Calling all Klarstein Owners.

[Madhouse]

Just put my order in! Looking forward to its inaugural brew, although I'm gonna have to work out a new profile on BeerSmith - any of you guys have an insight on boil-off rates and the amount of wort you lose below the tap.

Also ordered the bits I need to get the brew-fridge running

Next up, pipework and a tap connector for the cooling coil - any tips on pipe diameter? .... just looked back in this thread - 13mm.

 

[Henders]

Just put my order in! Looking forward to its inaugural brew, although I'm gonna have to work out a new profile on BeerSmith - any of you guys have an insight on boil-off rates and the amount of wort you lose below the tap.

Also ordered the bits I need to get the brew-fridge running

Next up, pipework and a tap connector for the cooling coil - any tips on pipe diameter? .... just looked back in this thread - 13mm.

Hurrah! :)
Boil-off, eh. Well I'm at a lovely 90m above sea level in the UK, and I have my profile set as losing 4.5L over an hour. Might be a tad less than that at the moment, either because of the cold (I forget physics) or because I got it wrong in the summer .

Wort below the tap I've yet to actually measure. I tip the whole thing up when decanting so it's very minimal, maybe .5L at worst/best.

The chiller was a pain. I did no-chill for a while just to avoid having to work out what to buy!
I use whatever adapter my hose spray nozzle quick-releases onto. I'm hoping that means something!
Next I use this hoselock threaded outdoor BSP thingy to connect to it.
Next I use this 1/2 BSP Male Thread Pipe Fitting to 8mm Barb Hose Tail Connector to screw into the above and shove into some flexible tubing i had leftover with the right internal diameter. That also fits the chiller nicely.

On the outlet I shove on another bit of that thin tubing and then aim it at some guttering i put leading outside . Eventually I'll buy some more connectors and chop a bit of hose and be laughing all the way to the water butt!

 

[Madhouse]

That’s quite a boil-off!! My pan was 1.9l/hr I thought it’d be more but that’s loads, no idea on my height from sea level either.

Might just do a test and calculate it as part of the boiler shakedown. Not that boil-off’s a huge issue as I can always add more.

Will leave kettle/trub loss at 1L for now and adjust when I’ve brewed a few times.

Pipework for the chiller should be ok, although I can’t remember what tap we bought, so have taken a punt on the connector.

The bigger issue than that is the new kitchen’s been a pain and we sent all the worktops back last week, so brewing’s still on hold.

 

[foxy]

How much wort could I sensibly boil in a 30l kettle?

It isn't so much as how much wort could one boil it is the mash which commands the limitations, I can mash a 23 litre batch using 'no sparge' method that is about its maximum. If you have beer smith or brewers friend set the efficiency between 65 and 70% .

 

[Petrolhead]

I have the basic Klarstein and love it having done about half a dozen brews. I have made up a dip stick which works well and use vinegar to soak of the burnt on wort. Another tip is to clean out the grain basket as the wort comes to the boil and it can then be used as a hop spider. Only partly successful for large volumes.

I recently bought one of the cheap pumps off fleabay, less than £20, some irrigation fittings, 90 deg bends and Tees, from B&Q plus some half inch food grade clear pipe that I had kicking around. I made a loop with holes in to drop on the top of the grain basket and ran it back to the tap via the pump. Tested it on my last brew. At first the flow was too great so I simply used a G clamp on the outflow of the pump to regulate it and at that point it worked a treat. For the sparge I removed the pipe from the Klarstein tap and connected it to the outlet of the hot water tank I use. Again it worked a treat with a brewhouse efficiency into the 80's. The only small issue is the lack of visibility inside the Klarstein when the grain basket is sat on top of it.

I have now bought some clips for the pipe which I intend riveting around the top of the grain basket to hold the tube and as I can see up inside the double skin when the base is reused I may even rivet some more up the side to take the vertical pipe but still allowing this pipe to be drawn through the clips so the grain basket can be raised for the sparge. I have also bought an in line tap to regulate the flow. I appreciate that a picture is worth a 1000 words so I will try to take some during this part of the build.

I also have a couple of other projects which I am contemplating and any thoughts or pointers would be appreciated.

I would like to fit a plug where the power flex enters the kettle which will allow me to disconnect the power lead, much like a kettle, when not in use. It can be stored in the kettle rather than hanging off the side and catching on everything.

Also, the lack of vision inside the Klarstein when sparging is a bit of a pain as I sparge to the volume I require rather than work out what amount of sparge water is required. If I do the latter I need to fit a sight glass to my water heater which is fairly straight forward as it is single skinned and then do the calculations. However, I would like to fit a sight glass to the Klarstein which is double skinned. I could drill a hole through both skins and clamp them together with the sight glass fitting but this sounds a bit hit and miss. I think I need to take a washer, or two, that is the same thickness as the gap between the skins, bend them to the correct curve and then feed them into the cavity from below to correctly fit the sight glass. This sounds a bit of a fiddle especially as there is an indent at the base which could cause issues.

 

[Mark Nohr]

Looks like the US version will only run on 110V and is limited to 1800W
I figure the power limit maximum is a setting on a hidden factory configuration menu. Anyone know if this can be accessed (special button press combo)?

Naturally I would insure the outlet and building wiring would safely support this higher power.

So I pulled off the bottom finally and found the heater coil was stamped in big bold lettering 1800. I guess the heater coil itself is the limitation. Pretty disappointing. I've contacted Klarstein and requested a 220V option for the US (we do have those sockets conveniently in laundry rooms with sinks and ventilation).

 

[Mark Nohr]

While fly sparging how do I insure I do not overwash? There is not a convenient way to grab a sample of the sparge for testing.

 

[Petrolhead]

Mark, the easiest way may be to use the tap to draw some liquid if you are using a trial jar. I just dip the wort and use my refractometer.

 

[Mark Nohr]

Hmm. So, while there is this really nice ability to pull the grist up to drain, it rains directly into the 1st runnings and the 2nd running is not channeled nor accessible before it combines with the 1st running. Short of draining the hot 1st runnings to a 2nd vesssel (losing the heat), I was wondering if there was something I could buy that could be inserted between the basket and the brew kettle when fly sparging.

 

[HowardB]

Hi
A quick question for petrolhead. How well does the grain basket work as a hop spider? Does it still get to a rolling boil?
I’ve done 3 brews using just pellets and it worked well just having the hops loose, but I’ve had a nightmare today using a mixture of full hops and pellets, despite having a 12 inch filter fitted and could do with an easy way to contain them.
Thanks, and any insight or bright ideas are most welcome.

 

[Petrolhead]

Hi Howard, I’d say fairly successful, more so if you haven’t a large volume in the kettle, but you do get some hops thrown out of the basket and down the sides. Oddly I also noticed some getting thrown back in the basket.

Since I started doing this I have had little problem in draining the wort even without a filter on the rather small outlet tap. The odd small problem has been the occasional rouge hop getting caught which I dealt with by blowing slightly back up the drain tube, you don’t read that in books...

 

[Madhouse]

I've been using some small bags to put my hops in which contains them nicely and greatly reduces the need to filter what's going through the tap. I've been considering the likes of a hop spider which is a fancier version of what I'm doing now.

My biggest issue's still setting up my Beersmith profile, I'm fairly sure this is because I've not sorted out a volume measuring stick yet because I can't see why I'm getting efficiency in the low 50's when I was getting over 60 on the stove.

 

[HowardB]

Thanks for the reply Petrolhead. I’ll give it a try when I do my next brew and report back.

 

[Chrislane]

Hi
A quick question for petrolhead. How well does the grain basket work as a hop spider? Does it still get to a rolling boil?
I’ve done 3 brews using just pellets and it worked well just having the hops loose, but I’ve had a nightmare today using a mixture of full hops and pellets, despite having a 12 inch filter fitted and could do with an easy way to contain them.
Thanks, and any insight or bright ideas are most welcome.

I used the grain basket to retain hops (pellets) for the first time tonight having previously just had them loose in the boil. It worked an absolute treat. No problems draining the wort, where as I have previously had to scrape the side of my filter with a SS paddle to clear the hop debris and maintain the flow. And a nicely compacted hop gunk in the bottom of the grain basket after draining the wort. I’ll definitely be doing that again.

 

[Petrolhead]

In explaining how I used the basket as a hop spider it also jumped out at me that there was no reason that I couldn’t raise the basket somehow during the boil so the hops don’t jump out into the main kettle.

 

[Mark Nohr]

3rd Brew with this mash kettle today. I'm in the USA and have the 1800W version so I have to have the lid mostly on to maintain a boil.
1. Somehow I didn't notice the side volume markings are very inaccurate.
2. Temperature stability was +-3 degrees F, this seems pretty bad, is this what everyone else is experiencing?
3. I've been using the pump to circulate the wort through the chiller coil for a few mins (To sterilize) and then immerse the coil in ice. I recirculate into the kettle until the wort exiting the chiller is 65F. Then I start transferring it to a carboy with an inverted parasol sparging sprayer (to help aeration) .This doesn't seem the common way so I wanted to hear the problems this may cause.

Relating to #1, I've been having trouble with water quantities and determining the amount of boil off. Anyone have a good handle on this for this kettle?

 

[foxy]

3rd Brew with this mash kettle today. I'm in the USA and have the 1800W version so I have to have the lid mostly on to maintain a boil.
1. Somehow I didn't notice the side volume markings are very inaccurate.
2. Temperature stability was +-3 degrees F, this seems pretty bad, is this what everyone else is experiencing?
3. I've been using the pump to circulate the wort through the chiller coil for a few mins (To sterilize) and then immerse the coil in ice. I recirculate into the kettle until the wort exiting the chiller is 65F. Then I start transferring it to a carboy with an inverted parasol sparging sprayer (to help aeration) .This doesn't seem the common way so I wanted to hear the problems this may cause.

Relating to #1, I've been having trouble with water quantities and determining the amount of boil off. Anyone have a good handle on this for this kettle?

I have the recirculating Guten, same thing different name, the boil of is 5 litres / hour the markings on the side for some reason start after the false bottom, so I was told. Better off getting a piece of dowel and making a measuring stick.

 

[PeterB]

3rd Brew with this mash kettle today. I'm in the USA and have the 1800W version so I have to have the lid mostly on to maintain a boil.
1. Somehow I didn't notice the side volume markings are very inaccurate.
2. Temperature stability was +-3 degrees F, this seems pretty bad, is this what everyone else is experiencing?
3. I've been using the pump to circulate the wort through the chiller coil for a few mins (To sterilize) and then immerse the coil in ice. I recirculate into the kettle until the wort exiting the chiller is 65F. Then I start transferring it to a carboy with an inverted parasol sparging sprayer (to help aeration) .This doesn't seem the common way so I wanted to hear the problems this may cause.

Relating to #1, I've been having trouble with water quantities and determining the amount of boil off. Anyone have a good handle on this for this kettle?

My Klarstein varies by 3 deg centigrade - it reaches the desired temperature, then turns off and the heater doesn't turn back on until it has dropped at least 3 deg C. It then turns on and doesn't appear to overshoot and reaches desired temperature. So my mash varied by 3 degrees. The boil was also a pain as if you set it to 100 deg C, it boils lovely, but then falls 3 deg and so stops boiling, then turns on builds up and boils again - so after experimentation I set it to 103 deg C which boiled continually but as the timer only works when you have achieved the desired temperature, you have to time it manually.

 

[Horners]

My Klarstein varies by 3 deg centigrade - it reaches the desired temperature, then turns off and the heater doesn't turn back on until it has dropped at least 3 deg C. It then turns on and doesn't appear to overshoot and reaches desired temperature. So my mash varied by 3 degrees. The boil was also a pain as if you set it to 100 deg C, it boils lovely, but then falls 3 deg and so stops boiling, then turns on builds up and boils again - so after experimentation I set it to 103 deg C which boiled continually but as the timer only works when you have achieved the desired temperature, you have to time it manually.

Re keeping the mash temperature, I solved this by experimenting with strike temperature and keeping a note of ambient temperature. One it hits strike I turn unit off and wrap in a jacjet I made from that aluminium insulating roll and velcro. Keep a digital thermometer in centre of mash and it holds temp for an hour.

 

[PeterB]

I was hoping to recirc with an external pump - which is what I did, so there was loss of heat which I was hoping the heater would combat. Which it didn't.

Perhaps I could only recirc when mashing out or for Verlauf and mash as I normally would before I purchased the Klarstein, when I was using a cooler box mash tun.