Brewing in a basement...ventalation question

[Redpappy]

I am in the process of building a home(7 months away, just because permits are a pain in the rump)in which I will have a full basement ( wife says it is my man cave/brew house). So I am thinking of ways to build my new/first brew house and I am stumped.... I know most use a vent when they brew, but I am curious if a dehumidifier would work just as well? Any thoughts on this?????

Thanks in advance to any replies

 

[day_trippr]

I suppose it depends on batch size to an extent. My boil-off rate is almost 2 gallons per hour and to me that's a lot of water floating around looking for somewhere to land in my partially-below-grade basement. So I use a direct-vent system analogous to a hood but more focused on drawing the steam from the HLT and BK (I don't worry about the MLT as it's closed up tight for nearly the whole brew day).

The blower is ducted through the soffit below the upstairs overhang then turns 90° down to exit. It's cheap galvy ducting which makes some folks cringe but I pull the rig out so the two drops are actually just behind the kettles. So while they've never dripped if they did it'd miss the beer.

Anyway...bottom line is it's a lot more effective and cheaper to blow the moisture outdoors, and as you're in the building phase this is the perfect time to figure out a way to do that...

Cheers!

 

[Saboral]

Definitely do direct ventilation, particularly because you are building a home. Installing a vent in the basement wall is as easy now as it'll ever be. I'd go with a 10 inch round vent as that's about as large as you'll need for your home brewing. Your larger home dehumidifiers are typically 90 pints removal over 24 hours. This is about 0.46875 gallons per hour. As previously noted your average boil-off is going to be 1-2 gallons over 60-90 minutes. So essentially you'll have about a half gallon of water floating about in the basement. Also bear in mind that the energy costs of these dehumidifiers consider 750 watts for a dehumidifier at 90% RH and 120 watts for a simple 1,200 cfm exhaust fan.

 

[philjohnwilliams]

Another vote for direct vent. Not only will it help deal with the moisture, but it will also help to dump some of the heat your brewery produces as well.

 

[SEndorf]

+3 Dehumidifier won't cut it.
You can easily install a direct vent since it's under construction.
I brew in the garage with a 24" fan mounted in the window pushing air out. Still looks like a sauna in there during the boil.

 

[Toejam792]

Look for this thread in the electric brewing area: Boil kettle condenser - no overhead ventilation needed. I haven't tried it but looks like an awesome idea.

 

[Punx Clever]

+3 Dehumidifier won't cut it.
You can easily install a direct vent since it's under construction.
I brew in the garage with a 24" fan mounted in the window pushing air out. Still looks like a sauna in there during the boil.

I brew in a backyard shed these days. I have a 24" box fan in the window too. Pushing air out, I still get a nice little cloud in the ceiling above the brew rig. I tried pushing air in (window is next to the brewery) and seemed to have better luck, since it forced the vent air to mix with the steam from the kettle.

There is another option to consider: build a condenser for your kettle. Only concern would be water consumption. A quick read says you'd need to burn 6-9 gph of water to condense the steam from the kettle.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...denser-no-overhead-ventilation-needed.636955/

 

[ajdelange]

If gas is involved then a vent system is absolutely needed and may lead to other requirements like a makeup air blower. This stuff is usually not found in residences so you, the contractor and the inspector may get into some interesting conversations. If all electric then modest venting to get rid of the steam is all that you will need. Trying to do this right (I boil 50 gal) I installed a commercial kitchen hood, got into those interesting conversations and wound up delaying the project by months because the idiots who hung the hood cut load bearing members to hang it. Way overkill, as it turned out.

 

[day_trippr]

"Interesting conversations" indeed. And good luck finding someone to hold up the other end of conversations.

Our recent kitchen remodel included a 650 cfm range hood and my research on the applicable codes here clearly showed it requires an automatic make-up air damper to be installed - somewhere. But, between the company that made the hood, the company that sold the hood, our electrician, our plumber and our contractor, nobody knew anything about the requirement never mind implementation details. Even the code inspector had to get back to me a week later with what he eventually found...

Cheers!

 

[Dcpcooks]

Make up air is pretty easy and works great. I have zero humidity or smell on brew day. Broan makes a 6” powered damper that I wired into the fan switch.

I installed a commercial hood from fast hoods and it’s a bit of overkill but it works very well.

 

[Redpappy]

I guess I should of added more details, sorry... I will be doing 5 gal EBIAB. I am planning on having my table close to a window, but from the sounds of it I will be better off just. Installing a hood.
One of the suggestions from my builder is to purchase a dehumidifier before they start installing the drywall.

Thanks for all the input

 

[Toejam792]

I guess I should of added more details, sorry... I will be doing 5 gal EBIAB. I am planning on having my table close to a window, but from the sounds of it I will be better off just. Installing a hood.
One of the suggestions from my builder is to purchase a dehumidifier before they start installing the drywall.

Thanks for all the input

If you haven't purchased the drywall yet you should get moisture resistant board its only $1-2 more per sheet and should cost the same to install.

 

[rkhanso]

Since you're Electric, I second the suggestion of the boil steam condenser. It'll be much quieter and I believe, do a better job. Read that thread and see if you think it might work for you.