Cooling options / advice when using a Steam condensor

Frisp · Oct 15, 2024

Folks. Long story short . Continuing to brew in the house is going to result in my demise. Therefore Im moving brewzilla out into the greenhouse where steam creates drips and drips are the enemy..

So Im just about to press "GO" on a Kegland Steam condensor for my 35L BZ4

As I wanna keep vapour to a minimum Im thinking that my current method of dropping my immersion chiller in the wort 15 mins before the end of the boil wont be drip free in a greenhouse

There must be others on the forum using a steam condensor with their own chilling method/ tactic.

Im currently considering a Kegland counterflow chiller over using a 30 plate chiller. I have completely dismissed Sealing the BZ4 up with cling film and colling overnight ( I dont have time to brew one day and tidy up the next)

Any advice re good options / experience for rapid chilling in conjunction with a steam condensor ?

hoppyscotty · Oct 21, 2024

Yeah the steam condenser wont work unless the lid is sealed, though might improve things It wont stop It. I use a plate chiller which is brilliant, but they are a bit of a faff because you really need to ensure you're not getting any larger particles through into the chiller so need some form of filtration before the chiller and I know from experience that ht false bottoms are not good enough.

I use a large mesh basket as a super large hop spider..I dont like hop spiders because they are too restrictive..but if you get a larger one they work fine as there is alot more surface area of mesh so yo still get good flow and circulation through the basket and much much better utilisation of the hops.
Maybe a counterflow chiller might be OK as they are able to pass particles through them. You might need to add a fitting to the side of your vessel to circulate the wort through but that is not a huge PITA.

Larse · Oct 21, 2024

I boil outdoors (need dry weather obvs.) and that takes care of the steam. Not too windy either unless you want to add the flavour of dead leaves to your brew. Mashing is done with the kettle heavily insulated, so very little steam from that.

JockyBrewer · Oct 21, 2024

If your immersion chiller is clean then dropping it into wort at 100C is going to sanitise it within seconds. Just leave it in for a minute before chilling.

hoppyscotty · Oct 21, 2024

JockyBrewer said:
If your immersion chiller is clean then dropping it into wort at 100C is going to sanitise it within seconds. Just leave it in for a minute before chilling.

yes but if you use an immersion chiller then the steam condenser wont work as that relies on a lid being sealed and the immersion chiller the lid with either have to be off or cracked open to make room for the chiller tails to come out.

JockyBrewer · Oct 21, 2024

hoppyscotty said:
yes but if you use an immersion chiller then the steam condenser wont work as that relies on a lid being sealed and the immersion chiller the lid with either have to be off or cracked open to make room for the chiller tails to come out.

I'm saying you just drop it in at the end of the boil having cut the power and turned off the steam condenser.

Give it a minute and then start chilling. No need to sit it in the boil for 15 minutes.

aero-spaced-out · Oct 21, 2024

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/no-chill-cubes.105934/#post-1298044

This forum post of mine looks at no chill
I got the steam condenser as the steam generated is what has left me in the doghouse with my house mates lol
I've been banished to a top room in the house with a tiny velux window that doesn't extract very well and no access to running water
So I'm trying to make it work
Steam condenser worked okay for me with the pump from the bucket blaster, not great but it minimised the steam drastically compared to what it was the first brew I done without the steam condenser. if you're in the greenhouse with access to mains oressure via a hose, it should be bang on for you

The immersion chiller 15 mins before the end will be a bit of a pain however if youre idea is to keep steam down. You have to take the lid off to use it which is why I'm opting for no chill moving forward (see thread for my full story behind it)
That being said, you don't need 15 minutes though if you're looking to heat sanitise the IC.

Just don't airlock the steam condenser outlet. It needs to hang free.

Look at plate chillers or counterflow chillers too. Should allow you to start cooling while still having the steam condenser running

MashBag · Oct 21, 2024

I use a dome lid with a 4" port.
To this I attach 4" hose and a bathroom extractor fan. Cheap and very good.

hoppyscotty · Oct 21, 2024

JockyBrewer said:
I'm saying you just drop it in at the end of the boil having cut the power and turned off the steam condenser.

Give it a minute and then start chilling. No need to sit it in the boil for 15 minutes.

gotcha...that'd work...

aero-spaced-out · Oct 21, 2024

MashBag said:
I use a dome lid with a 4" port.
To this I attach 4" hose and a bathroom extractor fan. Cheap and very good.

Hm... this setup out my tiny velux would have been significantly cheaper and less messy than my steam condenser...

Frisp · Oct 22, 2024

Thanks folks.
I have purchased a counterflow chiller and gonna give that a go. Im gonna do my hop additions using veg bags from Sainsburgers which ill drop in the inspection port on the steam lid. Wish me luck

MashBag · Oct 22, 2024

Frisp said:
Thanks folks.
I have purchased a counterflow chiller and gonna give that a go. Im gonna do my hop additions using veg bags from Sainsburgers which ill drop in the inspection port on the steam lid. Wish me luck

Good luck. It works really well.

Ben034 · Oct 22, 2024

Frisp said:
Thanks folks.
I have purchased a counterflow chiller and gonna give that a go. Im gonna do my hop additions using veg bags from Sainsburgers which ill drop in the inspection port on the steam lid. Wish me luck

No harm in using the veg bags but I've never had issues with loose (pellet) hops in the BZ4. I haven't tried whole hops. The only time I had an issue was with grain getting blocked in the counterflow chiller (the pump carried on fine). Worth always double checking the floor of the malt pipe is properly down with a paddle before adding grain!

hoppyscotty · Oct 22, 2024

Veg bags are finer as long as they are huge and provide plenty of space for the hops to swell and still move about and swirl around in the wort. my rule of thumb with these things is have about ten times the volume available for the hops once they're wetted. Yes that drives you to a large bag but better too large than too small.

MashBag · Oct 22, 2024

And test them first. Can't remember which, but one supermarkets' veg bag was not plastic free.

hoppyscotty · Oct 22, 2024

A assumed all supermarket veg bags are 100% plastic. Is that not the case? Think they're better being plastic as its more sanitary than thread/cloth bag.

RoomWithABrew · Oct 24, 2024

Counterflow chiller on my system, brewing indoors and use a condenser, lid still on in this view but I've taken the condenser off.
Second image shows the trub trapper which is effective with the whirlpool.

Frisp · Oct 25, 2024

RoomWithABrew said:
Counterflow chiller on my system, brewing indoors and use a condenser, lid still on in this view but I've taken the condenser off.
Second image shows the trub trapper which is effective with the whirlpool.
View attachment 105107
View attachment 105108

That is one monster of a CFChiller!!

RoomWithABrew · Oct 25, 2024

Frisp said:
That is one monster of a CFChiller!!

Yes I was using a Coolossus from kegland and then picked up the Coolossus 2 cheap on auction.
So I rigged them together, bit fiddly getting the angles right so that it all flowed nicely. Then added a second pump I had into the bottom of the Guten and that pump runs the chiller and then enters as a separate whirlpool to the one used for recirculating during the mash and a whirlpool at the same time to mix the wort in the bottom of the kettle and in the dead volume between the malt pipe and the kettle wall.
Adding the sight glass has been a benefit as well.

Cooling options / advice when using a Steam condensor

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