Speidels Braumeister. Impressive Yes. Expensive Yes.

[Malted]

great tip! thanks Florian. funny a lot of people get snobby about forced carbonation til you explain to them co2 is co2 and natural carbonation is no more "organic" than forced, just less predictable and possibly more romantic.

You've been speaking to British people haven't you (particulalrly those aligned with CAMRA).
Listen to your Kiwi mate, those guys (sorry to generalise) are world leaders in the craft brewing revolution.
Just out of interest, you're from Zurich and got your Braumeister there, are you still living there? Just thinking a Kiwi setting up a microbrewery in Switzerland would have big balls to take on the beer world on its home turf; but then sorry to generalise again, Kiwis are a very courageous and innovative mob.
Sorry to any Kiwis who I may have inadvertently complimented, if you're offended please let me know and I'll say something nasty to balance it out.

 

[ticinglese]

You've been speaking to British people haven't you (particulalrly those aligned with CAMRA).
Listen to your Kiwi mate, those guys (sorry to generalise) are world leaders in the craft brewing revolution.
Just out of interest, you're from Zurich and got your Braumeister there, are you still living there? Just thinking a Kiwi setting up a microbrewery in Switzerland would have big balls to take on the beer world on its home turf; but then sorry to generalise again, Kiwis are a very courageous and innovative mob.
Sorry to any Kiwis who I may have inadvertently complimented, if you're offended please let me know and I'll say something nasty to balance it out.

yeah i grew up in the uk so that's where the co2 snobbery came from. lived in zurich for 11 years. the kiwi worked for a big regional brewery before it was bought up and closed down by the big boys. he set up on his own ten years ago and has a good local following and won a european beer star gold medal for his stout http://bierfactory.ch/English/indexE.html

more amazingly there is a kiwi and an aussie who have set up a new micro together in ireland! its called 8 degrees. not tried it yet but i'm going there at the end of august so i'll try and get hold of some.

 

[humulus]

O.K. Braumeisters,probably a dumb question,my 20l should be here this week,how do you guys do the hop additions,do you use hop bags or stockings?
Or just just add your hops straight in,just thinking or ease of cleaning and whirl pooling ?
cheers humulus

 

[pmash]

O.K. Braumeisters,probably a dumb question,my 20l should be here this week,how do you guys do the hop additions,do you use hop bags or stockings?
Or just just add your hops straight in,just thinking or ease of cleaning and whirl pooling ?
cheers humulus

Well , I do both, depending on whether I'm going to chill or cube!
'May sound a bit weird but I find it easy to strain the hops and trub through a hop sock. straight into the open-mouth of my fermenter.
If I'm going to no-chill into a cube, then all my hop additions go into a sock.
I have plan in motion to fit a pick-up tube fitted with a filter screen but hey, these things take time
With the drain tap so high on the pot, you have to tilt the kettle quite a way and hence all the trub falls toward the tap, unless you are willing to loose about 3 lts of wort.
Either way, I hope you enjoy your new brewing experience.

 

[humulus]

Well , I do both, depending on whether I'm going to chill or cube!
'May sound a bit weird but I find it easy to strain the hops and trub through a hop sock. straight into the open-mouth of my fermenter.
If I'm going to no-chill into a cube, then all my hop additions go into a sock.
I have plan in motion to fit a pick-up tube fitted with a filter screen but hey, these things take time
With the drain tap so high on the pot, you have to tilt the kettle quite a way and hence all the trub falls toward the tap, unless you are willing to loose about 3 lts of wort.
Either way, I hope you enjoy your new brewing experience.

Cheers pmash cant wait for brew weekend in a week,wil let you know how the "fraulein" performs!

 

[Rurik]

I use pellets strate it the BM no issues. Do not use flowers or plugs st ut does not like it.

 

[RdeVjun]

I use pellets strate it the BM no issues. Do not use flowers or plugs st ut does not like it.

What happens with whole or plugs Rurik, something clogs up?

 

[humulus]

I use pellets strate it the BM no issues. Do not use flowers or plugs st ut does not like it.

Cheers,im sure there will be a heap more questions when it arrives!

 

[Rurik]

What happens with whole or plugs Rurik, something clogs up?

It clogs every thing up! Then will require a full strip down and clean.

 

[banora brewer]

It clogs every thing up! Then will require a full strip down and clean.

I'm still waiting for mine to turn up, but couldnt you use a hop sock for flowers?

 

[proudscum]

use flowers in most brews but it can slow the runoff right down but on the bright side you get bright wort into the fermenter

 

[bevdawg]

So I'm going to buy a Braumiester! Very exciting times... at first I was going to get a 20L system, but my wife seems to think I should just get a 50L system, as no doubt in the coming years I'll just wish I got the double size set up for another $1000... now I'm just wondering how the 50L system would go making a 20-23L batch? Do you need the shorter malt pipe or can you just brew with less water etc and change the settings to work with it?

 

[mwd]

Must be a nice dilemma to have I would go the 50 it is much easier to scale down than it is to scale up. The 20 would do me fine as I only make 23l max anyway. Would hate bottling 50 litres and two fermenters worth.

 

[banora brewer]

Must be a nice dilemma to have I would go the 50 it is much easier to scale down than it is to scale up. The 20 would do me fine as I only make 23l max anyway. Would hate bottling 50 litres and two fermenters worth.

You can brew more often with the 20 ltr

 

[bevdawg]

What do you mean?

 

[banora brewer]

What do you mean?

What I was trying to say is, that if you have a 50 ltr, if you make a brew you don't like, you have alot to get through. With the 20 ltr you can brew many styles.

 

[stux]

Put the 20L short pipe into the 50L and you have the best of both worlds.

I brew single and double batches. Double batches when I'm trying to rebuild stocks either before or after a big 'event' (wedding, birthday, new years eve party etc) and singles the rest of the time.

I know I would definately get the 50L BM if it were me. And I also know if I had've got the 20L in the past I'd be kicking myself now

Your wife is right, obey her

 

[bevdawg]

Haha, OK! Sorry yes I see what you mean about brewing a big dud batch of 50ltr... but what I was wanting to know was is it possible to brew 20L batches in a 50L unit without buying anything extra?

If I have to get the short malt pipe, what are they worth roughly?

 

[Mearesy]

Grain and Grape has them for $140. Got my 20L BM on Monday. Brewed monday night. Easiest and most enjoyable brew day ever. This is a really nice piece of kit and I'm very happy!

 

[Clutch]

After introducing myself to Ross and bending his ear for about 30 mins this morning, I have to say that my mate and I are going to go for the 50L, but will be purchasing an urn style setup from Ross next week or so to tide us over.
Very excited after reading this thread.