Dicko's Dome for the Braumeister

[dicko]

Dicko’s Dome
First of all I will say that the reason for me doing this exercise was an attempt to gain a more vigorous boil on my 20 litre BM. I didn't do this to vent the boil but only to make it stronger. My theory is that a slightly stronger boil may help to produce a clearer beer and better hop utilization.

I really didn't want to spend the $350.00 AU to buy a genuine Domed Lid so I found a domed dish in a caterers supply store that was the same diameter as the 20 litre kettle for a cost of $9.85 AU.
I was extremely lucky that I found this bowl in the local Caterers shop in Port Lincoln
Here is a link I found on the WWWeb Link

Or maybe from Here
I first cut a 75mm hole in the middle of the dome and tried it but I found the boil was too violent and the break material was trying to climb out of the kettle.
I then enlarged the hole to 150mm and tried it again and it seems to work great.

Here is a pic of the dome before I cut the hole and then there is a video of the boil for anyone interested to compare to their boil.

and the hole

I apologise for the audio as I had the TV going in the background and the video was slightly affected by the steam from the boil, but you may get the result to compare against your own boil.

 

[Florian]

So do you have the dome just sitting flat on the rim of the BM, or is there a silicone gasket or similar to stop it from sliding around?

I have changed to using a separate Birko over the side element that I use when boiling, I now get a very vigorous boil and have reduced all my boil times to 60 minutes.

Your dome looks good though, might go down that route myself one day. You can also use your dome upside down to fill the malt pipe without any spills, so there's another bonus.

I will be interested to hear about any potential DMS issues as some of the condensation will drop back into the boil.

 

[dicko]

So do you have the dome just sitting flat on the rim of the BM, or is there a silicone gasket or similar to stop it from sliding around?

I have changed to using a separate Birko over the side element that I use when boiling, I now get a very vigorous boil and have reduced all my boil times to 60 minutes.

Your dome looks good though, might go down that route myself one day. You can also use your dome upside down to fill the malt pipe without any spills, so there's another bonus.

I will be interested to hear about any potential DMS issues as some of the condensation will drop back into the boil.

Hi Florian,

The dome I bought fits exactly on the top of the 20l BM so I don't have a gasket.
Provided I have the dome sitting central on the top there are no drips down the side.

Yes you can use it to fill the malt pipe...just be careful where you place the knob so it doesn't interfere with that process.
You will need some kind of knob or handle as it gets very hot.

I have done 3 brews with the dome now and the second one was a Continental Pilsener with an 80 minute boil and only Bo Pils by Wyermann. It is fermenting at the moment but I will report back when I have sampled that brew.
My aim is to try to achieve a 60 minute boil from the BM for most of my brews if I can without the fear of DMS.
Strangely enough the "boil off" rate with the dome has not changed or if it has it is hardly able to be measured. My thought at this stage is that the dome does restrict the opening a tiny bit but it also stops any breeze from blowing across the top of the wort during the boil.

I noticed that when I had moved from my 3v system to the BM my hop utilization appeared to drop as well and I have had to change and revamp some of my old recipes to suit. I blame the lack of a vigorous boil for this. Another thing that I noticed is with the vigorous boil from the 3v I rarely experienced any chill haze where as with the BM I have had a couple of incidences and have cured this with Polyclar.

As I complete more brews I will have more of an idea but at this stage I am very happy.

 

[doon]

Nice boil! May just have to go down this route. I do find my boil off rates quite high if it's a windy day so this may help.

 

[cubbie]

So I have only just got a BM and have done 1 brew. I never got over 97c, is that normal? Might go get me a dome.

 

[thedragon]

Dicko, looks great.

I bought today from Chef's Hat in Melbourne a 375mm diameter SS mixing bowl that fits perfectly and will be cutting the hole tomorrow. The bowl was $11.50.

Thanks for saving me $338.50.

Daniel

 

[thedragon]

So I have only just got a BM and have done 1 brew. I never got over 97c, is that normal? Might go get me a dome.

I use a home made jacket on my BM 20. It usually hovers around 99 deg and usually boil off at about 10% hr. Dms hasn't been a problem for me (not as far as my palate can tell), however I'm keen to increase the temp. Looks like Dicko's dome will do the trick.

 

[roger mellie]

Dicko

What does the temperature show on the BM with the hat on?

Cheers

RM

 

[megs8888]

Any idea what ss dome for 50L is required.

 

[dicko]

Dicko

What does the temperature show on the BM with the hat on?

Cheers

RM

Apology RM, just noticed your question.

Mine is set on 102 as instructed and maintains 99 deg when boiling.

Cheers

 

[spog]

Any idea what ss dome for 50L is required.

megs8888
Trace and cut a piece of cardboard to get the correct size and take that into the shops.