Braumeister Q & A's

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Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Tipsy » Wednesday Dec 04, 2013 8:43 am

Just put in an order for one of these so I'm sure I'll have a heap of questions.
First for people using Beersmith, how do you have it set up?
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Oliver » Friday Dec 06, 2013 7:18 am

Congratulations Tipsy!

I have a BeerSmith equipment file for Braumeister on my other computer that I will post.

I have to sit down and try and figure out how to do it better, because the way I use BeerSmith with the BM is a bit unscientific. Despite adding pre-boil top-up water it doesn't change the volume so I need to find out where I am going wrong.

The way I do it at the moment is to make my target volume into the fermenter 21 litres. After the mash I add enough water to top it up to 25 litres (the top mark - you will understand this when you get your machine) plus enough to allow for 2.2 litres/hour evaporation. So post-boil I end up with 25 litres. Allowing for trub loss and loss of a small amount in the cube I end up with ~21 into the fermenter.

As I say, it's a bit unscientific, but it works.

I don't know what Geoff does.

I'll let you know how I go.

Cheers,

Oliver
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Tipsy » Friday Dec 06, 2013 11:13 am

Oliver wrote:I have a BeerSmith equipment file for Braumeister on my other computer that I will post.


That would be great.

The next question, are these all optional extras
http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product ... SUPPORT+20
http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product ... +RUBBER+20
http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product ... LTER+SS+20

Cheers
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Oliver » Friday Dec 06, 2013 12:56 pm

Hi Tipsy,

They're all spare parts - with the BM you get the rubber seal (which fits on the bottom of the "malt pipe" that the grain sits in while mashing, to seal it properly) and two each of the other bits, which go at the top and bottom of the malt pipe.

Here's a pic from the thread about my Braumeister, which shows the malt pipe with the "filter support" sitting on top of the spent grain. The finer stainless steel filter sits underneath it, but on top of the bottom filter support.

Image

Cheers,

Oliver
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Tipsy » Friday Dec 06, 2013 3:24 pm

Awesome Oliver.
The reason I asked is that I remember the early Braumeisters used a cloth filter which didn't look all that great and let a lot of the grain past.
It looks a lot better know.
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Geoff » Sunday Dec 08, 2013 4:58 pm

I've been doing basically what Oliver does, but I intend to review my BM equipment profile when I've got some time after X-mas. I'll post it when it's done.
Give a man a beer and he wastes an hour. Teach a man to brew and he wastes a lifetime.
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Tipsy » Monday Dec 09, 2013 7:12 am

Thanks Geoff, picked it up Saturday morning but haven't had a chance to give it its maiden voyage yet.
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Tipsy » Tuesday Dec 17, 2013 11:22 am

Had a run using the automatic mash schedule. Works brilliantly. Crystal clear wort, good efficiency and easy to clean up.

Is anyone using a different mash schedule?
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Oliver » Wednesday Dec 18, 2013 1:39 pm

Sorry I haven't sent the equipment profile yet. Haven't really been home much lately. I will send it though.

I've done various mash schedules, usually 60 minutes, but occasionally I've done 90 minutes, but won't do it again because I don't see any benefit. Always with 10-minute mashout at 76. I haven't tried a step mash because I haven't done any beers that require it.

I have also done a 30-min mash, 30-min boil, which turned out really well and was one of my best beers yet.

One trick with the BM is to not have the grain milled too fine. I had some problems last time I used it with "spurting" from around the edge of the top plate, which made a big mess. It was much to the amusement of my mates who were happily doing a BIAB at the time. A subsequent check of the BM manual says the spurting can happen when the grain is milled too fine.

Did you just follow the instructions, or add any top-up water?

Cheers,

Oliver
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Pogierob » Wednesday Dec 18, 2013 7:38 pm

Great to see an explanation of the spurting problem mate!!
Maybe the pub day brewers need to get a grain mill to add to the collection
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Re: Braumeister Q & A's

Postby Tipsy » Thursday Dec 19, 2013 8:02 am

Oliver wrote:Did you just follow the instructions, or add any top-up water?


I used Beersmith to work out a 24lt batch (my cube size) but followed the instructions which meant I had water left over that I did a little sparge with.

My cube ended up a bit short so I just topped it up with water. I may have to adjust my 'dead space' for that amount next time.

From memory, (i'm at work) even with the top up water I ended up with something like 78% efficiency into the fermenter.

I'm really looking forward to giving it another run as soon as I get some time.

Thanks for the heads up about the crush. I did have a very small spurt but it died down quickly.
I'll check the gap on my mill.

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