Brewzilla Steam Condenser - Wow!

[AllanL]

Any possibly of some sizes for the area that has the sealing ring please?

Wondering about fitting to the klarstein mundschenk it doesn't have clips but few mini c clamps should hold it in place if the silicone seal lands in the correct position

 

[Jiffy176]

Each to there own, but instead of an extracton you have to rig up a condenser. I have a boil over proof lid with a simple fan and a bit of 4" hose. Bit like the air on idea.

Don't understand the energy saving tbh. Is that just the effect of having a lid on?

No idea but when I'm outside i need to keep the BZ at at least 2040w to keep a boil with the lid off.
With the condenser lid 300w to do the same and no smell

 

[Clint]

So,do you have you have this fixed to the cold tap during the brew? If so how much cold water does it use? Isn't "boiling off" DMS no longer a thing?

 

[Agentgonzo]

RESULT 90ml / HR boiloff

Isn't "boiling off" DMS no longer a thing?

I was wondering about this. I'm amazed that you only got 90ml boil off in an hour. I would have thought you'd still get a decent amount of boil off - but it would go down the drain instead of back into the boiler. Presumably all the condensate drops back into the boiler? Including any DMS. if so, have you noticed any flavour impact?

 

[Jiffy176]

So,do you have you have this fixed to the cold tap during the brew? If so how much cold water does it use? Isn't "boiling off" DMS no longer a thing?

Apparently not as the steam is pulled out by the condensing head. I did about 15l in a 90 min boil, and yes it is connected to a tap

 

[Clint]

So the condensed steam (water) is collected in the bucket,so can be repurposed. The efficiency/results must change seasonally then as the condenser temp is governed by the ground water temp? Like an immersion chiller?

 

[gavp1979]

having adjusted one of my recipes for a 19L lager its preboil is 1039. FG 1038 so yes I guess it does

I assume that is the wrong way round or you have somehow diluted your wort during the boil

I do like the look of these for brewing inside during winter so it does raise an interesting point though, if the boil off is so low then recipes would need to be adjusted to add more malt, not a massive issue on cost as malt is fairly cheap but could it then have an impact on recirculation due to a thicker mash? ... And as I was writing that I also had another thought, how do you recirculate? Or do you leave the lid off during the mash?

 

[AllanL]

I assume that is the wrong way round or you have somehow diluted your wort during the boil

I do like the look of these for brewing inside during winter so it does raise an interesting point though, if the boil off is so low then recipes would need to be adjusted to add more malt, not a massive issue on cost as malt is fairly cheap but could it then have an impact on recirculation due to a thicker mash? ... And as I was writing that I also had another thought, how do you recirculate? Or do you leave the lid off during the mash?

Lid off for the mash then fit for the boil (when produce most of the steam)

Hops go in the 3" port or down the top of the 2" port that forms the T

 

[Jiffy176]

I assume that is the wrong way round or you have somehow diluted your wort during the boil

I do like the look of these for brewing inside during winter so it does raise an interesting point though, if the boil off is so low then recipes would need to be adjusted to add more malt, not a massive issue on cost as malt is fairly cheap but could it then have an impact on recirculation due to a thicker mash? ... And as I was writing that I also had another thought, how do you recirculate? Or do you leave the lid off during the mash?

If you use brewing software I use Brewfather, and do the boil off test that Kee gives you instructions to do in the Kegland video, you just adjust your boil off rate in the software at it does the rest.

I have just ordered the brewzilla sight glass which will allow me to also keep an eye on the level during so if I need to keep the boil on for a bit longer I can. I knock the heater off momentarily to add hops and it gets going again v quickly so it would be easy enough to check and adjust the level.

I use the lid as usual during the mash and recirc through the normal way and only add this after sparring.

 

[gavp1979]

I get that brewing software will tell you how to adjust the recipe (I am also a Brewfather user), I am just surprised at how little boil off you get and therefore how much the recipe would need to be adjusted. I did a stout at weekend that had a 20pt difference between my pre boil and post boil values, to account for that difference you would need around an extra 1.5kg of grain, I am just wondering about the practicality of fitting all this extra grain into the malt pipe

 

[Jiffy176]

Yoy

I get that brewing software will tell you how to adjust the recipe (I am also a Brewfather user), I am just surprised at how little boil off you get and therefore how much the recipe would need to be adjusted. I did a stout at weekend that had a 20pt difference between my pre boil and post boil values, to account for that difference you would need around an extra 1.5kg of grain, I am just wondering about the practicality of fitting all this extra grain into the malt pipe

You don't, you use less water in the spare

 

[gavp1979]

I am not knocking the condenser and I have thought about it myself in the past, I am just trying to get my head around how little is lost to boil off as I would have expected a bit less but not only 90ml

 

[gavp1979]

Yoy

You don't, you use less water in the spare

Sorry, still not getting it less water in the sparge would give you less wort in the end, meaning that you would need to add more water and therefore dilute it so where does the extra gravity come from?

 

[Jiffy176]

My boil off is about 4lph lid off and about 1.9 lid on if that helps

 

[gavp1979]

Just realised that you are talking about the sparge which threw me off as I do a full volume mash. Typing has made me make sense of it, you obviously need less water to start because you are boiling less off it has been a long day

 

[Clint]

Regards water...you will still get your kettle loss but as the boil off is reduced I'm taking it that once you know this figure you just minus that amount from your total volume as you don't need it to be accounted for.

 

[gavp1979]

My boil off is about 4lph lid off and about 1.9 lid on if that helps

That sounds more understandable to me, the OP reported only boiling off 90ml though which is where my confusion started

 

[gavp1979]

Regards water...you will still get your kettle loss but as the boil off is reduced I'm taking it that once you know this figure you just minus that amount from your total volume as you don't need it to be accounted for.

Yeah I get that now, I was having a bit of a moment

 

[Jiffy176]

Sorry, still not getting it less water in the sparge would give you less wort in the end, meaning that you would need to add more water and therefore dilute it so where does the extra gravity come from?

So the total pre boil volume takes into account boil off rate so 15l mash plus 15l sparge would give you roughly 28l to boil taking 2l out for grain absorption. 4lph boil off open gives me 24l.

15l mash plus 13.1l sparge gives pre boil of roughly 26.1 taking the 2 l for grain absorption remove 1.9lph boil off with the condenser leaves you with 24.2 l of wort.
This is very rough but is how it works in my head.

 

[foxy]

I am not sold on the idea of condensers, it's just a trap for home brewers to fall into and spend more money. From a business point of view they need a continuous amount of new products to keep the business viable otherwise it goes backwards.
From a home brewer's point of view we have to ask is it needed, will it improve my beer? As has been mentioned DMS is just one of the unwanted in our beer there are other volatiles that have to be boiled out of the wort. A low boil-off suggests that the wort either isn't boiling or there is a hell of a lot of condensate dripping back into the wort.
The two kettles I have the bigger diameter kettle boils off 5 litres the smaller 4 litres / hour, I am with MashBag I would be looking more at extraction of the steam from wherever one is brewing.