boiler exhaust pipe

[Kev888]

Thats largely what I thought/hoped too, Graham, so its good to hear - my boiler is mostly enclosed with only a 6" lid, so quite a bit of steam condenses on the upper surfaces and returns to the boil. My main motivation for not having condensation run back down the extraction pipe is to avoid worrying about cleaning the pipe work beyond the bit which joins the boiler. I'm sure the steam helps to sanitise, but as it progresses along the pipe and things get cooler and wetter I can forsee it becoming something I don't want filtering back into the wort.

Interesting about the foam - I've not noticed anything excessive yet (perhaps the extra pressure isn't significant enough in my setup) but I've not tried to boil a full capacity load with the extractor setup in place so I'll keep an eye on it when I do.

Cheers
Kev

[tanglefoot]

Hi , i have a stainless funnel shaped lid with a stainless pipe about 25mm ID which i run downhill to stop the condensate running back into copper . This is very important as if too much gets back into the wort your resulting beer will taste soapy , i know this from when i never used to run the exhaust downwards ! Another way to also reduce loss from the boil is to only boil for 60 mins not 90mins , i personally find the extra half hour does not achieve anything as the bittering hops have done there work after 60mins

[delboy]

Another way to also reduce loss from the boil

Thats a few people on this thread who have talked about losses to the boil in terms of it being a problem, i don't see it that way its only water that is being lost not the hard fought for sugars which are concentrated, the lost water can be v. easily replaced. In addition its a nesecary component of the brewday without those losses i'd never hit my target gravity.

[Dr. Dextrin]

It's a good point about how the steam escapes anyway, regardless of any condensation and run-back in the vent pipe. But it seems to me there are still two possible issues:

1) The condensate may pick up nasties from whatever the vent pipe is made from. It will be very hot, so I'd think leaching of (e.g.) plasticisers might well be an issue if the material isn't up to the job.

2) There is the possibility of fractionation occurring that might be detrimental if there is a lot of run-back. What I mean is that the condensate won't necessarily have the same composition as the steam that left the wort surface. If bad-tasting compounds condense out preferentially, then that could affect the beer (e.g. the "soapiness" referred to above which, I have to say, is a slight characteristic of some micro-brewery beers that I've noticed before although I don't know if it's related to this).

I'd be interested to learn more about how commercial breweries vent their coppers, if anyone knows. For example, does the steam drive itself out, or are fans used? The latter arrangement might bring in air to mix with the steam which would probably change how it all works (much more like an open copper).

Thanks, Graham for the idea about a spray to condense the steam. Before I build anything I'm going to give that some thought as banishing smells and not having to have the window open would definitely gain me points with SWMBO and probably the neighbours too. I have some nozzles for misting greenhouses that use very little water and might perhaps do the job if enclosed in a suitable pipe.

[Kev888]

Now you see if no-one had said anything...

I had a small failure with my exhaust system a moment ago - for some reason todays recipe is very bubbly when boiling; almost 'any' restriction less than the 6" opening (even a lid < 1/3rd on) causes it to start bubbling up. All the hops rose up on the bubbles during the boil - over 40cm above the wort- and blocked the vent. I think I need either a bigger 6-inch vent or some sort of ferocity control to keep it down; my hops are now all over the boiler walls and top, so I suspect it'll be a bit down on bitterness!!

Oh well..

[tanglefoot]

[quote="Dr. Dextrin"]I'd be interested to learn more about how commercial breweries vent their coppers, if anyone knows. For example, does the steam drive itself out, or are fans used? The latter arrangement might bring in air to mix with the steam which would probably change how it all works (much more like an open copper).

My local micro breweries copper is vented with a stainless exhaust that is angled downwards to vent which is what you should try to do with your home system, the key thing here is as i mentioned in last post you do not want the condensate back in the copper as it will give you a soapy taint to the beer .On a 60 min boil on my 70ltr brew length i usually get about 1.5 / 2 pints of condensate out the exhaust .

[Kev888]

This looks very smart. Just wondering though - is the PVC stuff okay or would you try aluminium if you were to do it again? I like the flexibility of plastic but thought PVC may struggle a bit with real steam.

Cheers
Kev

[beermonsta]

never mind that, that pipe joins a similar pine clad room that is actually a sauna...in Barnsley....YORKSHIRE!!!
...now that's yorkshire thriftyness!

[BarnsleyBrewer]

never mind that, that pipe joins a similar pine clad room that is actually a sauna...in Barnsley....YORKSHIRE!!!
...now that's yorkshire thriftyness!

LoL, nice idea

The pipe works great, I've brewed over a thousand pints this way and never had a problem... It goes soft but never rips..
When brewing I also leave a dip in the pipe that collects the condensation and every so often I pour it away so it never goes back into the brew.

BB

[koomber]

I use the plastic type, works great..


BB

Sorry to quote the picture again, but THAT is positively sensual. I LOVE it. I'm going to build one for my lidl boiler.

I used to smoke in the kitchen (1 year quit, more money for beer) and now every time I do a brew the steam washes the tar off the walls. Looks pretty manky, but this would hekp greatly

[Kev888]

The pipe works great, I've brewed over a thousand pints this way and never had a problem... It goes soft but never rips..
When brewing I also leave a dip in the pipe that collects the condensation and every so often I pour it away so it never goes back into the brew.

Thanks - thats useful. I may give it a go; my 40mm pipe has been fine until we started this thread but as I mentioned earlier I then did a brew which needed the lid off to stop bubbling up and over - possibly the torrefied wheat or something, but probably my fault for saying how good the 40mm pipe was... To be fair I'm not sure if even a bigger pipe would be big enough in those circumstances, but it may be worth a try.

Cheers
Kev

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I then did a brew which needed the lid off to stop bubbling up and over

What you need is a bigger boiler

[Kev888]

Ha, yes it was a bit of a surprise that at 25gals and with just the one element it 'still' isn't big enough - it was only half full at the time too! I think it may have been the wheat helping to sustain the froth.

Cheers
Kev