Setting up old coal shed for brewing?

[MarkMc]

I have an old coal shed outside my house, which I refurbishe=ADd recently

- roof rotten and collapsed, rotten doors etc.

Now I'm thinking I could use it as a brewery, and permanentl=ADy fit up some water supply and drainage - the garden hose pipe supply=AD is attached to the building, and a drain is directly outside to=ADo, which leads in to the sewer main.

There's even an electrical supply, but I'll upgrade that to =AD6mm right

back to the consumer unit to handle the amperage required to=AD run

2x2.4kw elements for the boiler.

My biggest concern is that of steam/extraction from boiling 50-60 L fluid for over an hour with a 4.8kW boiler, causing lack of visibility/steaming up, hot water driping off=AD the ceiling and walls, encouragement of rot/mould, and possi=ADbly electic shock?

The building is approx. 2.5m x 1.5m x 2m (lxwxh) - that's ab=ADout 8' x

5' x 6'.

I was wondering if I could fit a bathroom extractor fan (or =ADtwo?)above the boiler, which then runs along the joists (flat roof), an=ADd outside.

Would something like that work?

Another concern is that of electrics - will the steam cause =ADproblems?

Should I fit only (IIRC IP65) waterproof outdoor sockets?

Would flourescent strip lights be ok in a steamy environment?

Re: rot and mould, I intend to to put a plasterboard ceiling=AD up, and plaster/paint the walls, so hopefully, some bathroom paint s=ADhould be ok?=20

Cheers,=20 Mark

[Grunff]

You'd be much better off with a cooker hood - preferably a high-efficiency, twin fan model. Like this:

I'd concentrate on extracting as much of the steam as possible - the electrics would suffer, but so would everything else. If you manage to extract sufficiently, you should be able to use normal fittings.

No, they wouldn't be fine.

Ditto - get as much steam out of there as you can.

[MarkMc]

Will the hood be ok with the extreme dampness? I suppose they are designed for steam.... Any suggestion for lights in that environment?

Regards, Mark

[Grunff]

I'd have thought so - ours gets a pretty good steaming when we're cooking.

If I were doing this, I'd concentrate on keeping the humidity at a reasonable level (lots of extraction), and use normal fittings everywhere.

[bigcat]

visibility/steaming up, hot water >driping offthe

What are you donig that would cause this, distillation? You need to pipe the steam output straight outside so theres no problem in the first place.

NT

[Dave]

No! Part of the brewing is to get the malt from the mash and this involves getting water hot and spreading it across the barley (if my memory is correct) I could be mistaking this for the process of making my other favourite tipple, whisky :-) Long time since I have done this (well over 30 years)

As a great lover of micro brewery's beers, will yours be available in any pubs :-))

I hope I hope :-)

Dave

[Andy R]

I have an old coal shed outside my house, which I refurbishe­d recently

- roof rotten and collapsed, rotten doors etc.

Now I'm thinking I could use it as a brewery, and permanentl­y fit up some water supply and drainage - the garden hose pipe supply­ is attached to the building.

Make sure the hose pipe doesn't taint the water. I once used a black garden hose to fill the water tank in my camper and the water tasted disgusting but other pipes have been OK. I'd hate to think of a brew being spoilt by dodgy water.

Rgds

Andy R

[MarkMc]

The water supply is direct from mains in to copper pipe, so should be ok. I'll just have to make sure I flush it through to get rid of the flux etc before using it.

It's not distillation, but brewing ale/beer. The extraction isn't so much required for the mash/sparge, but for the boil. When brewing, I have to boil 10 gallons on a full rolling boil for over an hour with the lid off - a *lot* of steam!

It is probably every all-grain (as opposed to kits and extracts) home brewers dream to have their beer sold in a pub or supermarket - it is mine anyway. You never know!

Cheers, Mark

[bigcat]

much required for the >mash/sparge, but for the boil. When brewing, I

the lid off - a *lot* of steam!

So whats the problem with just leaving the door open for an hour? What am I missing? No - best not answer that :)

Standard flourescent lights are not meant for use in semi-wet environments, but the reality they have been used in such frequently, and they seem to survive well anyway. I imagine the hot choke and tube ends keep the condensation off the key parts. I'm not recommending it, its not consistent with modern regs.

NT

[Andrew Sinclair]

In message , MarkMc writes

Why not go the whole hog, see here...

(hic!),

Andy

[MarkMc]

You won't believe this, but I'm develping my own PC hook-up/datalogging and temperature control circuit too - I'm really getting carried away with this hobby!

I wonder if I'm best to fit bathroom 12v/lv lighting in to the ceiling for safety?

Cheers, Mark