Looking for a how to guide for the Klarstein system

Hi,

Just about to get the Klarstein system - looking at the cheaper sub £200 one, anyone know of any good guides or videos of how to use it and what a brew day with it would look like? I can only find videos of the more expensive one with the pump. Obviously if there are any very similar guides other systems that are the same, that would be great-just wasn't really sure what I was looking for!

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/?cl=det...&varselid[0]=e018b9aa17e376b75cf41801365023a5

After a bit of trial and error I have my brew days pretty much dialed in on this. Not saying this is right or wrong but my approach is as follows:

1. Ensure base of unit is spotlessly clean, I use spirit vinegar to lift any crud from the previous brew. I suffered a couple of occasions where the unit tripped out (note the switch is in the base of the unit, difficult to reach when full with 25L of boiling liquid). Not suffered this problem since being more meticulous with cleaning.

2. Fill with water and treat with half a camden tablet plus any other water additions. I use 3L of mash water per 1kg of grain.

3. Heat water to strike temperature and turn unit off. The unit does not keep a steady temperature when applying heat during the mash. I have calibrated strike temperatures by keeping a note of different ambient temperatures, strike temperature and temperature at the center of resultant mash.

4. I have fashioned a crude insulation jacket using that bubble foil stuff that goes behind radiators and some sticky backed velcro with holes cut to accommodate handles, tap etc. I find that over an hours mash I only lose 1 degree and therefore no need to leave heat on.

5. After doughing in I insert a BBQ thermometer probe in cetere of mash so that I can keep track of things.

6. i manually recirculate say 10 times with a large plastic jug with a view to trying to achieve consistent temperature through grain bed.

7. I treat sparge water in a separate urn and heat to 80C. Note don't have urn and Klarstein on at same time, the electrics go pop (also note if using extension lead, unravel the whole lot or things melt and electrics go pop).

8. If I remember I will open up and give mash a stir say 45 mins in.

9. After an hour I vorlauef (sp?) again manual re circulation to remove any fine grain particles.

10. Then raise grain basket which sits on a ring provided and sparge using jugs filled from urn. I use a salad drainer on top of grain bed to prevent channeling.

11. Set the unit to 102 to ensure rolling boil. It starts to heat up whilst sparge is going on.

12. To do a 23L brew generally means that the boiling wort is perilously close to top and boilover can occur so once I have collected enough I transfer the grain basket to an empty FV and continue to sparge using these runnings to top up the boil as it evaporates. Also on the boil off point I have started skimming off some of the foan with a spoon.

13. Hops I either stick in a hop spider or muslin bags depending on how many additions.

14. Irish moss at 10 mins left - nearly always forget.

15. I use the immersion chiller provided. its not the greatest and takes a long time especially at this time of year. This can be speeded up by stirring. I struggled to find suitable fittings to connect the chiller and on first use absolutely dowsed the kitchen. All future brews have been al fresco.

16. Once down to pitching temp (some times assisted by liquoring back with some cold mineral water) I decant the whole lot into the FV from a great height to assist with aereation, take a gravity reading chuck in some yeast nutrient, pitch and leave.

I am sure I have missed a few things but hopefully this provides some tips. I have noticed that my wort is nowhere near as clear as some folks that post on here. But I think I have also read that experiment sshow that this makes little difference to the end product.

crowcrow said:

Hi,

Just about to get the Klarstein system - looking at the cheaper sub £200 one, anyone know of any good guides or videos of how to use it and what a brew day with it would look like? I can only find videos of the more expensive one with the pump. Obviously if there are any very similar guides other systems that are the same, that would be great-just wasn't really sure what I was looking for!

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/?cl=det...&varselid[0]=e018b9aa17e376b75cf41801365023a5

Click to expand...

I’m currently looking at the exact same bit of kit. From speaking to people and from the review above, it sounds as though the extra £10 to get the 35L option is worth it unless you have an issue with the slightly bigger space required?

Also I’ve noticed at the bottom of the Klarstein site you can sign up to their newsletter to get a code for an additional £10 off. You have already seen that but if not I hope it helps.

Definitely go for the 35L I reckon. The issue with mine is that it is long and tall so there is a temperature differential and that the controller allows the temperature to vary by 3 deg C - which is not accurate enough. I believe the 35L version is wider.

I now use mine as a boiler and have gone back to my cooler box mash tun - much easier. You don't have to lift anything heavy, full of liquid and it keeps a consistent and constant temperature and my HLT is PID controlled so is really accurate. Also I can control sparging more finely and I have a sparging manifold that I like.

The Klarstein is well built and I never had it trip out on me.

I set mine to 103 deg C to get it to boil as it varies by 3C so if you set it to 100C then it goes into boil, then cools by 3 degrees so stops boiling, then turns back on and starts to boil again, then stops, etc. This also means you cannot use the inbuilt timer because it works based on when it reaches the desired temperature setting - which it never does because it cannot reach 103C!

I added a pump and whirlpool to improve the efficiency of the immersion cooler. That works really quite well (I guess a longer immersion cooler would be better - but it isn't worth replacing the one I have).

PeterB said:

Definitely go for the 35L I reckon. The issue with mine is that it is long and tall so there is a temperature differential and that the controller allows the temperature to vary by 3 deg C - which is not accurate enough. I believe the 35L version is wider.

I now use mine as a boiler and have gone back to my cooler box mash tun - much easier. You don't have to lift anything heavy, full of liquid and it keeps a consistent and constant temperature and my HLT is PID controlled so is really accurate. Also I can control sparging more finely and I have a sparging manifold that I like.

The Klarstein is well built and I never had it trip out on me.

I set mine to 103 deg C to get it to boil as it varies by 3C so if you set it to 100C then it goes into boil, then cools by 3 degrees so stops boiling, then turns back on and starts to boil again, then stops, etc. This also means you cannot use the inbuilt timer because it works based on when it reaches the desired temperature setting - which it never does because it cannot reach 103C!

I added a pump and whirlpool to improve the efficiency of the immersion cooler. That works really quite well (I guess a longer immersion cooler would be better - but it isn't worth replacing the one I have).

Click to expand...

Hmmm, looking at it the 35l is actually slimmer and taller...

I would want to be mashing in this as I won’t be able to persuade the missus to get any more equipment that’s gonna take up lots of room

At least not until next year when I’ll be allowed to transform the study into a dedicated brew room!

From reading up on other systems and forums people have suggested you should be able to handle up to about an 8kg grain bill in a 35L system?

I’m keen on stouts and would want to eventually be able to brew a strong one around 8% for a 5 gallon batch. Do you think this would be possible for the 35L system? I’ve seen a ready made all grain kit for an 8.2% stout that has a grain bill of 7.9KG.

Sorry if any of the above doesn’t make sense, I’ve only been reading up on all this for 3 weeks...

Huge thanks for the above. Gutted to see the 30l price shot up from £169 last week, to £199 - ah well, so is life!

FYI, as posted in the 'limited time offers' the 30 litre version is currently £169, or £159 with a £10 voucher that you get from signing up to the newsletter - https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...i9rnvnfacq02&listtype=search&searchparam=MASH

There is a guy on YouTube brewing on a Maischfest. Look for Yorkshire All Grain home brew on Klarstein mash boiler by S King. I found it quite helpful when I got mine.

Afternoon everyone. Resurrecting this thread rather than start another one - seems a good place to add info on this piece of kit!

I searched high and low for information on how to connect hose fittings to the Klarstein Maischfest immersion cooler but couldn't find anything concrete to go with. So, here's what I did, which worked perfectly on my brew day at the weekend. I'm sure this was covered in various threads, but I'm including photos to make it easier for folk to visualise the parts.

Note that the immersion chiller supplied with the Maischfest is made from 10mm outside diameter tubing.

10mm John Guest to 1/2" BSP + 1/2" to 3/4" adaptor + 3/4" Tap Connector:



The John Guest fitting slips smoothly onto the ends of the chiller tube:



Which connects to your standard garden hose connector:



There you go - easy peasy! Hope it makes sense and helps anyone who has just bought this kit.

Begbie said:

Afternoon everyone. Resurrecting this thread rather than start another one - seems a good place to add info on this piece of kit!

I searched high and low for information on how to connect hose fittings to the Klarstein Maischfest immersion cooler but couldn't find anything concrete to go with. So, here's what I did, which worked perfectly on my brew day at the weekend. I'm sure this was covered in various threads, but I'm including photos to make it easier for folk to visualise the parts.

Note that the immersion chiller supplied with the Maischfest is made from 10mm outside diameter tubing.

10mm John Guest to 1/2" BSP + 1/2" to 3/4" adaptor + 3/4" Tap Connector:

View attachment 46508 View attachment 46509

The John Guest fitting slips smoothly onto the ends of the chiller tube:

View attachment 46510

Which connects to your standard garden hose connector:

View attachment 46511

There you go - easy peasy! Hope it makes sense and helps anyone who has just bought this kit.

Click to expand...

Thank you! spent hours trying to figure this out and had 3 different more complicated and more expensive solutions and I still wasn't sure what diameter the tube was as it's in the post!

Thanks again to Horners for your detailed description above, I still refer back to it from time to time. The key note for me is keeping that boil plate totally clean - I use the spirit vinegar each time (also good for cleaning the outside of it too!) 35p a bottle at tesco.

I love my Klarstein, I'm sure I'd love a more expensive unit too, but this has done me proud. I must be well over 20 brews on it now, so less that £10 a brew and getting cheaper all the time! I'd def go for the 30 or 35 litre model if you want to fill a corny,