Speidel Braumeister (brewmaster)

[hfk2]

Chris, did you run the pump with elbow in place after cooling and did it whirlpool the hops and trub in the center of the pot?

 

[clasley]

Yambor44 - the 20l has one pump.

hfk2 - I ran it with the immersion chiller to get to temp then removed the chiller and whirlpooled for another 10 minutes or so, shutoff the pump and let it all settle out. The cone wasn't perfect but it was an improvement from before.

-Chris

 

[Yambor44]

Yambor44 - the 20l has one pump.

hfk2 - I ran it with the immersion chiller to get to temp then removed the chiller and whirlpooled for another 10 minutes or so, shutoff the pump and let it all settle out. The cone wasn't perfect but it was an improvement from before.

-Chris

I just use a stainless strainer hanging inside my fermentation bucket. Catches all that gunk!

 

[makomachine]

Yambor44 - the 20l has one pump.

hfk2 - I ran it with the immersion chiller to get to temp then removed the chiller and whirlpooled for another 10 minutes or so, shutoff the pump and let it all settle out. The cone wasn't perfect but it was an improvement from before.

-Chris

Did you previously whirlpool with a spoon, like I do? Just trying to understand what the improvement is based on.

 

[makomachine]

Good question - thoughts?

Rob

I'm thinking an indirect path to the grain bed can't hurt, but I'm no expert. It would seem to make it a lot more 'even of a flow of liquid - but there is probably only one way to find out.

 

[makomachine]

Threw caution to the wind and tried it on my last brew day, a Belgian Dubbel with 13.5 lbs of grain. Put it in before I added water - heated, added the malt pipe and crossed my fingers. Ran the entire process with it in place without a hitch. Next time I may not be so lucky but it seems to be pretty solid.

-Chris

One other question. How was your efficiency compared to previous batches? Not sure if you've brewed that particular beer before, but just thinking through it from a percentage basis.

 

[clasley]

Did you previously whirlpool with a spoon, like I do? Just trying to understand what the improvement is based on.

Yes, previously I've used a spoon. The results were as good or better - need more data points (aka more beer) to make a final judgement.

One other question. How was your efficiency compared to previous batches? Not sure if you've brewed that particular beer before, but just thinking through it from a percentage basis.

It was down a bit (~5%) from what I've been seeing but I milled this at home. I usually get my recipes pre-ground from Brewmasters Warehouse - this batch was from my local homebrew shop. Again more data points/beer needed.

-Chris

 

[waynemil]

I like your idea Chris, that is what my dip tube mod looks like to drain the beer. i was thinking about your mod and might add about 15 inches of silicone tubing so the wort actually exits at the top of the wort chiller. I think Jamal had a picture of this on one of the brew forums, it was for a basic kettle, not the Speidel, but for anyone using the immersion chiller. I will try and find the link.

Wayne

Yambor44 - the 20l has one pump.

hfk2 - I ran it with the immersion chiller to get to temp then removed the chiller and whirlpooled for another 10 minutes or so, shutoff the pump and let it all settle out. The cone wasn't perfect but it was an improvement from before.

-Chris

 

[waynemil]

I found the link for a cool mod to make a whirlpooling immersion chiller. Read the whole article-- really informative and interesting. One note, the extra copper in the picture is just a reflection not another chiller. Seems like we could put a piece of tubing into the output of the pump and let it exit right at the chiller. Any of you engineer types give it a try and report back. Here is the link:
http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

I like your idea Chris, that is what my dip tube mod looks like to drain the beer. i was thinking about your mod and might add about 15 inches of silicone tubing so the wort actually exits at the top of the wort chiller. I think Jamal had a picture of this on one of the brew forums, it was for a basic kettle, not the Speidel, but for anyone using the immersion chiller. I will try and find the link.

Wayne

 

[DeGarre]

I'm at page 12-13 and saw a nice blueprint for a dip tube for the 20L unit. Sure my physics is rusty but how come a pipe that is bent low is able to suck wort up?

The problem I had was that when I was tipping the unit forward to get last of the wort to flow into the FV, unless I had the BM over the edge of the table the unit was resting on the control unit which I reckon isn't healthy.

 

[Yambor44]

Here's a video I made of the paper clips holding the filter down.

 

[rico567]

I'm at page 12-13 and saw a nice blueprint for a dip tube for the 20L unit. Sure my physics is rusty but how come a pipe that is bent low is able to suck wort up?

The problem I had was that when I was tipping the unit forward to get last of the wort to flow into the FV, unless I had the BM over the edge of the table the unit was resting on the control unit which I reckon isn't healthy.

How is my autosiphon able to move liquid up against the force of gravity and then down into my bottling bucket? It's the same siphon principle.

 

[makomachine]

Here's a video I made of the paper clips holding the filter down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZnuv1T2bLQ

I have that exact same pint glass - one of my favorites from one of my favorite breweries! Thanks for the vid!

 

[hfk2]

Here's a thought for us that have the 20l with the stainless steel mesh instead of the cloth. My SS mesh isn't flat at all. It is warped and never sits flat. If we could get replacement rubber gaskets, the one that goes on the bottom of the malt pipe, fit it around the SS sieve and mesh, cut it to size and super glue it, it would hold the mesh flat, and create a good seal around the malt pipe. Yambor44, as usual an informative video. A siphon works by gravity. As long as the discharge tube is longer than the pickup tube and the discharge end is lower than the lowest level of liquid it will work. Also water (wort) has an affinity to itself (polar attraction), therefore the molecules want to stay together which helps with the siphoning process.

 

[wyzazz]

I wouldn't use Super Glue for anything that touches my beer hot or cold. I'm just sayin...

 

[hfk2]

Super glue (Cyanoacrylate) is non toxic. It was developed for medical purposes in dental use and it was used as a liquid suture. I would only have used it to join the two ends of the rubber gasket, not around the perimeter. I wonder how Speidel joins the two ends of their gasket? Super glue or weld?

 

[wyzazz]

Super glue (Cyanoacrylate) is non toxic. It was developed for medical purposes in dental use and it was used as a liquid suture. I would only have used it to join the two ends of the rubber gasket, not around the perimeter. I wonder how Speidel joins the two ends of their gasket? Super glue or weld?

Hmmm, interesting. I never knew that, I wonder if the bonding strength would be enough to join 2 pieces of silicone?

 

[hfk2]

I think the exposure to extremely high water temperatures would eventually destroy the bond. Might not even need to glue it. Just giving it a little thought. I'll try the paper clips first.

 

[wreals]

Super glue (Cyanoacrylate) is non toxic. It was developed for medical purposes in dental use and it was used as a liquid suture.

I don't know where you heard that from but it's incorrect.

Like a lot of things, it was developed for one use, discovered it didn't do the job very well and then other uses present themselves.

Cyanoacrylate was developed as a bonding agent for gun sights in WW2 and then sold as a glue by Kodak. It was only later developed into medical uses in the 70s and 80s.

While non-toxic, Super glue is waterproof but isn't very flexible.

 

[hfk2]

I shouldn't have used the term "developed" but its early use and first real uses were as I stated. It failed as gun sight adhesive and it failed as a dental adhesive. It breaks down at about 200F and especially when exposed to excessive moisture.
"Super glue, Krazy glue, Eastman 910 and similar glues are all a special type of glue called cyanoacrylates. Cyanoacrylates were invented in 1942 by Dr. Harry Coover of Kodak Laboratories during experiments to make a special extra-clear plastic suitable for gun sights. He found they weren't suitable for that purpose, so he set the formula aside. Six years later he pulled it out of the drawer thinking it might be useful as a new plastic for airplane canopies. Wrong again--but he did find that cyanoacrylates would glue together many materials with incredible strength and quick action, including two very expensive prisms when he tried to test the ocular qualities of the substance. Seeing possibilities for a new adhesive, Kodak developed "Eastman #910" (later "Eastman 910") a few years later as the first true "super glue." In a now-famous demonstration conducted in 1959, Dr. Coover displayed the strength of this new product on the early television show "I've Got a Secret," where he used a single drop placed between two steel cylinders to lift the host of the show, Garry Moore, completely off of the ground.

The use of cyanoacrylate glues in medicine was considered fairly early on. Eastman Kodak and Ethicon began studying whether the glues could be used to hold human tissue together for surgery. In 1964 Eastman submitted an application to use cyanoacrylate glues to seal wounds to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Soon afterward Dr. Coover's glue did find use in Vietnam--reportedly in 1966 cyanoacrylates were tested on-site by a specially trained surgical team, with impressive results."
My point was whether it is appropriate for this use and that it isn't toxic.

 

[Yambor44]

I shouldn't have used the term "developed" but its early use and first real uses were as I stated. It failed as gun sight adhesive and it failed as a dental adhesive. It breaks down at about 200F and especially when exposed to excessive moisture.....
"

Well, there's your answer!

 

[Yambor44]

Also, I don't think the sieve would fit down into the malt pipe with a gasket of any type around the outer edge. If you notice in my last video, when I placed it into the water it stopped and had to be helped to the bottom with my mash paddle. Pretty tight clearance.

 

[makomachine]

Also, I don't think the sieve would fit down into the malt pipe with a gasket of any type around the outer edge. If you notice in my last video, when I placed it into the water it stopped and had to be helped to the bottom with my mash paddle. Pretty tight clearance.

Do you think there is enough room for a mesh wrap around for the drawstring method? I was thinking a nylon paint strainer could possibly be used with a slight modification.

 

[Yambor44]

Do you think there is enough room for a mesh wrap around for the drawstring method? I was thinking a nylon paint strainer could possibly be used with a slight modification.

Funny you mention that. I am at this moment wrapping mine in a paint strainer bag. Same material as BIAB right?? I think there is room for that.

 

[makomachine]

Great minds think alike! Let me know how far off base I am! My 20L can't get here soon enough...

 

[clex25]

Hey All -

Just wanted to check-in with everyone. I got my Braumeister 20L the end of last week, and have brewed one batch on it so far. Thanks to Yambor44 answering some questions on youtube (under a different alias) and the advice in this thread, I was able to get through the brew day easily and change the plug for the unit also.

Mine came with the stainless steel mesh that everyone said was better. Looking forward to seeing more tips and tricks from everyone in this thread.

 

[makomachine]

Hey All -

Just wanted to check-in with everyone. I got my Braumeister 20L the end of last week, and have brewed one batch on it so far. Thanks to Yambor44 answering some questions on youtube (under a different alias) and the advice in this thread, I was able to get through the brew day easily and change the plug for the unit also.

Mine came with the stainless steel mesh that everyone said was better. Looking forward to seeing more tips and tricks from everyone in this thread.

Clex25 - So how was the first brew on it? How was wort clarity, efficiency, etc? You pleased with it?

 

[Yambor44]

Great minds think alike! Let me know how far off base I am! My 20L can't get here soon enough...

Paint strainer bags don't have a draw string so that is my hang up. Maybe a huge hop bag with draw string? Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Yambor44]

Hey All -

Just wanted to check-in with everyone. I got my Braumeister 20L the end of last week, and have brewed one batch on it so far. Thanks to Yambor44 answering some questions on youtube (under a different alias) and the advice in this thread, I was able to get through the brew day easily and change the plug for the unit also.

Mine came with the stainless steel mesh that everyone said was better. Looking forward to seeing more tips and tricks from everyone in this thread.

You're very welcome. Who has the alias? Me? You?

How was your brew day?

 

[wyzazz]

Weave a small nylon string through the top of the bag.