Hi,
My system is not too big, we make about 460litres in a batch, but our plate heat exchanger doesn't really do the job of getting it down to the right temp. It depends on the water from the tap, which seems to be really variable, a few months ago when it was really cold it worked perfectly, a little too good, I had to keep switching it off, but the last two times we have brewed the weather has been hotter and it hasn't managed it, so I've had to recirculate it.
As a makeshift solution I recirculated it through the fermentor but I think this might have caused some hot side aeration. I think it was around 35 -40 degrees when it went through. The beer tasted pretty bland, not bad but just not much flavour, this was a new recipe with a different yeast and different hops, so I am unsure if it was due to recirculating the wort or not.
I think I should recirculate the wort through the boiler instead and pump it directly into the beer using a pipe or an inlet so as to avoid any hot side aeration, do you think this is a good idea? When home brewing I didn't care at all about hot side aeration and did fine, now I don't think I am big enough for it to have a massive effect do you think it should be a concern? In the book prinicples of brewing science it says that it is, but I have read elsewhere it is over rated especially on the small scale.
My system is not too big, we make about 460litres in a batch, but our plate heat exchanger doesn't really do the job of getting it down to the right temp. It depends on the water from the tap, which seems to be really variable, a few months ago when it was really cold it worked perfectly, a little too good, I had to keep switching it off, but the last two times we have brewed the weather has been hotter and it hasn't managed it, so I've had to recirculate it.
As a makeshift solution I recirculated it through the fermentor but I think this might have caused some hot side aeration. I think it was around 35 -40 degrees when it went through. The beer tasted pretty bland, not bad but just not much flavour, this was a new recipe with a different yeast and different hops, so I am unsure if it was due to recirculating the wort or not.
I think I should recirculate the wort through the boiler instead and pump it directly into the beer using a pipe or an inlet so as to avoid any hot side aeration, do you think this is a good idea? When home brewing I didn't care at all about hot side aeration and did fine, now I don't think I am big enough for it to have a massive effect do you think it should be a concern? In the book prinicples of brewing science it says that it is, but I have read elsewhere it is over rated especially on the small scale.
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