Speidel Braumeister (brewmaster)

[digitaldeluge]

I did a brew last week after work, it was almost 2 in the morning and I had 40 minutes to my next hop addition. I set an alarm on my phone and laid down for just a "minute". I woke up at 3 with one of those O sh** how long have I been asleep and looked at the clock 3 am. I ran out to the garage and my BM was beeping away and down to 89. I went ahead and tossed in the last two hop additions and went to sleep. In the morning I transferred the wort to a 30L speidel fermenter tossed an empty airlock on to keep dust out and let air in while it cooled. I pitched when I got home from work at 6pm with the wyyeast slap pack I had activated the night before, it was nice and swollen. That was Wednesday and it is happily bubbling away I popped off the airlock for a second just now and everything looks great no noticeable infection. We'll see how funky it tastes from the crazy hoping.

 

[dinnerstick]

hey speidel users, at least 20L users, the 50 and 200 are a bit overkill for this, sous vide cooking time! keep that braumeister busy while your winter lagers are fermenting, use it as a cooking water bath. i have done this about 6 times now. for only a few smaller pieces of meat i don't use the malt tube; fill with water above the heating element, get it up to the set temp (remember to bleed the air out of the pump), put in the bottom disc, arrange the meat (vacuum sealed in plastic) on the disc and put on the top disc to hold it in place. for normal sv cooking temps 50-65 range it doesn't matter if the plastic touches the heater a bit, it won't melt. run the pump, put on the lid, there you go. for larger amounts, like the 7 very large duck breasts i cooked for christmas dinner, use the malt tube and recirculate through it like for a mash. it works great!!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f56/show-us-your-sous-vide-cooker-343738/index5.html#post4719041

 

[danibier]

Check out this funny movie. German homebrewers brewing the old fashioned style in their garden 500 litre:

 

[Alchemy]

Check out this funny movie. German homebrewers brewing the old fashioned style in their garden 500 litre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBylkE7RROU

haha, they are so drunk at the end of it.

the beer looks good, a lot cheaper than the 37 grand they want for the Braumeister 500L

 

[BierFest]

Just wondering if anybody else has encountered the following:

I was doing a brew last week and i noticed that through the most of the time I had the unit in operation I would get very slight electric shocks from it any time i touched it. Not exactly the nicest thing you expect from the braumeister. I completed the brew without problem but after I finished i was in a hurry to clean up etc so did not get time to look over the unit properly.

It appears to me that something might not be earthed properly or perhaps something got wet. Underneath all looks to be in order and nothing loose etc.

Has anybody every seen this or have any thoughts as to what it might be?

 

[dinnerstick]

Just wondering if anybody else has encountered the following:

I was doing a brew last week and i noticed that through the most of the time I had the unit in operation I would get very slight electric shocks from it any time i touched it. Not exactly the nicest thing you expect from the braumeister. I completed the brew without problem but after I finished i was in a hurry to clean up etc so did not get time to look over the unit properly.

It appears to me that something might not be earthed properly or perhaps something got wet. Underneath all looks to be in order and nothing loose etc.

Has anybody every seen this or have any thoughts as to what it might be?

never had it. sounds scary! if i were you i wouldn't brew while bathing

 

[rvklein]

haha, they are so drunk at the end of it.

the beer looks good, a lot cheaper than the 37 grand they want for the Braumeister 500L

A 4 BBL brewery for 37 grand is cheap!

 

[bcryan]

A 4 BBL brewery for 37 grand is cheap!

It's not a brewery. It's a machine to produce wort. It's very expensive compared to gas. And if you wanted to double batch with the braumeister compared to a 3 vessel system it would double your day. I love my 50 braumeister but I was going to start a nano I wouldn't get the 500

 

[wasp]

.....I was doing a brew last week and i noticed that through the most of the time I had the unit in operation I would get very slight electric shocks from it any time i touched it. Not exactly the nicest thing you expect from the braumeister. I completed the brew without problem but after I finished i was in a hurry to clean up etc so did not get time to look over the unit properly....

Could it just be "static"?

We get electrostatic discharge from many items when outside temperature and indoor humidity both drop low during our cold winters.

Hopefully a breaker would trip if it were an electrical problem, but a GFCI would be a good addition for piece of mind:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P8COIS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000H5R3OE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

WOW! North America is the best place to need this item - pricewise (though this is only a 120v version).

 

[Obliviousbrew]

Those shocks happen to me me once, I didn´t screw the pump back tigth after I cleaned it and it was leaking from underneath, now I make sure everything is tigth before brew day.

 

[dinnerstick]

It's not a brewery. It's a machine to produce wort. It's very expensive compared to gas. And if you wanted to double batch with the braumeister compared to a 3 vessel system it would double your day. I love my 50 braumeister but I was going to start a nano I wouldn't get the 500

there's user danibier on here who has posted about using the 200L for a brewpub. maybe they can comment. i always wonder; at home i don't mind relatively low efficiency and leaving behind stray grain bits in the kettle, which i kind of accept as inherent for 'normal' use of the speidel system, but in a professional brewery does that start to get expensive? or do you have to set up a HLT for sparge water and rig up some way to vourlauff (spelling?) just wondering

 

[danibier]

I am using 48 kg of malt and 4 kg sugar, this results in about 320 l of wort. Yes, if you use also sugar you can easily brew more than 300 l with the BM 200. I then get a brewhouse efficiency or around 70 %, which is absolutely acceptable. Even if it was 60 % the price of the malt does not really matter. The expensive stuff is usually the work and the machinery. I would not recommend doing 2 batches with the BM 200 per day. It really results in very long days ! The BM 200 might not be the prefect solution but one can brew good beer and really earn money. It think if I had a lot of space I would have bought a different system but there is just no other device on the market that is so compact. And the quality is good. I just brewed the 71th batch. No problems so far.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/danidrinks-Mikrobrauerei-Daniel-Michel/176739955731354

 

[Alchemy]

I love my Braumeister but i am tired of things breaking! :-(

I broke yet another pump impeller even though I am very careful to not let grain in a piece will slip by.

Not only that but I have been using a step up down converter (5000 watt) and now it is blowing 30 amp fuses every time i try to heat up the water.

I am going to try to have a cable made that will fit my 250v receptacle in the basement. Hopefully that works.

Also hoping more beer can send me a replacement impeller since it has been longer than a year.

Anyone else breaking impellers?

 

[Yambor44]

Alchemy,

Send me a PM with your mailing address. I have three impellers I'll send you. Those are those little ball things right?

Rob

 

[Obliviousbrew]

How are you breaking your impellers? can you post a pic of the broken one?

 

[Alchemy]

How are you breaking your impellers? can you post a pic of the broken one?

Here is the thread i made when the first one broke: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/braumeister-pump-replacement-more-power-317778/

There are pictures in there. The new pump is different but basically the same thing happened. A peice of grain that i didn't even see gets sucked under the impeller and turns it sideways.

the pump starts making a grinding noise and when i pull it apart one of the fins has a gouge on it.

 

[Alchemy]

Alchemy,

Send me a PM with your mailing address. I have three impellers I'll send you. Those are those little ball things right?

Rob

The generosity of people is amazing here. Thank you so much!

 

[Alchemy]

Update on using a voltage converter for this system. Result: failure.

I have been using a 5000 watt up down converter for my 20l for about a year. It started smelling like solder and blowing fuses a few months ago and now blows a fuse within 20 minutes of trying to heat up the water.

My suggestion to anyone thinking of using one, save your money and make a 220 cord instead. The voltage converters are not meant for heating appliances and they will burn out like mine.


Any electricians want to give me a hand with my power cord splice? I have a 10–30p dryer end, the green ground should be the bent prong at the top right? And the hots, do they matter which side they go on?

I am using the yellow green from the cut braumeister cord for ground on the other side. And I am using 10guage on one end and splicing to the 16guage German cord

 

[Alchemy]

Splice

 

[sj_engr]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring

You should try to stick with coloring on that extension cord that follows standards for any future user/buyer.

Pls verify but I think this img will help you standardize on UK wiring: http://www.justanswer.com/uploads/ElectricDoctor/2008-04-19_143353_30_amp_3_wire_installation.JPG (reminder that is the receptical so need to adjust)

 

[ptjusa2000]

First time poster, long time reader. My 50l Spiedel arrived this morning. Pristine condition with the exception of the lift bolts on the malt pipe rubbed off the polished outer finish inside the tank in several places. I called morebeer immediately after discovery and they were both understanding and apologetic. They gave me two options:
1) a 10% discount
2) they will send me a replacement tank

I'd like to hear any recommendations for which option I should take. My welding buddy says it will not rust since it's solid SS. My fear is it may affect flavor. I'm hoping at least one other person has experienced this before and willing to share their resolution. Thanks in advance. I should be brewing this weekend; maiden brew will be a Pete's Wicked clone.

 

[Alchemy]

Mine is scratched as well and I have no off flavors from it. Wish I had gotten ten percent haha!

 

[Obliviousbrew]

what "tank" do you mean? the malt pipe?. If it is the malt pipe I will tell them: yeah send me a new one, and just drill a few holes in it like some user did a few pages back... most probable thing is that it´s ok. That 10% off sounds great too.

 

[ptjusa2000]

what "tank" do you mean? the malt pipe?. If it is the malt pipe I will tell them: yeah send me a new one, and just drill a few holes in it like some user did a few pages back... most probable thing is that it´s ok. That 10% off sounds great too.

Sorry, by tank, I'm referring to the kettle that the malt pipe and water sit in. Morebeer customer service referred to it as the tank but I the owner's manual calls it a kettle. It's really a shame that Speidel ships it in the configuration that they do (with the malt pipe unsecured inside the kettle). The damage to my kettle is easily preventable if they simply put something over the studs to prevent the metal on metal friction during shipping such as foam padding.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

Well if is not very severe just roll with it and get that 10 off

 

[bierdude]

Sorry, by tank, I'm referring to the kettle that the malt pipe and water sit in. Morebeer customer service referred to it as the tank but I the owner's manual calls it a kettle. It's really a shame that Speidel ships it in the configuration that they do (with the malt pipe unsecured inside the kettle). The damage to my kettle is easily preventable if they simply put something over the studs to prevent the metal on metal friction during shipping such as foam padding.

I posted a few pages earlier....My 50L arrived severely dented and Speidel shipped a new tank. It is a bit of work to remove all the fittings and transfer. The threads are Locktite sealed and need heat (hairdryer) to remove. You need to re-seal threads when re-assembling. You also have to disassemble the electrical connections on the plugs going to the computer from the heater elements. Good couple hours work but with some technical/electrical knowledge not that difficult.

 

[ptjusa2000]

Appreciate the feedback, seems like the consensus is the 10% off deal which I will likely go with. Thanks for the responeses.

 

[tequilatom]

Hello Everyone!

New member here, read through all the threads (whew!) and have decided on getting a 50l Braumeister. Actually wanted to order it last year, but the central A/C crapped the bed and cost me 5k to replace!

Have saved up enough now to go ahead with the purchase. I do have a few questions, one aimed at Batfink, about the 50l malt tube mod he did. I want to do 5 gallon high gravity brews as well, and wondered how his mod has been working out. I also ran 10/2 wire and hooked up a 20 amp GFI breaker, could someone let me know to make sure that is adequate?

I want to thank all the contributors whose hard work has benefited those of us who are just now joining the fold, and I look forward to contributing what I learn as well!

Prost!!

 

[dinnerstick]

I want to thank all the contributors whose hard work has benefited those of us who are just now joining the fold, and I look forward to contributing what I learn as well!

it's quite amazing isn't it. welcome to the club!

here's a general question, has anyone used the BM as a fermenter? (other than me now) i got the idea from the person a few pages back who was using the BM to hold a souring mash at ~40 degrees for a berlinnerweiss.
my one temp controlled fermenter is busy with lagers, when suddenly i got short notice to brew 2 beers quickly to serve at an event. obviously i'll be making making ales, but with the cold weather and temp swings inside the house i won't risk ambient temp ferments. for the first brew i emptied my mini-fridge kegerator, split a 24L (1.072) brew from the BM 20L into a corny and a half-corny (stupid bucket doesn't fit in it), wired a heat belt into the thermal controller, set at 19. for the second my only option was the BM itself, so i brewed indoors (24L, 1.070), cooled, knocked out to a clean bucket, oxygenated the wort in the bucket, moved the empty BM to the unheated backstairs where ambient temp is ~12-13, brought the bucket and refilled the wort to the BM, pitched yeast. put it on manual mode, set to 19, turned the heat on. wrapped the lid with plastic wrap just to keep dust out of the two ventilation slits, covered with a blanket, went to bed.

 

[dinnerstick]

amendment to the above post, even in the cool ambient temp the yeast cranked up its own heat, and it has gone way too hot! unjacketed, metal against cool air, temp isn't coming down. oh well, chalk this up to learning, this is going to be a crazy beer.
in principle this technique almost works but not quite.