Disaster!

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Disaster!

Postby Oliver » Friday Jan 11, 2013 10:12 am

So, my 40th present (the Braumeister) arrived at the shop. Then someone dropped it and broke a couple of things. Apparently they've fixed it and it's tested OK. They've offered it to me at a 10% discount, or I need to wait until February for another one to arrive.

I'm thinking the latter. It seems foolhardy to take the fixed one, not knowing what else the jolt may have done. (Although both will come with full warranty.)

I'll just do a few more BIABs while I'm waiting ...

Does anyone think that's not the way to go and that I should take the repaired one?

Oliver
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Re: Disaster!

Postby Mattrox » Friday Jan 11, 2013 10:41 am

Take the new one. Wait a bit for peace of mind.
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Re: Disaster!

Postby Tipsy » Friday Jan 11, 2013 10:42 am

I wouldn't take the repaired one unless there was a lot more generous discount.
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Re: Disaster!

Postby Mad Dog » Friday Jan 11, 2013 12:24 pm

Like 50% off... Imagine you are shopping, and here's a piece of equipment you wouldn't mind buying. Sign says "recently dropped and broken but we are pretty sure its ok now. 10% off, and full warranty just in case. Oh, but you'll have to ship it to the factory if it doesn't work right."

Uh, no thanks.
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Re: Disaster!

Postby rotten » Friday Jan 11, 2013 2:42 pm

You've waited a long time to get your gear together Oliver. Get the new one and practise more with BIAB. Braumeister is just a rich mans BIAB anyway :wink:
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Re: Disaster!

Postby warra48 » Friday Jan 11, 2013 9:36 pm

I'd wait for the new one.
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Re: Disaster!

Postby Oliver » Friday Jan 11, 2013 10:00 pm

Thanks for your replies. You have confirmed exactly what I was thinking. After 40 years what's a few more weeks ... :-)

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Re: Disaster!

Postby Flux » Tuesday Feb 05, 2013 9:12 am

Have a couple of questions. How much are these things they look good? .Just looking at it on there website why do they have no sparge function in the controller or mention of it, or march pump etc? Also can you do high gravity beers with it?
Given the 20lt one says max capacity is 25 lt how do you get high yields when it would seem the sparge volume addition would exceed its capacity?
Lastly how do you screen out the break material from the pump etc, and the hops from entering the fermenter, does it have screens?
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Re: Disaster!

Postby Oliver » Wednesday Feb 06, 2013 1:59 am

Hi Flux. All good questions.

They're not cheap. For the 20-litre around $2500 from local suppliers (Grain and Grape, Craftbrewer and maybe others), although pre-Christmas and perhaps at other times G&G has 10% off sales. I would never have bought it for myself (mainly because I'm a tight-arse), but the good lady bought it for me for my 40th and justified the spend in part on the fact that I wasn't (read refused) to have a party.

There's no built-in sparge but the instructions say you can sparge if you like. I haven't and don't really see any point, having come from BIAB. The process is a little like BIAB, which of course doesn't usually involve sparging. There is, however, a pump that recirculates the liquid by pumping it up through the grain. Mesh contains the grains in the centre of the Braumeister and the wort spills out the top and into the outer ring, from where the pump draws the liquid to pump through the grain. At the end of the mash you remove the section containing the grain and sit it on top of the unit to drain. I hope that makes sense. I will take some photos next brew day.

You can do high-gravity beers by reducing the volume. Although I was at Grain and Grape for a brewing demo a few weeks ago and they squeezed in 6.5kg of grain into a 20-litre Braumeister, which is a fair bit more than it's rated for. I haven't done any research into whether it's only rated for a certain gravity due to the fact that as gravity increases so does the boiling point and whether you risk burning out the element or having the wort burn onto the element.

Regarding the capacity, what they recommend is to brew according to the instructions, which result in a lot less than 23 litres, then dilute the wort in the fermenter. I didn't do this, rather added water after the mash (or you could sparge) to bring the volume to 27 litres, which is what BeerSmith told me I needed to get 21 litres into the fermenter and was spot on. There was plenty of extra space. I estimate that you could get at least 32 litres into it and perhaps a fair bit more.

There's nothing to screen the break and hops from the pump. As part of cleaning you put some water in and run the pump. You can remove the pump for cleaning, although the instructions don't specify that it needs to be done each brew. There's actually a fair bit of dead space and a few litres of good wort sits below tap level. I had to tip this into the fermenter. I had wondered about adding a screen and incorporating a way to draw off wort without tipping the unit. I haven't investigated that yet but will let you know if I find out anything.

I hope all your questions are answered!

Cheers,

Oliver
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Re: Disaster!

Postby Flux » Monday Feb 25, 2013 6:38 pm

Thanks for your reply mate , is that thing good or what?, as it's bloody expensive!,looks like you would save some brew time, does it make your beer taste better vs time to brew?
Sounds like a great lady you have there Oliver, wish mine would buy me one too, someday........
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Re: Disaster!

Postby Oliver » Monday Feb 25, 2013 8:05 pm

Hi Flux,

It's hard to judge the result compared to BIAB, because while my first BIABs were all right, they were brewed too warm and the beer suffered for it. Even though the weather was hot when fermenting the Braumeister beers I kept it under control slightly with wet towels for two weeks until they were bottled.

But all things being equal I don't think there'd be any difference between BIAB, Braumeister and a full AG setup. There are techniques not easily done with the Braumeister, such as decoction mashes because, although not impossible, it's not easy to get the grain out.

Having used the Bruameister and BIAB, the one massive advantage of the Braumeister is the convenience of being able to maintain temperature and do step mashes, all without having to pay any attention to it. You just plug in your mash schedule (and boil time and hop additions) and then walk away. It heats the mash for you then beeps when it's time to pull out the grain, and beeps again when it's time for a hop addition and when it's finished.

Some would call it cheating. I reckon it's convenient.

As I have said elsewhere on this forum, I would have been happy to continue with BIAB, but I'm certainly not complaining that the little lady bought me a Brewmeister. The time that it frees up because I don't have to monitor mashes, etc, gives me time to do jobs around the house. It's a win-win!!!

Cheers,

Oliver

PS Yes, I do have a wonderful woman. It's her birthday tomorrow and I have resisted the temptation to buy myself brewing equipment to celebrate. I think she would have appreciated that wort chiller from Grain & Grape 8)
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Re: Disaster!

Postby rotten » Wednesday Feb 27, 2013 9:56 am

Buy her a hop rocket, or kegs :mrgreen:
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Re: Disaster!

Postby emnpaul » Wednesday Feb 27, 2013 8:04 pm

rotten wrote:Buy her a hop rocket,
:shock:

Dude! Keep it clean.
2000 light beers from home.
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