Braumeister - Tips & Tricks

[micblair]

@zoigl -- mash screens were both on the bottom. Also, check your gap setting if your getting wort fountains.

@lael -- no wheat, just barley.

I wouldn't be surprised if you could do away with the bottom screens too, given the direction of flow.

 

[zoigl]

Hi micblair,
I have used 50% wheat
The cloth filters work like a charm, they were original equipment. I sewed some bias binding tape around the edge and have a draw-string to keep it tight. Over time, the hole in the middle became enlarged, so I got a kitchen sink strainer and drilled a hole in the centre. I hold this in place with a slice of silica tube. I found that putting the top perforated disk on upside down works the best for me. I made a spacer from some copper tube to make up for the plate being upside down.
zoigl is a rare Bavarian beer, I like making these types of beers. Zoigl beers are limited to around 5 small villages.

 

[lael]

Wow. 50% is a lot. What does that taste like?

 

[Batz]

Wow. 50% is a lot. What does that taste like?

Wheat beer? :icon_vomit: :icon_vomit:

 

[lael]

Haha not normally that high % tho?

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

I think the old pumps were a lot weaker than what they are selling now. Mine was bought in mid 2012 and came with mesh, so newer than the cloth ones, but I had lots of pump issues. Spiedel replaced both and they are awesome now. Seem to be unperturbed by a bit of grain.

 

[alcoadam]

Haha not normally that high % tho?

Minimum for a german wheat...

 

[lael]

oh really? How high do they go? Any commercial styles that use that high a %age I can try? Does using that high a proportion result in stuck sparges etc in non- BM mashing? anyone actually managed a stuck sparge in a BM?

 

[Black n Tan]

He's on the money. A german wheat beer according to the german purity law must contain a minimum of 50% wheat malt. I haven't gone above 50% wheat yet in the BM, but if I use a significant portion of wheat I also add a few handfuls of rice hulls rather than risk a wort fountain or stuck sparge. My second to next brew will be an american wheat with 60% wheat (50% malted/10% torrified).

 

[dicko]

I made a robust porter today with close to 6 kg of grain including 100gr of flaked barley in my 20 l BM.
I doughed in at 38 and was letting it ramp to 66 for the first rest.
I noticed that there was very little flow over the side of the malt pipe when the pump started so I paused the program and stirred in one handful of pre washed rice hulls.
The flow from then on was noticeably better with the pump handling the flow quite easily.
While I don't like rice hulls I do feel that they are beneficial to any mash including the mash on the BM.

 

[Dan Pratt]

On the weekend I found that my pump impeller was quite grotty due to a clean I done a week ago. I cleaned the BM by boiling for 30mins with CS, then after rinsing out I forgot to open the pump like you would when you finish a boil.

Anyway the gunk that came of the elements has well set into the pump impeller and I was thinking of boiling the impeller for 10-15mins, would that be ok?

 

[malt and barley blues]

Shouldn't have a problem with that Pratty1

 

[zoigl]

So long as it is clean of visible grot, the impeller should be OK with out the need to boil it.
You boil the wort anyway, so that will sanitize the impeller.
Also after each brew, I like to fill the BM 3/4 full, bring the temperature to 70c, and add Napisan or PBW for a soak10 - 15 minutes before draining off. I like to use dish scrubbers to clean the elements as it drains.
Napisan seems to work just as well as PBW and at a fraction of the price, seems to me to be a no brainer, especially when one of the big rip off supermarkets have it on special.
A final fill/rinse/drain using clean water and it gets packed away til next brew. You don't want any residue from the Napisan tainting the next batch. -_- edited to make this aspect clearer.
I take my pumps apart after each brew and leave them open to dry off overnight.
Check the tap is clean with a bottle brush.
The only problem that I've had with the pumps is when I dropped an impeller on the concrete floor, a blade broke off, I keep it as a spare. Sometimes one of them hums a bit, but I put this down to a bit of grain getting caught.
I have a very fine sieve from the Asian grocery store and watch the wort very carefully for stray grain when I first start up.

 

[Dan Pratt]

So long as it is clean of visible grot, the impeller should be OK with out the need to boil it.
You boil the wort anyway, so that will sanitize the impeller.
Also after each brew, I like to fill the BM 3/4 full, bring the temperature to 70c, and add Napisan or PBW for a soak10 - 15 minutes before draining off. I like to use dish scrubbers to clean the elements as it drains.
Napisan seems to work just as well as PBW and at a fraction of the price, seems to me to be a no brainer, especially when one of the big rip off supermarkets have it on special.
A final fill with clean water and it gets packed away til next brew.
I take my pumps apart after each brew and leave them open to dry off overnight.
Check the tap is clean with a bottle brush.
The only problem that I've had with the pumps is when I dropped an impeller on the concrete floor, a blade broke off, I keep it as a spare. Sometimes one of them hums a bit, but I put this down to a bit of grain getting caught.
I have a very fine sieve from the Asian grocery store and watch the wort very carefully for stray grain when I first start up.

thanks for the tips, ive been using Caustic Soda for cleaning and its not friendly and requires a second boiling of fresh water to clean that film off....Im going to try Napisan next time I clean her up.

A final fill with clean water and packed away.....huh? you store the BM full of water until your next brew?

 

[tallie]

thanks for the tips, ive been using Caustic Soda for cleaning and its not friendly and requires a second boiling of fresh water to clean that film off....Im going to try Napisan next time I clean her up.

I'd certainly avoid using Caustic based on this: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/72205-brass-and-caustic-whoops/ . Sounds like it came good in the end, but better to avoid it in the first place IMO.

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Yep, I won't use it again, though it did bring it up super shiny!

 

[matt211181]

Does anyone know if the BM restarts the mash cycle automatically after a power outage (obviously once power comes back on)? I've read about some users doing an overnight mash by specifying an initial rest at room temperature with the maximum rest length, and then having the BM hold with an extended mashout until the malt pipe is lifted.....but I'm just wondering if it would be possible to attach the BM to a power timer, mash-in (at room temp), press the button to start the mash sequence, then cut the power to the BM and have the timer turn the BM back on after a delay and have it continue the mash cycle?

 

[zoigl]

Hi bobcharlie
you don't say 20litre or 50litre, the 50 litre draws 15 amps.
I can't see why you would want to mash this way, I set my 50 l up the night before, grind the grain and get the mash going around 40 c the next day. Are you experimenting with the mash? What are you trying to achieve.Are you trying to save time?

 

[matt211181]

Hi Zoigl - it's just about saving time. I'm considering switching from my 3V HERMS to a 20L BM, mainly just to free up time. Ideally, I'd love to be able to mash in on the BM before going to bed, and have have the mash finished in the morning about 6am. As I said, I have read about some people doing an overnight mash by using 1 or 2 of the 5 programmable mash steps to just 'delay' the start of the mash (by setting the first mash step to 10deg C and hold for the maximum rest length available), but every so often I do a 5 step mash on my HERMS, and so I wouldn't really like to lose 1 or 2 of the 5 possible mash steps by doing this. I know I could always just start the mash before going to bed and have the BM hold at mash out until I get up, but this could mean 77-78deg being held for 6-7 hours, which I'm not too keen on. So, I was just thinking if the BM resumes the mash cycle automatically (if it has already been started) when the power is switched back on, a simple power timer could be used to effectively delay the start of the mash to something like 3am, and be ready to lift the malt pipe at 6 in the morning. However, if the BM requires the user to press a "continue mash" button or something after the power switches back on, then the delayed start with a power timer couldn't work.... Cheers

 

[Blind Dog]

@BobCharlie

If the power is interrupted the BM restarts with an abort or continue message, which requires a user response. so unfortunately the answer to your question is no. At least that's the case with my 20L BM

Not sure why you don't want the mash sitting at mash out temps overnight?