Braumeister - Tips & Tricks

[Dan Pratt]

I have used a black seal provided by MHB since I bought the unit. At first when you put it on the mesh and plate its a little stiff but as the temperature increases the seal becomes primed/softer and can move up with the pressure from the pump no worries.

 

[paulmclaren11]

Cheers for the responses will source some rubber. I too have found Marks homebrew hard to contact.

 

[Coalminer]

For those not averse to phone calls

MHB 0249696696

From Tuesday 7/01/2914

edit...detail

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I have to disagree that it doesn't matter whether the filter plate is able to move or not, if it cant move up the grain is held in a fairly solid mass and the liquor is going to find the easiest route to travel which will be up the centre of the tube along the tie rod and the side of the tube, we haven't got the luxury of an agitator arm so if the grain bed is allowed to float with as much room as possible the more the liquor will wash through it giving a more efficient mash.

 

[Dan Pratt]

When I use the black seal, which is every brew. I only push the plate/mesh/seal into the malt pipe just below the thread so its at the top already. When the pump starts the plate moves only a few mm's. Sometimes its lower but moves right to the cross bar without hassle.

 

[angus_grant]

So what is the reasoning for the filter plates moving? My brau-clone will have a filter plate fitted to the bottom and a filter plate fitted to the top of the malt pipe. Neither will move up and down.

I figure there is a good reason as surely it just adds complexity with sliding filter plates.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Mine don't move either. Its been interpreted that they do....:blink:

 

[dicko]

I have to disagree that it doesn't matter whether the filter plate is able to move or not, if it cant move up the grain is held in a fairly solid mass and the liquor is going to find the easiest route to travel which will be up the centre of the tube along the tie rod and the side of the tube, we haven't got the luxury of an agitator arm so if the grain bed is allowed to float with as much room as possible the more the liquor will wash through it giving a more efficient mash.

My take on this with a genuine BM is that the bottom plate is quite free to move and therefore the grain bed "falls apart" each time the pump has a break and that plate moves back to the bottom, so in theory, the grains would be a lot more disturbed if the top plate didn't move. Of course if you pushed the top plate down onto the top of the grainbed and then it was jammed in that position the only movement you would get is the water through the grain, but wouldn't that be the same as the two plates moving up and down simultaneously?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

As I said in my previous post, the dynamics of fluids dictate where the liquor will run, be it up or down and it is the route which is less restricted i.e. the sides and the centre up the tie rod.
I would imagine the reason that Spiedel made 2 filter plates the same was to keep the cost down, it is 2 less operations in the manufacture if they didn't make a separate mesh and perforated plate for the top of the malt pipe.
I wouldn't be to sure that the bottom plate and filter move at all, I don't know.

 

[Crusty]

As I said in my previous post, the dynamics of fluids dictate where the liquor will run, be it up or down and it is the route which is less restricted i.e. the sides and the centre up the tie rod.
I would imagine the reason that Spiedel made 2 filter plates the same was to keep the cost down, it is 2 less operations in the manufacture if they didn't make a separate mesh and perforated plate for the top of the malt pipe.
I wouldn't be to sure that the bottom plate and filter move at all, I don't know.

I'm yet to do a brew on my new 50lt BM but I'm pretty sure the plates don't move at all during the mash.
The bottom plate is held down by over 10kg of grain & even though it's surrounded by water, I don't think it's going to lift off the bottom & slide up the rod.
The same goes for the top in my opinion. It's purely there to stop the grain from escaping the malt pipe.
The two pumps together certainly don't have the muscle to push them up in my opinion.
I've just run some water tests with mine & watching it do it's thing & having pump breaks, I didn't see any plates move at all.
It may be different with all the grain in there but I'd be surprised if the plates moved at all.

 

[angus_grant]

cool, that aligns with my thinking. I could not come up with a reason for the filter plates moving up and down.

I have only done 5 or 6 AG brews so figured I was missing some reason for the plates moving to maintain the grain bed for filtering or something along those lines.

Thanks chaps. I'll leave you in peace to chat about your expensive and drool-worthy German machinery whilst I cross back over the tracks to the cheap side of town.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

When you do your first brew Crusty the grain bed will move up and push the top plate up but it is interesting that the bottom plate didn't move when you did your trial run, also as Dicko pointed out the pump break lets the grain settle back down before pushing it back up again, so really that eliminates any need for giving the grains a stir during the mash cycle.

Another thing worth mentioning is that anyone who goes with a seal ring around the top plate and filter, as Coalminer mentioned it doesn't have to be silicone, but it would have to be food grade rubber or something else that is FDA compliant, and silicone would be the cheapest option.

 

[paulmclaren11]

On the seal, I called Mark's Homebrew today and he basically said just go to Clarke Rubber - that's the seal he sells with his BM's. It's the lightest edging they have (about 3mm x 5mm) C-section - need about 1.2m of it.

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

I'm yet to do a brew on my new 50lt BM but I'm pretty sure the plates don't move at all during the mash.
The bottom plate is held down by over 10kg of grain & even though it's surrounded by water, I don't think it's going to lift off the bottom & slide up the rod.
The same goes for the top in my opinion. It's purely there to stop the grain from escaping the malt pipe.
The two pumps together certainly don't have the muscle to push them up in my opinion.
I've just run some water tests with mine & watching it do it's thing & having pump breaks, I didn't see any plates move at all.
It may be different with all the grain in there but I'd be surprised if the plates moved at all.

The top plate definitely moves up if you're using a smaller amount of grain. It moves up until it hits the crossbar. I see no evidence of any side to side movement though.

 

[Crusty]

The top plate definitely moves up if you're using a smaller amount of grain. It moves up until it hits the crossbar. I see no evidence of any side to side movement though.

That's surprising.
I guess mine didn't do anything because I had no grain in there. When I said I didn't notice them move, it wasn't something I was looking for or focusing on so It may have moved a tad without me noticing it. I was more involved with running it through another mash cycle & doing a boil for a while at the end.
The boil on these things is very gentle & I got out my trusty digital thermometer & tested the boil temp. On the Braumeister control panel, I never noticed it hit 100deg, always 99 or 98 then back to 99. I have it set to 102 so it stays on all the time. I didn't sit there & watch it continuously so it may of hit 100 at some point.
The digital thermometer reads between 99.7 & 100 so it's boiling. I think my crown exposed element urn always read 98 IIRC.

 

[Crusty]

On the seal, I called Mark's Homebrew today and he basically said just go to Clarke Rubber - that's the seal he sells with his BM's. It's the lightest edging they have (about 3mm x 5mm) C-section - need about 1.2m of it.

Doesn't he want to sell you one?
I was going to call him about a pick up tube & maybe a seal for the top plate but I might not bother.

 

[paulmclaren11]

Didn't seem to want to.... just told me to go to Clark Rubber.

I just went, the smallest they had was 4mm x 5mm - will try this for a fit (was only $7).

You can always give him a call and see - maybe as you want the pick up tube he will package it for you?

 

[Moad]

I think I got the last seal MHB had, probably figures it is just as easy for you to get the stuff as him

 

[Rurik]

Or it is not worth his time to sell it. I mean he runs a business by him self at the moment and cannot get out of the shop, so rather then blow smoke up some ones arse he just tells the to goto clark rubber and get it.

 

[paulmclaren11]

Yep and I am in WA - much easier for me to get it.

My seal fits over the top solid screen well, but not both the s/steel mesh and screen which is what I have seen others do.

However this should still fix my grain escape issues - it's a tight fit in the malt pipe but I think once some heat and water are in it the plate will rise and fall like normal.

I still think my centre rod isn't straight so I will unscrew and have a look at that. Might scratch in a 30 litre mark while I am at it.