiavo, has a chart on his kegerator that has the specifics on "this size element boils X degree water in X minutes". Maybe shoot him a PM and ask him the specifics of the size element you're thinking of- he should be able to answer you. I have no idea!