).So the gaskets fit the plate perfectly, but they are too thick to allow the plate to slip into the malt pipe. And I had to put the top filter plate on upside down (with the sleeve facing down instead of up) because the bar and wing nut will not fit otherwise.
Yesterday I was brewing for the first time since June and all was going well.
Am I the dumbest BM user on the planet?
Grains weighed and crushed.
Water filtered and sat overnight.
Starter going for day and a half.
Brought water up to dough in temp.
Disaster!!
While I was doughing in I was looking down beside the BM and noticed both sets of screens!!
Of course I was only one scoop short of having the whole malt bill in the tube.
I severely admonished my self, pulled the plug,Drained 1/2 of the wort into a bucket then tipped the whole thing into a bucket with an old BIAB bag I had.
After much swearing, rinsing, and cleaning ( including special care to the pump) I was ready to roll again.
I had only 2 scoops into the tube this time before I started calling myself all of the names my wife saves for me.
F#$% I did it again.
Went through the cleaning process again, and finished the brewday with no more excitement. The whole mess cost me about an hour so not that bad, and only missed my OG by a coulpe of points.
I expect/hope I am not the only one that has ever done this, however, it is with great humility that I admit that this was not my first expeience with idiocy, as I did the same exact thing with my 3rd BM day and didn't think I could possibly ever repeat it.
Hands up everyone who has ever done this?? I hope I am no alone in first place.:rockin:
Okay Braumeister brewers, I need your help. But first I'd like to ask people to refrain from telling me not to filter. I would encourage people that DO filter to share their thoughts.
What I want:
Diamond bright beer. Not the kind that you see in photos on the forum where people are bragging that it is "crystal clear" but isn't; the kind where I can see and anticipate an assailant's attack while looking directly through a glass of pilsner
My process today is this:
- I brew 10 Gallon batches
- All grain, mash is recirculated (I brew on a Braumeister 50L)
- I usually don't do a protein rest, as my electric system takes time to ramp up to different temps and I worry about the variability of enzyme activity on different ramp times, etc. I want to be consistent, but understand the benefits of a protein rest.
- I control PH by pre-treating RO water, and adding salts (usually 9 grams of calcium chloride to 5 grams of gypsum for malty beers and close to vice-versa for hoppy beers. I split this amount into 2 additions, one for mash, one for kettle, aiming to have at least 50 PPM of calcium ions in the mash.
- I don't sparge, it's kind of like brew in the bag
- I usually mash for 45 min to 1 hour, I don't test for conversion. I taste the mash and I usually hit my numbers dead on.
- I always use whirlfoc at 15 minutes left in the boil
- Quickly cool my wort by using an immersion chiller and running electric kettle pumps.
- I always add gelatin to the keg directly after racking off the better-bottle and just before I throw the keg in my cold refrigerator (32F), although sometimes I don't see a point to it frankly.
- I've tried polyclar on occasion just to see if it would make a difference. Mostly I haven't noticed a difference because I don't think it's chill haze (photos to prove it forthcoming).
So, the idea is to drop the yeast or to clump it with gelatin, cold-filter the beer so that the proteins are clumped as well. First I used a plate filter and got terrible results on the 3-5 micron and 7 micron pads. In fact it may have made my beer CLOUDIER as crazy as that sounds. I attribute that to pushing the yeast with too much pressure and being a total newb at filtering. I did however get fed up with the plate filter and exchanged it for one of those canister ones because of how annoying it was to assemble the unit and constant air leaks everywhere. The canister is much better IMO at holding pressure and keeping air out of the beer, but my results are still dismal with this filter. I used the 1 micron nominal, don't know the manufacturer.
I brewed a very tasty blonde ale fermented with Belgian Strong Ale 1388 (very low floc, you know if you've ever brewed with it). It took it's sweet time to ferment (4 weeks) before showing ANY signs of dropping, I then racked it to a keg, threw a packet of knox gelatin (dissolved in hot water) over the top, closed, purged keg, and stuck it in the 32F fridge overnight. Next day, I filtered using the canister w/ the 1 micron nominal disposable spindle-style filter. This is what I got today:
46.8F
-52.2F
- 58 F
No change so this is clearly not chill haze, and it looks the same as the third pic at room temp. WTF is going on here? Filters don't work like that! I need some HBT insight.
(SNIP)
This brings me back to the problem of stirring the mash. While it makes alot of sense, I'm a bit worried that the pump will start up while I'm messing around with the malt pipe. So, is it only possible to do this if I'm running the BM on manual, or is it possible to do this on program also? Is there a pause function, or do I have to watch the display, start stirring like crazy when the break sets in, hopefully putting the malt pipe back together before it starts pumping Again?).
Great thread btw, I've been through it a couple of times now!
I'm in Colorado too (5200') and mine boils nicely at 95C with the insulating jacket. Question though: When does the boil timer kick in if the boil is programmed for 100C and never gets within 4-5 degrees of target? Last weekend my boil timer counted for about 20 minutes, and then stopped counting down. Temp was a pretty steady at 95C the whole time. Don't remember this happening before, although I do tend to switch to manual once the boil starts. Should I set the boil target temp to 95-96C to get the timer to work (or 95C plus the tolerance that starts the timer, e.g., +/- X degrees C)?
