Speidel Braumeister (brewmaster)

[makomachine]

So here is my recipe for my first BM brew.

English Bitter

7 lbs Pale Malt
.5 lbs Crystal 60
.25 lbs Flaked Oats
.5 lbs Victory

.50 ozs. EKG @ 60
.50 ozs. Fuggles @ 15
.50 ozs. EKG @ 10
.50 ozs. Fuggles @ 1

OG: 1.045
IBU's: 16.83

This is the first time I'm using my brewing software with the BM, hopefully I have entered the profile numbers correctly. My software tells me to mash with 23 liters water. Sparge with 8.85 liters of water. This will give me a boil size of 26.54 liters in kettle, ending up with 20.82 liters in the fermenter. Taking into account a 90 min boil and trub loss. Does this seem correct?

That seems like a little too much water to me, but don't have my conversion chart handy. Today I mashed with 6 gallons and sparged with 1.5 gallons and got right around 5.25 gallons in the fermentor after a 90 min boil. You're about a gallon more than me if my math is right. Are you using a dip tube or tipping your unit to get past the standard spigot level?

 

[rlhvegas]

That seems like a little too much water to me, but don't have my conversion chart handy. Today I mashed with 6 gallons and sparged with 1.5 gallons and got right around 5.25 gallons in the fermentor after a 90 min boil. You're about a gallon more than me if my math is right. Are you using a dip tube or tipping your unit to get past the standard spigot level?

Thanks mako, I'll adjust my sparge to 1.5g in my software. I will tip the unit until I fashion a dip tube. What method of draining are you using?

 

[makomachine]

Well my brew day was a success. I'm now officially pleased with my purchase! It's probably early for that, given I'm a bit away from sampling the actual first product, but the simplicity and stress free process really made this a great brew day. Followed the recipe as previously outlined and ended up as follows.

Pre boil Gravity - 12.8 Plato, 1052. *(76% efficiency)
OG - 15 Plato, 1061 SG

I'm pretty pleased with the efficiency numbers as my LHBS grain mill was set way too wide and upon looking at the crush, was a bit worried I'd be low today. (Didn't mill myself as it was a call in order they already had bagged for me) I think with a better crush I can easily depend and plan around the ~80% range that others are reporting.

Pitched my decanted 2L starter with some topped off wort at 70F and hit it with 50 seconds of pure O2 from my new oxygenation setup from Williams Brewing. The yeastie beasties were already chomping away at the starter actively and expecting minimal lag time on fermentation on this one. I'll let everyone know how this one turns out.

Things I still need to work out:

1). Pick up /Dip tube - could not get it to fit in my kettle with the elbow and reducer without pushing against the malt pipe. I removed it for this brew as I wanted the malt pipe centered to minimize grain from escaping around the off center screens. Not sure why I'm having this issue and may need to rethink the assembly. Anyone have an issue on their 20L with this occurring? I'd take a picture but my camera is MIA at the moment.

2) Chilling is SLOW - I had a terrible time chilling today with my old 50 ft immersion chiller hooked up to a 25 ft Pre chiller in a bucket of ice from my laundry room faucet. Ground water is warmer but I think a lot if this is from how well the BM is insulated with the jacket still on. Ran the pumps and it dropped quickly to around 85 degrees and then started crawling. Finally gave up at 80F - racked to my carboy and let the chest freezer take it down to 70F prior to pitching. I'm going to remove the jacket next time and see if that helps as a starting point. Didn't think to time it as it started dropping quickly, but it was longer than my outdoor setup by a good margin. Anyone have any tips in this area? Got me to thinking about a plate chiller but I'm a freak for sanitation and those things worry me.

Outside of these two items, everything went extremely well- all from the comfort of my air conditioned home! I'm going to need another chest freezer...

 

[makomachine]

Thanks mako, I'll adjust my sparge to 1.5g in my software. I will tip the unit until I fashion a dip tube. What method of draining are you using?

I picked up a bit of trub today and given that and another look at my fermenter, I'd go 1.75g as a starting point. (went and looked after I posted earlier) I auto syphoned today as I'm having dip tube issues - so still figuring that out myself.

You brewing tomorrow and is that going in your cask setup? Sounds tasty!

 

[rlhvegas]

I picked up a bit of trub today and given that and another look at my fermenter, I'd go 1.75g as a starting point. (went and looked after I posted earlier) I auto syphoned today as I'm having dip tube issues - so still figuring that out myself.

You brewing tomorrow and is that going in your cask setup? Sounds tasty!

Cool Mako I'll try 1.75g on sparge. Yes I'm killing two birds with one stone, brewing on the new system and supplying the beer engine!

 

[makomachine]

Cool Mako I'll try 1.75g on sparge. Yes I'm killing two birds with one stone, brewing on the new system and supplying the beer engine!

Let us know how it's going today.

Woke up this morning to the beginnings of a wicked fermentation in my chest freezer. I'm going to need a blow off tube for this one - even though I used fermcap! Usually fermcap eliminates this problem for me and wondering if it's the trub I picked up or the O2 I used for the first time. Need to figure out a blow off solution that still allows me to use my thermowell.

 

[clasley]

Mako did you check the temperature while chilling with anything other than the built-in probe? I've found it to be way off while chilling (10-15C or more).

I remember reading about this somewhere but can't recall which thread. From what I can tell as the wort chills hop debris and break material settle in around the probe and insulate it throwing off the reading. I'm going to solve the problem by drilling a small ~1/8" hole in the lid and use a long stem digital.

Yambor we may be wrong about these stainless chillers.

-Chris

 

[Yambor44]

I hope so Chris!! But I think I checked mine with a separate thermometer. I'll check it for sure with something else next time. All I know is the copper chiller took it right down to chilling temps in a way more reasonable time. I'm on the road right now so can't check my notes.

 

[makomachine]

Mako did you check the temperature while chilling with anything other than the built-in probe? I've found it to be way off while chilling (10-15C or more).

I remember reading about this somewhere but can't recall which thread. From what I can tell as the wort chills hop debris and break material settle in around the probe and insulate it throwing off the reading. I'm going to solve the problem by drilling a small ~1/8" hole in the lid and use a long stem digital.

Yambor we may be wrong about these stainless chillers.

-Chris

I actually checked via a separate digital thermometer myself and it was reading accurately. I had the pump running part of the time and probably kept things from settling on the probe - although that and impatience were probably why I picked up some trub as well.

 

[Yambor44]

Hey Mako, what percent are your citra and magnum hops?

 

[makomachine]

Hey Mako, what percent are your citra and magnum hops?

Forgot to post that in the original recipe and will update it.

Magnum - 13.5AA
Citra - 13.4AA
48 IBU's by recipe

 

[Yambor44]

Forgot to post that in the original recipe and will update it.

Magnum - 13.5AA
Citra - 13.4AA
48 IBU's by recipe

Thanks! Was putting this together and came up with IPA IBU's.

 

[makomachine]

Thanks! Was putting this together and came up with IPA IBU's.

It's technically 3 IBU's beyond the upper limits of the APA style, but I'm a fan of the hop and I'm not a stickler for guidelines! I also tend to always end up a bit short on my utilization and have always seemed to need to bump up my IBU's ~10% or so. I use bottled spring water and it's the next step in my process to nail down as I haven't done any water profiling or adjustments to date. Guessing that has something to do with it as I don't use any hop sacks in my process.

 

[Yambor44]

It's technically 3 IBU's beyond the upper limits of the APA style, but I'm a fan of the hop and I'm not a stickler for guidelines! I also tend to always end up a bit short on my utilization and have always seemed to need to bump up my IBU's ~10% or so. I use bottled spring water and it's the next step in my process to nail down as I haven't done any water profiling or adjustments to date. Guessing that has something to do with it as I don't use any hop sacks in my process.

Very, very good points.

 

[makomachine]

rlhvegas - How did your brew day go today? I'm sipping on my Oktoberfest and thinking about real ale, and where I could fit a beer engine into my home pub plans - thanks to you!

 

[rlhvegas]

rlhvegas - How did your brew day go today? I'm sipping on my Oktoberfest and thinking about real ale, and where I could fit a beer engine into my home pub plans - thanks to you!

Hey Mako, I'm in the midst of brewing a second 5g batch right now, everything's going great! I'm actually brewing two 5g batches of Oktoberfest... I'll explain later! I'll post my results soon.

I'm glad I've influenced another person towards a beer engine, it's the way beer should be served. If you want I can forward you info and contact for the beer engine.

 

[makomachine]

If you want I can forward you info and contact for the beer engine.

Definitely forward it to me when you get a chance. No rush as I have to wait until we build our next home before I go there, but will be great to have it for some pre-planning. Let us know your thoughts when you wrap up today!

 

[rlhvegas]

Definitely forward it to me when you get a chance. No rush as I have to wait until we build our next home before I go there, but will be great to have it for some pre-planning. Let us know your thoughts when you wrap up today!

I want to start by saying thank you to all you BM users for putting together this wonderful informative thread! My brew day was a complete success! My plan today was to brew a test English Bitter but I switched gears and brewed a double batch of Oktoberfest. Because of the procedures I learned here, my efficiency was 82% and the brew day was very enjoyable. This system is awesome. I'm very happy with my purchase.

Mako I bought my beer engine from ukbrewing.com, it's the CO model. The person you want to deal with is Paul Pendyke.

I can't wait to brew again. My next two beers will be the English Bitter and a Peppermint Stout.

 

[makomachine]

What mash schedule did you use for your Oktoberfest? Will be doing another this fall and will be the first on the BM. How did your boil volume turn out?

 

[DeGarre]

Just recapping my experiences.

On sparging. I seem to hit my BeerSmith-calculated OG when I fill up with 23-24 litres of water and after mashing I pour 4 litres of water on top of the filter while BM is bringing the temp up for the boil at which point I have 23-24 litres of wort, and 20 after the boil. If I sparge with 5 litres I will undershoot OG.

On chilling. I use Speidel chiller and it takes 20-25 minutes to get 20C ie pitching temp. Granted, water is from my own well and quite cold. Takes about 4 bucketfulls of water to get the job done. Very pleased. Also, the chiller is very easy to clean up, I just hose it down, nothing seems to stick to it.

Planning my #6 brew...porter/stout of some kind, chocolate and black malt, fuggles, etc...yummy...

 

[rlhvegas]

What mash schedule did you use for your Oktoberfest? Will be doing another this fall and will be the first on the BM. How did your boil volume turn out?

I used Hfk2's Mash schedule and it turned out great.

Protein rest 15 min @52C
Beta amylase rest 35 min @ 63C
Alpha amylase rest 35 min @ 70C
Mash out 15 min @ 78C

I started with 23 liters, sparged with 1.75g, ended up with a close to 5 gallons.

 

[Yambor44]

Just recapping my experiences.

On sparging. I seem to hit my BeerSmith-calculated OG when I fill up with 23-24 litres of water and after mashing I pour 4 litres of water on top of the filter while BM is bringing the temp up for the boil at which point I have 23-24 litres of wort, and 20 after the boil. If I sparge with 5 litres I will undershoot OG.

On chilling. I use Speidel chiller and it takes 20-25 minutes to get 20C ie pitching temp. Granted, water is from my own well and quite cold. Takes about 4 bucketfulls of water to get the job done. Very pleased. Also, the chiller is very easy to clean up, I just hose it down, nothing seems to stick to it.

Planning my #6 brew...porter/stout of some kind, chocolate and black malt, fuggles, etc...yummy...

Thanks for the info on sparging. As far as chilling goes, I use straight ice water the whole time pumped thru the chiller and it takes forever. I have used the pump wide open and also throttled the water back. Each seems to take it to about 85 degrees in 20-25 minutes and then it just sticks there. May last brew I used my old copper chiller and it worked fine.

Is there anything different in your chilling process? I do have a 50L with the 50L chiller of course but I believe Chris has the 20L and has had the same issue with chilling.

 

[wyzazz]

Are you able to turn the pump on while chilling? That may help to keep the wort in circulation and drop your chilling times. That being said copper will transfer the heat better than stainless and depending on the amount/size used it may just be more efficient than the Speidel chiller.

I know you're dealing with horrible groundwater temps so I'm sure that's a good portion of the issue. I have ~60F groundwater right now, my buddy uses a 50', 3/8" SS Chiller from nybrewsupply.com and was able to chill to 70F in 15mins or so.

 

[DeGarre]

Yambor, sure you don't have the BM on manual drive while chilling and the heating element still on? Have you acknowledged that the boiling is finished?

I just drop the chiller in, connect the hoses and open tap. Goes down from 99C or so to 85C in 2 minutes or so, after that a bit slower, but 25 mins max the whole shebang.

Currently my only real problem seems to be my bottling/kegging system which is a bit of a nightware but luckily non-BM related...touch wood.:rockin:

 

[Yambor44]

Are you able to turn the pump on while chilling? That may help to keep the wort in circulation and drop your chilling times. That being said copper will transfer the heat better than stainless and depending on the amount/size used it may just be more efficient than the Speidel chiller.

I know you're dealing with horrible groundwater temps so I'm sure that's a good portion of the issue. I have ~60F groundwater right now, my buddy uses a 50', 3/8" SS Chiller from nybrewsupply.com and was able to chill to 70F in 15mins or so.

Yes I do run the pump during chilling and have groundwater that is 78-80 degrees this time of year. This is why I use a submersible sumo in a cooler full of ice water.

 

[Yambor44]

Yambor, sure you don't have the BM on manual drive while chilling and the heating element still on? Have you acknowledged that the boiling is finished?

I just drop the chiller in, connect the hoses and open tap. Goes down from 99C or so to 85C in 2 minutes or so, after that a bit slower, but 25 mins max the whole shebang.

Currently my only real problem seems to be my bottling/kegging system which is a bit of a nightware but luckily non-BM related...touch wood.:rockin:

I do run the pump on manual mode and I make sure the setting on the element is well below my chilling target.

 

[wyzazz]

Yes I do run the pump during chilling and have groundwater that is 78-80 degrees this time of year. This is why I use a submersible sumo in a cooler full of ice water.

Sounds like an excuse to pick up a glycol chiller to me.

 

[makomachine]

Sounds like an excuse to pick up a glycol chiller to me.

I've got to figure out a better Chilling solution for my next brew day. I'm going to let it chill with groundwater first, then hit it with the Pre chiller with ice. Hoping that gets me sub 70 degrees the next time around.

I've also got to go to the Hardware store to figure out a different dip tube solution. I'll post what I come up with once I get that figured out.

 

[rlhvegas]

Here are some pics taken of my maiden Oktoberfest brew day. Enjoy!

 

[DeGarre]

rlhvegas, you barely had time to fasten the wing nut before wort went over the edge?