Boil in garage or basement

[brewbama]

I've seen/heard of a lot of folks brewing in a garage and/or basement without exhausting the steam. Are there concerns about putting that much humidity in the space to cause damage?

 

[FB12]

I don't think there's any issues in the garage. In the warmer months, the door is wide open. It does steam up a bit in the winter with door mostly closed, but not enough to hurt anything IMO. If you brew in a finished basement, I'd recommend ventilation. Condensation on drywall can be bad. Some may be concerned about electrical components or furnace.

 

[aiptasia]

I'd always recommend ventilation if you're brewing with gas. If you're brewing with gas in an enclosed space, enjoy breathing all that carbon monoxide and try not to kill your family.

 

[masonsjax]

Caution is definitely to be advised, but if your burner is set up correctly and completely burning the fuel, there should be zero carbon monoxide emissions. That said, I brew in the garage, which happens to also be my basement, near the door with it at least partially open. That room has block walls and the steam is no problem for me.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Electric in the basement, with ventilation. Even a simple window fan in an open window works wonders. If you are going to ferment in the basement, then brewing in the basement is the way to go...carrying fermenters in out, or up and down stinks.

 

[geoffm33]

Had my first basement brew this week on my induction cooker. Vented the steam with a window fan.

Not carrying equipment up and down and a full fermenter down my winding basement stair case was nice

 

[Beernik]

I keep all my stuff in the garage. I brew in the driveway.

 

[cjgenever]

ALWAYS vent excessive moisture in the house. Don't feed mold! Even a five gallon full volume boil is too much. I use a heat exchanging vent in the winter to help heat the house. I boil a short time in the winter without venting because everything is too dry, so why not humidify? If I don't vent for the whole boil I will have condensation dripping down the walls.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I'm sure most people are using some kind of ventilation if they brew in the basement. Maybe not if they are using electric rigs in the winter time. If gas or propane, you need some kind of ventilation. I brew 30 gallon batches in the basement. I have a large heavy duty window fan in my dining room upstairs. I run that while I'm operating my burners and open a couple windows in the basement. Works great. I turn off my furnace while I'm brewing and the house stays nice and toasty. Vents enough moisture this way that I haven't had any problems from that either. I get a little condensation on my windows upstairs, but it quickly evaporates once I start running the furnace again. I also don't brew during the summer for the most part and if I do it's a 5 gallon batch.

 

[diodeart]

I brew in the basement with a gas range, i made a hood and exhaust. And have a CO detector. My whole house is wide open, i pretty much removed all of my doors when i remodeled so i get plenty of air movement. It's nice to have a little humidity in the dead of winter.

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[lotusworker]

I brew using propane in my garage near the door which is typically open in the warmer months. I leave it half open when it is colder. I don't think CO emissions would be bad if it is near an open door, but you could always use a CO detector if you are uncertain. I have never seen any problems with condensation.

 

[brewn4fun]

I just brewed in the garage with new Blichmann floor burner using propane. It was below freezing outside so I kept garage door open about 12 inches. I used a co monitor and didn't record even 1 ppm. With the dry winter air I didn't notice any condensation.
Good luck and be safe.