BM Copper Hoods

[swiggingpig]

hey pig, question- (two questions) do you use a standard bathroom extractor, will that handle all the water vapor ok? or do you need a special / kitchen version (see how little i know about extractor fans...)? and, do you have a valve or opening on the trap (low point) of your flexi hose? or do you just drain it after the brew session?
where in uk are you? i was many years in oxfordshire, on the old hooky
ok so it was 4 questions in the end

Hi, although not the best picture, here it is ready for use.



What isn't shown here is that the flexi hose is a little longer that the one in this shot and when it gets hot from the steam it sags which creates a low point to collect the condensed water. A typical 1 hr boil creates 500 - 700 ml of condensed water which I drain into a jug after the brew session. I'll try and take a 'mid boil' picture on my next brew day.

The fan is a regular bathroom extractor fan, the only thing I've found is that it can create quite a vacuum so I leave the malt pipe stirrup on the top of the BM and then the hood onto that to create some air flow.

I live up in Huddersfield West Yorkshire, main beers around here are Timothy Taylors, Tetleys :/ and Black Sheep but if I'm going out for a few I always end up here, the Grove Inn, because it has a fabulous selection of beers

[Batz]

The Grove Inn

tickets booked !

[dinnerstick]

thanks swigginpig! very useful info for my new setup. i know black sheep from the bottles they ship all the way down south... very nice. also isn't the wyeast west yorkshire strain from timothy taylors? off topic i know, but i got it in recently. it's still in my fridge, but at some point i'm going to give it a head-to-head with the fullers strain which gets a lot of use in my brewery!

[swiggingpig]

hey pig, question- (two questions) do you use a standard bathroom extractor, will that handle all the water vapor ok? or do you need a special / kitchen version (see how little i know about extractor fans...)? and, do you have a valve or opening on the trap (low point) of your flexi hose? or do you just drain it after the brew session?

I'll try and take a 'mid boil' picture on my next brew day.

I did a brew yesterday trying to recreate Thomas Greenall's Original Bitter, long since gone but I have fond memories of it from my youth . Unfortunately I only have the 4th edition of the The Real Ale Almanac to work from

I even remembered to take a photo , I hope that this picture does a better job of showing you how the trap is formed.

[Dicko]

I cut the hole in mine today.
The dish is very thin and it was a battle to get the hole cut neatly but I consider I did reasonably well in the end.

I don't need to vent mine externally as I brew in my garage and there is plenty of ventilation.

I am making a hood purely to see if it increases the boil intensity as I believe a more vigorous boil may produce a clearer beer.

I will post some more pics a bit later on when I take some.

Cheers

[paddye]

ok so the hoods are a very expensive funnel and help with steam extraction but is there any difference between the SS and copper hood or is it just the bling factor?

[cpa4ny]

SS hoods are a fairly new addition to the Speidel line-up.

A few years back when I bought my BM, copper hoods were the only game in town.

If I were to purchase the BM again now - I would probably go with SS hood; same functionality at a lower price.

[niels]

ok so the hoods are a very expensive funnel and help with steam extraction but is there any difference between the SS and copper hood or is it just the bling factor?

As cpa4ny said: first there were the copper hoods while the stainless steel ones are only on the market for a few months. Function is the same, looks are different and so is the price tag.

I might be buying a SS hood this year as it will help getting the steam out of my basement (extraction hose through the window).

Niels

[paddye]

glad I want for the ss version then.

[niels]

I will be buying a SS hood for my Braumeister this month. I hope to do a new brew in the beginning of May so I can test it out.

Niels

[Cervantes]

I cut the hole in mine today.
The dish is very thin and it was a battle to get the hole cut neatly but I consider I did reasonably well in the end.

I don't need to vent mine externally as I brew in my garage and there is plenty of ventilation.

I am making a hood purely to see if it increases the boil intensity as I believe a more vigorous boil may produce a clearer beer.

I will post some more pics a bit later on when I take some.

Cheers

Dicko,

How did you go with this.

Did using the hood to increase the boil intensity produce a clearer beer?

Cheers
Andy

[Dicko]

I cut the hole in mine today.
The dish is very thin and it was a battle to get the hole cut neatly but I consider I did reasonably well in the end.

I don't need to vent mine externally as I brew in my garage and there is plenty of ventilation.

I am making a hood purely to see if it increases the boil intensity as I believe a more vigorous boil may produce a clearer beer.

I will post some more pics a bit later on when I take some.

Cheers

Dicko,

How did you go with this.

Did using the hood to increase the boil intensity produce a clearer beer?

Cheers
Andy

Sorry Andy I am working away at the moment.
When I get home I will post up some pics.
I have only done one brew with it and it worked great, it was an Amber Ale and I got a great boil.
My measurements were approx the same loss for the 80 min boil but the boil was more vigorous.
I will reserve any more comments until I have tested it over many brews, particularly the light coloured Pils beers.
I initially tried it with a 75 mm hole in it and it caused the boil to constantly foam up so then I enlarged the hole to 150mm and that seemed to work great.
A picture will tell a thousand words

[Cervantes]

Thanks Dicko,

No rush, I have 101 other projects on the go and no time, so I don't think I'll get to this one for a while.

Cheers
Andy

[Dicko]

See the full story;

Dicko's Dome

[niels]

When I returned home from holidays I was glad to discover that my latest brew related order had arrived. I'm now the happy owner of a stainless hood for my Braumeister.

Since it completes my BM set-up, I promised my girlfriend that this would be the last accessory for my BM for now.

Next brew day will be in about two weeks, so I will report back then.

- Niels