Speidel Braumeister (brewmaster)

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Does anyone want to buy my Braumeister 50L? I would sell it at a discount, along with my upgraded ball valve and quick disconnect, and thermal jacket. I'm thinking of downsizing to a smaller braumeister or getting the breweasy system from blichmann. Oh, and I also have the shortened mash pipe in addition to the regular one, allowing you to brew 5 gallon batches.

I would be interested. What shape is it in? what are you asking for it?
 
Looks VERY nice, much easier to understand, and hopefully operate, too. Makes me want to do a trade in!

For a mere $350 you can order the new controller I was told. It's a lot of money, but think about it... You know have two Speidel controllers therefore you could repurpose your extra one into $$$ or another system!
 
Can someone helpa brewer out? What is the distance from the bottom of the 20l malt pipe to the ridge where the malt screen rests?

Thanks in advance, I do appreciate it!

:mug:
 
Can someone helpa brewer out? What is the distance from the bottom of the 20l malt pipe to the ridge where the malt screen rests?

Thanks in advance, I do appreciate it!

:mug:

i can measure this for you once i'm home, i stopped checking this thread regularly when the braumeisters forum started, i suggest checking in over there as you will get a lot more info
https://forum.braumeisters.net
 
i can measure this for you once i'm home, i stopped checking this thread regularly when the braumeisters forum started, i suggest checking in over there as you will get a lot more info
https://forum.braumeisters.net


Thanks I appreciate it; I looked over there too without much success. Perhaps my Google-fu just isn't strong enough!

:mug:
 
Thanks I appreciate it; I looked over there too without much success. Perhaps my Google-fu just isn't strong enough!

:mug:

I meant join the forum and ask there, you are more likely to get some geeky dude with a tape measure running over to his(/her?) BM and measuring it immediately, much as i have just done, it's 3cm from the bottom of the malt pipe to the ridge where the bottom screen sits. allow a tiny bit extra for the rubber seal, maybe 1-2 mm, and there is wiggle room at the ridge as it's a bent curve rather than a welded right angle.
good luck!
 
So lately I have been only achieving 61-63% efficiency with my 20L. My crush is good with some powder. I sparge with 3L of water after I lift the malt pipe. I only end with slightly shy of 5 gallons going into fermenter and start the process filling to the top hash mark.

My last one I did instead of a single infusion I tried a protein rest just to see if that would help but nada. I check the temps during the process and all the temps are hit.

Any other suggestions or questions other then adjusting the recipe for the shoddy efficiency?

edit... I also sparge with only hot tap water and do not heat it up to 170. FYI
 
So lately I have been only achieving 61-63% efficiency with my 20L. My crush is good with some powder. I sparge with 3L of water after I lift the malt pipe. I only end with slightly shy of 5 gallons going into fermenter and start the process filling to the top hash mark.

My last one I did instead of a single infusion I tried a protein rest just to see if that would help but nada. I check the temps during the process and all the temps are hit.

Any other suggestions or questions other then adjusting the recipe for the shoddy efficiency?

edit... I also sparge with only hot tap water and do not heat it up to 170. FYI

Are you starting your mash with the correct amount of water? I tend to go slightly a smidge over the recommended amount just to make sure I'm adding enough to the fermenter at the end. However, yesterday I did a brew and nailed my gravity 1.055 spot on and had 74% Efficiency ATB (according to beersmith). by the way, I sparged at 170 w/approximately 2.5l
 
Are you starting your mash with the correct amount of water? I tend to go slightly a smidge over the recommended amount just to make sure I'm adding enough to the fermenter at the end. However, yesterday I did a brew and nailed my gravity 1.055 spot on and had 74% Efficiency ATB (according to beersmith). by the way, I sparged at 170 w/approximately 2.5l

I fill up to the top score mark on the middle post. Perhaps it is because I am not sparging with 170 water and missing out on those sugars.
 
So lately I have been only achieving 61-63% efficiency with my 20L.

What are you using to calculate your efficiency? If it's BeerSmith and you're looking at Brewhouse Efficiency, then there's your problem. You want to look at the mash efficiency number. As for stirring, I personally don't see a whole lot of difference in efficiency unless I've really packed the malt pipe full. If you're using a reasonable amount of grain and did a good job during mash in, there is no need to stir. The cold sparge probably doesn't make all that much difference either. By the time you're done mashing and have mashed out, the gravity should be uniform throughout the mash liquid and grain. Your 3L sparge is only going to rinse a bit more sugar out of the grain bed, it's not like a traditional mash with a much lower water/grain ratio. Take a gravity sample before sparging, and then one after. You're not going to find much difference.

Robert
 
I would disagree Robert on the sparge temperature. Sugar solutions get more viscous the warmer they are. Cold water will leave sugars behind, stuck to the grains/husks. If you're having low efficiency, and are sparging with water that is under 165, that's the first adjustment I would make and see how it impacts your numbers.

That said, I have no idea how significant the real world difference is between 115-120F hot tap water (which is my estimate based on your post), and something at 165-170F. There should be one in theory, but it might be small.
 
I would disagree Robert on the sparge temperature. Sugar solutions get more viscous the warmer they are. Cold water will leave sugars behind, stuck to the grains/husks. If you're having low efficiency, and are sparging with water that is under 165, that's the first adjustment I would make and see how it impacts your numbers.

That said, I have no idea how significant the real world difference is between 115-120F hot tap water (which is my estimate based on your post), and something at 165-170F. There should be one in theory, but it might be small.

I don't want to side track the thread too much, but let me explain my reasoning. What you're saying is in general true and especially true of a traditional mash, but not so true when talking about the Braumeister.

By the time you get to sparging you've already been recirculating your wort for over an hour. That in and of itself is going to create a nearly uniform distribution of sugar in solution. After that you're doing a mash out which will help loosen things up, but again the continual recirculation will produce a nearly homogeneous result. Is it 100% of the sugar from the grain... no, but it should be a large percentage. A tiny sparge of 3L hot or cold, isn't going to do much to impact the gravity of the wort since the volume is so small. For example:

If I have 29L of wort @ 1.045 and I add 3L of plain water (forget about hot or cold), I end up with 32L of wort @ 1.041 or 9% less sugar. In real life 3L of cold water is still going to rinse off some sugar, plus the residual heat in the grain will warm the water, so my above example is an extreme case. The temperature of the sparge water is not going to account for the 61-63% efficiency he is seeing compared to the ~75-80% that others get. It might buy a point or two at best. There are a ton of Braumeister users who don't sparge at all, and don't report efficiency this low.

So in the Braumeister specific case I still don't think it matters much, and certainly not enough to result in -15% efficiency.

Robert
 
So lately I have been only achieving 61-63% efficiency with my 20L. My crush is good with some powder. I sparge with 3L of water after I lift the malt pipe. I only end with slightly shy of 5 gallons going into fermenter and start the process filling to the top hash mark.

My last one I did instead of a single infusion I tried a protein rest just to see if that would help but nada. I check the temps during the process and all the temps are hit.

Any other suggestions or questions other then adjusting the recipe for the shoddy efficiency?

edit... I also sparge with only hot tap water and do not heat it up to 170. FYI

What mill gap size are you using for your crush?

The general consensus amongst the BM owners on the Braumeisters forum is that a gap setting of 1.2mm (3/64") gives the best efficiencies.
 
What mill gap size are you using for your crush?

The general consensus amongst the BM owners on the Braumeisters forum is that a gap setting of 1.2mm (3/64") gives the best efficiencies.

Yes, just checked the gap is at 1.2mm.

I did efficiency based on Brewers friend online calculator to determine my potential and actual. It was on par with what beersmith was reporting.

At the end of my mash even with extra 3L water to sparge, after boil I have just under 5 gallons going into the bucket. If I were not to sparge I am afraid my volume would not be adequate. And I fill up to top hash mark before dough-in.
 
Yes, just checked the gap is at 1.2mm.

I did efficiency based on Brewers friend online calculator to determine my potential and actual. It was on par with what beersmith was reporting.

At the end of my mash even with extra 3L water to sparge, after boil I have just under 5 gallons going into the bucket. If I were not to sparge I am afraid my volume would not be adequate. And I fill up to top hash mark before dough-in.

I think it may be your crush. Not all mills crush the same. I have a MM3 mill. Started at 1.25mm crush got 66%. Down to 1.15mm gave me 70-72%, and 1.10mm on my last brew got me to 79%. I do have to mention I do a 90 minute mash. Not sure if that helps but thought I'd put in my 2 cents.
 
If I get the 50l can I brew 5 gallons batches and just not us top up water and DME? Would this allow me to get a beer above 1.065.
I usually make 6.5 gallons of wort and transfer 5.5 into the fermentor. Does anyone know what the concentrated boil volume is on the 50L.
 
If I get the 50l can I brew 5 gallons batches and just not us top up water and DME? Would this allow me to get a beer above 1.065.
I usually make 6.5 gallons of wort and transfer 5.5 into the fermentor. Does anyone know what the concentrated boil volume is on the 50L.

I think you may need the smaller grain cylinder to do smaller batches. I have the 20L and I usually shoot for over 6G of wort and have no problem ending with 5g+ of finished beer
 
Sorry for the multiple forum post!

Hi all,

I am really looking into getting one of these two systems, but I am trying to figure out which configuration I would like to get. I currently do 2.5 gallon batches and do not plan anytime in the near future to scale up to 5 gallon batches (for two reason, 1) I don't need that much of one beer and 2) I HATE bottling 5 gallons of beer and do not plan on going back to kegging anytime soon). So I am trying to make the decision between getting to 20L version with the short malt pipe to brew 10L batches or just getting the 10L version by itself. The only reason to get the 20L version for me is the rare occasion I would like to do a bigger beer without needing to use DME/LME or other sugars to boost the SG. Plus, the 20L version has a more powerful pump and a 2000W element, which means to me faster boiling time and more vigorous boil. However, I love the tiny size of the 10L and it's obviously a little cheaper. Anybody have any experience with this issue and can provide some insight? Thanks in advance!

- Jason
 
I have had the 10 litre version for a few years now. I really like it and here is why:

-20 litre is a lot of beer for me, I like brewing more smaller batches. Gives me the opportunity to try different beer recipes.

-I can still do big beers without adding DME, you just adjust the recipe to make less beer. So you end with a 3 gallon batch instead of a 5 gallon batch. This is not hard and works well for me. I have brewed triple IPAs on my 10 litre with no sugar or DME needed. I do not feel limited at all by specific gravity.

- easier to love and clean. The 10 litre is heavy but not too heavy I cannot imagine the 20 litre which I have heard is much heavier and harder to move and clean. Also raising the malt pipe in the 20 is very hard and lots of people setup a winch for it. No thanks, I like being able to easily use my machine then move it clean and transport it when I want to.

Hope this helps, for me the 10 just made sense and I am happy with the decision. I have never thought I wish I had a bigger Braumeister.
 
Sorry for the multiple forum post!



Hi all,



I am really looking into getting one of these two systems, but I am trying to figure out which configuration I would like to get. I currently do 2.5 gallon batches and do not plan anytime in the near future to scale up to 5 gallon batches (for two reason, 1) I don't need that much of one beer and 2) I HATE bottling 5 gallons of beer and do not plan on going back to kegging anytime soon). So I am trying to make the decision between getting to 20L version with the short malt pipe to brew 10L batches or just getting the 10L version by itself. The only reason to get the 20L version for me is the rare occasion I would like to do a bigger beer without needing to use DME/LME or other sugars to boost the SG. Plus, the 20L version has a more powerful pump and a 2000W element, which means to me faster boiling time and more vigorous boil. However, I love the tiny size of the 10L and it's obviously a little cheaper. Anybody have any experience with this issue and can provide some insight? Thanks in advance!



- Jason


The 20L does not allow you to brew bigger beer, just more volume. All models have the same gravity restrictions for their designed batch volume.
 
I have a 20 litre unit. My recommendation is to purchase this size. Firstly it will enable you to make higher gravity brews. With my 20 litre unit I cannot brew 20 litres with anything higher than about 1065 GU as the max amount of grain you can practically use is 6.0 kg. The 10 litre unit is limited to 2.8 kg so this will be more limiting. Secondly sometimes it is useful to brew a larger amount for a special event. I recently brewed 20 litres of Altbier for my son's wedding which went down very well.

Neville
 
Can you brew a 3 gal batch with the 20L without using a short malt pipe? Say fill it up with 5 gal water, 5 lbs grain and a 90 min boil to reduce volume?
 
don't this is going to work, my evaporation rate is 0.9 US gallons per hour so you would have to wait over an extra 2 hours to reduce by 2 gallons, also the water/grist ratio would be well outside the normal range
 
don't this is going to work, my evaporation rate is 0.9 US gallons per hour so you would have to wait over an extra 2 hours to reduce by 2 gallons, also the water/grist ratio would be well outside the normal range

How much water do you start with? Speidel recommends 25l? I read over on the Braumeister forum you can get away with 20-21 liters as long as the heating elements are covered. I guess it also depends on grain absorption as well, a full malt pipe may suck up more water and expose the elements if you only start out with 20l of water but I'd only be using 5-6 lbs of grain so may be it will work? I guess it's something I'll have to play around with.
 
Hello Everyone,

Wanted to let everyone know I'm selling my Braumeister 20L so that I can upgrade to a larger pilot system for my startup nanobrewery. Come by the "for sale" section and take a look if you are interested in an additional system, or know someone who wants to purchase a well maintained Braumeister 20L.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=548720

Cheers.
 
Brewed up my first batch the other day. I targeted 3.5 gal batch of pilsner figuring I'd leave behind a half gal in the kettle for trub settling. I started off with 5.5 gal of water and 5.5 lbs of grain. Found out fast that this wasn't enough water to cover the heating elements so I added another half gal. So now I have 6 gal total and adjusted my boil time from 90 min to 120 to compensate the extra water.

Everything went fine except midway through the mash the pump made a whinning noise and stopped pumping. I turned it on and off a few times and it went back to normal ops. I think there may have been some grain in the impeller?

I targeted 78% efficiency and got 79%. Ended up with 3.5 gal in the kettle and 3 gal clean wort in the fermenter.

I have to work out a few bugs but I really like this system and looking forward to many more brews. Thanks to all that posted here for your info and knowledge, it helped me greatly.
 
Hello guys. Does anybody have the brewmeister 50l hood?
Could you help me with the dimensions of this hood? Upper diameter...height in the middle and total height?

Best, Peter
 
Super solution, thanks.
I would recommend to put the aluminum lining inside to prevent the pad from melting at the level of the heating coil.
 
Hello all,

I would like to be able to brew (post fermentation) volumes in the range of
20 litres - 18 litre corny keg plus a couple of bottles - so maybe 22 litres into the fermentor
30 litres - 18 litre corny keg plus a quite a few bottles - so maybe 32 litres into the fermentor
(Eventually, if I get a bigger fermentor -> 40 litres - 2 x 18 litre corny kegs plus a couple of bottles - so maybe 42 litres into the fermentor)

I am assuming the 20 litre Braumeister will not allow me to hit 30 litres post fermentation
The 50 litre Braumeister seems well suited based on a post I found elsewhere (link):

Hi, I have a 50L braumeister although i've not yet used the 50L malt pipe as I've just been using the 25L (only 3 brews so far) but have been playing around with recipe's on beersmith so this is just a guesstimate.

The 3 brews i have done withe the 25L malt pipe have ended up as follows:

Amber Ale: 30L mash in, 4.82KG grain, 4L sparge, 23L into fermenter, OG 1.047.
Butser Bitter: 30L mash in, 4.42KG grain, 12L Sparge, 30L into fermenter, OG 1.036.
Wheat Beer: 27.5 mash in, 5.00KG grain, 10L sparge, 25L into fermenter, OG 1.044 (missed target should have been 1.047)

That post seems to suggest that even with the 25 litre malt pipe you can exceed 25 litres of water.
I am therefore assuming that the malt pipe is not a water volume limitation but does limit the total malt weight that can be used and hence the beer strength.

Have I understood correctly?

Thanks,
Mike
 
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