Braumeister (Automated Brewing Systems)

[Trizza]

Guys,

This brewery system has come to my attention from the G&G website. It looks really, really cool and sparked my interest for my next major brewery addition. Check out the website for info!
http://www.speidels-braumeister.de/shop ... raumeister

I've been wanting to go AG for ages with my main limiting factor with my brewing is space, not money. I've seen some of the setups that people on this forum have been using for AG and some are huge to say the least. This system seems capable of doing it all, but for $3000 for the 20L & $4000 for the 50L you'd want it to do a dam fine job!

Check out the video - looks like a very complete system!
http://www.speidels-braumeister.de/shop ... Brauvideos

What do you guys think? Viable alternative to AG or not?

Trizza.

[BribieG]

I'd love one. It's basically BIAB with a solid bag (the so called Malt Pipe) plus recirculation. I was on the point of building a poor man's Braumeister using an urn, a food grade bucket with a false bottom (malt pipe) and a March Pump for recirculation. When I costed it out it was more than the cost of an urn, so I just bought a second urn to do double batches.

[Oliver]

I'm in two minds.

On one hand it makes far more straightforward and less timeconsuming, which is obviously a bonus.

But isn't that interaction with the brew (not to mention the love and care we all feel for the beer as we make it ) half of what making homebrewing is all about?

It's really the beermaking equivalent of a bread machine. Not that I make my own bread, but if I did I like to think I would do it from scratch rather than just dump the ingredients in a machine and get bread a few hours later. Having worked in bakeries there's something about working with the dough that's, well, special.

So if you want easy beer, get a Braumeister; if you want to be passionate about homebrewing, don't!

Just my thoughts. Maybe I've romanticised homebrewing too much ...

Cheers,

Oliver

[SuperBroo]

Oh boy, I'd love that 200 Litre setup droooooooolll

[earle]

If I had the money I would get one.

I'm don't quite agree with Olivers comparison to a bread machine. You still have some interaction and you have full control over what its doing in terms of mash temps and lengths, you still design your own recipe, make water adjustments if you want and so on.

I think it has something to do with the fact that homebrewers like doing stuff for themselves. Some are quite happy to build an their own automated system from the ground up but would not be happy to buy an equivalent pre-made system.

I don't think the Braumaster and passion for brewing are mutually exclusive but its definitely up to the individual.

[warra48]

They're quite a sophisticated set up, beautifully engineered.

I've seen them in the shop at Marks Home Brew, and he's used one for oodles of batches. The engineering is like a cross between a RIMS and BIAB.
As earle said, you still have full control of your recipe design, mash schedules, boil length, and hopping routine. All it takes out of a 3V set up is the seperate HLT, and the seperate drain/sparge from the mashtun into the kettle. Everything else is really the same.

If I had the spare cash, which I dont at present, I would get one.
Once I win my $31 mil on new year's eve lotto, I'll be able to afford a large one, and brew beers for all and sundry and give the beer away free!

[Oliver]

Once I win my $31 mil on new year's eve lotto ...

Sorry to disappoint you, Warra, but I'm actually going to be winning it

Tell you what, I'll buy you a Braumeister with part of my winnings, OK?

Oliver

[rotten]

Is it too late to send a letter to Santa?

[gregb]

Hey Santa Claus you ... forget the ... bike where's me Braumeister?
(with thanks to Kevin B. Wilson)

[Trizza]

Pushing past the pleads to Santa Claus, Can anyone suggest any negatives that would be apparent with this system?

Would you get a better result with a full Hermes or similar home-made AG system?

Trizza.

[Bum]

I've only ever read positive reviews from experienced brewers who've used them. Cost aside, you never hear a bad word about them from those who use them.

[BribieG]

Yes I can see where Oliver is coming from, I resisted getting Beersmith for the first couple of years because I didn't like the idea of a computer program telling me what to brew and erroneously thought it would put me in a strait jacket. Now I'd be lost without it, and even though I often charge full steam ahead with a new recipe I nearly always fire up BS just to run it through the hoops - same with EZ water calculator since I went onto RO water and had to nut out some water chemistry in a hurry. I expect a Braumeister is a bit like that, a willing servant not a monster

[Pogierob]

I'm in two minds.

On one hand it makes far more straightforward and less timeconsuming, which is obviously a bonus.

But isn't that interaction with the brew (not to mention the love and care we all feel for the beer as we make it ) half of what making homebrewing is all about?

It's really the beermaking equivalent of a bread machine. Not that I make my own bread, but if I did I like to think I would do it from scratch rather than just dump the ingredients in a machine and get bread a few hours later. Having worked in bakeries there's something about working with the dough that's, well, special.

So if you want easy beer, get a Braumeister; if you want to be passionate about homebrewing, don't!

Just my thoughts. Maybe I've romanticised homebrewing too much ...

Cheers,

Oliver

Guess we know which mind won!!!
I think it's fair to say that even with the Braumeister you are still passionate about homebrewing Oliver.

[Trizza]

I've been away from Australia & making beer for the past eight years now but finally getting to a place where I can get into it once again. Won't be coming back home since I've now settled in Luxembourg after stints in London, Amsterdam & Paris (small apartments in these cities has made brewing impossible).

Since I'm starting from scratch, seems logical to do things right from the beginning & jumping in all grain day one. Spiedels now offer a 'Plus' model on their 20L & 50L Braumiesters : https://www.speidels-braumeister.de/en/ ... ister.html with an in-built chiller for post boil. Seems like the way to go for sure, and their factory/shop in Germany in only a few hours drive from where we live.

Can anyone offer some feedback on the system, Plus or regular? I've only heard positive things about Braumiester but would be been to hear about any sort of items to be aware of before starting again. Another popular system is Grainfather from New Zealand but that might be a little hard to get in Europe.

Thanks!

[Tipsy]

I love my Braumeister, I just finished a brew with it.
The worst thing about brewing is the cleanup and with the BM it's a breeze.

Mines an origianal model an I can't fault it. The new model has had some issues with the screen fogging up.
The plus models chilling jacket is not very efficient on cooling but it would suit me as I recycle my water so I would just walk away and do it's thing.

The 1st generation Grainfathers controller would overshoot the temperature but by all accounts they seemed to have fixed that and with the cost and the more effient chiller it would have to be considered......but seeing you posted a month ago it may all be a moot point

[Trizza]

Thanks Tipsy,

Haven't purchased the system yet - planning a road trip to Germany in October to make the purchase though. Appreciate the feedback on the cleaning - I remember it being a real pain. The Braumeister is expensive but most people have said that it's worth it for the simplicity and quality of beer produced. Plus if you took the cost of the system over 200 batches it's not too bad at 7-9 EUR / 14-15 AUD per brew (It's about 1400 / 1700 EUR for the regular and plus models at the factory).

Looking forward to getting back into making lovely beer again!

[Tipsy]

but most people have said that it's worth it for the simplicity and quality of beer produced

For the record I don't think I can make beer any better than other systems, but repeatability is great, cleaning is great and simplicity is spot on.

[Tipsy]

Here's another brew system

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN3yQu ... 7KK1NSW0Pw