Grainfather or Braumeister

[bradsbrew]

I have gone back to 3V HERMS after using a GF for 18 months. Nothing wrong with the GF/ Brau systems, it just did not suit me, mainly volume. You really can't beat the flexibility of having 3 separate vessels.

 

[wobbly]

I checked out the Brau forum which seems to be UK based

The Braumeister Forum was started by a brewer called "Neils" and is based in Belguim

As well as screen condensation issues the "wifi" feature hasn't been a cake walk either from what I have read on the Braumeister Forum. Many of the members have elected not to take up the option to "upgrade" there original model control unit due to the various perceived issues

There hasn't been the same level of disappointment/problems detailed on the AHB various Braumeister topics so maybe the issue (s) are specific to Europe

It appears to be pretty poor management of the new release by Spiedel

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[Morrie]

Wobbly - thanks for your information mate. I think the next step would be to email a few Australian distributors of Brau and ask them have there been any of those issues and what is the warranty procedure in the event of a condensating screen etc.

 

[manticle]

Me either

You love pushing buttons.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

pfffft

 

[Coldspace]

Hey 50 ltr braumeister owners,

I been double batching ok with upto 9 kg in my grain father, but due to work commitments can only find time to brew once a month, sometimes more , most of the time less ,and so I tend to run out of beer sometimes despite having 8 keg keezer. I do like to try and leave my kegs a few weeks to mellow out as well. I need to up production, especially with thirsty family/mates hanging around.Was thinking of buying a grain bro, but these don't come with another malt pipe, so not worth it to save only 1.5 hrs or so.

Other option is to sell it to a mate, got one interested if I sell, and go all out and get 50 ltr Braumeister. What's the max load of grain into one of these bad boys?

I read grain and grape get upto 900 ltrs of wort out of the 500 ltr braumeister, can this sort of thingthey do be done with the 50 ltr version?

Is it just double batch Over gravity for style like I do with the grain father then dilute back to 1045 or thereabouts or do the do something diff to get more out of the braumeister?

 

[Blind Dog]

Do a google search for 'grain and grape double mash'. Fairly easy to get 35L post boil from a 20L brau, or reduce the sparge water to increase gravity, just takes a little longer. For example, I've used it to brew 35L of a 4.5% ABV special bitter and 20L of a 9.5% old ale, amongst others, without any sugars or dme/lme. You could probably push the ABV higher in both cases, I just didn't want to. My understanding is that the 50L brau has a total capacity of around 100L, so a 80L batch or more, should be possible.

To the OP, if the price is OK for you, I'd recommend the brau every time. I love brewing on mine and it fits well into a busy family life. I have far too many calls on my time to brew any other way. Once you have a recipe mastered, the ability to brew it exactly the same time after time, is just brilliant.

 

[Cervantes]

Hey 50 ltr braumeister owners,

I been double batching ok with upto 9 kg in my grain father, but due to work commitments can only find time to brew once a month, sometimes more , most of the time less ,and so I tend to run out of beer sometimes despite having 8 keg keezer. I do like to try and leave my kegs a few weeks to mellow out as well. I need to up production, especially with thirsty family/mates hanging around.Was thinking of buying a grain bro, but these don't come with another malt pipe, so not worth it to save only 1.5 hrs or so.

Other option is to sell it to a mate, got one interested if I sell, and go all out and get 50 ltr Braumeister. What's the max load of grain into one of these bad boys?

I read grain and grape get upto 900 ltrs of wort out of the 500 ltr braumeister, can this sort of thingthey do be done with the 50 ltr version?

Is it just double batch Over gravity for style like I do with the grain father then dilute back to 1045 or thereabouts or do the do something diff to get more out of the braumeister?

You may find this of interest...........

 

[Morrie]

Blind Dog and other Brau owners - do you use the Brau immersion chiller or another type of chiller? I think the immersion chiller is an optional extra but I can't find anywhere they are listed for sale.

 

[razz]

Hey Morrie. I use a home wound copper immersion chiller, works a treat. I have also used a plate chiller.

 

[Morrie]

G'day Razz - I can easily make an immersion chiller out of 1/2 inch copper tube, I've got shed loads of it. I was concerned about using copper in a wort as I read somewhere that copper was not one of the preferred metals to have in beer. I think a wort PH would be 4 or 5 and am thinking that when the chiller is pulled out that it would be shiny and if so then this means that copper oxides would be going into the wort. Am I right or wrong with this assumption?

I was thinking of looking around for some 1/2 inch stainless tube.

 

[Goose]

I have gone back to 3V HERMS after using a GF for 18 months. Nothing wrong with the GF/ Brau systems, it just did not suit me, mainly volume. You really can't beat the flexibility of having 3 separate vessels.

I've recently acquired a 50l BM and run 5 brews on it so far. I retained my 3V RIMS for now and I have to say it ain't no slam dunk on choice which one is best because there are pros and cons of each.

My biggest gripe on the BM vs 3V so far is efficiency, for the same crush I am getting 5 to 7% better mash efficiency on the 3V RIMS vs BM, and I think this is because of the superior sparging process on the 3V. However before I am flamed by the multitude of happy BM owners out there, I am still experimenting on the BM...

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I wonder what brew kettles were manufactured from before stainless steel was invented?

 

[danestead]

My biggest gripe on the BM vs 3V so far is efficiency, for the same crush I am getting 5 to 7% better mash efficiency on the 3V RIMS vs BM, and I think this is because of the superior sparging process on the 3V. However before I am flamed by the multitude of happy BM owners out there, I am still experimenting on the BM...

I would have to agree with your comment on the reason for the lower efficiency. I usually get 80-82% mash efficiency on my 20L Braumeister with a 5kg malt bill and 25L post boil volume. Sparge water is usually about 3.5L for a 60 minute boil. I once did a 30L batch which used about 10L of sparge water. My mash efficiency was 86%. I put this entirely down to the sparge volume, rather that a sparge efficiency I guess you'd call it. I tested my final sparge runnings on a brew the other day. The OG of the brew was 1.055. The final sparge gravity after about a 5L sparge was 1.030. Plenty of potential left in there.

 

[Goose]

I would have to agree with your comment on the reason for the lower efficiency. I usually get 80-82% mash efficiency on my 20L Braumeister with a 5kg malt bill and 25L post boil volume. Sparge water is usually about 3.5L for a 60 minute boil. I once did a 30L batch which used about 10L of sparge water. My mash efficiency was 86%. I put this entirely down to the sparge volume, rather that a sparge efficiency I guess you'd call it. I tested my final sparge runnings on a brew the other day. The OG of the brew was 1.055. The final sparge gravity after about a 5L sparge was 1.030. Plenty of potential left in there.

Most seem to suggest that a "no sparge" method yields the same efficiency as sparging on the BM as you described above. While not trying the volume of sparge you have above, the spent grain is still too damn sweet for my liking for the runs I have done to date. By comparison on my 3v, I cannot taste any residual sweetness in the spent grain.

The other (little) issue I have is that as soon as I pull out the malt pipe, all the effort that that in situ RIMS has done in wort clarification, becomes undone. The wort I boil is cloudy whereas on the 3v, it is clear. I am not suggesting it affects the quality of the finished product (flamesuit on), as in fact it might be true that some lipids in the wort may be beneficial to the fermentation process.

In any case, I digress off topic, apologies to OP.

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Blind Dog and other Brau owners - do you use the Brau immersion chiller or another type of chiller? I think the immersion chiller is an optional extra but I can't find anywhere they are listed for sale.

I use the stainless immersion chiller from National homebrew. Takes about half an hour to chill 100 litres of wort. Dont have to stuff around cleaning the 30 plate chiller which is great.
Ive only used it twice though so still holding onto the plate chiller.

I consistently get 82% efficiency out of the brau and even when using it with the 114 litre ss kettle it still got over 80%.

If you want my opinion, buy the 50L brau. I hve the original model so cant comment if the new model has issues or not but ive never had a hiccup. Well besides a broken impellor blade after 4 years or so.

It also has the ability to to do this

https://youtu.be/3K_B1RB9d4I

 

[razz]

G'day Razz - I can easily make an immersion chiller out of 1/2 inch copper tube, I've got shed loads of it. I was concerned about using copper in a wort as I read somewhere that copper was not one of the preferred metals to have in beer. I think a wort PH would be 4 or 5 and am thinking that when the chiller is pulled out that it would be shiny and if so then this means that copper oxides would be going into the wort. Am I right or wrong with this assumption?

I was thinking of looking around for some 1/2 inch stainless tube.

I've been using it long before I got the BM Morrie, I did read sometime back about copper in beer being toxic but the amounts required I'm not sure of. Lots of good beer being made with copper in the process mate. As far as it coming out shinny goes, that doesn't mean that copper is going into the boil, just what is on the outside of the chiller. Manticle or MHB can give you more accurate technical,information than I can.

 

[MHB]

No problem with copper before knockout in fact some might be beneficial as Cu ions catalyse protein coagulation, which is one of the aims of wort boiling.
Once the wort is out of the kettle it's not desirable as it can speed up haze formation and some other aging faults, through the same catalytic process, Too much is also toxic to yeast and it can give a metallic taste.

If you are worried wash your immersion chiller in some hot water with a cup of white vinegar in it, a process called "pinking" which strips off the oxide layer. this massively reduces the amount of copper that ends up in the wort.

Mark

 

[Morrie]

Thanks fellas, a lot of useful information here. Actually copper is a much better conductor of heat than stainless which will give a faster transfer of heat out of the wort.

 

[Dave70]

Thanks fellas, a lot of useful information here. Actually copper is a much better conductor of heat than stainless which will give a faster transfer of heat out of the wort.

The is a mighty discussion about that somewhere here with some interesting points. Some seemed to argue a device aimed at cooling wort is more a heat echanger - absorbing heat into the coils and carrying it out with via water, and others a chiller - like putting ice cubes in a drink. Copper being the pick for the former, stainless for the latter. One of the great AHB 'it depends' threads.