Speidel Braumeister (brewmaster)

[jpc]

You should do that. People like you need to be protected from yourself.

You were the chicken-little spouting off about the dangers, Spanky.

 

[ShakaZuluXI]

You were the chicken-little spouting off about the dangers, Spanky.

Lets see...you posed a question "whats the difference if the outlet is 5 or 50 feet away?" And I provided a simple, fact based answer to your question. Then, because you are clearly some genius engineer, you felt the need to go off on me for simply providing a fact based anwer to the question you posed. You are nothing but a pompous jerk who always has to be "right" and have the last word. Have a nice day.

 

[tagz]

PM each other if you want to continue arguing. None of us are interested. Now back to the thread that is going to end up costing me two grand.

 

[NervousDad]

Are there replacement elements available for it and are they standard? Also, if I got the 50L could I then use the Shortened Mash Pipe to brew bigger beers over 1060?

 

[Toggels]

Good question, I don't think this has been covered in the forum. (replacement heating element).
You might have to check with the distributer..

I have the 20L and haven't had an issues brewing beers up to 1.074 ish... I haven't tried anything bigger as of yet.

 

[lylo]

I haven't run the numbers yet but I am planning to do a barley wine soon and thought that I will just cut my final volume back to about 2 1/2 gal and up the grain bill. Anything wrong with this idea?
Having been kegging for the last 3 years I shudder at the thought of bottling again but with all of the 1l bottles I have know it shouldn't be so bad. Or maaybe I'll find a 2 1/2 gal cornie under the tree.

 

[dinnerstick]

I haven't run the numbers yet but I am planning to do a barley wine soon and thought that I will just cut my final volume back to about 2 1/2 gal and up the grain bill. Anything wrong with this idea?

are you going to try to mash in a low volume? you need enough water for the mash and then end up at 9.5L after the boil. the minimum to circulate the mash depends on how much grain is in the tube, so let's say you need 16 liters of water to circulate? i'm not super confident on that number, just kind of thinking out loud. then don't sparge and collect 11 liters?, boil down to 9.5?,,, could work.... but i think you are limited by 1. minimum amount of water needed to circulate and 2. amount of grain you can cram in and still get good circulation. point 1 depends on point 2, and point 2 depends on the grain itself, the crush, and probably the mash chemistry.

 

[leosardinha]

So mine has just arrived, proud owner of Braumeister now :rockin:

 

[lylo]

are you going to try to mash in a low volume? you need enough water for the mash and then end up at 9.5L after the boil. the minimum to circulate the mash depends on how much grain is in the tube, so let's say you need 16 liters of water to circulate? i'm not super confident on that number, just kind of thinking out loud. then don't sparge and collect 11 liters?, boil down to 9.5?,,, could work.... but i think you are limited by 1. minimum amount of water needed to circulate and 2. amount of grain you can cram in and still get good circulation. point 1 depends on point 2, and point 2 depends on the grain itself, the crush, and probably the mash chemistry.

thanks dinnerstick, I had thought that I would just boil down to my final volume. I expect this may cause some flavour issues (camelization ?) but not sure.

 

[lylo]

Congrats leosardinha. Now the fun really starts!!

 

[DeGarre]

Leo, that BM looks so tiny! are you sure it's the 50L version?

 

[lgkex]

Lylo - You might consider adding some sugar to boost gravity. Mashing 13 lbs in the 20l to yield 5 gals should get you around 1.060 OG. two lbs sugar should boost OG to Around 1.080. Boiling for about 1hr 20 min should get you down to 4 gals with OG around 1.100 which is at the high end of the range for a Barleywine. Extra 20 minutes boil time shouldn't change the color or flavor to much. I think the style takes into account a longer boil.

 

[lylo]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll probably give it a go in the new year.

 

[leosardinha]

Leo, that BM looks so tiny! are you sure it's the 50L version?

Maybe is the angle in the photo hehe

But I am sure haha as I have the large malt pipe as well and the difference from what I saw is only 10cm between the two BM models...

I'm going to make a test batch this weekend, couldn't wait to use it only at Brazil hehe

 

[brewbush]

Question for you owners.
I noticed today while looking inside the pump that the brown coating seems to be flaking off? It is hard to see in the picture but have any of you experienced this? Is it bad?

 

[Toggels]

That is normal, the impellers have a mark (nick) or 2 from the factory.

 

[Nesto]

Question for you owners.
I noticed today while looking inside the pump that the brown coating seems to be flaking off? It is hard to see in the picture but have any of you experienced this? Is it bad?

Hard to tell from your pic... but if it looks like this:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/braumeister-pump-replacement-more-power-317778/
... that's ok. Despite the post, it's actually normal for one of the fins to look like bare metal.

 

[DeGarre]

My impeller is black and it's almost as new.

 

[wasp]

Thinking out loud here:

Isn't the bare metal on one of the impeller vanes caused when they remove some to balance the impeller?

Occasionally they might require no balancing - hence no "bare' metal.

 

[brewbush]

It was more the flaking of the coating on the impeller (tough to see on the pic, I know), but it seems it is normal wear, so I won't worry about it.
Thanks!

 

[wasp]

My impeller had that "bare spot" on the impeller when I disassembled it for cleaning before I used the BM for the first time - which is why I assumed it was a balancing adjustment.

 

[Jette]

After reading all these posts for several days I made a radical change in course.

I am getting ready to make my first foray into AG brewing. I did not want to WASTE money by getting intermediate products, like a picnic cooler mash tun when I ultimately would get a high quality system.

I was going to buy all the elements for building my own single tier beer brewing sculpture, including pumps, sparge arm, burners, and so on, but then this thread changed my mind. Alas, Blichmann has lost out.

This system is so simple I think I can actually brew in the house and have time to enjoy the process. So I pulled the trigger and ordered today when I got my "now in stock" email from MoreBeer. (They just came in, btw.)

A few things:
I don't want to cut the cord off - I would like to make a conversion cord so I can plug one end into the BM and the other into my modern dryer outlet at 220v. I have not seen clearly how this can be done.

I ordered the insulating Jacket: I hope this helps the boil time. I see all kinds of add-ons for the screens: is this really necessary?

I really debated the 50L vs the 20L, but I think the simplicity and ease of the 20L will be worth it. I want to experiment with many kinds of beer, but I really don't want to drink so much I get fat and lazy! The small batches will be fine - and I can always make more!

Thanks for all the info so far!

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I didn't watch to see if my buddy did anything special but his plugs into a 220 and the other end of the chord into his Braumeister.
The fabric filter you put on the bottom of the malt pipe doesn't stay down when the mash starts circulating so we've been using a stainless steel screen which works much better. Not sure what screen "add ons" you can buy but Id at least replace the bottom fabric screen with a metal one.
I don't know how much the jacket works to bring the boil up faster. It may help more than I realize but to the eye it doesn't seem to do much. The unit only heats to 102C so keeping the lid on seems to be what helps get things moving.

Just as a side note though(this may be blasphemy around here) I think that Braumeisters are fantastic but personally I still prefer my cooler mashtun. Granted I really feel like these systems are meant for brewing European styles that require step mashes. Not single infusion mashes with well modified malts which is what I do 99.9% of the time. My cooler can't run a step mash at the touch of a button and that's where a Braumeister really shines in my eyes.

 

[Sprouthog]

After reading all these posts for several days I made a radical change in course.

I am getting ready to make my first foray into AG brewing. I did not want to WASTE money by getting intermediate products, like a picnic cooler mash tun when I ultimately would get a high quality system.

I was going to buy all the elements for building my own single tier beer brewing sculpture, including pumps, sparge arm, burners, and so on, but then this thread changed my mind. Alas, Blichmann has lost out.

This system is so simple I think I can actually brew in the house and have time to enjoy the process. So I pulled the trigger and ordered today when I got my "now in stock" email from MoreBeer. (They just came in, btw.)

A few things:
I don't want to cut the cord off - I would like to make a conversion cord so I can plug one end into the BM and the other into my modern dryer outlet at 220v. I have not seen clearly how this can be done.

I ordered the insulating Jacket: I hope this helps the boil time. I see all kinds of add-ons for the screens: is this really necessary?

I really debated the 50L vs the 20L, but I think the simplicity and ease of the 20L will be worth it. I want to experiment with many kinds of beer, but I really don't want to drink so much I get fat and lazy! The small batches will be fine - and I can always make more!

Thanks for all the info so far!

See post #2186. Gadget info. Cord is available online. I have the 20L because I like variety. I think the jacket helps but you need to know your system and how it works for you.

 

[Jette]

So I can just buy this cord and plug into a 220 v dryer outlet?
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=AP9871
If so, at this price they should include the cord.

 

[Ethanfox]

Just make sure you look at your dryer outlet. There's two types of 220v dryer outlets common in the US (old and new or 3-prong and 4-prong).

 

[Sprouthog]

So I can just buy this cord and plug into a 220 v dryer outlet?
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=AP9871
If so, at this price they should include the cord.

You'll need to confirm that your dryer outlet and breaker are compatible with the unit and cord so you don't compromise the circuit, cord or the unit.

 

[hfk2]

Just a note: On the female end of the Braumeister cord the openings are vertical not horizontal like shown on that web page. Also the male end is circular similar to a RV/marine application or one that would be used to connect a generator. U.S. dryer/oven plugs have 3 or 4 large flat lugs. One may be L shaped (that's the ground). I brew in the kitchen and modified my plug to fit my range which is a 3 prong plug. In thread #68 I explained how this was done. I have owned my 20L Braumeister for almost 3 years and have no problems except the impeller wearing out which will cost you $60.00 delivered from Germany (Ouch). The thermal jacket does help but because I brew mostly lagers I use a heat stick to get a strong rolling boil.

 

[Sprouthog]

I purchased and use this cord for the 20L.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0093WFT66/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[DeGarre]

Everything is big there, steaks, Texas, cars, food portions, distances, you name it, but your electricity is lousy 110v and your power cables look like dinky toys.