Speidel Braumeister (brewmaster)

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Continuing with my brew day. Mash is complete. You can't tell from photo but wort is very clear.
mashcomplete.jpg

I decided to use the pump and counter circulate the wort back through the grain bed so I could sparge and not loosen the bed and get grains in the wort. I gently ran the pump and left the strainless screen and cloth in place to evenly distribute the water.
sparging.jpg

I sparged with just under 3 gallons, which was too much. I have to adjust my numbers in BeerSmith. I figure I ended up with about 7 gallons of preboil wort. The malt pipe with spent grains is easily lifted out of the pot to be disposed of, however the first lift is a little heavy until the suction is broken.
spentgrains.jpg

This is where the problems came in. Up until now the machine performed exceptionally. Temperature and times were right on target, gravities were exactly as wanted. I found I couldn't get a strong rolling boil.
boil.jpg
 
So finally realizing starting with 7 gallons and not having a huge boil I wasn't going to get down to my +5.5 gallons of wort. I ended up placing a large sheet of aluminum foil over the top and left and opening about the size of my fist.
This got the boil going good. At this point I put the machine in manual operation and was able to crank up the temperature to 102 degree C. It never got up there but did get to 100C which kept the heating element constantly on.
boilingfoil.jpg

The unit is pretty easy to clean. I ran PBW with both pumps on and the heating element on for about an hour. Wash with a sponge and drained thoroughly.

This shows the control head. Even though it is in English it gives temperatures in Celsius.
controller.jpg

These are the stainless screens and cloths used in the malt pipe. One heavy screen goes in first followed by the stainless cloth. The malt is added then the second stainless cloth and final stainless screen is added. The whole thing is held down by the pipe and wingnut. A gasket on the bottom of malt pipe makes a good seal with the bottom of the pot.
screens.jpg

Finally this is the insulating cover on the Braumeister. It is a foam with a vinyl covering. It seems to be well made and I expect it to last quite a while.
All in all the whole routine was stress less, and easy. While the Braumeister is heating and mashing I could be getting things ready for the next step, or cleaning on the fly. You still have hands on. You need to formulate a recipe. Grind grains if you do that, input your mash schedule, temps and times, and add your adjuncts and hop additions. It gives you automation and extreme accuracy. I can now brew on the raining, snowy days that I couldn't before. I can't give thumbs up or down until I sample the brew, for color, haze, smell and flavor. Let you know in about 2 months.
 

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Hfk2,

Nice pictorial and process explanation! Thanks for taking the time to do this. One question, where did your 3 gallons (even though too much) of sparge water come from? Did you heat it up with something separate?
 
I heated the sparge water in one of my very old cheap 5 gallons pots on a butane hot plate I use to use on my boat. I think that good looking copper hood may do a lot more than just look great. My next session I am going to do the whole boil with the foil over the top. I'll also keep track of times, with respect to length to reach temps. My basement is 60 degrees F. Maybe in the summer I wont need the foil. Also when in auto mode, the boil program was set to 100C. When the pot got to that temp the heating element would cycle on and off. Next time I will check to see if I can program 102C in auto, like I could in manual mode. It made a huge difference in the quality of the boil.
 
hfk2 said:
I heated the sparge water in one of my very old cheap 5 gallons pots on a butane hot plate I use to use on my boat. I think that good looking copper hood may do a lot more than just look great. My next session I am going to do the whole boil with the foil over the top. I'll also keep track of times, with respect to length to reach temps. My basement is 60 degrees F. Maybe in the summer I wont need the foil. Also when in auto mode, the boil program was set to 100C. When the pot got to that temp the heating element would cycle on and off. Next time I will check to see if I can program 102C in auto, like I could in manual mode. It made a huge difference in the quality of the boil.
Click to expand...

How the unit achieves a boil was a thing that jumped out at me as I was reviewing the Braumeister manual. Section 4.6 begins:

As described in the previous section, the automatic process has been continued, and the boiling of the hops started to. The display again shows the time and temperature of the phase. Since the set temperature of 100°C cannot always be reached, the time begins to run with an additional period of 3 min after reaching at least 95°C. The beer wort is boiled
during this phase.

Since this has obviously been translated from the German, I'm not quite sure what they're attempting to say here. Naturally, an electric element can only be cycled on and off to achieve a particular set temperature. I'm assuming what you accomplished by setting a higher temperature (102°C) was to establish a higher set point where the element will cycle. I'm still a little puzzled by the phrase "Since the set temperature of 100°C cannot always be reached-"
 
rico 576
When using the automatic mode the pre-programed temp is 100C. The boiler was able to reach 100C but when it does it starts to cycle the heating element on and off. This starts the boil, then stops the boil because the element is always going on and off. I'm not sure yet whether I can increase the boiling temp to 102C like I could in the manual mode. However when in manual mode I reached 100C but could not reach 102C and this caused the heating element to constantly stay on. When I partially covered the pot I got a nice rolling boil. I notice that when I boil with propane my temp is always up around 218 -220F to keep a rolling boil
 
hfk2 said:
rico 576
When using the automatic mode the pre-programed temp is 100C. The boiler was able to reach 100C but when it does it starts to cycle the heating element on and off. This starts the boil, then stops the boil because the element is always going on and off. I'm not sure yet whether I can increase the boiling temp to 102C like I could in the manual mode. However when in manual mode I reached 100C but could not reach 102C and this caused the heating element to constantly stay on. When I partially covered the pot I got a nice rolling boil. I notice that when I boil with propane my temp is always up around 218 -220F to keep a rolling boil
Click to expand...

Thanks.....it doesn't sound like it's something you can't control. Something I forgot to ask- does that insulating jacket come with the Braumeister, or did you have to purchase it separately?
 
hfk2 said:
It's extra. About $70. I thought I would need it brewing in the basement in New England
Click to expand...

Wow. That's steep. If I buy a Braumeister, I'll probably just go with the material I used on my current boil pot. It's actually automotive firewall insulation I got from JC Whitney, along with a fireproof metal tape to put it on and heat-resistant spray glue to make it stick to the pot. Has worked like a charm now for two years, and even made the transition to a turkey-fryer burner. Makes a difference in heat retention.
 




Notice the bright orange label? The word Vorsicht Glas means:
English words for the German word vorsicht
attention, caution, cautiousness, circumspectness, guardedness, wariness, Watch your step

Glas, well obviously that means Glass. Even though there is no glass in the box, I appreciate the thought so that Fed Ex would be careful with it...more on that later.

Yahoosie!






Trying it out a little.


Tiny ding in the lip but I think that will be okay.


What caused that tiny ding you ask? Good question. This lid was tied down nice and secure but somehow (in a container marked, "Caution GLASS") it was slid over the lip and it in turn bent the lid.




But...all in all coming all the way from Germany it could have been worse. I hope anyway as I haven't fired it up yet. Still have to convert the plug.

Also, I noticed above the mention of a "screen" filter. I guess the 50's don't get the screened version.


Not bitchin as I am sure they will be fine, just wanted to show the difference. All the videos I saw had the cloth one in it so thats what I was expecting until I saw the pics of the other.
 
It will be interesting to see how the replacement of that lid is handled. But hey, don't let that stop you from brewing!
 
wyzazz said:
It will be interesting to see how the replacement of that lid is handled. But hey, don't let that stop you from brewing!
Click to expand...

Hope it won't be. I called Thorsten as soon as I found it. He said they would even replace the unit if I found that the ding turned out to be more than a ding. So far so good! He has done everything else he said he was so I figure this won't be any different.

I was wondering about the dip tube situation. Looks like the coils are directly in front of where I would need to add the dip tube inside.



 
I wouldn't think that bending them out of the way would hurt anything. I've seen many bend their elements without an issue.
 
wyzazz said:
Would work the same way, just don't use the Neutral lug at the bottom.
Click to expand...

So basically, I can just leave the bottom lug off (makes more room for the wire).

Edit: I was told that will probably not work with a GFCI breaker. So I will have to use a regular one and hope it doesn't kill me?
 
Yambor44, congrats on your new Braumeister. Before mine was delivered I contacted Speidel with some questions and they quickly got back to me. The truly seem like a very reputable company and I'm sure they'll take care of any of your issues. Apparently you got you plug wired. If you are using a range/oven 4 prong outlet and plug you will find a black hot wire, a red hot wire, a white neutral and a bare ground. The black and red wires each carry 120volts. Because they are out of phase each acts as the others neutral. The white neutral acts in tandem with the supplied 120 volts to supply just 120volts to run things such as a clock, timer, electronic controls etc. To wire the Speidel cord you do not use the white neutral. It's important that the yellow/green wire in the Speidel cord is wired to the bare copper ground. The other 2 wires in the Speidel cord get wire to the 120 volt lines. You can test your cord with a volt meter. With one probe in the bottom slot of the Speidel plug place the other probe in one of the top slots. You should get 120 volts. Move to the other top slot and you should still get 120 Volts. If you place both probes in one each of the top slots you should get 240 volts. The Speidel plug looks similar to a computer/printer plug but is a little different design made of high output heating appliances. It is more heat resistant. It will fit in a computer power inlet however a computer plug will not fit into the power inlet on the Braumeister. That's interesting that you get fabric screens while I got stainless. Why not all the same? I believe a GFCI needs both a neutral and a ground to sense the short. You could always put a GFCI circuit breaker in the box, but they are quite expensive. I'm not using one. I might change my mind after that first 240 volt jolt, if I survive. My heating elements move up and down quite a bit. You might not have any problems getting a tube between them. Post how everything works out. Good luck
 
hfk2,

I actually just have the stove plug. As Wyzazz suggested I wired the green/yellow to the top (ground) prong and the blue and black to each side. I removed the bottom prong and left it out altogether.


I do have a GFCI breaker and not outlet. I am bring some water (about 6 gallons) up to 149 (65* C). Water started at 25 c and is now at 55 c in 14 minutes. Pumps kicked on and off as they are supposed to to purge the air. MAN, how quiet!! Not sure yet how to cancel this once it gets to temp as I don't plan on mashing tonight. Also, if I only want to mash at 152 for 60 minutes, can't I do that? Manual?? I am still reading! Jumped the gun to try this out as I was expecting it to trip the breaker. But maybe everyone thought I had a GFCI outlet and not breaker? Thats why I ended up with one of these...no electrical knowledge!
 
WOW again! I just realized the pump(s) is running while the water is heating. I couldn't even hear it!! Decided to put the crooked lid on to see if that helps the temps climb faster!! Whoop, its beeping at me! 77 to 149 in 19 minutes with the lid off for 18!
 
Ahh, figured out how to abort. Press up/down arrows simultaneously and then abort. Pump(s) is off, water is hot. Granted it's only 6 or so gallons but I am HAPPY so far with the efficiency.
 
Well, the only challenge I can see thus far is that the 50L model leaves about 3 gallons of water behind. I'm afraid to fashion one of the diptubes like hfk2 did as my elements are running just at the spouts hole. I could split them apart but I'm afraid it may hit at some point and there goes the element.

hfk2's
23924d1302624151-speidel-braumeister-brewmaster-dsc_0766.jpg


Mine


 
Yambor44 said:
Well, the only challenge I can see thus far is that the 50L model leaves about 3 gallons of water behind. I'm afraid to fashion one of the diptubes like hfk2 did as my elements are running just at the spouts hole. I could split them apart but I'm afraid it may hit at some point and there goes the element.
Click to expand...

Maybe you could fashion a diptube like hfk2's and then put some silicone tubing over it so no metal is touching the heating elements? Maybe it's not even needed? I'd drop them a line to see if it's going to cause any issues.

Glad you've got it running and like it so far! I can't wait to build something similar using some of the parts you sent to me. :D
 
yambor44, Great you have the plug right and you figured it out, up and down arrows to cancel. Hold down arrow to enter manual mode. In program mode program first phase 152 degrees and time for 60 minutes, for the rest of the phases enter 0 for time. Kettle will heat up to temp, then beep to tell you to insert malt pipe, screens and malt. During mashing the pump shuts down for a little while and the display indicate it's resting. At end of mash it beeps to tell you to remove malt pipe to clarify. You'll notice that while waiting for you to raise malt pipe to drain the pump shut off but the heater maintains temperature. To see if you can fashion a drain pipe see if you can insert a 1/2" dowel or 1/2" copper pipe above that heating coil into the hole. You have way more coils than me, and mine don't come up to the drain hole. At least you got up and working, now brew something.
 
hfk2 said:
yambor44, Great you have the plug right and you figured it out, up and down arrows to cancel. Hold down arrow to enter manual mode. In program mode program first phase 152 degrees and time for 60 minutes, for the rest of the phases enter 0 for time. Kettle will heat up to temp, then beep to tell you to insert malt pipe, screens and malt. During mashing the pump shuts down for a little while and the display indicate it's resting. At end of mash it beeps to tell you to remove malt pipe to clarify. You'll notice that while waiting for you to raise malt pipe to drain the pump shut off but the heater maintains temperature. To see if you can fashion a drain pipe see if you can insert a 1/2" dowel or 1/2" copper pipe above that heating coil into the hole. You have way more coils than me, and mine don't come up to the drain hole. At least you got up and working, now brew something.
Click to expand...

Did you just slip a half inch copper into your?
 
Or you could forget the bulkhead/diptube combo and try to T off of the pump lines and drain from that side/bottom drain, just a thought.
 
My dip tube is made from 1/2" copper pipe. The part that fits into the kettle hole is a 1/2" to 3/8" reducer. On the 3/8" end I put a small piece of silicon tubing which makes a very tight fit. The whole thing just barely fits between the heating elements and the malt pipe. It probably cost a $1 to make. You should be able to fashion something similar. I think plumbing into the pump fittings would be quite a difficult project.
 
hfk2 said:
My dip tube is made from 1/2" copper pipe. The part that fits into the kettle hole is a 1/2" to 3/8" reducer. On the 3/8" end I put a small piece of silicon tubing which makes a very tight fit. The whole thing just barely fits between the heating elements and the malt pipe. It probably cost a $1 to make. You should be able to fashion something similar. I think plumbing into the pump fittings would be quite a difficult project.
Click to expand...

Yeah, its a great idea in theory, but I don't want to munk with any of that just yet. I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks.
 
Yambor44 said:
Curious...it doesn't matter that the element is touching itself?
Click to expand...

If the element is a low enough watt-density then it won't really matter, most of the water heater elements we use would have an issue with that. If it's touching itself already then I wouldn't worry too much about moving a coil out of the way to install a dip-tube. Heck, if you can slightly bend it so it's not touching itself in the process then that is a plus in my mind as well.
 
It shouldn't matter if the coils touch. The resistive wire is usually encased in porcelain which is then encased in usually a nickel chromium metal. Higher quality ones like on a stove top can operate exposed to air and not self destruct. Others used for water heaters must be submerged. If there was live current on the outside of the coils we would get quite a shock if we touched the water as it warmed or even the pot itself. The only concern I can think of is that the combined heat of the two elements touching might compromise the exterior coating and cause one of the coils to fail sooner. One of my coils touches quite firmly to the vertical leg that goes into the bottom of the pot.
 
hfk2 said:
Next time I will check to see if I can program 102C in auto, like I could in manual mode. It made a huge difference in the quality of the boil.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can.
When programming the mash the last two steps are the duration and temperature of the boil "boiling hops". I allways set it at 102 to maintain a constant boil.


Sparging is not very well covered in the manual. I have started to adjust my amount of mash-in water in the speidel such that I can allways sparge with 9.5 liters of water to achieve my preboil volume of 28 liters (90 min boil for 22 liters of finished wort). I chose 9.5 liters because I have a pot that holds just that and heat it on the kitchen stove. I pour that water through the malt pipe as fast as it will drain through the malt and it doesn't really take that long. The efficiencies on the last couple of brews have been very consistent around 78-80%. I have the machine start for the boil while sparging.
One problem with this amount of sparging is that the wort will fill the kettle up a few cm higher than the bottom of the malt pipe so I've been resting the malt pipe on two pieces of 1 1/2" x 3" timber instead of the stainless thingy designed for the purpose.

The stainless filter screen must be a recent upgrade to the machine. I've had my 20-liter for about six months and it came fith the cloth filters. I'll give my dealer a call and buy the stainless ones as the cloth filter in the bottom is a PITA because it's floating and needs to be stiched to the perforated plate with pieces of wire or weighted down somehow. Some brewers use a lenght of stainless chain for the purpose.

Great idea with the copper fittings for a dip-tube!
 
There do appear to be heating issues with this unit, enough so that Speidels sells an accessory insulating jacket, and I saw at least one other video on YT with someone using a homemade insulating blanket. It's not that one can't DIY this (I did it to my boil kettle when I went AG, and it was a definite improvement),but it suggests that the Braumeister might be a bit underpowered.

BTW, the great information just keeps coming on the Braumeister....keep those posts coming!
 
2.5 or 3 kW wouldn't hurt for the 20-liter. But with the insulating jacket 2kW is enough. Just remember to set the setpoint at 101 or 102 to prevent the element from shutting off as soon as it reaches boiling.

Just a thought but one simple reason for the small unit being just 2kW might be that they designed it to be used in anyones (european) kitchen on an accessory outlet that often has only a 10A (220V) breaker. The 50-l is not underpowered but needs a 16A breaker which is less common to have everywhere around the house.
 
Beefeater, thank you for coming on board. I think I recognized your name from a forum read from Norway. (had it translated by google).. It was information from that forum that made me purchase the Braumeister. That's great I can adjust the boil temp in auto. I'll be brewing tomorrow and intend to do that. I also sparged by slowly pouring the hot liquor on top of the screen. I didn't get the boil-off I expected but now boiling at the higher temp I should get the finish volume I expect.

This is the simple diptube:
diptube..jpg
 

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