Calling all Klarstein Owners.

[Jake Michael]

Was an impulse buy a whole 5 days after dping my first Wherry kit. That said, very happy with it. Meets my needs and have a good brew day process dialed in. I deal with boilover issue by holding some of the runnings back and topping up boiler as I go along - my boil off seems huge compared with 'standard' figures.

Haha, fair enough. I had to stop myself from getting an all-in-one Brew Devil or Brew Monk. They seem pretty reasonable but considering I’ve only just started I wouldn’t be able to justify spending that if I didn’t get the proper time to use it.

Did you just go straight to all grain from the Wherry kit or did you try partial mash first?

 

[Horners]

Haha, fair enough. I had to stop myself from getting an all-in-one Brew Devil or Brew Monk. They seem pretty reasonable but considering I’ve only just started I wouldn’t be able to justify spending that if I didn’t get the proper time to use it.

Did you just go straight to all grain from the Wherry kit or did you try partial mash first?

Used the Klarstein as a boiler for a few extract brews i.e DME plus steeped speciality grains boiled with hops to get hang of the equipment.

 

[Jake Michael]

Used the Klarstein as a boiler for a few extract brews i.e DME plus steeped speciality grains boiled with hops to get hang of the equipment.

Ah so that’s what I’d plan to do.

My only one concern is how do you find all grain with it in terms of sparging? Are you now wanting to replace this with an all-in-one or do you think it’s good enough to keep it your main brewing system?

 

[Horners]

Ah so that’s what I’d plan to do.

My only one concern is how do you find all grain with it in terms of sparging? Are you now wanting to replace this with an all-in-one or do you think it’s good enough to keep it your main brewing system?

I have done about 15 AG brews on it and after one or two teething problems it is more than adequate for my needs. I think someone just started another thread on a guide to the Klarstein brewday so I have very quickly typed out my process with the Klarstein there.

 

[Jake Michael]

Thanks I just had a quick read-up from that thread. Very helpful!

It’s good to know that you’ve gone from one simple wilko kit to brewing AG without any major problems.

 

[pottsworth]

Hi! I’ve recently started out in the home brewing world and have really enjoyed brewing a couple extract kits. However, my hob struggles to heat my brew kettle for a full rolling boil and it takes forever to heat up.

So I’ve been looking at getting a boiler to brew extract or partial mash in but it’s led to me finding the Klarstein Maischfest Mash Kettle.

I’ve read all the info that everyone has posted on here and it’s been really informative. My thinking is that instead of shelling out £110-£140 on just getting Tea urn style boiler it’s worth getting one of these (https://www.klarstein.co.uk/?cl=details&cnid=d5de636772474df01690626dae61c46b&anid=310bdfc7008747d9358767de89cb2c7a&varselid[0]=e018b9aa17e376b75cf41801365023a5) for £179.99 using the £10 voucher code for signing up to their newsletter.

I could use this to carry on brewing a few extract recipes and then when I’m ready to take the plunge I can move to AG brewing without having to buy any major equipment. What are people’s thoughts? I’m quite the novice, only brewed two batches so far of which one is currently conditioning in the bottle and the other is in the FV.

Lastly what litre version do most people have on here as I’ve seen that the 30L is the same price as the 25L so surely getting bigger is better for when I eventually move to AG?

Thank you for any advice!

I was in a similar place a few months ago. I started at a £60 pico brew with an analogue temp controller, then walked to the digital one for £100, then the klarstein you linked above, all in the basis they would be good for extract then could go on to BIAB.

In the end I went for the ~£350 system with the inbuilt recirculating pump (mine is branded MiBrewery, but the same as the hopcat, klarstein, ace etc) on the basis that I figured the cheaper systems would always end up as an intermediary, and I’d quickly be looking for the next step, so figured I might as well just go straight to the higher level system. That said I am now looking for a sparge water heater, so at least if you get the system you mentioned, then upgraded, it would at least not be a total waist.

 

[Jake Michael]

I was in a similar place a few months ago. I started at a £60 pico brew with an analogue temp controller, then walked to the digital one for £100, then the klarstein you linked above, all in the basis they would be good for extract then could go on to BIAB.

In the end I went for the ~£350 system with the inbuilt recirculating pump (mine is branded MiBrewery, but the same as the hopcat, klarstein, ace etc) on the basis that I figured the cheaper systems would always end up as an intermediary, and I’d quickly be looking for the next step, so figured I might as well just go straight to the higher level system. That said I am now looking for a sparge water heater, so at least if you get the system you mentioned, then upgraded, it would at least not be a total waist.

That’s my thought, instead of buying a peco boiler or tea urn. I get one that I can do all grain in without too much additional effort or equipment. Then I can either add a pump to it or buy an all in one system and use as a sparge water heater as you said.

On a side note did you get the 35L Klarstein and if so what was the biggest grain bill you brewed in it?

 

[pottsworth]

That’s my thought, instead of buying a peco boiler or tea urn. I get one that I can do all grain in without too much additional effort or equipment. Then I can either add a pump to it or buy an all in one system and use as a sparge water heater as you said.

On a side note did you get the 35L Klarstein and if so what was the biggest grain bill you brewed in it?

I got this one.

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...er-Brewing-Set-2500W-30l-Stainless-Steel.html

The most I’ve done so far is about 6kg, with about 200g of rice hulls to help the flow through the grain bed. I believe the guys in the shop said up to 8kg was fairly straightforward as long as you keep the water flowing through.

 

[Jake Michael]

I got this one.

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...er-Brewing-Set-2500W-30l-Stainless-Steel.html

The most I’ve done so far is about 6kg, with about 200g of rice hulls to help the flow through the grain bed. I believe the guys in the shop said up to 8kg was fairly straightforward as long as you keep the water flowing through.

I might be being stupid but isn’t that the all-in-one style Klarstein?

Looked at the product info and it says 30L liquid capacity so the 35L Maischfest must be fine at 8kg grain bill (hopefully)?

I’m hoping I’ll be able to brew a RIS around 8%ABV in it

 

[pottsworth]

I might be being stupid but isn’t that the all-in-one style Klarstein?

Looked at the product info and it says 30L liquid capacity so the 35L Maischfest must be fine at 8kg grain bill (hopefully)?

I’m hoping I’ll be able to brew a RIS around 8%ABV in it

Yes it is.

2 things that might limit doing such big volumes in the maischfest (NB I haven’t tried it so might be taking rubbish)

Firstly the grain basket looks like it’s not the full size of the kettle, so not sure what the max volume is.

Secondly, without a recirc pump would you be limited to full volume / no sparge (someone else can probably comment from experience). If so you might find the volume more restrictive. When I’ve done 6.7kg of grain (most I’ve done so far according to beer smith) I’ve used 3.3l/kg, so only about 22l of water, then sparged with the remaining ~12l. I suspect the kettle would have been rather full had I done it as a full volume.
You might also find your efficiency is a bit lower than you’d like.

Happy to be told this is all wrong of someone has more relevant experience of using the maischfest. You could of course also get the maischfest, then buy a pump to run from the tap and recirculate.

 

[Jake Michael]

Yes it is.

2 things that might limit doing such big volumes in the maischfest (NB I haven’t tried it so might be taking rubbish)

Firstly the grain basket looks like it’s not the full size of the kettle, so not sure what the max volume is.

Secondly, without a recirc pump would you be limited to full volume / no sparge (someone else can probably comment from experience). If so you might find the volume more restrictive. When I’ve done 6.7kg of grain (most I’ve done so far according to beer smith) I’ve used 3.3l/kg, so only about 22l of water, then sparged with the remaining ~12l. I suspect the kettle would have been rather full had I done it as a full volume.
You might also find your efficiency is a bit lower than you’d like.

Happy to be told this is all wrong of someone has more relevant experience of using the maischfest. You could of course also get the maischfest, then buy a pump to run from the tap and recirculate.

I was thinking that I could try manual recirculation to begin with? Then if it didn’t work very well I’d look into getting a pump setup.

Would be nice to hear from someone who has the 35L Maischfest for a bit of first hand experience though

 

[chrisb8]

I have the klarstein fullhorn 30l kettle and use it as part of a 3 pot system. It heats the strike water which then is decanted into a stainless steel mash tun, then it heats the sparge water which is decanted into another stainless steel stock pot which acts as a hlt for the sparge. Then I collect the wort in the klarstein and it does the boil. I am doing all grain. The picture shows it all in action during the sparge of my most recent brew.

 

[frankieboy]

Just to chip in on this old thread, I have a 35L Maischfest (on sale £199 with the £10 sign up discount). Did the Malt Miller Two Hearted kit on it, which is a 6kg grain bill - didn't really like the vessel as a mash tun, I thought the mash ratio seemed way too thick, had to add 3L more strike water than I wanted to just to get it submerged. Went back to using just as a kettle for a Son of Punkie kit brew, which I think went much better. Had no problems draining when just chucking the hop pellets straight in.

It's been extremely close to boil over on both these brews so be careful with the 25/30L ones! The other point is that the immersion chiller supplied is not fit for purpose, barely reaches half way into the kettle, I suspect they just issue the same one regardless of whether you buy the 25L or the 35L.

Haven't scientifically measured boil off yet, but whilst the 3000W heater does produce a strong rolling boil, my gut feeling is that the shape of it restricts the rate a little, it's only 30cm wide. Have always found the temp reading on it to be bang on though.

Generally speaking, very happy with it, much preferred to the old gas driven burner.

 

[ljsg]

Has anyone used the maischfest as a fermentation vessel? I'm considering doing so but not sure if theres any problems in doing so. First thought is I lose the wort aeration when transferring so would need to solve that bit I'm tempted to hook up a recirc pump so maybe that would do it for me? A previous commenter also mentioned the hole at top is too small for an airlock but I guess a drill would solve that one. Anything else I should consider?

P.s on topic, I love the Klarstein. It's so much easier than using my outdoor burner and pot combo. Wish I'd taken the leap sooner and saved some money and time in the process

 

[foxy]

Has anyone used the maischfest as a fermentation vessel? I'm considering doing so but not sure if theres any problems in doing so. First thought is I lose the wort aeration when transferring so would need to solve that bit I'm tempted to hook up a recirc pump so maybe that would do it for me? A previous commenter also mentioned the hole at top is too small for an airlock but I guess a drill would solve that one. Anything else I should consider?

P.s on topic, I love the Klarstein. It's so much easier than using my outdoor burner and pot combo. Wish I'd taken the leap sooner and saved some money and time in the process

Yes, consider NOT doing it, it isn't a good idea to go fermenting the wort with all the gunk/trub that is in the kettle.