Wort residue from boiling in garage?

[Quaffman]

I brew outside on the patio, but wanted to move my brew days into the garage as that's where all of my equipment is located. When I used to brew on the stovetop I noticed wort residue all over the walls in the apartment I lived in. Sometimes I noticed it traveled all the way back into the master bathroom and dried onto the walls.

Even with the garage door open, I'd imagine some stream would still travel into the garage itself.

For those of you that brew in the garage, have you noticed any residue buildup inside the garage afterwards? I ask primarily because I have lots of junk stored in the rafters above that I'd rather not get sticky.

 

[fuzzy2133]

I have not had any noticeable issues brewing in the garage. Definitely no residue build up or anything sticky on my tool box and walls. I brew with the garage door wide open and out near the drive way though. I will have to check when I get home because the garage door is over my kettle when open so if anything is building up that is probably where it is.

 

[Spartan1979]

I've never noticed wort residue in 20+ of brewing. Never even heard of the subject coming up.

 

[jimyson]

not sure if anyone else has ever had this happen or if it is even related but I brew inside my garage but next to the open bay door. One evening, the drywall fell from the ceiling around that area. I had only brewed a total of 3 times. I rent the house as well so the landlord wasn't pleased. Again, not sure if it is related but quite a coincidence nonetheless.

 

[steveoatley]

I brewed 40+ batches in a Detached garage - not attached to my house

I have seen 'residue' in the form of moisture condensing on my Jeep while brewing in colder temps.
Humidity & temperature make a big difference when brewing "out of doors" = could be 5F in Feb.
The jeep washed right off, it was just a thin layer of moisture on the Jeep.

The bigger problem I had was a full bundle of Roof singles in the attic rafters = 70+lbs
Well after 40+ batches of brewing in the garage, there was a visible SAG to those rafters ( this was a brand new garage in 2005 )

More to the point, that Moisture Has to GO Somewhere !
I was not using a fan to move the steam around, now I do ! Big fan, blowing out the door !

A fan should help move that out the door !

just my 2 cents - Advice is worth what you pay for it.

 

[fuzzy2133]

not sure if anyone else has ever had this happen or if it is even related but I brew inside my garage but next to the open bay door. One evening, the drywall fell from the ceiling around that area. I had only brewed a total of 3 times. I rent the house as well so the landlord wasn't pleased. Again, not sure if it is related but quite a coincidence nonetheless.

IMO the dry wall falling is just coincidence. It takes more moisture than boiling wort to weaken dry wall. A previous leak may have weakened it and your brewing finished it or the dry wall was poorly installed.

 

[TonyG]

What you noticed in your apartment was probably not wort residue. I think what you saw is dirt/tobacco residue coming through the paint on your walls due to the increased humidity. I have something similar happen in my apartment's bathroom whenever I take an extra hot/long shower. The steam seems to condense on the walls/doors and as it runs down it pulls residue from underneath the paint layer. While I cannot smell any smoke smell, this looks like the same tar/smoke residue I use to clean out of smokers cars when I was in the auto detailing business.

 

[Quaffman]

I figured it was wort residue because I'd have to clean it off the kitchen cabinets after brewing and it was the same color/appearance as the residue located in the bathroom, but I could be wrong. Either way, it sounds like I'll keep brewing on the patio.

 

[Barley_Bob]

It's not possible for boiling wort to leave a "wort residue" on anything outside the kettle. When you boil a pot of water, everything with a boiling point equal to or less than the boiling point of water will leave the pot. The boiling point of water is ~212F (give or take for elevation). Water cannot increase in temperature beyond its boiling point until it's a gas. Once boiling begins, that water will stay at exactly 212F. That means that water and alcohols would boil off, but not any dissolved solids. This is the same principle behind boiling water to remove salt. You boil water - salt stays in the pot. What this means for you is that any residue on your walls is not wort. It certainly could be condensation from the steam put into your apartment by boiling water, but that would only be water and nothing else from the kettle. No sugars are making it out of the pot (unless you have a boil over or splash the wort out of the pot). It's not possible. If you did boil all the water out of the pot, which allowed the temperature within the pot to rise, then you would start boiling off any liquids in the pot with a higher boil point (if any are present). The more likely scenario at this point is that a maillard reaction takes place and then the sugars start to burn. If you scorched some wort and had smoke in the air, I would believe the residue is from the wort, but it's simply not possible for this to occur from boiling a kettle of wort.

(To prevent scorching, ensure the kettle contains a sufficient volume of water and be sure to adequately mix any dense sugar solutions added to the wort or instead add at flameout (LME, DME, table sugar, etc.))

 

[hio3791]

You wouldn't have wort residue on your walls unless you were splashing the wort around. When you boil, what's being release is steam or water vaporized during boiling and the sugar is left in the kettle.

Another way of looking at it, when you boil, the sugar content remains constant, while the volume changes. It's how we can accurately predict OG whether the gravity is taken before or after the boil, as long as one can accurately measure the volume, assuming no system losses.

 

[poptarts]

Are you using dme and maybe getting dust on things? That stuff gets sticky fast I generally get some on my counter when I make starters.

 

[Hello]

I brew indoors and in the kitchen nook and have noticed no residue on the walls, wine bottles on the wall, and cabinets.

 

[SlopbukitBrewery]

What you noticed in your apartment was probably not wort residue. I think what you saw is dirt/tobacco residue coming through the paint on your walls due to the increased humidity. I have something similar happen in my apartment's bathroom whenever I take an extra hot/long shower. The steam seems to condense on the walls/doors and as it runs down it pulls residue from underneath the paint layer. While I cannot smell any smoke smell, this looks like the same tar/smoke residue I use to clean out of smokers cars when I was in the auto detailing business.

+1

You are only getting water vapour from the boil... its probably causing old cigarette smoke or such stuff to run...
my .02