Condensate Stack Operation Question

[lagerbrewer]

Hello,

It's been years since I used this condensate stack on my kettle. Years ago I saw that I could get much better evaporation by simply doing an open-kettle boil. Anyway, last week my boss asked me to try to control the heat output of the brewery on especially hot days. I decided to give the stack another whirl on today's brew.

What I can't remember is if I am supposed to leave the kettle CIP arm open or closed. Steam was pumping out of it today and I thought to myself that maybe the steam is taking the path of least resistance and going out the CIP arm instead of into the passive condensate stack. I put on my gloves and closed the CIP arm, only to see wort and hops/proteins from the boil start to flow out with the stack discharge water from a light boil over. I re-opened the CIP arm and the discharge stopped.

Should I condensate stack boil with the CIP arm open or closed? I can experiment with lower heat to avoid boil overs if I'm supposed to have it closed. Thanks for your time.

Marc Gottfried
Morgan Street Brewery, St. Louis

[Jephro]

Hey Marc,
Jeff Byrne (of Cape) here, how are ya?
It's even hot here in Wa right now, but nothing compared to that humidity in Mo, one thing i don't miss about the midwest.

I never even noticed that you didn't have a conventional stack on that kettle, but i guess you do have several floors above you. While i don't have much experience with condensate stacks, i can suggest a tiny dallup of fermcap will stop those nasty boil-overs, or my favorite new trick first wort hopping has a great side effect of preventing boil-overs.

I remember seeing this thread (http://www.probrewer.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=4367&highlight=condensate+stack) which may give you a little insight, or at least some people to contact for advice.

I'll be back over the holidays, i will have to stop by for a beer.

[lagerbrewer]

Thanks Jeff, yea drop me a line when you are in town.

-Marc

[DancingCamel]

We boil with brewkettle sealed. 35-40 gr fermcap for a 10 bbl batch at beginning of boil stopped the boilovers.

Cheers.

David

[brewbong]

Passive kettle stack?
Generally condensate stacks have a cooling coil w/a sprayer ("sprayette") inside, this causes the steam to condense and precipitate out of a gravity feed, where it can be collected for cleaning or used in a heat exchange for T.
Sometimes it is difficult to manage the precise water flow and T to engage water flow, causing bypass. When the device is calibrated correctly it should provide a great means for reducing odor and steam/heat in the brewing environment, w/the added benefit of collecting a few calories for later use.

[lagerbrewer]

Maybe I used the term passive incorrectly. I meant that it does not have a fan drawing the vapor in. Instead of a coil, it has a honeycomb of ss tubes with sprayers on the outside surface. The steam is condensed and channeled with the sprayer water to a gravity drain which we don't recover. It sounds much like the device you describe.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'll have to try fermcap.

-Marc