Braumeister - Tips & Tricks

[tiprya]

For your first brew, just assume at the high end of that (3.5L/hr) and if you get less than that, just dilute with water to your target OG.

I get spot on 86% mash efficiency every time with mine. My mill is set to 1.1mm from memory.

I tend to hit my pre-boil gravity perfectly every time, but have been missing my OG by a few points, so I'm tightening up my calulations relating to boil-off etc to try and get it honed in.

 

[DeGarre]

I currently use a hop spider and also tilt the BM forward in order to get almost all of the wort into the FV. I know Mark sells this dip / pick up tube which would solve the tilting "problem" but would it be possible to attach some kind of a wire mesh thingy to the tube to keep the hops away from the FV and to get rid off the spider?

I assume not every BM user uses hop bags and hop spiders - what would be the best way to keep the hops from the FV ?

Cheers

 

[swiggingpig]

I currently use a hop spider and also tilt the BM forward in order to get almost all of the wort into the FV. I know Mark sells this dip / pick up tube which would solve the tilting "problem" but would it be possible to attach some kind of a wire mesh thingy to the tube to keep the hops away from the FV and to get rid off the spider?

I assume not every BM user uses hop bags and hop spiders - what would be the best way to keep the hops from the FV ?

Cheers

Hi, I use leaf hops and this is what I use on the end of one of Mark's dip tubes to filter the wort before it gets to my plate chiller.

I bought a sheet of mesh, cut off a section of the sheet and formed it round a 15mm copper pipe to make a straight tube. I removed the copper pipe replacing it with some PVC tubing so that I could bend a curve in it without kinking it, removed PVC tube, folded over the ends and made a hole in the side of it just big enough to insert the end of the pickup/dip tube.

 

[lylo]

Do you take all of your volume readings off of the lug at the bottom of the post?

 

[DeGarre]

1 cm per 1 litre on the rod is close enough for me, I just calculate the volume from the top down ie 11 cm rod above the surface is 40-11= 29L and I don't worry about the lug.

 

[lylo]

Thanks DeGarre,typical Aussie upside down logic.

 

[mikk]

I've brewed some pretty big beers in the last few months, & thought it may be of use to share the process & results with other 50L Braumeister users...

#1- Eisbock
OG 1.092
55L mash-in with 10kg grain.
mash schedule 10 min/38 deg, 60 min/ 68 deg
7L sparge at 68 deg

remove malt pipe, dump grain, refill with another 10kg grain, & mash at 68 deg for 60 min, mash out at 76 deg, 9L sparge.
120 min boil, end result of 48L of 1.092 wort.

#2 Imperial Stout
OG 1.097
53L mash-in with 10.3kg grain
mash-in 38 deg, 70 min at 68 deg
4L sparge at 68 deg

remove malt pipe, dump grain, refill with another 10.3kg grain, & mash at 68 deg for 70 min, mash out at 76 deg, 6.5L sparge.
boil length- pretty sure it was 90 min. (If not, then it was 120)
end result 42L of 1.097 wort

#3 Barley wine
OG 1.111
53L mash in with 10.3 kg grain
mash in 38 deg, 75 min at 65 deg, 4L sparge at 65 deg

remove malt pipe, dump grain, refill with another 10.3kg grain, & mash at 65 deg for 90 min, mash out at 76 deg, 4L sparge.
90 min boil
end result 40L wort at 1.101.
0.8kg dextrose & approx 0.6kg LDME added at end of boil gave final OG of 1.111

Pretty big numbers, with maybe about 80-90 mins added to the brew day length.
tips-
440g of pellet hops makes a REALLY big mess. Hops plugs/leaf for the final additions holds the whole mess together pretty well when draining.
Have some LDME on hand in case you don't reach your anticipated gravity
Have fun trying to get rid of ****-loads of spent grain!

 

[tavas]

Does anyone know if MHB is still selling the pickup tube for the Brau? I notice its no longer advertised on his website. i sent a message via the site but no response - he might be on holidays or something.

 

[dicko]

i sent a message via the site but no response - he might be on holidays or something.

That's pretty funny..........

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Dan Pratt]

Does anyone know if MHB is still selling the pickup tube for the Brau? I notice its no longer advertised on his website. i sent a message via the site but no response - he might be on holidays or something.

i woulod suggest that you call him on the landline. he is pretty busy making grain orders these days and wont get to the PC till later in the day id imagine.

 

[smeller_dk]

Has anybody tried to start the mash with 25l and then directly after placing the mesh screen, added the sparge water? This would flood the malt pipe during the mash but eliminate the sparge step to simplify the process. Ignoring that it might hurt the efficiency.

6. The max water level during the mash is 27lt otherwise the malt pipe gets flooded I assume he is talking about a situation where he has 5.5kg or greater grain in the malty pipe.

 

[Natdene]

How do you guys with the 50l go lifting the malt pipe? I like the 50L but I have a bad back, would I have to make a hoist to suit?. I currently BIAB and use a hoist

 

[sillyboybrybry]

How do you guys with the 50l go lifting the malt pipe? I like the 50L but I have a bad back, would I have to make a hoist to suit?. I currently BIAB and use a hoist

I bought a pulley system off ebay. I can lift the malt pipe out on my own just and I am a big boy but for the $13 for the pulley system I figured why bother with the hard work!
PS The weight isn't that bad it is the suction that is the killer.

 

[Batz]

I lifted the malt pipe myself the first few brews but quickly set up a pulley to do the work. It is hard the break the suction and I found I needed to stand over the BM to do it, too easy with the pulley hanging off my patio.

I have a 50lt BM.

Interesting post Mikk, thanks for sharing that.

batz

 

[Natdene]

Thanks Sillyboy and Batz so it will be a hoist/pulley system for me!

 

[sillyboybrybry]

the pulley i purchased

 

[Natdene]

OT - my BIAB hoist

 

[sillyboybrybry]

OT - my BIAB hoist

I think you are ready to not manually lift the malt pipe out of a 50l braumeister.

 

[Malted]

I needed to stand over the BM to do it,

I have a 50lt BM.

This is how I do it. I have a built a sturdy big table that the BM is on, that I can stand on to lift the malt pipe, it is not ideal (when I swing the malt pipe down off the tabel) but it works, for now...
I really should do something with a pulley/gantry.

 

[Malted]

Has anybody tried to start the mash with 25l and then directly after placing the mesh screen, added the sparge water? This would flood the malt pipe during the mash but eliminate the sparge step to simplify the process. Ignoring that it might hurt the efficiency.

Yes I did pretty much what you are describing.
I did this with my 50L. After placing the top screen and getting it going I added more water until it came up to almost the top of the malt pipe. During pump rests the total fluid level would be over the top of the malt pipe. I still sparged though as I had about 16.6kg of grain in the malt pipe. I had to add the grain a bit at a time with stirring between each. Mash schedule was 50/30, 62/45, 65/60, 68/30, 70/15, 74/10. I set the mash-in at 50 and put it in manual mode for 30 minutes after I mashed in; I then started the 5 step cycle.

The reason I added so much water was to increase the water to grist ratio due to the large amount of grain. However, this may not work as such due to the grain being confined to a certain space; additional water does not actually loosen the grain bed when it is in a confined space. I also thought* to myself that sugars seem to move into solution more readily at lower gravities (vs super high gravity) and I wanted as many sugars as I could extract, so I added as much water as I could. It was also for the reason of ***** and giggles.

*Might not be a valid thought.

The pumps struggled to push through this much grain and the sparge didn't really want to pass through either so I had to stir the top level of the grist to get the sparge to drain through. I had set my efficiency at 70% and thought this was a bit adventurous given I was aiming for 55L into the fermenter at 1.076. However, I achieved 1.080 at 84% brewhouse efficiency and was pretty stoked with that. I don't recall the sparge volume and it was a long boil but that didn't matter as there were no hops in it (it was a 'wash'). Whilst it was successful and I did not get scorching due to the slower recirculation, I am not sure I would want to follow this process again as there seems to be other methods that are a bit easier on the machine.


In regards, to lifting the malt pipe well this brew was about 16.6 kg of grain with 16.6kg of absorbed water plus the weight of the maltpipe etc and the handle so I was lifting >36kg after the suction broke.