Boil kettle condenser - no overhead ventilation needed

[jahlinux]

I just brewed another 10 gallon batch except this time with the 6 gph nozzle. The exit water was a lot hotter(205 degrees vs 160 degrees) and produces more steam in the sink. Boil off was the same so I may switch back to the 9 gph nozzle

Thanks for the update. I’m brewing my first batch using the condenser tomorrow. I’ll be using the 9 gph nozzle. I got approximately 1 gph boil off rate when I ran a test. I usually got 2 gph with the lid off. What was your boil off rate?

 

[TroyD]

For those of you that have a few brews involving this, I'm curious as to the amount of brewery smell. I'd really like to bring this inside without a draft hood but definitely don't want the stink of brewing near a living space.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

Thanks for the update. I’m brewing my first batch using the condenser tomorrow. I’ll be using the 9 gph nozzle. I got approximately 1 gph boil off rate when I ran a test. I usually got 2 gph with the lid off. What was your boil off rate?

With 60 PSI and the 9.2 nozzle my boil off rate was about .7 to .8. With the 6 gph nozzle I had about .6 to .7 I think I am going to go back to the 9 gph

NOTE: These were all 10 gallon batches.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

For those of you that have a few brews involving this, I'm curious as to the amount of brewery smell. I'd really like to bring this inside without a draft hood but definitely don't want the stink of brewing near a living space.

You will never totally eliminate the odors from brewing. Remember, you do not use this system while steeping and you will still have to remove the lid during the boil to add hops, check boil etc. Even with vent hood systems, the order removal is no where near 100%. This system does a fantastic job removing steam/condensation (its primary design) but it is not the ideal solution for odors.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

For you guys wanting to use a hop spider with the condenser system, here is a link to my hop basket mod.......
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...o-from-co-brewing.575659/page-31#post-8177063

UPDATE....The hop basket worked flawlessly. Just make sure you buy the correct magnets as the low grade ones will permanently lose their magnetism with hot temps.

 

[BrunDog]

You will never totally eliminate the odors from brewing. Remember, you do not use this system while steeping and you will still have to remove the lid during the boil to add hops, check boil etc. Even with vent hood systems, the order removal is no where near 100%. This system does a fantastic job removing steam/condensation (its primary design) but it is not the ideal solution for odors.

I agree. I think the odor goes down a great amount but is not eliminated.

 

[Thedutchtouch]

what is this "stink of brewing" anyway? brewing smells great!

 

[gnor]

Lol, most likely smells great to the brewer, not so much to other family members.

 

[doug293cz]

Lol, most likely smells great to the brewer, not so much to other family members.

Yup. I got thrown out of the kitchen after my first brew day.

Brew on

 

[BrettGoldstein]

Anybody try this with a lid yet, as opposed to the side of their brew barrel? I have a 10 gal pot for 5 gal BIAB batches that is already barely big enough already, so can’t lose any side wall space. I’m thinking about buying a spare lid to try this on.

Seems like a great idea - my wife’s about to kick me outside instead of the basement, and the ventilation option was going to be $$$$.

 

[augiedoggy]

Anybody try this with a lid yet, as opposed to the side of their brew barrel? I have a 10 gal pot for 5 gal BIAB batches that is already barely big enough already, so can’t lose any side wall space. I’m thinking about buying a spare lid to try this on.

Seems like a great idea - my wife’s about to kick me outside instead of the basement, and the ventilation option was going to be $$$$.

the ventilation doesnt have to be pricey to be effective if you have a window... just saying. I'm not knocking the solution presented here at all but for cheap effective ventilation, A dual window fan set to exhaust and a cheap foam board or chloroplast or even painted floor underlayment hood will work very well as an exhaust hood if you can brew under the window.. I do this in a spare bedroom of my house and it works great to prevent condensation. easy to remove and close the window afterwards and nothing permenent.

 

[bfalkowski]

Installed mine in lid this week. Waiting for a few parts to test it. Should have some results by Sunday.

 

[BrettGoldstein]

the ventilation doesnt have to be pricey to be effective if you have a window... just saying. I'm not knocking the solution presented here at all but for cheap effective ventilation, A dual window fan set to exhaust and a cheap foam board or chloroplast or even painted floor underlayment hood will work very well as an exhaust hood if you can brew under the window.. I do this in a spare bedroom of my house and it works great to prevent condensation. easy to remove and close the window afterwards and nothing permenent.

My problem is I’m brewing in the below grade basement, so I can use the dryer 220V outlet for my induction burner. Furnace is in same room, and no window - so I’d have to do some concrete wall penetrations. And still worry about backdraft. So this condensation trap sounds perfect!

 

[BrettGoldstein]

Installed mine in lid this week. Waiting for a few parts to test it. Should have some results by Sunday.

Awesome - definitely post your results. Happy brewing!

 

[ingchr1]

I'm going through the lid as well, hoping to do a test run tomorrow.

 

[fragged]

I'm going through the lid as well, hoping to do a test run tomorrow.

How are you guys keeping the lid on? I know one had a brewha which has a clamp for the pid. I would think without that you'd have the lid trying to come off from the counterweight that's now hanging off the side. I have some ideas, but wondering what you guys have found.

 

[enormous13]

The suspense is killing me, I can't wait to hear how the first batches are after ferm. and bottling/kegging. My money is burning a hole in my pocket lol.

 

[enormous13]

How are you guys keeping the lid on? I know one had a brewha which has a clamp for the pid. I would think without that you'd have the lid trying to come off from the counterweight that's now hanging off the side. I have some ideas, but wondering what you guys have found.

Some guys, like Brew Boss, literally just put a 5lb weight on the lid initially. They were using a lid "gasket" as well though, looks like made out of a split open length of silicone tubing.

 

[bfalkowski]

How are you guys keeping the lid on? I know one had a brewha which has a clamp for the pid. I would think without that you'd have the lid trying to come off from the counterweight that's now hanging off the side. I have some ideas, but wondering what you guys have found.

Using a guy wire from a stand/ceiling with a carabiner hooked to a tri clamp handle.

 

[ingchr1]

How are you guys keeping the lid on? I know one had a brewha which has a clamp for the pid. I would think without that you'd have the lid trying to come off from the counterweight that's now hanging off the side. I have some ideas, but wondering what you guys have found.

Mine won't be hanging from the lid. I'll post up the solution I'm trying once I get it tested out.

 

[BrunDog]

If you keep the moment-arm hanging off the lid short, it shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[ingchr1]

Mine won't be hanging from the lid. I'll post up the solution I'm trying once I get it tested out.

It goes back to this post:

I'm in the process of building a recirc BIAB kettle with the recirc going through the lid. I'm going to use the same 1.5" TC port for the recirc and condenser. After I pull the bag my plan is to swap out the recirc with the condenser. Like others have brought up this could make it difficult to get into the kettle for hop additions and such. The ideas I came up with were:

Hinged lid - Looked around on-line but couldn't find anything pre-made. Was hoping to find something like a soup kettle lid that would fit my 44qt Bayou Classic. I also thought about just cutting my lid and bolting on a hinge. But I feared it would not come out well, which was the likely outcome.

Add a second TC port - I could get a TC cap and devise a way to attach a handle to it (e.g. drill a hole and attach with a screw). I also thought a funnel may be needed to make additions easier. For the funnel I probably would have used a TC concentric reducer. I thought this option was a good viable idea.

Use a flex hose - This is the idea I ended up choosing. I'm going to use a 90 out the top of kettle to a 1.5" stainless flex hose, attached with 1.5" hose barbs. I searched around for the flex hose and found a 20" length for $20 that's meant for a turbo. It's a Vibrant Performance Flexible Interlock Hose. I ordered it from Summit (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/VPE-84027).

I ordered the hose first to see if it was viable and if a 90 was needed or not out of the top of the kettle. I decided a 90 would probably be best so the flex hose can be sloped down to the condenser. The hose can be flexed into one sweeping arc that would place it about 12" above the kettle, but allow for no down slope.

I have the rest of the parts on order and will post up when I get this thing built and tested out. My only concern at this point is how good the seal between the hose and barbs is going to be. If it does need to be sealed, I guess I could just apply silicone sealant to the barbs.

 

[ingchr1]

Did my test run today and all went well. The stainless flex I used fits slightly loose over the barbs so a small amount of condensate did drip at the collection pot end and collect on the lid, but it's no issue at all. The collection pot is left over from when I had a propane three vessel setup. This is a single vessel recirc BIAB, 11 gallon pot. I'm very pleased with the results, easy to lift the lid for hop additions and such. Just need to brew an actual batch of beer now!

Here's the condenser setup:

I also use the port in the lid for the mash recirc. The temperature probe in the tee is for indication only (another left over). Control is done by the probe near the Boilcoil.

 

[enormous13]

Just wondering, would this be considered “low oxygen brewing”?

 

[jahlinux]

You will never totally eliminate the odors from brewing. Remember, you do not use this system while steeping and you will still have to remove the lid during the boil to add hops, check boil etc. Even with vent hood systems, the order removal is no where near 100%. This system does a fantastic job removing steam/condensation (its primary design) but it is not the ideal solution for odors.

Just completed a brew day using the condenser at it went awesome. No steam issues, was able to maintain a rolling boil at 50% power, no element scorching at all. I'm very happy with the results. Like Dockside_Brewing said it's not the best for removing odors. I couldn't open up any of my basement windows because it was about 10F outside. But, there was very little odor upstairs and the basement odor went away quickly after finishing up. During warmer weather I'll just use a window fan to exhaust the odors. So glad I went with this system instead of using an exhaust hood.

 

[gromitdj]

Just wondering, would this be considered “low oxygen brewing”?

No, this is just a means of handling the steam that is created.

 

[bfalkowski]

Just tested my system. I'm going to get a straight TC pipe to get the condenser to the center of the lid for better balance. Seemed to work ok, some steam escaping but I would say about 5% escaping.

 

[bfalkowski]

 

[enormous13]

No, this is just a means of handling the steam that is created.

Ok, just wondering, in case any of those LODO benefits maybe applied to this setup.

 

[enormous13]

So is there a decision on whether the 6 or 9 GPM sprayer works better for folks with 60-80 psi water sources? And is there any new news with sprayers vs misters? (Working with 2-4 gallon batches here, on a 1500 watt element.)

Also, any updates on 1.5” vs 2” TC equipment? Will the 1.5” suffice?

 

[Cool_Hand_Luke]

So is there a decision on whether the 6 or 9 GPM sprayer works better for folks with 60-80 psi water sources? And is there any new news with sprayers vs misters? (Working with 2-4 gallon batches here, on a 1500 watt element.)

Also, any updates on 1.5” vs 2” TC equipment? Will the 1.5” suffice?

From what dockside has reported at 60 psi pressure and a 6 gph nozzle getting 205F condensate, that would mean a 6 gph is slightly more than he needs to condense the steam coming from the boil (if it was exactly matched it would be near 212F). So at 60 psi, 6 gph nozzle is sufficient, but a 9 gph may be advisable just to keep the condensate temperature down for safer disposal down a sink or floor drain.

 

[BrunDog]

From what dockside has reported at 60 psi pressure and a 6 gph nozzle getting 205F condensate, that would mean a 6 gph is slightly more than he needs to condense the steam coming from the boil (if it was exactly matched it would be near 212F). So at 60 psi, 6 gph nozzle is sufficient, but a 9 gph may be advisable just to keep the condensate temperature down for safer disposal down a sink or floor drain.

Well stated!

 

[enormous13]

From what dockside has reported at 60 psi pressure and a 6 gph nozzle getting 205F condensate, that would mean a 6 gph is slightly more than he needs to condense the steam coming from the boil (if it was exactly matched it would be near 212F). So at 60 psi, 6 gph nozzle is sufficient, but a 9 gph may be advisable just to keep the condensate temperature down for safer disposal down a sink or floor drain.

Well stated!

Understood, thank you @Cool_Hand_Luke and @BrunDog

 

[ingchr1]

In my collection pot the water cooled to a steady 120F. No idea what the actual exit temperature from the condenser was though. I imagine it was up what others are seeing.

My parameters: 6gpm nozzle, 40 - 60psi (well), 45F water, 50F ambient

 

[BeardedBrews]

Well stated!

This is especially surprising given @Cool_Hand_Luke 's past communication failures!

 

[Wogman75]

what is this "stink of brewing" anyway? brewing smells great!

I agree my wife loves the smell when I am brewing.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

So is there a decision on whether the 6 or 9 GPM sprayer works better for folks with 60-80 psi water sources? And is there any new news with sprayers vs misters? (Working with 2-4 gallon batches here, on a 1500 watt element.)

Also, any updates on 1.5” vs 2” TC equipment? Will the 1.5” suffice?

I'm using the 6GPH sprayer and my home pressure is 75psi. When I did a water trial a few weeks ago, my tap water temp was around 48F and the drain water temp was 145F. I'd imagine there will be some variance in the drain temp depending on the seasonal water temp if all other parameters are the same. If my tap water temp gets too warm in the summer, I may have to switch to the 9GPH sprayer, but I'll have to wait several months to test that.

 

[Cool_Hand_Luke]

This is especially surprising given @Cool_Hand_Luke 's past communication failures!

I am a bit ashamed how long it took me to get this...

 

[BeardedBrews]

I am a bit ashamed how long it took me to get this...

Hahahah! Always have to be on the lookout for the throw-back quotes.

 

[enormous13]

I'm using the 6GPH sprayer and my home pressure is 75psi. When I did a water trial a few weeks ago, my tap water temp was around 48F and the drain water temp was 145F. I'd imagine there will be some variance in the drain temp depending on the seasonal water temp if all other parameters are the same. If my tap water temp gets too warm in the summer, I may have to switch to the 9GPH sprayer, but I'll have to wait several months to test that.

I'm at that 70-75 psi range as well, but my Orlando ground water averages about 74* throughout the year. Sounds like I'll start with that 6 GPH sprayer, and order the 9 GPH as well, just in case. Thanks brother.