Dedicated Braumeister Guide, Problems & Solution Thread

[wide eyed and legless]

Hi all is there anything I should look out for when buying a second hand braumeister?

I think you are safe with a second hand BM, just check out the elements, make sure they are still shiny.

 

[azza1]

Hi, would you guys buy a 8 year old v1 braumeister or a new grainfather connect at this point?

 

[Coalminer]

Make sure it will maintain a constant boil. Mine is the same vintage and the controller reads 3C above the actual temperature.
so when it hits 100C the controller thinks it is 103C and shuts off the heater. I also have to programme my mash temps 3C above what is needed. New controllers are expensive.
I would say it is a small electronic component on the circuit board but there are no adjustable pots on the board and Spidel has not been forthcoming with the the necessary info but is more than willing to sell a new one.
But there are workarounds so I am still happy with my unit and won't be tossing it.

 

[zoigl]

My 50 litre BM is now over 10 years old, I brew regularly. I had a problem with the control box link to the pumps, all sorted, Grain and Grape are wonderful guys to do business with.
I tried the upgraded control box but reverted back to my original controller, it does what I need without all the bells and whistles.
My pumps are completely original, although I did drop an impeller on the concrete floor and broke a couple of vanes, I replaced this with a new one. Don't tighten the pumps more than you have to in order to get a seal, hand tight is fine, just check for leaks.
I reverse my top filter to get a better seal on the grain, I still love my original cloth filters.
In my opinion, the original BM takes a lot to beat. I use a flat SS sink strainer drilled to fit the centre pole and hold this in place with a washer cut from silicon tube, thus preventing grain passing through the filter around the centre pole.
I still use the original tap, I can not understand why some choose to replace it. I find the silicon tube slips on easily, and if you apply a plastic wing nut hose clamp from Bunnings, you have nothing to worry about.
I put some photos up with my set up some where, check them out.
I Just read the previous note and will add my bit. Set the temperature to boil as 102c or as high as the control box will allow.
I tried cutting up a camp foam mattress for insulation but soon gave this up as the wort is sticky and makes a mess on the outside of the BM. To overcome this, I commandeered a large bath towel which I wrapped around the BM and held in place with a bungy cord, the towel completely covers the BM from the support base to the rim. This really helps the rolling boil. I boil in the open air as I don't want the sticky steam inside on my ceiling.

 

[MHB]

I think you are safe with a second hand BM, just check out the elements, make sure they are still shiny.

Some of the early ones have black elements rather than polished SS. They are actually better at heat transfer than the SS ones. Just make sure they are clean.

Hard to go wrong with a BM, even an old one its like choosing between a used BMW and a new Kia. a year or two from now the BMW will still be a quality car, the Kia?
Mark

 

[wide eyed and legless]

+1 for the original tap it was made that way for a reason, not just to slip the silicone hose over but the i/d of the tap is only 8mm if I remember right so opening the tap you won't be getting a faster emptying bringing lots of trub with it. I wouldn't hesitate if you are happy with the price.

 

[professional_drunk]

Have had my v1 Braumeister for years now. Still love it. If it was stolen from me, I'd go buy another one even while knowing there are cheaper options out there that could save me thousands.

 

[hezzer]

Hi, would you guys buy a 8 year old v1 braumeister or a new grainfather connect at this point?

Agree with MHB. I have a 3 year old BMv2 with over 70 brews done and Grainfather chiller & fermenters. I wish that my fermenter/chiller set up had the same level of quality as the BM. I use a boil setting of 103 at sea level to get a boil which is sufficient. I have had a neoprene cover but got fed up cleaning it and am back to bare SS now. The wireless addition isn't worth the cost and I'm tending to using manual settings anyway so the old V1 will provide all you want, provided it's in good nick. Good luck.

 

[Batz]

I bought my 50lt Braumeister from MHB 11 years ago, I have done shitloads of brews since then. Never have a problem with it, I've heard things about the new models but I'm very happy with mine.
The older models had a small problem with the tap dripping when hot, that's why many changed them out.

 

[AussieDave]

Does anyone have any recommendations on the 20L BM Controller faults? i have the older unit. the controller screen back light is lite but nothing else happens.

 

[Willigofasta]

I have a 20L BM Plus with around 25 brews on it. Looking to upgrade to a 50L. Anyone considering the opposite, i.e. downsizing from 50 to 20 and would consider a swap arrangement?

 

[Goose]

Has anybody had a chance to see or try out the new BM models ?

https://shop.speidels-braumeister.de/de/braumeister-50-liter/braumeister-plus-50-liter1
As far as I can see they have finally upgraded their controller (which hopefully fixes that godawful misting problem that seemed to cause universal woes), added a drain cock on the floor of the vessel as well as a fixed cooling jacket.

I have seen a jacketed model but without the new controller in action. It has to be the most inefficient cooling solution I have ever seen, it just wastes water and adds even more weight to unit making the tippy dumping required at cleaning even more difficult. There does not appear to be an option to buy the unit without the jacket, at least on any website I've seen.

Speaking of cleaning, it appears they did add a drain cock to the bottom, but what is the point if the bottom is flat and not concave for effective drainage?

Also looking at the new controller it is not compatible with the old BM unit in terms of connectivity as far as I can see, not without some creative modifications.

I see Grain & Grape have the 50l model available now at $4300. That is punchy, especially if the Brewtools B80 which I am beginning to think is superior in almost every way, is selling for a grand less.....

 

[zoigl]

Does any one have an easy fix to connect the wifi module? My BM is in the brew shed 20 meters from the router in direct line through a large glass window. Speidel suplied a 30 cm cable, my PC with USB is inside the house.

 

[Osangar]

Brewtools B80

that a nice looking setup, but I can't tell which way the water flows. is it from the bottom to the top through the grain, or from top to bottom through the grain

 

[WEF]

Does any one have an easy fix to connect the wifi module? My BM is in the brew shed 20 meters from the router in direct line through a large glass window. Speidel suplied a 30 cm cable, my PC with USB is inside the house.

I've setup an additional wifi router in my shed in slave/repeater mode because it is able to pickup the signal more easily from the house than the BM module, it is able to connect to the wifi router in the house (also about 20m away) with the benefit's of a boosted signal in the shed. I then connect the BM to this slave router. The other benefit is i can watch Youtube videos in the shed with about 10mb internet speed.

My only problem is i am having issues connecting to the BM portal, it could be a problem with this "repeater router" mode as there are some potential DNS issues etc going this slave/repeater route, however upon scouring the internet to solve this problem it is more likely to do with Speidel web portal itself?

Instead in order to connect to the BM and successfully interact with it, the workaround is to roll back the firmware on the BM wifi module (further info here) and connect to the BM50 over LAN (anywhere i can join my wifi signal on the property). Obviously it would be ideal to connect via the Speidel portal on their current firmware etc so one can easily upload recipes and check on brew day progress from anywhere (Bunnings) but i couldn't figure out a fix for this, not to sure i'd want over 50L of wort on a rolling boil while i'm down at Bunnings anyway.

 

[zoigl]

Thanks WEF, I am starting to think that I have bought a superseded wifi module and that Speidels do not appear anxious to sort it out. I really want to overcome the fogging up and bending over to control the BM.
A new model was advertised on a recent BYO mag.

 

[WEF]

Thanks WEF, I am starting to think that I have bought a superseded wifi module and that Speidels do not appear anxious to sort it out. I really want to overcome the fogging up and bending over to control the BM.
A new model was advertised on a recent BYO mag.

Yeah their new model looks quite nice indeed, one can even ferment in it and control the fermentation temperature with the controller. I had the Grainfather 30 before this and they are a nice unit, they have released a 70L model recently also and all their models have their controller up high, only drawback is the quality is nothing like the Braumeister. The Brewtools i'm told have their issues also and their quality is also not like the BM's.

My BM50 sits on top of a flatbed scissor lift trolley/table, i can raise it when i want to gravity "siphon" or for any other purpose. I have also fitted a small 100kg electric winch to raise the malt pipe.

 

[Goose]

that a nice looking setup, but I can't tell which way the water flows. is it from the bottom to the top through the grain, or from top to bottom through the grain

brewtools is top down. The bottom up, as far as I can see is unique to the braumeister.

 

[chookherder]

Hi W

I've setup an additional wifi router in my shed in slave/repeater mode because it is able to pickup the signal more easily from the house than the BM module, it is able to connect to the wifi router in the house (also about 20m away) with the benefit's of a boosted signal in the shed. I then connect the BM to this slave router. The other benefit is i can watch Youtube videos in the shed with about 10mb internet speed.

My only problem is i am having issues connecting to the BM portal, it could be a problem with this "repeater router" mode as there are some potential DNS issues etc going this slave/repeater route, however upon scouring the internet to solve this problem it is more likely to do with Speidel web portal itself?

Instead in order to connect to the BM and successfully interact with it, the workaround is to roll back the firmware on the BM wifi module (further info here) and connect to the BM50 over LAN (anywhere i can join my wifi signal on the property). Obviously it would be ideal to connect via the Speidel portal on their current firmware etc so one can easily upload recipes and check on brew day progress from anywhere (Bunnings) but i couldn't figure out a fix for this, not to sure i'd want over 50L of wort on a rolling boil while i'm down at Bunnings anyway.

Hi WEF,
I have similar issue with shed 20m from the house so I put an extra router over there. But I run a 30m Ethernet cable from house router to shed router. No slave/repeater issues.

Never have any trouble now with good healthy wifi inside the shed for BM and anything else.
The cable isn’t pretty but it’s cheap and easy.

 

[WEF]

Hi W


Hi WEF,
I have similar issue with shed 20m from the house so I put an extra router over there. But I run a 30m Ethernet cable from house router to shed router. No slave/repeater issues.

Never have any trouble now with good healthy wifi inside the shed for BM and anything else.
The cable isn’t pretty but it’s cheap and easy.

Thanks chookherder, yeah 1 last thing i'll try is wheeling the BM out towards the house (as long as my 15amp extension lead can go) and pick up the main WiFi signal from the house and see if that overcomes the Speidel portal issue...