Brewday in a greenhouse? Or a wetroom

[Frisp]

Folks Having decided to get back in the game ,and being at least a year off of having my workshop/mancave/ brewhouse built ,Im searching for somewhere to brew out of the way of SWMBO..

Best place I have come up with is the 10x8 greenhouse as a dry place to work..

Only issue I can see is the risk of drips off the glass during a boil.. but im thinking open the vents wide and direct a big fan to blow teh stream to that end of teh greenhouse or to blow the steam out the door..

Anyone tried it?
Any problems you can forsee other than drips from the roof during the boil?

UPDATE : its suddenly struck me we have a flipping big wetroom complete with an extractor that would rip your skin off if you got too close.. I'd have water and a drain to clean up.. and SWMBO disinfects the place twice a day every day.. I would just need to rig up a waterproof power supply..

Is the wetroom a better option?

 

[Agentgonzo]

Drips from the roof will just get sanitised by the heat of the boil, so unless it brings some guano or something in with it I wouldn't be concerned.

At this time of year you'll end up with a boat load of condensation in the greenhouse. Not sure if that'll cause issues for the greenhouse or not - I assume not.

Can't really see any problem unless you accidentally move something heavy and smash a pane.

 

[foxy]

Folks Having decided to get back in the game ,and being at least a year off of having my workshop/mancave/ brewhouse built ,Im searching for somewhere to brew out of the way of SWMBO..

Best place I have come up with is the 10x8 greenhouse as a dry place to work..

Only issue I can see is the risk of drips off the glass during a boil.. but im thinking open the vents wide and direct a big fan to blow teh stream to that end of teh greenhouse or to blow the steam out the door..

Anyone tried it?
Any problems you can forsee other than drips from the roof during the boil?

The biggest issue I see is the sleeping bacteria will be woken up from hibernation with the sweet smell of sugar-laden wort. They'll think it's Christmas.

 

[Clint]

It is.

 

[Frisp]

The biggest issue I see is the sleeping bacteria will be woken up from hibernation with the sweet smell of sugar-laden wort. They'll think it's Christmas.

dont quite follow what you mean.

 

[foxy]

dont quite follow what you mean.

You use your greenhouse to produce fruit or veg, and those fruit and veg use photosynthesis to make sugar. Sugar attracts bacteria including wild yeast. Your greenhouse will have an abundant supply of sugar-loving bacteria. You will have to be extra diligent when brewing in the greenhouse.

 

[Clint]

This time of year the bacteria is dormant with it being cold...your brew day will warm it up and wake it up.

 

[Bzee]

I used to do boil in the bag on propane outside and one day it started to rain and there i was one sorry looking plonker with a patio umbrella over my kettle trying to finish a boil. That brew failed due to infection. My general problem with brewing outside was that everything is dirty, then the wind blows and the dirt moves.

 

[Clarence]

Best place I have come up with is the 10x8 greenhouse as a dry place to work..

Sounds like a good compromise, if a little small. But shelter from wind and rain is essential. Just for doing the brew, I take it, while carrying out the fermentation elsewhere?

The biggest issue I see is the sleeping bacteria will be woken up from hibernation with the sweet smell of sugar-laden wort. They'll think it's Christmas.

I'm fascinated, @foxy . While I agree that they'd be all sorts of microbes lurking there, why would there be any more or any more noxious varieties than, say, in my kitchen with its veg - drawers and spores from over-ripe fruit, etc?

My general problem with brewing outside was that everything is dirty, then the wind blows and the dirt moves.

I brew outside when it's not raining or icy. If I've had a beer go off I've traced the cause back to other reasons than the mere fact of brewing outside.

I wish I had the wherewithal and skills to take samples from each of these environments and hehe them up on a petri dish or something to see what differences there Really are and whether any of them are detrimental to brewing.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Maybe I was just lucky, but I brewed outside for 20 years and didn't suffer any infections. Biggest challenge was maintaining mash temperature, which I did by regular stirring and checking.
Now I'm indoors I prefer it, but if I needed to I'd happily brew outside again. Better than not brewing.

 

[Frisp]

You use your greenhouse to produce fruit or veg, and those fruit and veg use photosynthesis to make sugar. Sugar attracts bacteria including wild yeast. Your greenhouse will have an abundant supply of sugar-loving bacteria. You will have to be extra diligent when brewing in the greenhouse.

fair point and something I never considered, however its been a long time since this greenhouse did anything other than house the off spider. and its future will be as a house for an AIO brewery only time Wort may be exposed is when cooling and going into fermenter. so

 

[Frisp]

I used to do boil in the bag on propane outside and one day it started to rain and there i was one sorry looking plonker with a patio umbrella over my kettle trying to finish a boil. That brew failed due to infection. My general problem with brewing outside was that everything is dirty, then the wind blows and the dirt moves.

good point

 

[foxy]

Sounds like a good compromise, if a little small. But shelter from wind and rain is essential. Just for doing the brew, I take it, while carrying out the fermentation elsewhere?

I'm fascinated, @foxy . While I agree that they'd be all sorts of microbes lurking there, why would there be any more or any more noxious varieties than, say, in my kitchen with its veg - drawers and spores from over-ripe fruit, etc?

I brew outside when it's not raining or icy. If I've had a beer go off I've traced the cause back to other reasons than the mere fact of brewing outside.

I wish I had the wherewithal and skills to take samples from each of these environments and hehe them up on a petri dish or something to see what differences there Really are and whether any of them are detrimental to brewing.

It could be worse than a kitchen though kitchens are the most notorious room in the house for harboring bacteria. It is fascinating to learn about bacteria. Every living thing needs water, sugar, and oxygen to survive, though yeast was here on Earth before oxygen was available. I read of a bacteria that lives deep underground, where the temperature is a constant 30C oxygen is available and the sugar it needs to survive is made up of chemical compounds. Not many people know that.

 

[Clarence]

It is fascinating to learn about bacteria.

I agree and I always imagine fermentation as starting with a rapid growth of wild yeasts, moulds and bacteria during the lag phase until a massive increase of pitched yeast cells fights them all into a corner. This is why I don't use harvested yeast for more than a couple of generations as I don't have the wherewithal to reculturr the target strain.

I read of a bacteria that lives deep underground, where the temperature is a constant 30C oxygen is available and the sugar it needs to survive is made up of chemical compounds. Not many people know that.

I had heard of that and of microbes living in even more challenging conditions, chemically reducing compounds to get at the oxygen they need.
This is interesting:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4187170/

 

[Mash Monster]

Folks Having decided to get back in the game ,and being at least a year off of having my workshop/mancave/ brewhouse built ,Im searching for somewhere to brew out of the way of SWMBO..

Best place I have come up with is the 10x8 greenhouse as a dry place to work..

Only issue I can see is the risk of drips off the glass during a boil.. but im thinking open the vents wide and direct a big fan to blow teh stream to that end of teh greenhouse or to blow the steam out the door..

Anyone tried it?
Any problems you can forsee other than drips from the roof during the boil

Folks Having decided to get back in the game ,and being at least a year off of having my workshop/mancave/ brewhouse built ,Im searching for somewhere to brew out of the way of SWMBO..

Best place I have come up with is the 10x8 greenhouse as a dry place to work..

Only issue I can see is the risk of drips off the glass during a boil.. but im thinking open the vents wide and direct a big fan to blow teh stream to that end of teh greenhouse or to blow the steam out the door..

Anyone tried it?
Any problems you can forsee other than drips from the roof during the boil?

Have a look at Homebrew Matt on YouTube He uses his greenhouse as a brewing space down in Plymouth

 

[DuncR]

or.... move SWMBO into the greenhouse.... everyone's happy then

 

[Frisp]

or.... move SWMBO into the greenhouse.... everyone's happy then

It has been suggested.....

 

[kenstel]

Can't you take a pane of glass out from above your kettle? They're usually clipped in. In case it rains, you could improvise a cover over it, can't describe it but looks like a window in a roof extension.

Or as long as your wet room is dry an, ordinary extension lead would be adequate, no need for it to be waterproof. After all, if its dry, it's just a tiled room.

Just make sure the extension lead is rated for the power, unwind it fully and check it doesn't get to hot.

Unless your greenhouse has a socket you'd have to use an extension lead there, in which case you'd be running an extension lead outside where it may be wet and raining... not good, or safe.

 

[Frisp]

or.... move SWMBO into the greenhouse.... everyone's happy then

Can't you take a pane of glass out from above your kettle? They're usually clipped in. In case it rains, you could improvise a cover over it, can't describe it but looks like a window in a roof extension.

Or as long as your wet room is dry an, ordinary extension lead would be adequate, no need for it to be waterproof. After all, if its dry, it's just a tiled room.

Just make sure the extension lead is rated for the power, unwind it fully and check it doesn't get to hot.

Unless your greenhouse has a socket you'd have to use an extension lead there, in which case you'd be running an extension lead outside where it may be wet and raining... not good, or safe.

I have windows in the roof and louvres on the side of the greenhouse And im hopeing by utilising a desk fan and depending on wind direction i can evacuate the steam.
And as there is already power in the Greenhouse ( its either 16 or 20A. Armoured cable and waterproof sockets).
It would just mean running a hose up the garden as dad used water-buts when he was growing
I have now ruled out the wetroom idea on the grounds of SWMBO hates the smell and will garotte me in my sleep if i stink the house up !!

 

[RichardM]

I have windows in the roof and louvres on the side of the greenhouse And im hopeing by utilising a desk fan and depending on wind direction i can evacuate the steam.
And as there is already power in the Greenhouse ( its either 16 or 20A. Armoured cable and waterproof sockets).
It would just mean running a hose up the garden as dad used water-buts when he was growing
I have now ruled out the wetroom idea on the grounds of SWMBO hates the smell and will garotte me in my sleep if i stink the house up !!

I can't understand women who don't like the smell of brewing. My wife is the same, that, and all the steam, is why I brew outside. I have a gazebo that I put up if it is raining on brew day.