Braumeister Jacket - Better Boil?

[pnorkle]

Hi all - I've noticed with my 20l BM that the boil isn't what I'd call "rolling," compared to what I used to get with my pot sitting on a gas burner. Those of you who have invested in or made your own jacket, do you find it boils much better? Don't want to spend the money on one if it's not really going to help.

Cheers.

 

[doon]

To be honest I dont notice alot of difference may help on colder days.

Floating a small tin on top should help get a better boil

 

[pnorkle]

Floating a small tin on top should help get a better boil

Ah yes - will give that a go on my next brew day.

 

[Dan Pratt]

I havent tried the samll tin on top yet but found that just having the lid on a lttle under half over the top created a much better boil, almonst vigourus.

 

[micblair]

Yeah, I sometimes wrap a towel around mine because I've noticed it struggles at times.

 

[pnorkle]

Thanks Pratty - might give that a go too. I like the tin idea, but I think the rod in the middle means that I'd have to have several quite small tins sitting around it. Of course, I could experiment with both ideas on the next brew day. But you have to agree, the "official" BM jacket looks quite blingy...

 

[Batz]

I made one out of a rubber camping mat and it worked well, I found it did stick a little so I decided to buy a BM made one. I'm sure you could find something to make one out of, but the original does look blingy.

 

[Dan Pratt]

i ran with a camping mat too for about the first 10 brews on the BM, it was ghetto and after having the lid half on i got the boil I needed without the camping mat. Like Bat says, the camping mats tend to stick to the rig but clean off no worries.

The con to having the lid half on is the build of the evapourating wort, I just place a towel on the brew table at the rear of the BM and it drips onto that.

Hey Batz,

Whats your retail price for the Bat Machine located under the brew table?

Love that march pump, hop rocket plate chiller in one...perfect!

 

[Batz]

i ran with a camping matt too for about the first 10 brews on the BM, it was ghetto and after having the lod half on i gotthe boil i needed without the camping matt. Like Bat says, the camping matts tend to stick to the rig but clean off no worries.

The con to having the lid half on is the build of the evapourating wort, I just place a towel on the brew table at teh rear of the BM and it drips onto that.

Hey Batz,

Whats your retail price for the Bat Machine located under the brew table?

Love that march pump, hop rocket plate chiller in one...perfect!

All available on the web mate.

March pump I had from my old 3V, hop rocket is new as is the chiller. You could do without the March pump and use gravity.



Batz

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

I've had the jacket for two canberra winters and found it keeps me at 1 degree per minute regardless. I don't think Steve up the road gets that in winter on his jacketless BM.

Boil vigour - no difference. I actually exchanged a few emails with Ross from CB and Ralph from Spidel about a concern with the boil. I was doing a once and for all boil off test with plain water and noticed boil bubbles only really coming from one side - one element. This combined with the fact that I couldn't get it to break 99 degrees....I was concerned that one element wasn't firiing or at least not properly.

The end result was that both elements do work. Ralf explained that the other element is 1200W VS 2000 on the inner, and that in their test units, the boil seems stronger on one side - he did not have an explanation why. I was given a bit of a thermodynamics lesson that I shouldn't expect it to be able to get to 102 at my altitude where we boil at 98.

I get a pretty decent roll with the lid on, but I would never boil with the lid even half on. From what I've heard and red, the DMS precursors you are boiling off can drop back in via condensation...

 

[Wimmig]

I don't find the boil stronger with the BM jacket, though it does get to temps quicker. Even more so on cold, windy days. It has the added benefit of giving protection to the main vessel too. I too find the boil coming from one side, as above. Though, upon reading it, makes sense to me. Both elements work in mine, can see them firing up when water is heating up.

I boil only with the lid off and have no issues with it (even without the jacket).

 

[pnorkle]

Thanks guys - that seems to be the consensus - the jacket makes no difference to the boil, only reduces time taken to increase in temp.

Cheers.

 

[DarkFaerytale]

Floating a small tin on top should help get a better boil

this is something i have not heard of befor, is there a thread for this somewhere?

i have images in my head of a can of baked beans, you know, for that lunch time snack after the boil

 

[pnorkle]

this is something i have not heard of befor, is there a thread for this somewhere?

i have images in my head of a can of baked beans, you know, for that lunch time snack after the boil

Yep, there's a thread on it started at around about the same time this thread started - maybe a day earlier, not sure. Sorry - just about to run out of the office, otherwise would have done a search for you & given you the link.

 

[pnorkle]

this is something i have not heard of befor, is there a thread for this somewhere?

i have images in my head of a can of baked beans, you know, for that lunch time snack after the boil

Ah yes, here we go: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/74712-floating-pie-tin-to-reduce-boil-off/