kettle sour in 10bbl vent out

[Jodell]

Hi everybody,

New to the forum and probrewing all together but had a few questions for you all.

We have a 10bbl direct fire system that is being vented out (no condenser) and wondering the best way to plug that up to do a kettle sour? Would taking apart the vent and plugging it up be to much of a pain? Any advice would be great!

Jordan
Welltown Brewery
Head brewer

[Rooh]

I put a garbage bag over the top of the stack and tape it in place. Looks funny, but its easy.

Rich DeLano

[otterbrau]

Any way to physically disconnect exhaust stack/ venting system from the kettle? That way, you could just bag the exhaust port, blanket w/ CO2 and close the manway door tight.

If vent stack can't be removed from kettle, you might try blocking potential air-flow wherever the stack exits the building (roof, etc). Of you could get creative by plugging the stack with an inflatable bag or ball. Depending on diameter, a cheapo playground 4-square ball might do it. Push it into the stack under-inflated, and use a bicycle pump to inflate it in place...voila! Obviously, sanitize such a device prior to use. And keep a trickle of CO2 going on the head-space to blanket against air. We set a regulator at .5 psi or less and leave it going during the entire souring phase.

And definitely seek out a 4 square ball of food-grade material if possible (Ha!)

Good luck and happy souring

[FourSonsBrewing]

We have a 10bbl direct fire with roof vent, and a 30bbl with condenser. I've never bothered closing off the vent on either system when souring. Your mileage may vary, but with proper technique (and still some co2 flow through the spray ball to try to provide a bit of a blanket) I've never had any issues with anything else getting in there.

[Jodell]

I appreciate everybody's feedback! So we are still in buildout but should be brewing in about 3-4 weeks, I'm hopping that the vent will be easy to disconnect and cap there but we will see

[FrostyMike]

the kickball solution

My solution to closing the kettle stack was a brewhouse kickball. Pumping it up inside the stack seemed to do the trick.

[UnFermentable]

We have a 10bbl direct fire with roof vent, and a 30bbl with condenser. I've never bothered closing off the vent on either system when souring. Your mileage may vary, but with proper technique (and still some co2 flow through the spray ball to try to provide a bit of a blanket) I've never had any issues with anything else getting in there.

On our 10 bbl I did not use anything to block the kettle stack either. Worked just fine. Purged the kettle through CIP arm with the lid sealed for about 10 mins at a low flow rate. Our stack goes up about 20ft and is in a relatively wind free area, so I wasn't worried about drafts. You really only need a thin layer on the surface of the wort, so unless you get drafts down your kettle stack, it shouldn't be a concern at all, although I like the creativeness out there.