Braumeister - Tips & Tricks

[dicko]

I realize your not trying to trick anyone I'm just trying to get my head around how different the absorption rate is. I do let my grain sit over a bucket for the whole boil after sparging and I seem to get maybe another litter out of the spent grain. So grain and grain crush does make a huge difference in absorption rates.
I use a crankenstein 3 roller mill but can't remember the crush. Might try order some off Mark and see what I get. Ide love to not have to sparge those 3 extra litters. Thanks for the info.

Hi Gav80,

I have a 20 litre unit and I find I am getting grain absorption figures similar or even a bit less than what mikk is quoting.

When I was setting my unit up in Beersmith I was having trouble so I measured everything as I went over 5 or 6 brews to find where that extra wort came from.

I have a 3 roller Crankenstein mill and I have set my gap to 1.4mm and with this I get an efficiency at the mash of 77% on a 1050 beer.

I found in Beersmith by selecting BIAB Mash with a full boil in the Mash Profile window rather than selecting the Sparge Options it corrected the total water amount to reflect the true grain absorption rate.(in my system)

I then went into Beersmith - tools - options - advanced - and fine tuned the grain absorption to suit my system. It is set by default on BIAB at 0.586 and 0.960 on the standard grain absorption setting. Anyone choosing to do this can set this figure to accurately represent their own brewery figures.

I am almost sure it has everything to do with the crush as I have spoken to other users of BM's and some are not reporting this descrepancy :unsure:
I have also noticed a very slight difference when I used Marris Otter malt compared to Wyermanns Pils but not enough to worry me. I guess it is the difference in the husk in this case.

Cheers

 

[Florian]

Florian you legend B)

I know, right? :lol: :lol:

My starting volume is always 25L (after experimentation with all sorts of other volumes years ago).

I usually sparge with just above 8L (one Aldi urn full), but this time sparged with 12L to up my efficiency.
I sparge 1L at a time from a jug, pouring it slooowly over the grain bed (I don't remove any of the filter plates), and usually wait a minute or so until I pour the next jug. I sometimes let it rest for a while between jugs while I do other stuff. Obviously I'm ramping up to boil during sparging. I'm due to build myself some sort of fancy automatic fly sparge arm so i don't have to attend anymore while sparging.

I boiled in manual mode until I hit my desired pre boil gravity (based on my 'normal' beersmith configuration), from memory close to an hour, YMMV, then started the 60 minute timer with hop additions etc.

Was a little bit more mucking around than usual due to extra sparge volume and extended boil, but not much really.

 

[tallie]

Has anyone replaced the tap on a 50l? I think the female thread is bigger than the 20l and I have no idea what parts to get cause I am absolutely hopeless at plumbing/building stuff.

Yep, did it a few brews ago, and haven't looked back! I haven't had the aforementioned blockage problem, but was having issues with the o-ring breaking up on the standard tap, and it was also slow to drain. Now that I've got my old 1/2" ball valve fitting on, it flies out!

I bought the reducing bush from Craftbrewer. I'm not sure if it's on their website yet, but call/email them and they'll set you straight. With that bush, your old ball valve, and a bit of thread tape, you're good to go! The next thing on my list is to work out how to incorporate a pickup tube into the mix <_<

 

[Florian]

The next thing on my list is to work out how to incorporate a pickup tube into the mix <_<

Shouldn't be too hard, Kris, MHB used to supply a bent piece of copper or stainless that looked pretty home made. There are pictures floating around here somehwere.

I haven't got around to it either but will be interested to see what you come up with.

 

[tallie]

While we're on tips & tricks, recently I picked up half a dozen stainless washers that fit the centre tie-rod. The idea being that instead of putting the final coarse filter in the right way up and have it pushed all the way down by the spacer that's welded on, I invert the filter and use the washers as a smaller spacer. This gives me an extra 15-20mm depth in the malt pipe, while still positioning the filter in the parallel part of the malt pipe (albeit, a bit higher up). I've only just started doing it, so I'm not sure if/how it's affected the end product, but I haven't noticed any difference to how little grain matter is lost from the filter, so I don't expect any difference.

Another thing I've done, which seems particularly useful for brewing with the short malt pipe in the 50L BM, is cut the bottom out of a Bunnings plastic tub (one of these, although I can't remember the exact size) and sit it in the BM when filling the malt pipe. Due to the size and shape, it just fits into the top of the malt pipe, sealing off the sides so that you don't spill grain out of the pipe while doughing in.

 

[Rurik]

Shouldn't be too hard, Kris, MHB used to supply a bent piece of copper or stainless that looked pretty home made. There are pictures floating around here somehwere.

I haven't got around to it either but will be interested to see what you come up with.

I got one of the Stainless steel ones that MHB makes. Does the job like a boss. Give him a call and see if he has one would be the simplest way.

 

[tallie]

Shouldn't be too hard, Kris, MHB used to supply a bent piece of copper or stainless that looked pretty home made. There are pictures floating around here somehwere.

I haven't got around to it either but will be interested to see what you come up with.

Yeah, I've seen that one. I'll have to get on to it...

 

[Florian]

While we're on tips & tricks, recently I picked up half a dozen stainless washers that fit the centre tie-rod. The idea being that instead of putting the final coarse filter in the right way up and have it pushed all the way down by the spacer that's welded on, I invert the filter and use the washers as a smaller spacer. This gives me an extra 15-20mm depth in the malt pipe, while still positioning the filter in the parallel part of the malt pipe (albeit, a bit higher up). I've only just started doing it, so I'm not sure if/how it's affected the end product, but I haven't noticed any difference to how little grain matter is lost from the filter, so I don't expect any difference.

Another thing I've done, which seems particularly useful for brewing with the short malt pipe in the 50L BM, is cut the bottom out of a Bunnings plastic tub (one of these, although I can't remember the exact size) and sit it in the BM when filling the malt pipe. Due to the size and shape, it just fits into the top of the malt pipe, sealing off the sides so that you don't spill grain out of the pipe while doughing in.

Love both of those ideas, genius!
Always pays to gain that little bit of extra space in the malt pipe.

I use those containers you linked for growing hops (the 60L ones in white, drilled a few drainage holes). Even the smallest ones will be too large for the 20L, but I'll find something else that will fit.

Thanks for sharing!


Rurik, I might just do that if I get stuck, Mark was already kind enough to supply me with his home made fabric filters for nix.

 

[QldKev]

I finally got around to fitting wheels to my BM stand, makes life a whole lot easier.

Almost got all the gear to build yourself a 3V there :lol:

 

[tallie]

The only caveat** to inverting the top filter is that it makes it difficult to remove individually. I use a nail to poke through one of the holes and use it as a lever to lift it up. If you only remove the filter to dump the grain though, you can just let it slide out with the grain.

Edit: ** that I'm aware of

 

[tallie]

I boiled in manual mode until I hit my desired pre boil gravity (based on my 'normal' beersmith configuration), from memory close to an hour, YMMV, then started the 60 minute timer with hop additions etc.

When you say "started the 60 minute timer with hop additions", do you mean the BM's timer? If so, how do you interrupt the program, switch to manual mode, then resume? Or do you abort, run in manual mode, then re-program with 0-minute mash steps?

 

[Florian]

Sorry, should have been clearer. I meant my Aldi kitchen timer, stayed in Manual...

I did what you described last a few times, but it's not worth the hassle of reprogramming everything and going through all the beeps to be honest.

Hey, there's another thing Speidel should integrate in their 'next' software upgrade, along heaps of other things like more mash steps, longer mash steps and the ability to save a number of mash profiles.

 

[beerbog]

You could've gotten there easier, Pratty.

I got a whole cube of 1.094 wort yesterday. There were 800g of dark brown sugar in there, take that out and you're at 1.080, but with a single mash, and closer to 22L in the cube as well.

6.8kg of grain, 3.7kg of that wheat, no rice hulls, no problems.

Mash in at 15, then 44/20, 54/15, 63/8, 71/60, 77/15.

Florian, are you putting in 6.8kg of grain into 25L? How does it fit? I've only ever done 5.5 with 27 and it's nearly brimming. Thanks.

 

[Florian]

Florian, are you putting in 6.8kg of grain into 25L? How does it fit? I've only ever done 5.5 with 27 and it's nearly brimming. Thanks.

Yep, 6.8kg in 25L. It just fits, what else can I say? Have done it a few times now, always heaps of wheat. Could probably squeeze 500g or so more in but haven't tried that yet, and with Tallie's filter plate flip trick probably even more. My instructions say 4.5 - 5kg max, but obviously they got it wrong...

My BM is about three years old, I know they've changed parts of the software since (reduced max rest time from 255 to 180 as an example) and the pumps, but wouldn't think they'd changed the physique of the malt pipe. Just give it a try.

 

[tallie]

Sorry, should have been clearer. I meant my Aldi kitchen timer, stayed in Manual...

I did what you described last a few times, but it's not worth the hassle of reprogramming everything and going through all the beeps to be honest.

Hey, there's another thing Speidel should integrate in their 'next' software upgrade, along heaps of other things like more mash steps, longer mash steps and the ability to save a number of mash profiles.

Ah, that makes sense. Yeah, it would be good to be able to switch to adjust the program half way through, especially when you're breaking it in. More kettle addition timers too

 

[cliffo]

The next thing on my list is to work out how to incorporate a pickup tube into the mix <_<

I made a very simple pick up tube from a copper elbow and two pieces of heavy duty silicon hose jammed on to each end. The silicon hose has the perfect outside diameter to wedge it into outlet on the BM50 for an air tight fit and the internal diameter is a nice, snug fit over the elbow.

Cut the hose to the desired length and you have yourself a pickup tube.

 

[DeGarre]

...
Something interesting that nearly seen me lose my sh*t......oh and the beer.........when it came time to transfer from the BM to the FV......the white sleeve on the BM tap turned when I turned the tap and the wort would NOT come out the tap....WTF, I mean seriously WTF???..........at first I thought the hops had clogged the hole ( 195g of hops on an Imperial IPA ) after a mental fuse went of I calmed down and tried to get the beer out of the BM - this required undoing the tap with one hand, holding the FV in the other and wooshca - flowing wort streaming into the FV, with about 500mls of wort/hops debris onto the ground etc etc.....FM. h34r:

time to upgrade to a 1/2inch ball valve.

Apparently Speidel has changed the design in which the white sleeve can't move at all, there were some photos of it on another website somewhere, some people had the same problem as you and were sent replacement taps.

edit: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/speidel-braumeister-brewmaster-229225/index203.html

post #2029

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Hi Gav80,

I have a 20 litre unit and I find I am getting grain absorption figures similar or even a bit less than what mikk is quoting.

When I was setting my unit up in Beersmith I was having trouble so I measured everything as I went over 5 or 6 brews to find where that extra wort came from.

I have a 3 roller Crankenstein mill and I have set my gap to 1.4mm and with this I get an efficiency at the mash of 77% on a 1050 beer.

I found in Beersmith by selecting BIAB Mash with a full boil in the Mash Profile window rather than selecting the Sparge Options it corrected the total water amount to reflect the true grain absorption rate.(in my system)

I then went into Beersmith - tools - options - advanced - and fine tuned the grain absorption to suit my system. It is set by default on BIAB at 0.586 and 0.960 on the standard grain absorption setting. Anyone choosing to do this can set this figure to accurately represent their own brewery figures.

I am almost sure it has everything to do with the crush as I have spoken to other users of BM's and some are not reporting this descrepancy :unsure:
I have also noticed a very slight difference when I used Marris Otter malt compared to Wyermanns Pils but not enough to worry me. I guess it is the difference in the husk in this case.

Cheers

G'day Dicko,

Thanks for the info mate. I will try a new crush and measure all my volumes accurately and then see where I'm at.
Cheers

 

[Dan Pratt]

I boiled in manual mode until I hit my desired pre boil gravity (based on my 'normal' beersmith configuration), from memory close to an hour, YMMV, then started the 60 minute timer with hop additions etc.




Hi Florian,

I just re-read the post and you boil for an hr to get pre-boil gravity - then boil for another hr = 2 hrs boil......

Shouldnt the preboil gravity be....well, pre-boil? I sparge 2.5 litres x 3 or 2ltrs x 4 but for 20 mins each, my sparge usually takes at least an hr and i have to pause the kettle from getting to boil, this gets me my preboil gravity or within a couple of points each brew.

What is your efficiency at if you have to boil for an hour to get preboil gravity? or is it that you sparge to fast?

( my take on sparging is, slow and long....eg 1lt = 10 mins, otherwise it just drains through and lite on the sugers..... when its only drip dripping, is when the sugars are there... )

 

[Rurik]

I boiled in manual mode until I hit my desired pre boil gravity (based on my 'normal' beersmith configuration), from memory close to an hour, YMMV, then started the 60 minute timer with hop additions etc.




Hi Florian,

I just re-read the post and you boil for an hr to get pre-boil gravity - then boil for another hr = 2 hrs boil......

Shouldnt the preboil gravity be....well, pre-boil? I sparge 2.5 litres x 3 or 2ltrs x 4 but for 20 mins each, my sparge usually takes at least an hr and i have to pause the kettle from getting to boil, this gets me my preboil gravity or within a couple of points each brew.

What is your efficiency at if you have to boil for an hour to get preboil gravity? or is it that you sparge to fast?

( my take on sparging is, slow and long....eg 1lt = 10 mins, otherwise it just drains through and lite on the sugers..... when its only drip dripping, is when the sugars are there... )

Do you know how the BM works? You don't control the sparg in fact I don't think what most people call a sparg in a BM is a sparg at all but more of a wash.