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kettle condensers

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  • kettle condensers

    I am brewing with a kettle condenser for the first time and am having problems making it work properly. I wait for the condenser to fill with steam and then crack open the spray nozzles to ensure that the condenser is not defeated by an air lock. I always seem to pull foam (and hops) out of the boiling wort and into the condenser. Don't know how to keep this from happening, but have some ideas I'd like feedback on. It seems to me that perhaps I have too great a vacuum in the kettle for the (steam) heat being applied. This may provoke too vigorous a boil that sends my hops to the condenser. If I install a manometer on the kettle and adjust the spray for minor vacuum while adjusting heat to proper evaporation rate, seems to me like I may have the problem solved. But then when I add hops frequently, I'd have to readjust the steam higher to initiate atmospheric boil, then once the condenser is purged of air, adjust down again for subatmospheric boil. Sounds like I'm wasting too much time monitoring a boil. How do others use this device without monitoring vacuum?
    Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--
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