Venting brew kettle

[Steven9026]

I'm working on building an electric brew system. The question I have for those that use these inside, is how do you vent the moisture that comes off of your brew kettle. I have run my system inside and the ceiling in my brew room gets wet from the steam and condensation forms in droplets. Using a fan to move air around works pretty well, but I would like a better setup. How do the commercial brew kettle work? They have a top with piping running outside. Do they have a powerful exhaust system to suck out the vapors fast enough to keep the bad stuff from dripping back into the kettle? I was taught to leave the kettle open during the boil for this reasons. Thanks for any input.

 

[android]

i don't have an electric brewery, but most of the indoor ones I've seen use some sort of vent hood right over or very near the kettle to get rid of the moisture.

 

[Steven9026]

andriod,, I've seen the vent hoods being used, I just wonder how they keep the condensation from building on those. If it's anything like the one above my stove, it will not pull enough air through it to stop all the condensation from building up on the hood.

 

[tasq]

andriod,, I've seen the vent hoods being used, I just wonder how they keep the condensation from building on those. If it's anything like the one above my stove, it will not pull enough air through it to stop all the condensation from building up on the hood.

They use much stronger fans than the one on your stove. Also, the ones on the stove don't usually vent outside.

 

[sjlammer]

use a hydroponic inline vent fan that they sell on ebay. that is what i am planning.

I have a range hood vented to the outside and it does not push enough air (it is a nice three speed one

 

[Steven9026]

I'll take a look at the hydroponic fan . I'm not familiar with them..

Thanks for all the info so far.

 

[Steven9026]

sjlammer, How were you going to use the hydroponic fan? hook it to a hood, or will you be attaching it directly to the top of the kettle?

Changing the subject a little. how do the copper and stainless boil kettles that are used in commercial brewing with the pipes running directly out the top keep the condensation from dripping back into the boil ? Can someone explain how they use this system with a closed top? I would love to be able to do something like that for mine.

 

[sjlammer]

i drew a picture and scanned it to pdf at the lowest resolution possible, but i can't post it because it is too big (50 kb... ridiculous)

 

[Steven9026]

Ok, I understand.. Not a problem. I'll get something working on mine..

 

[sjlammer]

What a pain in the a$$ i had to scan to pdf, then print the pdf to a tiff image, and then open the tiff image with paint and save down to a jpeg.

seriously, TX can we please increase the size of PDF files that can be posted to the forum?

Here is my proposed vent set up.

remember to keep the fan as close to the outlet as possible. blowers suck better than they push (as i understand it)

Also, I have not figured out how to capture condensate. I am working on that.

 

[Steven9026]

Sorry for all the work.. Thanks though. That is very similar to what I was thinking.. The condensation thing still bothers me.. I won't to eliminate any of it from dripping into the boil kettle.