Steamy hot humping help wanted

[Random Badger]

I'm toying with the idea of returning to all grain brewing. Back when I did it previously the biggest problem was all the steam from the boil. Even putting the Electrim bin next to an open window didn't seem to achieve much apart from getting the window coated with a mist of boiling wort. I see in another thread that someone successfully connected up an extractor fan, but that is not an option where I brew. So are there any other solutions for dealing with the steam and mess indoors?

An alternative approach would be to mash and boil outside, however that would then mean that I have to hump 5 gallons of hot wort up a load of stairs, which seems potentially dangerous if done in one go by lugging the filled FV and tedious if done by filling bottles with hot wort and making multiple trips to empty them into the FV.

Has anyone found a better (maybe obvious) solution that I'm overlooking please?

 

[hughjamton]

could you put it next to the window with a fan behind it blowing the steam out of the window?

 

[Random Badger]

could you put it next to the window with a fan behind it blowing the steam out of the window?

I think I briefly gave that a go once, but it seemed to be doing more to spread the wort mist over the window frame rather than direct all the steam out of the window, so I didn't persevere with that approach.

 

[colm89]

https://www.crafthardware.de/en/product/steam-condenser/
one of these maybe?

 

[steve123]

Something like this and you could connect up a hose and put it out of the window.

https://www.home-brew-online.com/eq...ess-steel-hood-for-20-litre-braumeister-p3173
I don’t know much about the system other than it’s expensive, I’m sure there are other less expensive options out there

Could you take the lid of your boil kettle to a fabricator, get them to put a hole in the lid weld on a stainless steel elbow and attach a steam extractor hose

 

[Random Badger]

https://www.crafthardware.de/en/product/steam-condenser/
one of these maybe?

Something like this and you could connect up a hose and put it out of the window.

https://www.home-brew-online.com/eq...ess-steel-hood-for-20-litre-braumeister-p3173
I don’t know much about the system other than it’s expensive, I’m sure there are other less expensive options out there

Could you take the lid of your boil kettle to a fabricator, get them to put a hole in the lid weld on a stainless steel elbow and attach a steam extractor hose

Those solutions do look interesting, but aside from their cost I would need to upgrade the rest of my kit as I doubt that a plastic Electrim bin will take well to being welded.

 

[stubrewworx]

I brew in the bathroom. Still steams up but the extractor gets some of it and leasts its only tiled walls which are wet.

Is that an option?

 

[steve123]

How do you cool the boil? If you brew outside, could you cool outside? You could make a cheap immersion chiller if you can run water outside and split into 2 smaller fermenters, that way your only carrying 2 10L fermenters up stairs

 

[Random Badger]

I brew in the bathroom. Still steams up but the extractor gets some of it and leasts its only tiled walls which are wet.

Is that an option?

Interesting idea. I don't think it will be practical for me but I can imagine that working for some people.

How do you cool the boil? If you brew outside, could you cool outside? You could make a cheap immersion chiller if you can run water outside and split into 2 smaller fermenters, that way your only carrying 2 10L fermenters up stairs

I've only brewed inside previously. My cooling method was to freeze some 2 litre bottles of water and drop them into the hot wort. Once the ice had melted I took them out then topped up with cold water. I hadn't really considered cooling outside, nor least because of concern about possible infection and the expectation that all the wort will end up in one FV.