Speidels Braumeister. Impressive Yes. Expensive Yes.

[humulus]

Could not be happier with my 20l...so easy but you still enjoy the brewing process,if anyone is thinking about it i say DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[durgarth]

I also have ordered 50 litre from Ross. I discussed it with the minister (war and finance) and with discount it was too good to pass up. Even with the frieght from QLD to the ACT it was still cheaper. I banked on $230 freight and insurance....So I held my breath and ordered, paying the deposit.

This weekend I recieved a nice surprise and got a call from Ross. He has somehow managed to have my unit delivered to my door from Germany direct via FEDEX.....to boot it was cheaper than the estimated postage (and insurance). The HUGE bonus is that I can, due to the airfreight, have my fraulein cooking in 2 weeks. Already planning a cook up with a few of boys.

Just have to get Bob my sparky mate to come over and install my 15 Amp PP. No beers for him until that is done :lol: .

 

[davewaldo]

Seeing as this seems to be the main Braumeister thread I thought I should post this here so it can be added to the wealth of knowledge already collated.

Here is my stand I built for my 50L BM. If you'd like to read more, check out this thread.

Cheers,

Dave.

 

[banora brewer]

Received my Braumaister today, big weekend of brewing coming up!!!!

 

[banora brewer]

Just mashed in a fat yak clone on my new Braumaister!!!! Loving it

 

[RobB]

Can Braumeister owners tell me if they are happy to turn their backs on their machine while it does its thing, or if they have any disaster stories from doing so?

I'm happy with the quality, clarity and efficiency I'm currently getting from BIAB, but if I could perform a two hour multi-rest mash while I'm off doing something else, then I would suddenly become interested. The idea of brewing while I'm at junior sport/gardening/whatever is pretty attractive for me because uninterrupted four hour periods on weekends don't seem to happen as often as I would like.

 

[banora brewer]

Can Braumeister owners tell me if they are happy to turn their backs on their machine while it does its thing, or if they have any disaster stories from doing so?

I'm happy with the quality, clarity and efficiency I'm currently getting from BIAB, but if I could perform a two hour multi-rest mash while I'm off doing something else, then I would suddenly become interested. The idea of brewing while I'm at junior sport/gardening/whatever is pretty attractive for me because uninterrupted four hour periods on weekends don't seem to happen as often as I would like.

I've just managed to make a lasagna from scratch while mashing!!!

 

[davewaldo]

Can Braumeister owners tell me if they are happy to turn their backs on their machine while it does its thing, or if they have any disaster stories from doing so?

I'm happy with the quality, clarity and efficiency I'm currently getting from BIAB, but if I could perform a two hour multi-rest mash while I'm off doing something else, then I would suddenly become interested. The idea of brewing while I'm at junior sport/gardening/whatever is pretty attractive for me because uninterrupted four hour periods on weekends don't seem to happen as often as I would like.

Yeah I just check on it every so often. The only time I've had issues was when I put too much malt in the small malt pipe, and I could tell as soon as the pumps started that it couldn't really handle it. So if mashing starts fine I would be confident to leave it do its thing.

 

[BeerSwiller]

Just mashed in a fat yak clone on my new Braumaister!!!! Loving it

Sorry for being OT but what was the recipe for your FY clone? Pls?

 

[RobB]

The video on the Speidel site shows the users topping up with water at the end of the boil, but nobody seems to have mentioned it in the last 17 pages. Is it required to achieve the full volume, or does the flood sparge provide the extra volume at the start of the boil?

 

[banora brewer]

The video on the Speidel site shows the users topping up with water at the end of the boil, but nobody seems to have mentioned it in the last 17 pages. Is it required to achieve the full volume, or does the flood sparge provide the extra volume at the start of the boil?

I just sparge with 5 litres of water when i lift the malt pipe.

 

[BierFest]

Hi All,
Im thinking of getting one of these setups as they look fantastic. However I just had a few questions for some of you who already have the setup.
1. Has anyone bought the copper hood and if so are there any advantages to having it?
2. Do you guys use dried hops or pellet hops? If using dried hops do you have any problems using these with this machine?
Thanks,
Brian.

 

[banora brewer]

Hi All,
Im thinking of getting one of these setups as they look fantastic. However I just had a few questions for some of you who already have the setup.
1. Has anyone bought the copper hood and if so are there any advantages to having it?
2. Do you guys use dried hops or pellet hops? If using dried hops do you have any problems using these with this machine?
Thanks,
Brian.

Hi Brian, I just use the pellets, I have used flowers, I just used a hop sock. If you get one you won't be disappointed. I'm not sure about the copper lid.

 

[humulus]

Hi All,
Im thinking of getting one of these setups as they look fantastic. However I just had a few questions for some of you who already have the setup.
1. Has anyone bought the copper hood and if so are there any advantages to having it?
2. Do you guys use dried hops or pellet hops? If using dried hops do you have any problems using these with this machine?
Thanks,
Brian.

I only use the pellets Brian,the copper hood is great if you have to brew indoors, you can duct the steam from the boil out side by just using that flexi duct you get from the big green shed! It also gets the boil going quicker but still allows the bad stuff to boil off
If you can afford it get one there bloody awsome!! :icon_chickcheers:

 

[BierFest]

Thanks for the replies! I think I am definately sold and will be ordering over the next week or so. If you had the chance would you order the 20l or the 50l along with the insert malt pipe for 20l?
I still cant decide if the copper hood is actually useful or if it is just meant to look good and direct the steam as suggested here! I suspect also that if brewing in a colder climate it might help to get the boil going faster but im not sure.

 

[Malted]

Thanks for the replies! I think I am definately sold and will be ordering over the next week or so. If you had the chance would you order the 20l or the 50l along with the insert malt pipe for 20l?
I still cant decide if the copper hood is actually useful or if it is just meant to look good and direct the steam as suggested here! I suspect also that if brewing in a colder climate it might help to get the boil going faster but im not sure.

The machines do come with a lid, if you're wanting to get it to boil faster you could use that, or some form of insulation around the outside.
IMO the copper hood is a waste of time unless you're wanting to vent the steam somewhere. Otherwise IMO it is on no use other than expensive bling.

 

[stux]

some form of insulation around the outside.

Spiedel do make an insulation jacket, seems to be a nice solution

http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_in...roducts_id=8878

 

[rockin49]

Hi All,

I've been reviewing a number of Braumeister threads on a couple of forums, watched the youtube videos and reviewed the manufacturers' website, but haven't been able to see one of these in action in person. I'm considering a 20L version since I want to cutover to a rig that doesn't take much brew effort and produces a consistent result - something I don't now get with a 2v gas setup.

Is there someone in Brisbane (I'm just east of Bris) that's doing a brew on one of these in the next week that doesn't mind me watching for a bit and asking a few questions? I just want to be 100% that the system is really what I'm after before taking the plunge. Ross mentioned that the store demo model isn't yet available and I want to grab one of these soon if they're ok.

Please pm me if ok.

Dan

 

[RobB]

I keep finding my way back to this thread. That little voice in my head must be trying to tell me something.

There has been some chat regarding smaller batches in the 50 litre model, but what would be the smallest batch you could do in the 20 litre? I brew for my 12 litre kegs, so I would want to finish with about 13 litres plus trub at the end of the boil. What is the minimum volume of water required to run through the mash? I'd like to avoid a three hour boil to hit my target volume!

With my batch size, the amount of grain I use is only about 2.8kg for a 1.050 brew. Would this be sufficient to form a good grain bed in the 20 litre unit?

 

[wobbly]

Not sure if 2.8kg grain would form an acceptable bed height however after having a look at my 20lt unit and doing a couple of quick (rough) calculations it would look like the min vol you could work with would be around 20.5lt based on the following.
1. You will need to maintain about 100mm of return wort on the outside of the malt pipe to provide adequate cover over the heating element
2. Malt pipe dia = 26.5cm, height = 36cm = 19.7lt vol (approx)
3. To provide cover over heating element (Braumeister dia =34cm height = 10cm = 9.3lt vol approx) minus (malt pipe dia 26.5cm heighht =10cm =5.5lt vol approx) = 9.3 - 5.5 = 3.8lt vol
4. So vol required to fill malt pipe and also provide 100mm cover over heating element = 19.7lt + 3.8lt = 23.5lt
5 From this you would need to deduct the vol that the grain would occupy which could be around 5lt of vol capacity
6. So with grain in the malt pipe you would then need an additional 20.5lt of water approx (23.5lt - 5lt grain vol + 2.5lt absorsion= 20.5lt)
7. Allowing for grain absorbsion say 2.5lt, trub loss say 2lt, and evaporation of say 2lt you are going to end up with a final vol of somewhere around 14lt

8.This is where you would run into a catch 22 situation because whithout the grian in the malt pipe you will not have sufficient fluid to provide adequate circulation to cover the heating element and you will not be able to operate the control system to heat your water without the grain being present which defeats the design of the system.

And even if you could manage the situation it would all be a very tight balancing act.

An alternative could be to place a piece of "styrofoam" (say 150mm thick and say 6mm smaller in diameter than the malt pipe?) or similar on top of the top filter to fill the voide between the top filter and the hold down bar. You would possibly need to have some sort of spacers (say 6mm) between the top filter and the underside of the styrofoam to ensure you didn't restrict the pump flow through the grain bed

Hope this gives you some further food for thought

Cheers

Wobbly