Speidel Braumeister (brewmaster)

Yambor44 said:

I brewed recently with 13 pounds in my 50L with my 20L malt pipe and it was THICK! Made it all the way thru but I cannot see going more....

Click to expand...

Is there a problem doing 20 liters in the 50 litre that requires a smaller malt pipe? What about for high gravity beers?

ive been able to do high grain bill by mashing, removing grain then adding the remaining grain that was left over and did not fit in the first mash and just runing the wort through that new grain in a sense mashing twice. worked for me ph was good and i hit my numbers on the dot.

That's interesting. What australian forum is that, please?

stevedasleeve said:

Is there a problem doing 20 liters in the 50 litre that requires a smaller malt pipe? What about for high gravity beers?

Click to expand...

I guess not. See fivekai's response below.

FiveKaiBrewing said:

ive been able to do high grain bill by mashing, removing grain then adding the remaining grain that was left over and did not fit in the first mash and just runing the wort through that new grain in a sense mashing twice. worked for me ph was good and i hit my numbers on the dot.

Click to expand...

To be more specific: Do you *really* need to buy an additional 20L mash pipe to use in your 50L Braumeister for smaller batches or can you simply use the existing 50L mash pipe and not fill it up?

stevedasleeve said:

To be more specific: Do you *really* need to buy an additional 20L mash pipe to use in your 50L Braumeister for smaller batches or can you simply use the existing 50L mash pipe and not fill it up?

Click to expand...

Good point. If you only put enough water/grain in the 50L malt pipe to do a 20L batch the pumps will run dry before it circulates to the top of the pipe and spills back over. So I would say no.

However, what would be the outcome to use enough water so that wouldn't happen, with only enough grain for a 20L batch? A very thin mash, but would it work without affecting the quality of the mash/final product? So basically water for somewhere between 20 and 50 liters but making a 20 L batch.

Anyone?

Well I'm about 20 minutes into my boil on Yoops Centennial/Cascade IPA.

My grain mill is on the fritz again.

I've had it apart, cleaned it, readjusted it to 1.0MM and have had a friend do the same. It worked fine for one 5 gallon batch and now it's worse than ever. I had to dump the grains, spin the rollers, start it with zero grain in it and then add a little at a time to finish the grind this morning. The roller the drill is hooked to free spins and the other doesn't move. when I check it each time it moves freely with my hand.

Any idea's?

Also, I took a small video of all the grain that reached the boil portion. It was quite a bit.I didn't do anything differently. Used 2 gallons of sparge water after raising the malt pipe. I'll post it later if you can see it in the vid after I upload it.

I'm curious to see if anyone has run one of these long enough to do a comparison on power consumption VS propane. Most electric conversions for brewing are just the heating element from a water heater where as this has the heating element, the pump, and the electronics (would think the electronics is minimal).
Has anyone run any tests or checked to see how this compares to brewing a batch with Propane?
For instance, is the price to propane similar or is running this thing like turning on a window air conditioner full blast during the month of June and your electric bill jumps up 100 bucks.

{EDIT}
One more question. from the pics in the first few pages, it looks like the 20l grain tube has some wiggle room around it. Does anyone know if the 50l grain tube would work with the 20l to allow for more grain, thus higher gravity beers with a little modification? I read all 90 some pages but don't remember seeing anything.

Thanks!

Pump draw is minimal on my LG pump (less than 3A) so I'd imagine that these draw even less, and depending on the wattage of the heating element (I run a 5500W element) your draw can vary. Now let's say I ran my system full out for 3 hours, pump and element on full blast.

That would be 5860W total for 180mins, that makes 17.58KWH. Multiply this by your cost/KWH, let's just say it's pretty high at $.06 and you get $1.05. Keep in mind I've slightly overestimated things here to keep it simple, in all likleyhood you won't be running 5860W for 3 hours so your cost per brew (for fuel) is under a dollar.

Cheers!

wyzazz said:

Pump draw is minimal on my LG pump (less than 3A) so I'd imagine that these draw even less, and depending on the wattage of the heating element (I run a 5500W element) your draw can vary. Now let's say I ran my system full out for 3 hours, pump and element on full blast.

That would be 5860W total for 180mins, that makes 17.58KWH. Multiply this by your cost/KWH, let's just say it's pretty high at $.06 and you get $1.05. Keep in mind I've slightly overestimated things here to keep it simple, in all likleyhood you won't be running 5860W for 3 hours so your cost per brew (for fuel) is under a dollar.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Also, keep in mind Munch671 that gas burners are not as efficient as electric in our case. The flame has to heat the pot which in turn heats the water. Plus you lose a lot of energy up and around the outside of the pot.

Munch671 said:

... it looks like the 20l grain tube has some wiggle room around it. Does anyone know if the 50l grain tube would work with the 20l to allow for more grain...

Click to expand...

there is no wiggle room. the seal on the bottom of the 20L malt pipe is just on the edge of the pump hole that sucks wort into to pump. Also the heating element on the bottom almost touches the malt pipe.

DeGarre said:

there is no wiggle room. the seal on the bottom of the 20L malt pipe is just on the edge of the pump hole that sucks wort into to pump. Also the heating element on the bottom almost touches the malt pipe.

Click to expand...

wyzazz said:

Pump draw is minimal on my LG pump (less than 3A) so I'd imagine that these draw even less, and depending on the wattage of the heating element (I run a 5500W element) your draw can vary. Now let's say I ran my system full out for 3 hours, pump and element on full blast.

That would be 5860W total for 180mins, that makes 17.58KWH. Multiply this by your cost/KWH, let's just say it's pretty high at $.06 and you get $1.05. Keep in mind I've slightly overestimated things here to keep it simple, in all likleyhood you won't be running 5860W for 3 hours so your cost per brew (for fuel) is under a dollar.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Yambor44 said:

Also, keep in mind Munch671 that gas burners are not as efficient as electric in our case. The flame has to heat the pot which in turn heats the water. Plus you lose a lot of energy up and around the outside of the pot.

Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks guys!

-Munch

hfk2 said:

Sorry about that. I go to 50F to help clear it out when I'm bottling to a party pig which needs to be naturally carbonated. Otherwise I start there and slowly lower the temp till it shows good clearing and then into the keg. My work schedule dictates when I do what more than the best laid out plans. Treat it more like a lager than an ale that's fermenting at the higher end of the lager range. Diacytl rest is a good thing. I brew a lot of Kolsch's usually in the colder months because between my basement temperature and a bathroom that stays cool (especially with window open a little in winter) I can cover most of the temperatures needed without using the freezer or fridge. I think I'll give your recipe a try. I can taste the caramel already.

Click to expand...

hfk2 - I'd definitely say not cloned - and more of a brown ale than an Amber. Turned out too roasty and I would back off the 120, or replace 100, and bump up the IBu's by 5 or so on my next attempt

Hi Braumeisters !

I just got my 20L unit and looking forward to start working with it !!

Anyone brew bavarian wheat ? With classic wheat/barley 60:40 percent ratio ?
I am thinking, probably not the best beer to start with, hmm?
I would use 0.5kg of rice hulls, but still ...
Any thoughts ?
Or else, I'll start with Surly Cynic clone ...

Also, anyone tried to place some metal mesh filter into the inflow pump hole to prevent grain from getting into the pump ?

Where did you get it from.....B3 is only two hours away from me but I hear they drop ship it

SanMarzano said:

Where did you get it from.....B3 is only two hours away from me but I hear they drop ship it

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure most are sent directly from Speidel in Germany. I think one person in the States so far was able to get a 50L from B3 that they happened to have sitting at there location.

I purchased my BM from Thorsten( morebeer4u) and got it from Germany.
It took 4 weeks.

again, anyone has experience with wheat in braumeister ?

bach said:

I purchased my BM from Thorsten( morebeer4u) and got it from Germany.
It took 4 weeks.

again, anyone has experience with wheat in braumeister ?

Click to expand...

You'll want to use rice hulls as you will end up with a "fountain" from my two experiences with wheat in the grist. They don't impart any flavor so no impact to your recipe. I'd suggest putting your grain in a bucket and mixing them in good prior to pouring into the unit as they have a tendency to float and not mix in well if added to the water at one time. With the rice hulls, you shouldn't have any issues - start with a 1/2 pound.

I'd avoid a filter over the inlet side of your pump as it's likely to clog up and you will have a very difficult problem to deal with mid brew. I've had a grain hit the pump on all but one brew thus far - it rattles, but continues to chug along - no worries. I'm considering a modified paint strainer bag to keep that from happening but havent had time to play with it thus far. It's a nice to have mod, but not necessary. You'll make GREAT beer with this unit 'as is' with a sound recipe.

So Im in a rock and a hard place here. I want my new system to be electric and just had 220 installed in my garage. I love the brewmeister solely on simplicity,design, and ease of use, though, even though 90% of my batches are 5G I loose the ability to do 10G. Also im limited on the amount of grain....the other one Im looking at is this below (+ 2 Rancos and an electric kettle) comes out to the same price......Any thoughts?

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productcart/pc/Build-Your-Own-SS-Electric-Brewery-276p2810.htm

Has anyone used a plate chiller with the BM instead of the immersion chiller? Any way to fit a Bazooka or Hopstopper screen in there?

Well, I tried a new 'mod' in a an attempt to keep from getting loose grains in my pump while brewing Edwort's Haus Pale Ale today. I cut a small hole in the bottom of a nylon paint strainer bag, put the bottom plate and screen in, then the bag. Poured in the grain and added the screen and the top plate and then let the elastic wrap around the top plate. Figured this would capture any strays perfectly. Figured wrong! Within 3 min I've got a grain rattling in my pump! The overall escapees are way down and the wort is clearer than ever before - not sure how the lone grain made it past but seems to have minimized things a bit. Will let you know how it turns out once the beer is done.

I wonder how it would work if you put the bag in first and then the screen?

bach said:

I purchased my BM from Thorsten( morebeer4u) and got it from Germany.
It took 4 weeks.

again, anyone has experience with wheat in braumeister ?

Click to expand...

Think I mentioned it earlier, but I've had circulation issues twice out of about 25 batches on the Braumeister. Those were two consecutive batches of witbier using 50% unmalted wheat. No rice hulls.

I've made a few stouts with up to 25% flaked barley and no rice hulls. Never had any issues with those.

I would have gone for a 100% barley brew for my first try, to learn to use the system with a grist not likely to mess things up.

Yambor44 said:

I wonder how it would work if you put the bag in first and then the screen?

Click to expand...

It would have likely have been better, but believe they are escaping through the hole in the middle post. Going to try that next brew and see how it goes. That said, outside of the loan grain, it was the clearest wort I've ever had with the BM and didn't seem to impact pump flow or efficiency. I did end up at a lower OG than the recipe but forgot to adjust my process from a 90 min boil to the 60 minutes Ed calls out in his recipe. (Wanted to follow exactly). Given I missed 30 minutes of boil off, I ended up at 1051 vs 1060. That's fine as it will just make the beer that more sessionable.

I have to admit that even that I can always SEE some loose grains floating around (and they must be getting into the pump because when I clean it there are a couple of them always inside), but I can never HEAR anything out of the ordinary, any grinding noise, etc. Smooth humming is all I hear.

Mako, I've been using a piece of cheesecloth wrapping it around the edge of the sieve and SS mesh. Since I've done this I haven't had a single pump failure, whereas before I had them every brew session. The cloth prevents the grain from coming out the top but doesn't restrict the flow. I don't do it to the bottom sieve because it sits on the ledge pressed into the malt pipe so there are no gaps. I haven't noticed grain coming up through the center hole.



I also made a 1500 watt heat stick (about $35 in parts) to kick up the boil.

hfk2
I like your idea of using the cheese cloth. I haven't had much trouble with the grains getting into the pump but I know it is a matter of time.Thanks for passing that on. I am totaly confused about the copper pipe that is in the photo. Could you please explain the how,why etc.
Thanks

I'm experimenting with the pipe to create a whirlpool with my March pump. The end with the elbow (top of photo) goes into the kettle, the other end hangs over the top of the pot and is connected to a piece of high temp tubing that connects to the pump. I use it to create a whirlpool effect that helps to cool the wort much faster. (I use an immersion cooler) I can't say that it creates a great enough whirlpool effect to collect all the trub in the center but it does help the cooling. The cheese cloth fills the gap between the edge of the sieve and the pot. I have had grains get through that small space almost every brew which ended up in the pump, but this seems to seal it off.

hfk2 said:

...

I also made a 1500 watt heat stick (about $35 in parts) to kick up the boil.
...

Click to expand...

Could you post the details please? This might be a nice project for the winter.

Thanks for the info HFK2,
I hope you can work out the bugs. Maybe a bigger pipe moving a larger volume would get the job done.

DeGarre said:

Could you post the details please? This might be a nice project for the winter.

Click to expand...

I've made 2 of these with THESE instructions.

My heat stick is similar to the ones above. I used 1 1/4" tubing instead of the 1 1/2". With a little grinding the heating element fits much tigher in the 1 1/4" nut.



Wyzazz link above with show you the basic construction. The only differences I made were: I drilled and tapped a hole in the chrome pipe near the element and used it to secure and cement the ground wire directly to the chrome tube. Also I used 2 tubes of JB Weld and slightly thinning it with acetone and poured this carefully into the chrome tube after all the wire connections were made to make a waterproof plug around all the electrical connections. I also used the JB Weld to seal the element nut to the chrome tube. All in all the basic construction is straight forward, just don't skimp anywhere. Use plenty of epoxy to make a watertight seal and use GFCI. If you're not comfortable building one (the first time you plug it in gets a few sweat balls rolling) then this looks like a good alternative.

http://www.homebrewers.com/product/5061/120V-Electric-Brew-Heater.html

Even though others seem to get good strong boils with the copper hood, I'm concerned that with the restricted opening at the top that enough volatile compounds aren't being driven off fast enough.

Hi all. Last night I brewed my Patersbier and had great results. I reached 87% efficiency! I used 23l of water for mashing and sparged with 1.75g

I love this system! The wort is amazingly clear!

rlhvegas, 1.75 gallons is 6.6 litres, amazing! I usuall sparge with 4 litres and hit OG nicely, 5 litres and I undershoot slightly. I usually end up with 20 litres after the boil and slightly less to the FV, how did you do?

I see you have a thermocollar and prolly get a nice rolling boil, thus the clear wort.

Nice!

I'd like to hear both of your process on the sparge. Since I started sparging with 2 gallons in a 10 gallon batch (doesn't need any more than that to hit pre-boil volume) my efficiency has gone down.

Thanks!

Yambor44 said:

I'd like to hear both of your process on the sparge. Since I started sparging with 2 gallons in a 10 gallon batch (doesn't need any more than that to hit pre-boil volume) my efficiency has gone down.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I mashed at 152F for 60 minutes and did a 15 minute mashout at 170F. I pulled up the pipe and let it drain, then sparged with 1.75g. I did a 90 minute boil, pretty standard process. I'm amazed by the efficiency numbers as well, this is my 4th batch on this system and I've consistently gotten 81%, 84%, 84%, 87% respectively.

My thoughts are possibly the crush, and the good boil I get indoors with the thermo collar. You stated your efficiency went down using a similar process, can you tell me the process you use?

I did use the default mash setup (step) on the first brew. The next brew I mashed at 152 for 50 minutes then a 10 minute mashout at 170. Lately I have been doing a straight 60 minutes at 152, no mashout and a sparge which consists of draining the wort the same as you, and then pouring the 2 gallons of 185 degree water thru the top. I leave the top sieve in to help dispurse the water equally.I only boil for 60 minutes.

Thoughts:

Does 2 gallons of sparge water really rinse the grains that well for a 10 gallon batch? Or, does it just add more "water" to the boil kettle therefore reducing efficiency?

Should I boil for 90 minutes to create more boil off? Would this increase efficiency?

I want to get mine to about 80% and be able to maintain that or close for each batch.

I have recently had some grain mill issues and have been tweaking that but I brewed on a propane burner for those brew sessions (5 gallons).

I also have not been using my collar. My boil seemed vigorous enough but on the last batch I partially covered the kettle with the lid as others have tried and the boil was indeed a lot more aggressive.

Here are my thoughts, keep in mind I don't have a Braumeister but these generalities should apply to most brewing processes. Also, something to note: When you increase your gravity/grain bill on a brew then your efficiency will likely go down.

Does 2 gallons of sparge water really rinse the grains that well for a 10 gallon batch? Or, does it just add more "water" to the boil kettle therefore reducing efficiency? Sparging will always increase efficiency to a point. 2gal for that much grain shouldn't be an issue. I would sparge until I hit my pre-boil volume.

Should I boil for 90 minutes to create more boil off? Would this increase efficiency?Boiling for 90mins will further concentrate your wort, that will increase efficiency and usually help with issues that are caused if your boil isn't as vigorous as it should be.

I want to get mine to about 80% and be able to maintain that or close for each batch. FWIW, I recirculate with my pump using BIAB at the moment and hit right around 80% every time depending on the gravity.

Yambor44 said:

I'd like to hear both of your process on the sparge.

Click to expand...

I heat up 4 litres to 70-80 degrees celcius, then lift the malt pipe to rest und let the wort drip down. I wait for 5-10 minutes and then start pouring water on top of the top filter and grill in small batches (takes another 5-10 minutes), then wait until there is not much dripping anymore. meanwhile I have the boil started and temp is rising towards 100c. I used to take off the grill and filter, then sparge, then poke the grain with a spoon to help wort drip down better but I found it didn't make any difference I could see.

DeGarre said:

I heat up 4 litres to 70-80 degrees celcius, then lift the malt pipe to rest und let the wort drip down. I wait for 5-10 minutes and then start pouring water on top of the top filter and grill in small batches (takes another 5-10 minutes), then wait until there is not much dripping anymore. meanwhile I have the boil started and temp is rising towards 100c. I used to take off the grill and filter, then sparge, then poke the grain with a spoon to help wort drip down better but I found it didn't make any difference I could see.

Click to expand...

How many liters do you start with for the mash?