Braumeister Clone (UK)

[geogaga]

My main kettle has just arrived:

 

[barneey]

• I still need to finish my build and fully test it out, been waiting for the Lael control panel , if I find the single pump doesn't perform how I want it to, its a relatively easy to swap it for a larger pump or 2 pumps. The bend-able elements are available in a wide range of wattage, so you could always go for a lesser wattage but add another element for getting to temp / the boil.

There was mention earlier in the thread of getting a malt tube made, which I have done in the past on a 20l BM build, I do however like the additional comment of making extension pieces for it to add to the flexibly of the system.

Or as you are in Germany check out the brauundrauchshop.ch Swiss site quite a few original BM bits available on there.

Your pot BTW looks exactly the same make as the one I am using.

 

[geogaga]

barneey, yes it indeed is the same make.

I want to drill as less holes as possible, because the pot is not cheap, so nice and not easily available otherwise And I know I can easily drill something somewhere. I'd rather go with just one element to avoid unneeded openings. Want to keep things concise.

This will be my malt pipe:

Those things are stackable, so I'm planning to have two, e.g. 330mm and 250mm, to be able to brew 20l batches minimum, and bigger batches by and putting the malt pipe segments together, if I need.
I made some calculations on the total volume (not considering grain absorption or any other side factors so far):

Should be pretty comfortable with brewing up to 50l

 

[barneey]

Where are you buying these tubes from?

Cheers

Barneey

 

[geogaga]

These are stove flue pipes (Schornsteinrohr in German), like here: http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Single-skin-flue.html I will get mines on eBay, though. No particular preference yet.

Made out of 316 (V4A) grade stainless steel. Should be widely available locally, and have good fitting standard dimensions.

 

[barneey]

Cheers, I didn't know they did them in 300mm diameters

 

[geogaga]

Yeah, I'm looking through the UK sites, and the common size is up to 200m. In Germany 300m is more available, e.g. here http://www.ebay.de/itm/Edelstahl-Laengenelement-einwandig-Rohr-Kaminsanierung-80-300mm-EW-Schornstein-/231374740487

 

[barneey]

Thanks for the link, I had looked at the UK tubes before but as mentioned the common size is up to 200mm, is there any German ones with larger diameters than 300mm? as they seem almost ideal for the project.

Also found these http://www.ebay.de/itm/Edelstahl-Schornstein-Langenelement-doppelwandig-DW-113-300-mm-Kamin-Ofen-Rohr-/221589872156?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&var=&hash=item3397c91e1c which would give a different height 330mm

 

[barneey]

Is the height of these taken as overall or + the collar.

Example if you were to fit 2 x 250mm would the height be 500mm or More or less?

Cheers

 

[geogaga]

Yes, there are:http://m.ebay.de/itm/321236061388?nav=SEARCH&varId=510509284465

The ones that I checked have a fitting depth of 60mm, thus, for example, 250mm + 330mm - 60mm = 520mm. This is what I'm thinking of as a 20l/50l setup.

Smaller diameter I checked in UK have an effective height of 30mm less.

 

[barneey]

Seems like you have hit the jackpot

Cheers

 

[geogaga]

The tube has arrived:

Yeah, well, it's 0.6mm thick wall, and since there is no rigid ring around it it didn't hold long as a circle. But all in all, good enough for 20eur.

 

[barneey]

Is there a ridge to hold / support a perforated mesh FB?

 

[geogaga]

No, there isn't. The ridge you see is on the outside. I will secure 4 pieces of L-type stainless steel profile on the bottom of the pipe to support the false bottom.

 

[barneey]

Halfway through making the hop spider for the build.....

 

[barneey]

No, there isn't. The ridge you see is on the outside. I will secure 4 pieces of L-type stainless steel profile on the bottom of the pipe to support the false bottom.

Another idea for you, if you were to get some bendable stainless flat bar, say 1mm thick, bend and pop rivet that onto the pot might strengthen the thing + then fix some bolts around the perimeter (through the new band) these acting as a support for the false bottom.

 

[geogaga]

Could be. Getting the bar is not an issue. Bending might be though I think when two 2mm thick false bottoms are in, they will form a perfect cylinder with a rigid rib cage, there should not be an issue.

Btw, just finished prototyping my Arduino Mega 2560 shield for the thing.

[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Already dry-ran some wiring yesterday:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBpC3R3ArrQ[/SIZE]

 

[geogaga]

 

[barneey]

1mm (normally 0.9mm) is easily bent to shape, so might be worth a try if you get stuck?

Not going for the Lael controller then?

Cheers

 

[geogaga]

Just googled what Lael controller is (never heard of that). It's basically based on Brauduino, on which ArdBir is based. In the end, I think I will be rewriting the software either way, have a slightly different vision on functions, user interface, etc. So far the target is to brew a batch on the system. Essentially, there is just subtle difference, right? [SIZE=14.4444446563721px]And I think maybe it's easier to make one in a day or two than waiting until it's shipped. Besides from that, I think, the main driver is to go through the whole journey [/SIZE]