nano brewery hood range

[Pdaigle]

Hi All,
I have a nano brewery in my basement I started like 10 brews ago and I'm not satisfied with the 2 hood range I bought. They are 400 CFM I bought on sale at a local store and I don't mind it for my HTL but for the BK it produce lots of condensation and it will drip in the kettle. Seems like it's not big enough or not powerful enough. I got a quote for a brewing hood range but not sure I want to spend $1400 when I just spend $800 on the current one. Any ideas? Should I have a frame built and add fan inside myself, will this suck in all the steam I want or should I go and buy the brewing hood range before spending money and go to waste? need help please .

thx

 

[helterscelter]

I'm no expert, but you are always going to deal with some condensation. you may be able to alleviate it with higher CFH fans. it would be easier to suggest solutions with pics of the setup you have, and an idea about how large a batch you typically brew.

as for adding more fans/etc, as you increase the CFH of your hood, you have to consider where all that air comes from.. if you try to exhaust faster than your space can inlet make-up air, you will effectively pull a vacuum in the room and your hood won't perform well..

most commercial vent hoods I've seen typically have a trough around the inside edge that allows condensate to collect and be channeled away from the prep/cooking/brewing area so that it doesn't drip.. this is both for commercial kitchens as well as for (the very few I've seen anyway) brewery's.
you may look into adding such to your current setup.

some resources:
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/ventilation?page=3
https://beerandbrewing.com/it-s-not-just-the-heat-it-s-the-humidity/


also, I've been following this thread, which describes a way to alleviate condensation/steam/etc without using overhead ventilation. might be worth a look.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...entilation-needed.636955/page-11#post-8240990

 

[cubalz]

You will not have issues with condensation if you have the right set up. I have a custom condensation hood built to the exact same specs as the one on the Electric Brewery site and, while it was expensive (around $1200.00 for the hood alone) it works. I will tell you this: I can do a 90 minute raging boil and my humidity % in the brew room does not change as all of the steam is vented outside. It is something that I watch with a calibrated Vaisala probe. There may be those that disagree but I do not think that a range hood made for a kitchen will give the performance needed to keep the humidity at bay.