ANOTHER Braumeister inspired system

[NealK]

I now wrap the false bottom in my original BIAB bag that I used with the bigw pot and it works perfectly at stopping the grain from getting out the bottom hole :unsure: .
I still get some grain coming out the top seal though.
I have done 5 brews and to be honest, I (and others) have not noticed any off flavours in the brews.
My next plan is to smash the lid and use the metal rim, cut down the splatter guard, insert it where the glass was and keep it in place with some food grade silicone. this will obviously be a perfect fit for the pot and hopefully keep the grains inside.
Please let me know if you find a better fix.
Happy brewing!

 

[xredwood]

My only concern for that would be managing to keep the mesh in the lid solidly enough that the grain doesn't just pull it back out of the lid frame.

I'm in two minds at the moment. Either go to a brew easy type set up or BIAB in the malt pipe so there is no chance of grain escaping, but in order for that to work it would have to be completely contained in the bag.

I suppose another way would be to cut out another splatter guard and attach it to the veggie tray using stainless steel wire. That way you are only needing to seal the veggie tray to the pot. I would think this combined with a silicone hose seal might be a winner?

I was trying to avoid using Swiss voile and keep it all stainless but I think the mesh is just too fine. Maybe the simplest is Swiss voile with draw string around the veggie tray and same thing around the false bottom? I also don't think I've had any off flavours from the grain escaping but I'd still like to solve the problem!

 

[xredwood]

Any progress NealK? My latest thought was just to use a BIAB bag to completely contain the grain within the malt pipe and either use the same stainless filter on top with the bag open or try to cinch the top as tight as possible and just have it between the false bottom and veggie tray on top. Any thoughts?

 

[NealK]

I have fitted the splatter guard to the lid rim but I still think I will need some kind of brace across the top to reduce the warping of the veggie tray. I will probably try and put something together and test it this weekend.

 

[Blind Dog]

Genius the lot of you. Would love to gave half of your ability, patience and persistence

 

[xredwood]

It's really not as hard as it probably looks Blind Dog! I have no expertise or experience with anything mechanical, electrical or brewing. I just looked at how other people did it, tried it myself with a few tweaks that I thought might make it easier for me, and ended up with this. To put it together probably took a couple of hours for the vessel and then a couple more for the controller.

I had never soldered a single thing before I put the controller together, just watched a quick YouTube video then gave it a crack. If you're considering doing something similar, I highly recommend it. Gives you plenty of little hurdles along the way, but at the end something you made is making beer that you get to drink!

 

[MastersBrewery]

Blind dog,
there are a few of us in sydney who have built or are building similar clones. Your more than welcome to drop by and have a look at mine have a brew day, thats what I did, went to Laels watched his system running, copied all the good bits . Also having done it Lael and I can point you to local sources. The other thing lael is Looking at is a complete kit of all parts to build from scratch.(not sure if this will go ahead but asking won't hurt either)

MB

 

[xredwood]

I've had another thought that I'd like some opinions on. What if I cut the mesh out of the splatter guard, sandwiched it between two veggie trays, bolted the lot together then used a silicone hose to create a seal between the malt pipe and the veggie trays then clamped the lot down with the stainless bar and wing nut? Seems like it wouldn't give much chance of the grain getting out I hope?

I'm also going to cover the inlet at the bottom in stainless mesh as a last chance to stop grain leaking out the bottom during draining.

Can anyone see why this might be a good or bad idea?

 

[NealK]

I don't see the need to cut the mesh out of the splatter guard, I think it should fit between 2 veggie trays without cutting it up? I am going to try making a a cross this weekend and will report back on the effectiveness.
As for the bottom, wrapping the false bottom in swiss voile has totally fixed that issue for me and it also makes it all much easier to clean.
The extra expense of a veggie tray can be easily justified as they have lots of uses and don't need to be modified so I am very interested to see if 2 veggie trays will stop the warping.

I am not really stressing too much about the grain escaping as I (and others) have not noticed any off flavours. It is an issue that I would like to resolved but if you could taste the German pilsner that I am drinking right now I don't think you would be disappointed!

 

[NealK]

Okay, here is what I have put together this morning for less than $5







Some aluminium channel cut and slotted to make a cross. This feels really sturdy!
I will give it a test run tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

Link for part

http://www.bunnings.com.au/metalmate-rcr-12-x-12-x-1-5mm-1m-aluminium-channel_p1079307

If it works well I may think of sourcing some stainless but for testing purposes aluminium is easier to work with and cheaper.

 

[Edak]

How did you go? Lael and I use stainless cross bars and they still bend so I would have thought that aluminium channel would also bend.

 

[NealK]

Did a brew today and not a single bit a grain escaped from the malt pipe.
I think the combination of the cross piece on top of the veggie tray and the splatter guard fitted to the pot lid rim is a winner.
I smashed the pot lid last week and cut the splatter guard as close to the edge as possible, then I used food grade silicone to stick the mesh in to the lid rim where the glass used to be. It is not pretty but seems to work very well.
I know cutting the splatter guard for this purpose is definitely worth it, cutting it to sandwich between two veggie trays I still think would be unnecessary as the rim will help with rigidity (a little) in that set up.
I used Selleys 401 silicone to stick the mesh in to the pot lid rim. It is definitely food safe and can be used as adhesive and or sealant. It comes in the big cartridge type tube and I used **** loads of above and below the mesh. It is seriously feckin' ugly but as I said very effective.
The cross pieces did seem to stop the warping and they functioned as I expected them to but I think the fact the mesh in the pot lid rim would need to bend by at least 5mm before anything could escape was the real fix.
Both of these upgrades have worked exceptionally well together and I would recommend them even though this is all based on 1 brew.
Where do live xredwood?I am in the western suburbs of Melbourne. If you want to come and have a look you are more than welcome mate.

 

[xredwood]

I'm in cairns so that's a no go I'm afraid! I'll have to make a bag for the false bottom since I don't have one never having done the whole BIAB thing. Does your bag completely enclose the false bottom or just underneath? The lid for my malt pipe is metal and I don't have an angle grinder so that won't work for me. There isn't enough give in the rim of the splatter guard so I think I will cut out and sandwich. I fit the silicone hose to use as a seal between the veggie tray and malt pipe so just have to wait to get into the shop for the veggie tray, order some grain and see what happens. In the mean time I'll keep drinking my delicious pale ale and golden ale!

 

[NealK]

I put the false bottom inside an old BIAB bag, but if I was to look for a replacement, I would just wrap the false bottom (over the top and tuck it underneath) in a square metre of swiss voile. It filters well and the false bottom only needs a rinse after each brew.
I also reloaded the software for the controller and it now works perfectly.
Today was the most breezy brew day I have had. Everything worked worked as it should and clean up was quick and easy.
Happy days!

 

[xredwood]

I've made a few changes to the Browdy since I first posted the photos based on lessons learned over the last few brews so thought I would post some new ones.

I had an issue with grain getting past the false bottom and going through the drain so I tore apart a small stainless steel strainer and covered the skin fitting as a last line of defense.


These bolts on the side are to keep the malt pipe upright and to make it easier to fit the malt pipe into the pump outlet in the urn. It's still fairly difficult at times when the urn is already full. What I do now is add all the water so I can still use the calibrated sight glass on the urn, then before the water gets scalding hot I add the malt pipe and start recirculating. When it comes time to add the grain the water drains out fairly quickly, otherwise I just get a glass jug to empty out a couple liters.


This is the latest change. I bought a second vege tray to sandwich the stainless mesh which I cut out of a splatter guard in the middle. I hold the whole thing together with some stainless bolts and wing nuts to allow easier cleaning. Still haven't tried it out, fingers crossed! The added benefit will be added rigidity.


Here is the new filter assembly, you can just see the mesh in this photo.


And here it is complete.


I also had issues with wort escaping out of the side under the top plate and a small amount of grain escaping as well so I added a rim of silicone hose to provide a better seal.

 

[xredwood]

Due to the wider rim on top of the malt pipe now, I have changed the plan slightly and am going to start putting the filter assembly on top upside down. In order to prevent blocking up any of the holes, I have put bolts on my stainless bar and I use a nut and washer to space out the attachment on the centre rod as shown here.


And finally here is the whole thing installed in the urn. First brew on the revised system will hopefully be in about a week. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anywhere in Cairns that sells grain so I'll have to spend another $25 on shipping!

 

[Blind Dog]

Blind dog,
there are a few of us in sydney who have built or are building similar clones. Your more than welcome to drop by and have a look at mine have a brew day, thats what I did, went to Laels watched his system running, copied all the good bits . Also having done it Lael and I can point you to local sources. The other thing lael is Looking at is a complete kit of all parts to build from scratch.(not sure if this will go ahead but asking won't hurt either)

MB

MB

Just read your post, not sure why I missed it. Thanks for the offer. I was following a bunch of threads here and elsewhere for quite a time, but decided just to suck it up and get a 20L BM at the end of last year. Still love to see other peoples ingenuity though, so would love to see your system or others in operation one day. Maybe a mega Sydney BM/BM clone brew day?

 

[MastersBrewery]

MB

Just read your post, not sure why I missed it. Thanks for the offer. I was following a bunch of threads here and elsewhere for quite a time, but decided just to suck it up and get a 20L BM at the end of last year. Still love to see other peoples ingenuity though, so would love to see your system or others in operation one day. Maybe a mega Sydney BM/BM clone brew day?

hmmm a mega moster brau day, ummm I think Lael's and mine each draw 4800w we're going to need a place with lots of power circuits!! But I'd say it would be awesome!

 

[angus_grant]

Nice work on the double veggie tray setup. I've just noticed this last brew that my veggie tray is starting to warp a little from clamping the malt pipe down. And I'm getting wort escaping out the side of the splatter guard I'm using.

So 2 nice solutions (hopefully) that I am going to use as well.

I might try the silicon tube to seal the top of the pipe first as this may solve my wort escaping out the side problem.

Well done.

 

[angus_grant]

So have you done a brew with the double veggie tray setup?

I'll be duplicating the setup in 3 weeks. Going camping this Saturday morning and coming back Saturday afternoon so no time for a trip to Whitworths to grab another tray for 3 Saturdays (no time for brewing either so no big loss I guess). I also want to look at pulleys and such while I am there for pulling the malt pipe out.