Braumeister NEXTGEN Build

[Tony]

but thirstyboy kindly pointed out that floating a pie/cake tin on the surface of the wort achieves the same thing (but with zero condensation).

good old TB hey....... and he is probably right, but if you were something pretty going to the Melbourn Cup, would you want a flash hat or a inverted cake tin on your head

plus..... the brau units have a center rod that will kind of stuff that idea

 

[iralosavic]

good old TB hey....... and he is probably right, but if you were something pretty going to the Melbourn Cup, would you want a flash hat or a inverted cake tin on your head

plus..... the brau units have a center rod that will kind of stuff that idea

I think it's great that such a highly experienced (even professional) brewer can still be so down to earth and solution focused (ghetto comes to mind) despite owning and/or being surrounded by superior equipment on a daily basis. Most people in the same situation would find it difficult to accept a floating pie tin as a solution in their own system, much less be willing to share a video evidencing it doing as he claims.

Anyhow, I would prefer a chimney (as I'm more materialistic and aesthetics driven than Thirstyboy, [which, again, is to his credit]!), but I'm just too busy and poor to make it happen soon enough to justify it.

I'm liking the look of your build so far and will be lurking around to see how it progresses.

 

[Edak]

I have been trolling the net for AB PLC's and working as a Control System Engineer..... i know what they cost. The ones on evilbay from china are well priced but im still up for $800+ for what i want. I have done some thinking and i do want to use PLC. but was going to start a search (having only ever used high end gear) for cheaper PLC's. These sound good.

Do you know what the programing software is like. I have the AB software and know it back to front which is why i wanted to go that way.

Hi Tony,

I am not familiar with AB software, but if you are curious about the software there are programming examples and such you can look at the link below, which is the online user manual, under the getting started section there are training videos so you can get the feel of how the software works.

http://www.aboutplcs.com/click/Free_Softwa...tware_help.html

 

[Edak]

I really want to get started on building one of these. I have the electronics and programming know-how for the control, but have ZERO experience with welding.

I have a budget of about $500 to do this and live in Melbourne. I am looking for advise of what vessels to use that I can actually get for a decent price that would be suitable. I looked at Keg-King's catalogue and I must say that I am impressed with their range, but the cost of the stainless alone will blow my budget!!

Thinking 20L batches, I don't really care how ghetto it looks (cough cough may need to use a keg).

Any good local advice?

 

[Malted]

I am looking for advise of what vessels to use that I can actually get for a decent price that would be suitable.

(1) Since the device will have a heater in it a thin walled pot is fine.
(2) Since you will be drilling holes in the bottom of the pot, you probably don't want an expensive heavy one that has sandwiched layers of alumium or copper coated in stainless. You would probably want a pot that has a single thin layer of stainless steel on it's bum.
(3) Ha easy, get some of the cheapest pots you can find from an Asian or Oriental grocery store!

 

[matho]

I concur with malted go to as many Asian or Indian groceries as you can look up the back for large pots, I picked up a 65l pot for $68 in sydney's chinatown, its thin stainless but it hasn't rusted yet . With the bottom of the pot if you put a strap of decent thickness stainless you wont have to worry about a thin bottom, just make sure you take your time with drilling out the holes, get yourself a step drill or even better a 22mm hole punch.

cheers

 

[matho]

Here is some info on getting the stainless steel sheet, the 2mm stuff I used was sourced from a scrap metal bin, if you have access to one I would recommend looking in it from time to time, if not, go to a metal merchant and ask where the off- cut bin is, this is where they put metal off cuts and f@#k ups and sell it at discounted price, the legs of mine came from a sheet sourced fro a metal merchant. Now if you don't want to spend time trying to find cheaper stainless steel you can just go and buy it Blackwoods sells this for $10.40 a metre and allthingsstainless sells sheet at very reasonable prices.

All the cutting I did was with a 10 year old $30 4" angle grinder using 1mm stainless steel cutting disc's, if you do all the cutting and bending then take it to the local stainless steel fabrication shop the cost of welding would be too much especially if you clean up the welds yourself. For the record if I was going to make another one I would use four legs instead of three.

cheers steve

 

[troopa]

Hey Tony im sure someone up the hunter has a little AB PLC sitting around somewhere doing nothing.. i know Warkworth run em

U could always troll places like greys online for C&C machinary thats going cheap and then rape all the gear you need and scrap metal the rest ??

 

[Edak]

Just went down to Keg King and boy do they have a lot of good gear!

If only it were a simple task to get a keg to turn into a suitable pot for a braumeister (or braumiser)!

$100 SS 50L keggles with hole in the top and ball valve.

It probably could be converted, but at what cost?

 

[Tony]

mmmm id say a flat bottom pot would be easier to work with...... but the conical base of a keg could work.

 

[Tony]

Hey Tony im sure someone up the hunter has a little AB PLC sitting around somewhere doing nothing..

i know plenty of places B)

I was looking at AB SLC's last night....... they are physically bigger, but cheap! Just need to find one with the card configuration im after.

 

[Edak]

mmmm id say a flat bottom pot would be easier to work with...... but the conical base of a keg could work.

Agreed, it would mean that the placement of the malt pipe would have to be quite accurate so as not to leak.

When I was there I saw a large (100L?) BM ripoff that was sent to them for testing. It was a sample/one-off and needed a fair bit of work as it was built with some non-stainless fittings (who was the idiot who designed it?). They were going to see if they could fix it up, test it and then maybe get rid of it.

The right offer might change their mind and have them sell it off cheap, though I could be wrong. It had the nice copper colour on the vessel and the dome-vented lid.

 

[Edak]

okay, so the most compatible pots that I can find "off the shelf" for a decent price are:
19L BigW pot (322mm dia x 260 H) (I already have this)
50L Handy Imports (425mm dia x 400 H)
http://www.handyimports.com.au/50l-industr...epan-p-294.html ($134 inc shipping)

GryphonBrewing pump ($37) + shipping

U-bend-it coil or similar if I can get it cheaper, looking at 2400W

Tell me how I am going so far!

 

[matho]

okay, so the most compatible pots that I can find "off the shelf" for a decent price are:
19L BigW pot (322mm dia x 260 H) (I already have this)
50L Handy Imports (425mm dia x 400 H)
http://www.handyimports.com.au/50l-industr...epan-p-294.html ($134 inc shipping)

GryphonBrewing pump ($37) + shipping

U-bend-it coil or similar if I can get it cheaper, looking at 2400W

Tell me how I am going so far!

sounds like your on track, should make a good unit, what is the max gravity and max volume are you aiming for

 

[booargy]

U-bend-it 2250W element $95+freight

 

[Muscovy_333]

U-bend-it 2250W element $95+freight

Who is selling them?

 

[dmac80]

okay, so the most compatible pots that I can find "off the shelf" for a decent price are:
19L BigW pot (322mm dia x 260 H) (I already have this)
50L Handy Imports (425mm dia x 400 H)
http://www.handyimports.com.au/50l-industr...epan-p-294.html ($134 inc shipping)

GryphonBrewing pump ($37) + shipping

U-bend-it coil or similar if I can get it cheaper, looking at 2400W

Tell me how I am going so far!

Looking good! I'd suggest getting the manufacturer to put 90 degree bends at either end in the no bend zone so as to get the profile of the element lower in the pot, maybe even get them to bend the whole lot for you. I made one with a keg and 19 l big w pot and i have the 2400 w which does the job, but i wouldn't go any lower. It will be much easier to construct with the flat bottom pot, keg was a pain in the arse. The best thing about the 19 l pot is that if you need a bit more height out of your malt pipe, just get another one, cut the handles off and slide it in the other one. They have tapered sides and make for a snug fit.

Once you get it working you won't look back. Makes brewdays so much easier, and quicker.

I've got a march 809 for pumping duties, does the job well. Not sure whether the gryphon pump will push the wort up through the mash or not, but it's not expensive and there's only one way to find out!

One other thing, make sure your filter plates are nice and strong. I was using a 30 cm kettle false bottom as the top mash filter, which worked for 2 brews, but bucked under the pressure during the third. I did it a little differently to matho in that i used cooking splatter guards (fine stainless mesh) as my fine filters, not the hop bag material.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Dan

 

[booargy]

Who is selling them?

DIY elements
http://www.thermalelectric.com.au/downloads.php

 

[matho]

!One other thing, make sure your filter plates are nice and strong. I was using a 30 cm kettle false bottom as the top mash filter, which worked for 2 brews, but bucked under the pressure during the third. I did it a little differently to matho in that i used cooking splatter guards (fine stainless mesh) as my fine filters, not the hop bag material.

yep I agree with dan, definitely get strong filter plates, after using hop bag material and them seeing clog up very easily I have moved to using the stainless steel mesh off some IKEA splatter guards, the work really well and would recommend them

 

[Edak]

DIY elements
http://www.thermalelectric.com.au/downloads.php

Could you please tell me which one it is? I see several 2250 ones in there and no prices!

I wouldn't expect to get any greater volume than the standard 20L with a gravity of no greater than 1065.