Brew shed condensation - roof hatch?

[JamesH]

Hi, I am a lapsed brewer (two years away) and have a question about the new setup I am putting together.

I am planning to brew in a shed that I bought a couple of years ago. It is a cheap and nasty shed and the roof, a wood and felt affair, is already starting to come in. I am going to replace it soon with a corrugated coroline roof, which I think will be much better.

My question is whether I could include a roof hatch during the upgrade to reduce the effects of condensation while I am brewing. Has anybody here tried anything similar? I know that it will be difficult to add a hatch and ensure that the roof is watertight when the hatch is closed but I thought I would ask to see if any of the crafty folk on here have any ideas. I could do my boiling outside of the shed on the decking but I would really like to be able to do it all in one place without having to transfer huge volumes of liquid during the brew day.

Thanks,

James.

[adman1966]

Hi James

I have been thinking about something similar recently and have come up with the idea of a chimney. Now bare with me....

Some small chimney type vents for water heaters etc. have little suspended caps to keep out rain. This on the roof and a removable cowl inside to collect and direct the steam out of the chimney should do the trick. It may need some sort of extractor fan at the base of the chimney to draw up the steam to ensure successful steam removal.

In the coming few weeks I am planning to try this out but I can't see why it wouldn't work.

What does anyone else think?

Adam

[jmc]

I used to suffer from condensation in my garage before I started using an electric fan.

It needs to be very close to the boiler.

[vacant]

Now bare with me....

You wouldn't want a shed with too much air circulating if you're brewing all together in the altogether.

[steambrew]

My mate has made a good job of his brew shed he left the old felt roof on fitting a ve- lux window then felting over the join adding a metal roof over the top after adding flashing to the ve- lux frame no leaks a first class job sorry no pics

[Dabooka]

I'm currently in the process of sorting my shed out and have a similar concern. My plan is to remove a couple of the fixed perspex windows (naff, knackered and don't open!) and replace with exterior ply with a vent connected to an old kitchen extractor which will sit above. I do have the luxury of a good sized shed mind, and a pal who fits kitchens and can get me old stuff on request.

If I hadn't recently refelted I'd be all over the velux type frame, just for the light if nothing else.

[JamesH]

Seems like I'm not the only one thinking about it.

I like the Velux window idea. Have seen a couple going cheap on Ebay.

Will post the results.

[lord groan]

My solution - When I put my brewstand together I found the top of the boiler was just below a short length of shed cladding, I eased the nails out of it, pulled it out and then fitted a small piece of ply inside which covered the gap. I cut 2 12cm diameter holes in the ply and attached 2 12volt 12cm computer case fans.


These are powered from an old pc power supply. Now when brewing I just switch the fans on and blow the steam out the side of the shed. Condensation still drips from the plastic fan casing but the shed itself stays bone dry apart from those drips.
hth

[danb]

Cooker hoods often come up on eBay for less than £20.

[daddies-beer-factory]

Hi,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95708285@N03/12861336725
I made a basic chimney at work from some 4" metal pipe & made a pointy cover out of a piece of sheet metal (cut out like a pac - man , then folded in).
then i made some little arms, drilled a few holes and pop riveted it all together.

I took a jigsaw to the shed roof to fit it in, used a bit of gaffa tape to keep the rain out & screwed some mesh into the underside to keep any small animals out !

DBF
(you can just see it on top of the shed)

[daddies-beer-factory]

I know it probably looks like its not working from the picture - but it was a cold morning. If the door is open is does work to keep the condensation down with a through - draft !