At what point is steam mitigation no longer necessary?

[Hwk-I-St8]

I am setting up an electric brewery in my garage. It's 3 1/2 stalls with 11' ceilings and heated. That's a lot of cubic feet space for steam to dissipate and, it seems, quite a different situation from a small room in a basement.

Is some sort of steam venting or steam slayer solution really needed in that big a space?

 

[sicktght311]

No matter how big the room, the steam will condense back into liquid at some point. If its obviously a gigantic room it will be less noticable than a small confined space, but no matter what it wont disappear. It will condense somewhere at some point.

If it is indeed a giant room, then its possible that a simple dehumidifer is all you need, as the relative humidity wont jump that high given the abundance of space, and whatever is condensed in the air can be captured by the dehumidifer over a few hour period.

Test it. Brew one day, and then check the room an hour or so after the boil. if you feel moisture on things then its a problem and you'll need better ventilation. If the air in the room hasnt really changed and everything seems dry, then you're probably fine *other than any smells you might pick up from the boil*

 

[Spartan1979]

I used to brew in my garage (smaller than yours) and never had an issue with condensation. I always had the door open at least 2 feet,

 

[bstacy1974]

My garage is heated, detached, two bays, 12 ft ceiling, 50ft deep. I sometimes have condensation drip on my head during the boil. I usually open the doors for air flow, but in the winter in Alaska (current air temperature -40) that's uncomfortable for even short periods of time.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Our last place had high ceilings and I brewed dozens of batches in the kitchen without a vent hood without any problems. All I ever did was crack the windows during the boil and for a while afterwards. The humidity in the house would spike for awhile but it didn't cause any issues, and the added humidity was quite welcome during the winter months.

Now we live in a place with typical 8' ceilings and the story is quite different. Even with several windows open I see condensate on the walls and ceiling... scary stuff so I'm looking into a boil condenser.

In your case the volume of the space, that its heated, and the high ceilings all help out and I wouldn't hesitate to brew in there. Also, its a garage instead of a living space and you can open the door wide for a few minutes to thoroughly ventilate after brewing so I can't imagine you would have any mold issues.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

No matter how big the room, the steam will condense back into liquid at some point. If its obviously a gigantic room it will be less noticable than a small confined space, but no matter what it wont disappear. It will condense somewhere at some point.

If it is indeed a giant room, then its possible that a simple dehumidifer is all you need, as the relative humidity wont jump that high given the abundance of space, and whatever is condensed in the air can be captured by the dehumidifer over a few hour period.

Test it. Brew one day, and then check the room an hour or so after the boil. if you feel moisture on things then its a problem and you'll need better ventilation. If the air in the room hasnt really changed and everything seems dry, then you're probably fine *other than any smells you might pick up from the boil*

This makes sense. I wonder if a dehumidifier would suffice. Great advice all around. Thanks!

 

[mongoose33]

My garage walls are insulated. Moisture that works its way past the drywall will cause the insulation to moisten, resulting in rot, reduced insulation efficiency, and potentially mold.

This is only an issue in the winter when the temp in the middle of the insulation reaches the dew point, which is the temp at which moisture condenses out of the air.

My garage has 10 or 12 foot ceilings (not sure, but the ceiling is high). The square footage is about....probably 400 feet or more.

That's pretty large, and no way will I let moisture accumulate on cold walls, in cold insulation. In some places in the south, where the insulation never falls to the dew point, maybe it's not an issue. But here, in Wisconsin, there's no way I can brew in the winter without either A) opening the garage doors, B) using a fan in the window to exhaust steam (with the service door open), or C) using the steam slayer.

 

[pbrennan10]

You'd prob be borderline if you're ok with some moisture on the walls. I have 2 bays and 12 ft ceilings and will open the door for the last 15 or 20 minutes. I have to get to the water hose outside anyway.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

@mongoose33 - good advice as well. Mold is always a significant concern. IIRC, you have similar environmental conditions as I, so you understand the challenges of brewing when it's 0 degrees outside.

I don't mind doing a steam slayer (I don't want to try to do some ventilation mods to the house), but it does impose water and drainage requirements along with mods to my kettle. I may look into getting a second lid and putting a TC port on there for the slayer.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Even in a large room, the warm steam will immediately rise to the ceiling and may condensate.

In my largish basement, I use a small fan to blow upward over the kettle pointed at the ceiling to mix the room air with the kettle steam, then another fan blowing out an open window.

Moving the room air will help incorporate the kettle steam with the room air, if the air is stagnant....warm steam clouds may condensate on the ceiling.

Doesn’t take much, but having the room air moving is key IME.

If the room air isn’t moving, the warm steam will hang at the ceiling like a cloud, moving the room air will utilize the full room volume to dissipate the kettle steam below the dew point.

Makes all the difference IME.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

I rarely gets below 30 degrees in the daytime where I live. I brew in my garage and open the door a few feet, and my assumption is that the air flow will prevent any damage. If you're talking about keeping the garage door closed and not having any airflow, then I'd recommend using some sort of steam mitigation.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

The garage heater has a pretty powerful blower. If it's cold enough out that I don't want the door open, the heater will be blowing the air around pretty good. Even so, I think I'll just plan on running a steam slayer...that was my original plan anyway.

 

[sicktght311]

Another factor is the size of your brewing system and boil off rate. Some people are boiling off .75 gallons per hour, some 1.5gallons. Some even more than that with a large system.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

A condensate hood and a $15 box fan would probably work in your situation.