National Homebrew Club Ireland

I have been researching the braumeister and any potential alternatives for the last few months and I have come to the conclusion that it is pretty much perfect for my needs. I live in a tiny apartment so doing anything with kegs/pots is completely out of the question. The fact that it is all in one means I can get rid of the mash tun which saves even more space. I also despise cleaning and like the fact that it reduces the amount of stuff I will have to wash on a brew day.

I was reading though Partridges thread on Beoir along with several other mega-threads on other forums and there are several ways around the 6kg malt limit for the occasions when brewing a higher ABV beer. I know its pretty pricey but I think that type of unit would really hold its value if I ever wanted to migrate to something bigger in the future.

Its a big purchase so I wanted to hear peoples thoughts on the product before committing to  buying one.

Buy it, it's perfect for your requirements, have a look at the megga thread here if you are still in 2 minds of experiences from actual users.
I would have bought one but herms put an end to that and I have no space issues.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/speidel-braumeister-brewmaster-229225/

Yeah that was one of the mega-thread's I read, every second suggestion is that the money could be spent to build larger systems or "equivalent" systems. If anything that thread convinced me more to go for it!  :D

Of course I could build it but it would take me weeks, look pretty poor at the end of it and probably not work effectively as I wouldn't have any of the correct tools to make it.

+1 on that - just ask me or Tube as to the progress of our "Brewmiser" projects!

Quote from: Il Tubo on November 03, 2013, 10:59:36 AM
I think convincing yourself you need a Braumeister is like convincing yourself you need an iPhone.

No one told me that the Braumeister was the iPhone of brewing equipment! I'll take one on a 24 month contract!

I've actually been considering one too recently! I think I'd brew more often if I had a brewery that was allowed stay in the kitchen!

But that said it's a big outlay for me at the moment as I am thinking of going with a bit of a bigger system...

Quote from: CH on November 03, 2013, 10:28:17 AM
Buy it, it's perfect for your requirements, have a look at the megga thread here if you are still in 2 minds of experiences from actual users.
I would have bought one but herms put an end to that and I have no space issues.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/speidel-braumeister-brewmaster-229225/

Got to the bottom of page one, 101 pages, sure I'd have earned enough to pay for it in the time it'd take me to read that much!

Can't give any details at this time but there is an Irish made alternative in final testing and due for launch in 1st quarter of '14  at a fraction of the price of the Braumeister ;)

I'll post as soon as I can arrange for one to be Beta tested by members here :)

Parrot

Quote from: Parrot on November 03, 2013, 08:07:29 PM
  at a fraction of the price of the Braumeister ;)

Understanding that you can't post designs or pics but talk more about pricing, as I guess since you are only 3 months away from launch your business plan would have rrp's to calculate margins?
What sort of a fraction? ...7/8 15/16's are all fractions :)

There's a guy over on Jim's Beer Kit building a clone at the moment. It's not finished yet but he reckons he can do it for £300. It's worth taking a nose through the tread for the pictures anyway.

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=62803&hilit=the+bread+maker

Quote from: Padraic on November 03, 2013, 05:20:30 PM

Quote from: CH on November 03, 2013, 10:28:17 AM
Buy it, it's perfect for your requirements, have a look at the megga thread here if you are still in 2 minds of experiences from actual users.
I would have bought one but herms put an end to that and I have no space issues.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/speidel-braumeister-brewmaster-229225/

Got to the bottom of page one, 101 pages, sure I'd have earned enough to pay for it in the time it'd take me to read that much!

Its actually a lot more than 101 pages, we get a mention on page 202. There are currently 227 pages !

I had been playing with the idea of getting one too.  Mostly for the same reasons, and it would also shorten my brew day a bit.  Might not bite the bullet yet but may be more tempted the closer it gets to my birthday

The one on jimsbeerkit.co.uk is a great effort at cloning the BM but I don't think it was ever intended for commercial production, more a personal experiment and well done to him ;)

The £300 tag was his estimate for recouping the money he'd spent and took no account of parts he had on hand and other odd bits and pieces he didn't have to pay full cost for if anything.

A more realistic price range might be in the region of €600-€700 which is less than half the price of the BM plus it is Irish made  :)

Parrot

This is the thread about making one on JBK. Good follow on as he progress's one issue is the malt bits that first overflow the top tend to block the return pump. Also another issue that can come up is if you have too much malt grain in the wort and you boil it,it might add some off flavours.
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=62803

Quote from: Parrot on November 03, 2013, 08:07:29 PM
Can't give any details at this time but there is an Irish made alternative in final testing and due for launch in 1st quarter of '14  at a fraction of the price of the Braumeister ;)

I'll post as soon as I can arrange for one to be Beta tested by members here :)

Parrot

Any more news on this Irish alternative? ;)

I put the order though this evening.  ;)

There is now a forum dedicated only to braumeisters.. its still pretty new but some good info on there about the system..
https://forum.braumeisters.net/

Interesting engouh alright.

I am looking at replacing my tap to something 'usable'

Looks like I need

1/2" X 3/4" Hex Nipple (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-4-X-1-2-BSPT-M-M-HEX-REDUCING-NIPPLE-316-STAINLESS-STEEL-150LB-/121288051984?pt=UK_DIY_Materials_Plumbing_MJ&hash=item1c3d54cd10)
1/2" 2 piece ball valve (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless-steel-threaded-3-piece-ball-valve-1-2-BSP-/231324747006?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item35dc0784fe)

or this one ? (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-2-BSP-STAINLESS-STEEL-2-PIECE-FULL-BORE-BALL-VALVE-FBV08-/121275319410?pt=UK_DIY_Materials_Plumbing_MJ&hash=item1c3c928472)
Anyone attempted this ? Any advice ?

Quote from: Parrot on November 03, 2013, 08:07:29 PM
Can't give any details at this time but there is an Irish made alternative in final testing and due for launch in 1st quarter of '14  at a fraction of the price of the Braumeister ;)

I'll post as soon as I can arrange for one to be Beta tested by members here :)

Parrot

Did this product ever go to market, if so, anyone know where you can get one or the cost?

Sorry to say the funding evaporated and the project flopped :-\

P 8)

New to Beersmith...

here is my 20l equipment profile for the Braumeister...  look ok  ?? 

Long story short... I fill her up to the top mark, sparge with 3 litres. Generally end up with just under the top mark for the boil (I think that 25l)
and my waste is about 2 L .  So all in all I end up with 21 / 22 litres in a normal batch

For hoppy IPAs its around the 19 litre mark, due to additional hop loss.

now that I think of it, its the second mark for the boil..

or is it...

oh god I've only brewed a half a million times on the thing ..

Is your efficiency only 75%. ???

That should read .. 72% !  :-[

That's very poor. My grainfather is 86%.

Looks pretty good. Mash and fill level are controlled by your mash profile. Set the Kg/L ratio there for each batch to balance fill level.

Beersmith has a default BM profile you can insert as your default equipment profile.
72 is very low I would have expected 80-85 unless you were doing a monster beer and then I'd dial back 5-7 points
Loads about in on your dedicated BM forum, I sometimes hang out there like Tiny Tim hanging outside the butchers window staring at the Turkey
https://forum.braumeisters.net/viewforum.php?f=11

Only getting about 75 myself, but I haven't concentrated in milling or sparging efficiency. The joy of homebrewers - stopping at 1.020 isn't a bad thing :)

Is not really about how efficient our systems are or that we can use less grain as that just gets into a cock waving competition (82-85 avg 90 best ever)
But getting numbers right so we don't all prematurely kill ourselves from alcohol is where I'm at, I prefer to always be on the lower end and really stretch myself with a higher efficiency target

do you stir once half way through?
It's that bag, it's like a pair or tighty whitees, you need to let it all hand loose and free...maaann

I need to invite myself up to a brewday in your gaff p9

I'd like to think I'm paying 10 % efficiency to get my wort to that extra pure level

And to heck with the 1 euro 40 cents extra it costs...

Maybe tha t s complete bollocks , but that's what I'm saying myself! !

You don't get any better beer quality with lower efficiency
I hear you though and you are right about the cost differential, just surprised your number for a BM is so low

Don't think it's the BM. I generally get 84% on mine. I don't sparge.

Quote from: CH on January 13, 2017, 11:30:55 PM
...

do you stir once half way through?
It's that bag, it's like a pair or tighty whitees, you need to let it all hand loose and free...maaann

Yup and also yes to the bag I'd say. Makes cleaning so so easy though

Yep the bag for me was great concept and I bought one, now used for apple jelly and washed oat husks for mashs with wheat beers in mash tun.
I just hoof entire MT into wheelbarrow now which can be interesting when there is 13kgs of grain in it and a wipe and a rinse and I'm done.

Quote from: johnrm on January 14, 2017, 12:15:25 AM
I need to invite myself up to a brewday in your gaff p9

Welcome anytime John !

Went slightly off topic, I am using beer smith for  the first time and wanted to see how others setup the Braumeister on it !!

To set up the Braumeister up on Beersmith , you add a equipment profile.
Its discussed here
https://forum.braumeisters.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=759&hilit=20+litre+Beersmith+profile

Whats weird about that is that its for 25l in the fermentor ..

that right ?

Is that what others are getting ? I only get 22l 

My brew house efficiency is in the around 75% but my mash efficiency is in the low 80's
Haven't really dialled in my numbers properly either.

I get about 21-22L in the fermented too.