bitter condensation

[pedro´s bier]

Is it a big deal to keep the condensation from falling back into the boiling wort?

Pedro

[rudge75]

yes,
the condensate carries all the volatiles you're trying to boil off. All you need to do is smell (or worse, taste) the condensate from the first few minutes of a boil to understand why you need to get rid of it. It stinks like cigarettes, and more!

I had a homebrewer once ask me why his beer was so damn bitter, and astringent - turns out he was boiling with a lid on, and all the condensate dropped back into the boil.

Homebrewers usually realize an evaporation rate of 10-15% where as breweries usually run in the 5% + range depending on the stack design. What are you achieving with your design?


Dave

[Moonlight]

Simply taste the condensate at different times during boil and see if you want those flavors in your beer. It is also very enlightening to taste what hop notes are volatizing at which times.

[David Quinn]

What about all those pictures I see of breweries and otherwise that have the stacks seemingly shooting straight up out of the tank into space.

check out this link

http://www.sierra-nevada.com/tour/brewhouse.html

it looks like the stack goes straight up.

[steved]

Kettle stacks like that will generally have a drip ring on the bottom of the stack that will catch the condensate and send it down the drain.

[MoreBeer]

Kettles usually have a drip ring at the base of the stack to catch condensate and pipe it to the drain. A drip ring is just a lip that extends out a short distance from inside the stack that has a drain that runs outside the kettle. Sometimes the drain lines are piped outside the kettle and sometimes they are hidden inside the cladding.

MoreBeer

Sorry about the repost, was typing at the same time.

[pedro´s bier]

Thanks a lot for your support!
I didn´t think about that when designing my system. I use a mash/kettle vessel that has a flat lid which holds the agitator. I now have to figure out a way to get that condensation out. Maybe designing a second lid in form of a cone with a drip ring where the large end of the cone meets the kettle side wall.
Any suggestions?
As a response for Dave: I did not calculate my evaporation rate yet. Too many things to do!!

Thanks in advance. Brew for passion!!!

Pedro