Braumeister - Tips & Tricks

[Malted]

I had the best brewday ever yesterday; no issues or dramas at all. The maiden run of my Braumeister!

Just wondering if it would be a good idea to do a 'wet' run before you put any grain in?

Yes. In fact Braumeister recommend this in the user guide/manual for first use. Think of it as a clean and flush out of any residual grease, dust or grime. I should imagine you probably don't need to run through a whole cycle, just fill it to say 30L with some warm/hot water and give the pump/s a whirl. I had little bits of cardboard emerge during this initial clean.

Hmmm, not really! 53L mash-in plus 10L sparge probably equals about 55/56L pre-boil due to grain absorbtion.

Yes total amount of water used would be 63L not boil volume. Thank you. I certainly did need an additional 10L above that of mash-in. I thought I was getting an 87% efficiency but had a niggling doubt and checked my refractrometer against cooled boiled water. Yes it was out and I only hit 83% or so!

slow leak on tap, 20L version - could I just replace this with a standard ball valve?

Yes you sure could. It is a " female straight (as opposed to tapered) socket on the Braumeister. I thought the original tap looked like it was a very small bore so I replaced it with a "-1/2" nipple and then a " 3 piece full bore tap.

I think I may have got this idea from a picture that perhaps Schooey had posted somewhere. I am also sure that I got the following idea from him too.

I put some rice hulls in the inverted hoprocket (without the high flow cage) and then a couple of hop plugs. Despite this the hop and trub cone after whirlpooling was the best I have ever witnessed and I would be confident of running the wort straight out of the Braumeister and through the plate chiller. It flowed so well that I had to back it off by partially closing the tap on the Braumeister.

 

[humulus]

Interesting post re the copper elbow. I reckon that'd be a good idea to create a whirlpool besides stirring it, which I've been doing.

Has anyone had problems with either of the following:

a) erruption from built up pressure (as per American guys video on youtube (name and link escapes me) - crush too thin, maybe?

B) slow leak on tap, 20L version - could I just replace this with a standard ball valve?

Yep siborg my 20l tap leaks put seals up when the temp climbs.and ive also had the volcano happening think i put too much grain in,i paused the process stirred it with the mash paddle and all was ok(probably similar to a stuck sparg!

 

[Malted]

Yep siborg my 20l tap leaks put seals up when the temp climbs.and ive also had the volcano happening think i put too much grain in,i paused the process stirred it with the mash paddle and all was ok(probably similar to a stuck sparg!

Just a guess.
I note that there is a groove in the thread of the tap where the o-ring is meant to sit. Perhaps the o-ring is not sitting in the groove because the nut has forced it past it? Remove tap, add a little thread tape, make sure o-ring is in the groove? Wind tap onto socket until the o-ring bottoms against the socket and then tighten the nut?

 

[Bribie G]

I was looking on the BM site and I note that in the latest English version diagrams the "valve" is no longer referred to as the "output ****".
Obviously Florian has been teaching them correct English

 

[DarkFaerytale]

for those that have the 50L, is it still quite easy to do smaller batch brews, ei. 20-25L ?

cheers

-Phill

 

[wobbly]

There is a pod cast on "Basic Brewing" back on the 21st April 2011 with a guy from Norway that has done over 150 brews with a 20lt Braumeister and incedently he won this years Norwegian brewer of the year with abeer he made in his Braumeister.

The link is here and there are a few points that he makes that I found of interest

http://hw.libsyn.com/p/b/f/7/bf7568a62f1ca...p;l_mid=2543367

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[Malted]

for those that have the 50L, is it still quite easy to do smaller batch brews, ei. 20-25L ?

cheers

-Phill

Are you talking about the short malt pipe?

No experience with the short malt pipe myself but if I interpret what I have heard correctly, then it needs a volume of 30L or so to use the short malt pipe {as oppossed to the regular malt pipe in the 50L} so with loss to grain, 60min boil evaporation & cooling loss you'd be around 25L, maybe even down to 20L with a 90 min boil?

I too am keen to hear from someone who has actually used a short malt pipe in the 50L. What is your experience with actual volumes?

 

[fleshy]

Are you talking about the short malt pipe?

No experience with the short malt pipe myself but if I interpret what I have heard correctly, then it needs a volume of 30L or so to use the short malt pipe {as oppossed to the regular malt pipe in the 50L} so with loss to grain, 60min boil evaporation & cooling loss you'd be around 25L, maybe even down to 20L with a 90 min boil?

I too am keen to hear from someone who has actually used a short malt pipe in the 50L. What is your experience with actual volumes?

I've done 6 batches with the short malt pipe in the 50L (I'm currently upgrading my fermentation space to take larger than 20 litres). My last 3 batches have all been 28 litres in the tun with a 1 to 1 ratio of sparge water to grain through the top of the lifted malt pipe prior to removing the top filter. This pretty much puts me at the 30 litre marker in the vessel. I boil for 60 minutes at the 101 degree setting and end up just under the 25 litre marker (close to 23 litres). I've been within 2 points of predicted OG for the last 3 runs.

I found any less then 28 litres in resulted in a very stiff mash, that took a lot of work thoroughly wet and ensure no dough balls.

I'm not running any mods aside from aluminium fly screen as the bottom filter. I manually whirlpool and tilt the whole vessel at end to drain through my plate chiller.

 

[Siborg]

I had the best brewday ever yesterday; no issues or dramas at all. The maiden run of my Braumeister!

Yes. In fact Braumeister recommend this in the user guide/manual for first use. Think of it as a clean and flush out of any residual grease, dust or grime. I should imagine you probably don't need to run through a whole cycle, just fill it to say 30L with some warm/hot water and give the pump/s a whirl. I had little bits of cardboard emerge during this initial clean.

Yes total amount of water used would be 63L not boil volume. Thank you. I certainly did need an additional 10L above that of mash-in. I thought I was getting an 87% efficiency but had a niggling doubt and checked my refractrometer against cooled boiled water. Yes it was out and I only hit 83% or so!


Yes you sure could. It is a " female straight (as opposed to tapered) socket on the Braumeister. I thought the original tap looked like it was a very small bore so I replaced it with a "-1/2" nipple and then a " 3 piece full bore tap.

I think I may have got this idea from a picture that perhaps Schooey had posted somewhere. I am also sure that I got the following idea from him too.

I put some rice hulls in the inverted hoprocket (without the high flow cage) and then a couple of hop plugs. Despite this the hop and trub cone after whirlpooling was the best I have ever witnessed and I would be confident of running the wort straight out of the Braumeister and through the plate chiller. It flowed so well that I had to back it off by partially closing the tap on the Braumeister.

Wow!

That has inspired me. Is that a hopback or filter? What do you use for filtering hops from the boil? I was thinking of a muslin bag, which I used on my last brew which was all galaxy flowers late. I've been toying with the idea of getting a plate chiller (currently no chill), but not too sure due to possible blockages.

 

[RdeVjun]

Looks like a Blichmann Hoprocket to me Si! :icon_cheers:

 

[Siborg]

Looks like a Blichmann Hoprocket to me Si! :icon_cheers:

Me like...

edit: that would actually filter out any hop material from the boil, wouldn't it?

 

[RdeVjun]

Yeah, getting a bit OT here however, as an aside, IMO whole hops/ plugs are excellent for filtering out some break material, bunging a heap in one of those hopbacks could achieve two things- break filter media and also a mechanism for imparting late hops character. However, to be honest, I've never used one of those particular hopbacks and the manufacturer emphasises the fact that its not a filter, but I'd take a stab at it and suggest that in the right proportions (of pelletised kettle hops) and circumstances (eg. after a whirlpool, scrubby pickup) and suggest it could well do the job and that's why they're attractive to me. :icon_cheers:

 

[Malted]

Me like...

edit: that would actually filter out any hop material from the boil, wouldn't it?

Yes indeed it is a Blichman Hop rocket, you can see the label in the photo.
Worked a treat. The hop rocket is actually upside down the way I used it, like I said though, monkey see, monkey do, it was not an original idea.
There is a perforated mesh screen inside it which I put some rice hulls on top of and then a couple of hop plugs, no scrubbie or anything just straight out of the tap. Any loose pellet hops or break material got caught up in the plugs and rice hulls. Under a gravity feed like that I actually had to slow the flow down with the tap, worked better than I had imagined it would.

 

[wobbly]

Today I decide to document the progressive details of the mash for the brew I did today. My system is a 20lt unit and I have a home made insulating skirt made out of a bit of carpet on the otuside of the unit to improve heat retention

Grain Bill 5kg made up of 4kg Pilsner, 400g Caramalt, 400g carapils and 200g crystal

1. Doughed in at 38C and let it stand/sit for 20 mins before starting the programe for grain to fully hydrate
2. Did a protein rest at 53C for 10 mins. It took the Braumeister 14 mins to heat from 38C to 53C
3. Checked the SG at the start of Protein rest and was already 1013
4. Mash looked quite stiff (not much over flow over edge of malt pipe) so paused prog and stired mash and restarted - flow over malt pipe improved maybe by a factor of 2
5. Paused and repeated mash stir after another 10 mins but didn't see any noticable improvement (like after the first stir) in over flow
6. First malt rest schedule was 63c for 40mins. The system took 13 mins to ramp from 53C to 63C. SG at the start of this rest was 1024
7. Did Iodine test at end of 40mins at 63C and the colour was bright redish with no evidence of any blue/black colour indicative of no starch present??? SG at end of 63C rest was 1043
8. Second malt rest was 72C for 40 mins. The system took 9 mins to ramp from 63C to 72C. At the start of this rest the SG was 1043
9. SG at the end of second rest (72C for 40 mins) was 1050
10. Mashed out at 78C for 10 mins
11. Lifted malt pipe and let it drain for about 10 mins and then moved to a separate bucket so as to be able to check sparge running SG
12. First sparge was flood with 2lt 78C water and SG of runnings was 1034
13. Second sparge was flood again with 2lt 78C water and SG runnings were 1024
14. Did a third flood sparge again with 2lt of 78C water and SG was 1020
15. Vol in Braumeister now 27lt and SG was 1047 at the start of boil which is indicative of (depending on how you do the calculation) of between 81 and 84% mash eff.

What would I do differently next time.
1. Stir the mash after the end of the dough in delay (before starting program)
2. Maybe consider either opening the crush up a bit or adding some rice hulls
3. Possibly do a fourth sparge based on above results so as to end up with another couple of lts into fermenter
16. Vol at end of 90 min boil was 22lt and SG was 1055 compaired to target of 1053

This may be of interest to other Braumeister users

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[bullsneck]

Has anyone here measured their Braumeisters with a ruler with water in it? So they can ascertain how much water they have by simply chucking a stainless steel ruler in and taking a reading. My old kettle used to be 1.13cm to the litre but I have no idea what a Braumeister 20L is per litre.

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Easy really, the Crox makes a ball joint between 20mm long piece of silicone tube and the inside of the tap mounting.
Works really well and nowhere near as complicated as the prototype some black hander came up with.
M
View attachment 47793

Is this a pick-up tube for the BM 50L? I need one but not really understanding this explanation.

 

[Duff]

Second brew today (20L) and found the following:

- It struggled a bit with a 5kg grain bill even with rice hulls which stopped the pump a couple of times. 4.5kg seems to be the limit.
- It will boil over with the lid on

You read of the old German breweries mashing at low 30's © for one of their first steps. After trying this today the BM didn't enjoy the starch sediment too much which the pump struggled with. Both beers so far have been pilseners, the first one a couple of weeks ago started off in the low 50's. I will be sticking to this from now on.

Anchor Steam next week!!

Cheers.

 

[Thefatdoghead]

My first brew with the 50L BM I mashed in about 12kg of grain plus rice hulls. It only just fit in and was a ***** to mash. I made the rye robust porter. The wort struggled to pump through the thick grain bill but it did manage to pump. I ended up with about 68% efficiency and my OG was low but now I know it's limits. I mashed in at 38deg then ramped up to 53 and so on. I did notice a lot of little bits of grain floating around (not whole) but maybe that was from the rice hulls.
My second brew I hit 83% efficiency with a 10.5kg grain bill in the malt pipe. Pretty happy with that.

 

[Florian]

Has anyone here measured their Braumeisters with a ruler with water in it? So they can ascertain how much water they have by simply chucking a stainless steel ruler in and taking a reading. My old kettle used to be 1.13cm to the litre but I have no idea what a Braumeister 20L is per litre.

It's exactly one cm per litre, so 5 cm between the 5 litre markings. I use a normal tape measure (the ones that roll up at the press of a button, with a metal edge at the end). It makes it really easy because you can just slot the metal edge in the marking under water or wort level and pull the tape up, then just read the amount of cm at water level. So when you have dark wort you don't need to be able to see the markings as you just 'slot in' instead.
So or example 25L marking + 2.5 cm = 27.5L

Probably sounds more complicated as it is.

Or you could just measure from the top marking down of course.

EDIT: not sure about the 50L, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was something equally easy like 1.5 cm per litre or so.

 

[wobbly]

Hi Duff

Back in post #46 I refferenced a pod cast where they inteviewd a Norweigen brewer who uses a 20lt Braumeister and has done more than 100 brews with his system. If you haven't listed to it it might be worth your while.

The points that I got out of it are.
1. 5.5kgs is about the maximum amount of grain you can use without experiencing some issues. He did say that you could push it to 6kg with care (what ever that means)

2. He stated that he pauses the mash program about every 10 to 15 minutes a few times and gives the mash a gentle stir and this improves effeciency and helps to avoid any channeling as well as "frees up" the grain bed to help the pump. I have tried this and it certainly visably improved the flow over the side of the malt pipe each time after the first two pause and stirs on a grain bill of 5.3kg The third pause and stir didn't visually indicate any further improvement in flow over the side of the side of the malt pipe. I will keep doing this for a few more brews and see where it leads me. I guess with doing this you just need to be very carefull not to get any grain over the side of the malt pipe.

3. He doughs in at 38C and lest the system stand for about 20 to 30mins (without the pump running) before starting his mash schedule to allow the grain to fully hydrate

4. He has found the "optimal" OG range for his brewing is between 1045 and 1065

5. If you target a lower OG you will experience issues with too little grain in the malt pipe.

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.

Have you changed your grain crusher setting to end up with a courser crush. It states this in the Braumeister instructions and I have found the system works much better with my kraninstein set at at about 1.2mm but I am still trying to find the optimum setting. My next step may well be to close the mill up a bit and try "wet crushing" to see if that provides any benefits in eff and/or pump performance. I think there is a thread on this site some where about how to go about "wet crushing". I know I have read an article on it somewhere.

Cheers

Wobbly