Brewing System

[bum]

I reckon BeerBelly could piss in one of those no problems.

Sure they could but, seriously, why would they? There couldn't be any profit in it when the system it is replacing can be as cheap as a garden variety water urn, less than $10 of swiss viole.

 

[Zwickel]

I also see that the "malt pipe" has solid sides, so the bottom is presumably the only perforated surface, thus building up a grain bed on raising it, and thus the RIMS capability.

I reckon BeerBelly could piss in one of those no problems.

bottom and top is perforated, so the wort pump pumps permanently through the malt pipe and keeps the grain floating.

 

[Bribie G]

Sure they could but, seriously, why would they? There couldn't be any profit in it when the system it is replacing can be as cheap as a garden variety water urn, less than $10 of swiss viole.

"Cheap as urn" is around $300. I'd readily part with a hundred bucks whatever for a malt pipe and then look at a March Pump setup. RWAMP system (RIMS with a Malt Pipe) :lol: After all it's just a glorified big baked bean can with a mesh bottom.

 

[bum]

My apologies. It looked to me like the statement I quoted was about the device linked not the "malt pipe".

Having said that, I've seen BeerBelly's prices and I don't reckon it'd come at under $300. I'm sure it could be better but I severely doubt it would come in cheaper than a full retail Birko.

LET ME MAKE THIS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR: I'm not having a go at BeerBelly. I plan to make at least a couple purchases from them in setting up my 3V system in the very near future. I'm sure their kit is worth every cent.

 

[white.grant]

I notice in one of the videos that a piece of cloth was used under the perforated metal lid of the malt pipe, no doubt to further filter the runoff. Its a nice looking system, the 200l one is particularly impressive.

cheers

grant

 

[Screwtop]

bottom and top is perforated, so the wort pump pumps permanently through the malt pipe and keeps the grain floating.

Mmmmm.......full volume, no sparge brewing, how is the efficiency Zwickel? Do you know anyone who uses one of these Braumeister units?

Cheers and Happy NY

Screwy

 

[Screwtop]

I have finally decided to step up to AG brewing.

I have read about a HERMS SYSTEM brewing setup........about $4,500.

Any comments on this type of system?

Cheers,

If you prefer to buy a turnkey system, then go ahead. If you plan on brewing the quantities you indicate, I would be looking into a 50L system. Same brewday time, same cleanup, twice as much beer, half as many brewdays. Can still brew 25L in these to keep the brewing frequency up while learning the craft/art. Food for thought.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[woodmac66]

If you prefer to buy a turnkey system, then go ahead. If you plan on brewing the quantities you indicate, I would be looking into a 50L system. Same brewday time, same cleanup, twice as much beer, half as many brewdays. Can still brew 25L in these to keep the brewing frequency up while learning the craft/art. Food for thought.

Cheers,

Screwy

I did exactly the same for the same reasons!
Cleaning is the major deterant to having an enjoyable Brewday and is critical must to making good beer .
So making twicw as much half as often and maintaining flexibity to brewing single if requires is a great compomise.
My first step into AG was with a complete system and i am now brewing great beer I am very happy with.
Either of the sytems and whatever you buy you will be happy with.
Ease of process is also a big pro in the decision you are making.
I don,t think there would be to many people on this site that wouldn't like one in their shed.
The only con is the money...... If you have it spend it on what you love!
No one ever considers in hese discussions that the value of good equipment seems to hold , so you need to consider hat you will end up with at the end as that is the true cost not the outlay.
Hope that makes sense!!


Woody

 

[newguy]

I have finally decided to step up to AG brewing.

I have read about a HERMS SYSTEM brewing setup........about $4,500.

Any comments on this type of system?

I know many homebrewers but I only know three who bought a preassembled brewing unit. One used it to brew commercially, and the other two use theirs to brew personally. That's not to say that it's a bad investment or anything like that, it's just that they're not the norm. The norm is usually a homemade assemblage of weird things that together happen to get the job done.

If you can spare the $, then one of these systems is actually a pretty good investment, especially if you value your time. Just make sure you step into this with eyes open: the best equipment doesn't automatically mean better beer. Good beer is entirely up to you, but in my opinion is about 95% due to sanitation. The other thing to consider is that you'll probably alter the unit sometime down the road. All 3 of the commercial units I know about were altered in some way once their owners got to know their systems. Most of the alterations were minor but one of the systems doesn't resemble the way it was originally shipped anymore.

If it was me, knowing what I now know, I'd spend the money differently and equip a good double sized (40l finished volume) brewery:

- 142l esky (link here). I've used both chest-style and cylindrical eskies before, and I prefer the chest style. Fewer stuck runoffs with it.
- Homemade manifold for the bottom of the esky. I'd personally go with a 12mm solid copper pipe model that can be broken down for cleaning but I've heard of people using braided SS with success.
- 60l (if not larger) kettle with tap.
- Propane "king cooker" burner or equivalent.
- If foregoing no chill, you'll need a wort chiller.
- Malt mill with adjustable gap. Motorise it if you wish.
- At least 8 x 19l kegs, but 12 is more manageable.
- CO2 bottle, regulator with dual gauge: tank pressure and regulator pressure.
- Two temperature controlled chambers, one for fermenters and the other for kegs.

You could easily buy everything on the list for a lot less than $4500 and still have money left over for ingredients.

 

[Brewer_010]

True woody
I'm going to have SFA space in my new house (where I'll be living for at least 10 years) and a system like the braumeister would be perfect - rather than a heap of bulky brewing equipment. If I had enough money to build a flash house with double garage and heaps of backyard / shed I would, but I don't so I can't.
This would fit in my single garage nicely. Also the time saving would be another plus.

 

[MHB]

Yes I am the Australian agent for Braumeister.
There are about half a dozen of these in Oz now, I know they arent inexpensive, but the build quality is what you would expect from a first class German engineering firm. Price is far from the only concern to some brewers.

When choosing a brewing system I wanted something that could run pretty much unattended; (its the only way I could fit any brewing into my week) that allowed flexibility so I could do isothermal as well as stepped mashes, its relatively compact - a smallish footprint for the output made the Braumeister a perfect fit for my needs.

The Braumeister system is a full volume RIMS system; my 50 Litre unit has 2 pumps, 2 elements (15 Amp total) and a PID controller with 5 step temperature/time plus boil time/temperature set points.
I routinely hit 80% Brew House Efficiency, at present I mostly no chill, but will be getting a tap up this end of the shop soon, so will be able to go straight into a fermenter.

I know this wont be everyones first choice, but I am very happy with mine.

MHB

 

[pokolbinguy]

How much are they in Aus MHB??

 

[RobW]

http://www.speidels-braumeister.de/product...do9a63fmt95lsd4

 

[Brewer_010]

Yes I am the Australian agent for Braumeister.
There are about half a dozen of these in Oz now, I know they arent inexpensive, but the build quality is what you would expect from a first class German engineering firm. Price is far from the only concern to some brewers.

When choosing a brewing system I wanted something that could run pretty much unattended; (its the only way I could fit any brewing into my week) that allowed flexibility so I could do isothermal as well as stepped mashes, its relatively compact - a smallish footprint for the output made the Braumeister a perfect fit for my needs.

The Braumeister system is a full volume RIMS system; my 50 Litre unit has 2 pumps, 2 elements (15 Amp total) and a PID controller with 5 step temperature/time plus boil time/temperature set points.
I routinely hit 80% Brew House Efficiency, at present I mostly no chill, but will be getting a tap up this end of the shop soon, so will be able to go straight into a fermenter.

I know this wont be everyones first choice, but I am very happy with mine.

MHB

MHB
an issue I have prior to buying something like this (and forking out a few $k's) is what are the warranty / parts / replacement bits like? If something breaks (like electronics) in three or four years time how expensive will it be to fix? A busted part on a conventional brew rig is not something you'd normally see.
cheers

 

[MHB]

I charge the same price as listed on the Braumeister website, plus the cost of landing it here.
Air freight, import duty and GST all included about double the price in Euros, the 50L version comes in around $5000- remember that the exchange rate isnt fixed, around 62 cents right now.
As the agent I carry a range of spares (including the computer), have for the last couple of years, and havent needed any yet, like I said they are extremely well made. Speidel (the parent company) are a long established manufacture with a reputation for quality and service.

Im getting too close to commercial posting for comfort, if anyone has questions please email me, if youre really interested come and do a brew on mine.
There should be a dedicated Braumeister website up by the end of the month in the meantime here is a PHF of spare parts (in German and the prices are a bit out of date)
Parts 20LView attachment 34311
Parts 50LView attachment 34312
Brewing Instructions View attachment 34313
MHB

PS Im hanging for one of those spun copper tops to become available for the 50L Braumeister.
M

 

[glaab]

- 142l esky

jeebers!, wyh is your tun so big for 40L batches? aint 60L esky big enough for ya?

 

[newguy]

jeebers!, wyh is your tun so big for 40L batches? aint 60L esky big enough for ya?

The first time you try to brew a doppelbock or a barleywine or a wee heavy, you'll be wishing your mash tun was bigger.

 

[bill_gill85]

MHB,

Looking at the principle of the Braumeister, it would appear that you can only brew in a relatively fixed volume for the wort to cascade over the malt pipe. Is that the case or am I missing something?

Cheers,

Ben

 

[MHB]

[font=" #39Times New Roman#39#39serif#39 FONT-SIZE 12pt"]Well yes and no[/font]

[font=" #39Times New Roman#39#39serif#39 FONT-SIZE 12pt"]It is designed to make 50 Litres of standard beer (1.050), I have made as little as 35 L of heavy and 65 L light weight beer[/font]

[font=" #39Times New Roman#39#39serif#39 FONT-SIZE 12pt"]The malt pipe is full of malt (nominally around 10Kg, but I have put in up to 12Kg) which only allows for there being ~15L of water in the malt pipe, the annular space between the malt tube and the body can be anywhere from full to nearly empty so there is a reasonable amount of flexibility.[/font]

[font=" #39Times New Roman#39#39serif#39 FONT-SIZE 12pt"]Braumeister also offer a [color=" #0070c0"][color=" #0070c0"]short malt pipe for the 50 L model[/color][/color] that lets you do 20-25 L batches.[/font]

[font=" #39Times New Roman#39#39serif#39 FONT-SIZE 12pt"]These days with the prevalence of "No Chill" I don't see it as being much of an issue, 1 to the fermenter and 1 to a cube for Ron.[/font]

[font=" #39Times New Roman#39#39serif#39 FONT-SIZE 12pt"]MHB[/font]

 

[Zwickel]

Okay, MHB has answered already the most of the questions.

Just some comments:

Mmmmm.......full volume, no sparge brewing, how is the efficiency Zwickel? Do you know anyone who uses one of these Braumeister units?

of course sparging is possible. Just hang up the malt pipe in the upper position and sparge.
Anaway, your question about efficiency is justifiable, most of users I know complain a little bit a low efficiency, but thats all what theyre complaining about, either of them loves hes Speidel.

Cheers :icon_cheers: