Braumaister 20 litre or 10

[Rhodesy]

A hop spider is optional, do you plan to use leaf, pellets or both? If using pellets you can usually use these and just let them settle before draining as they settle under the tap, you would have to account for that dead space and also may need to tip the BM near the end. You can get various filters or hop spiders but these are optional, to cool you will need either an immersion, counterflow or plate chiller though unless you are going to practice no chill?

FV wise, plastic FV's are fine, whilst SS is the preference for many it may be better for you to spend more on the hot side to help prefect your set up and your needs before worrying about the FV. Temp control wise they now do inkbirds for around £30 which are great, when I started out I had to pay over the odds for a prebuilt STC1000 as I am that bad at electrics I didn't fancy it myself.

[jaroporter]

agree with the above points re hops and filters.

i'd be on the other side though with regards prioritisng the hot side over the cold though. for me, though admittedly it may not be the same for all, making the wort is the easy bit with or without a BM! there's far more scope to f-up a brew through poor yeast handling, poor fermentation practise, poor dispensing techniques. so i'd advise doing whatever needed to make sure that part is nailed. but as said, many might also disagree with me

[Rhodesy]

agree with the above points re hops and filters.

i'd be on the other side though with regards prioritisng the hot side over the cold though. for me, though admittedly it may not be the same for all, making the wort is the easy bit with or without a BM! there's far more scope to f-up a brew through poor yeast handling, poor fermentation practise, poor dispensing techniques. so i'd advise doing whatever needed to make sure that part is nailed. but as said, many might also disagree with me

Temp control is I would agree is critical, I couldn't go back to brewing without it. As for FV's, I currently use plastic which works fine and do have my kegs for long time storing and conditioning. I think the points you make with regards to how you treat the wort are spot on but can be controlled both with basic and more complex FV set up's if you take all due care and attention

[Onthebrew]

ok thanks guys. i will be getting a fridge or freezer, one off those ink temp controllers and a hot plate to set up a brew fridge - that should in short term but apparently Grainfather are bringing out a stainless steel conical fermenter with in built heater and cooler next year so maybe just go with plastic for now.

the guy at one of the stores reccommened this instead of hop spider to stop hops clogging the tap - any thoughts? - Bac Brewing Joint Springer Filter 20L BM.

do i need to whirlpool? if so what with?

pellets v leaf- initially whatever comes with the ingredient packs - after that what would you reccommend? i guess i would lean towards leaf as more natural but open minded

[Rhodesy]

ok thanks guys. i will be getting a fridge or freezer, one off those ink temp controllers and a hot plate to set up a brew fridge - that should in short term but apparently Grainfather are bringing out a stainless steel conical fermenter with in built heater and cooler next year so maybe just go with plastic for now.

the guy at one of the stores reccommened this instead of hop spider to stop hops clogging the tap - any thoughts? - Bac Brewing Joint Springer Filter 20L BM.

do i need to whirlpool? if so what with?

pellets v leaf- initially whatever comes with the ingredient packs - after that what would you reccommend? i guess i would lean towards leaf as more natural but open minded

FV wise once you get dialled into your set up you can look at all the different options as believe me there are plenty

I have the BAC filter, it can work with hops though if using pellets I would still use a spider if you like to hop heavy. It worked fine with me on 50g but if I am brewing a batch with 250g I would be worried it may slow things down to a trickle. You can whirlpool with a spoon though BAC Brewing do have a whirlpool paddle (I have one) it is an outlay and maybe no justified though I use it for stirring my mash also. I tend to use pellets all the time now as they suit me better for dry hopping and can just bung them in the hop spider in the boil, they also take up less freezer space.

[IPA]

agree with the above points re hops and filters.

i'd be on the other side though with regards prioritisng the hot side over the cold though. for me, though admittedly it may not be the same for all, making the wort is the easy bit with or without a BM! there's far more scope to f-up a brew through poor yeast handling, poor fermentation practise, poor dispensing techniques. so i'd advise doing whatever needed to make sure that part is nailed. but as said, many might also disagree with me

a

Temp control is I would agree is critical, I couldn't go back to brewing without it. As for FV's, I currently use plastic which works fine and do have my kegs for long time storing and conditioning. I think the points you make with regards to how you treat the wort are spot on but can be controlled both with basic and more complex FV set up's if you take all due care and attention

Temperature control in Glasgow? It's over 30 degrees celsius outside here at the moment and has been for weeks and the forecast for the next week is the same. My brewery temperature rarely gets above 23 degrees and I have no problems. OK I don't brew lager but why would I because there is plenty of commercial crap available and my taste buds are still working fine. I have 100 litres in the FV's almost ready to barrel.

[IPA]

agree with the above points re hops and filters.

i'd be on the other side though with regards prioritisng the hot side over the cold though. for me, though admittedly it may not be the same for all, making the wort is the easy bit with or without a BM! there's far more scope to f-up a brew through poor yeast handling, poor fermentation practise, poor dispensing techniques. so i'd advise doing whatever needed to make sure that part is nailed. but as said, many might also disagree with me

a

Temp control is I would agree is critical, I couldn't go back to brewing without it. As for FV's, I currently use plastic which works fine and do have my kegs for long time storing and conditioning. I think the points you make with regards to how you treat the wort are spot on but can be controlled both with basic and more complex FV set up's if you take all due care and attention

Temperature control in Glasgow? It's over 30 degrees celsius outside here at the moment and has been for weeks and the forecast for the next week is the same. My brewery temperature rarely gets above 23 degrees and I have no problems. OK I don't brew lager but why would I because there is plenty of commercial crap available and my taste buds are still working fine. I have 100 litres in the FV's almost ready to barrel.

[Rhodesy]

agree with the above points re hops and filters.

i'd be on the other side though with regards prioritisng the hot side over the cold though. for me, though admittedly it may not be the same for all, making the wort is the easy bit with or without a BM! there's far more scope to f-up a brew through poor yeast handling, poor fermentation practise, poor dispensing techniques. so i'd advise doing whatever needed to make sure that part is nailed. but as said, many might also disagree with me

a

Temp control is I would agree is critical, I couldn't go back to brewing without it. As for FV's, I currently use plastic which works fine and do have my kegs for long time storing and conditioning. I think the points you make with regards to how you treat the wort are spot on but can be controlled both with basic and more complex FV set up's if you take all due care and attention

Temperature control in Glasgow? It's over 30 degrees celsius outside here at the moment and has been for weeks and the forecast for the next week is the same. My brewery temperature rarely gets above 23 degrees and I have no problems. OK I don't brew lager but why would I because there is plenty of commercial crap available and my taste buds are still working fine. I have 100 litres in the FV's almost ready to barrel.

My problem is the opposite, my brewery rarely goes above 18, on a 'summers' day like today it is a steady 17 however in the winter this will drop significantly which is at the lowest or sometimes out of the ranges for ale yeasts

Being able to set a constant temperature and be able to ramp up or down on demand is highly beneficial to me. It also allows people to experiment with certain yeast ranges at different temps etc.

[Onthebrew]

ok, going for the 20l BM and will order a 10l malt tube for smaller batches, going for the BM standard plastic FV. imersion cooler ( does it come with hose?), hop spider, bottles, bottle capper, stirng paddle- a malt shovel. have i missed anything? bear in mind i have zilch equipment at the moment as have never brewed. what about a hydrometer?

[Rhodesy]

ok, going for the 20l BM and will order a 10l malt tube for smaller batches, going for the BM standard plastic FV. imersion cooler ( does it come with hose?), hop spider, bottles, bottle capper, stirng paddle- a malt shovel. have i missed anything? bear in mind i have zilch equipment at the moment as have never brewed. what about a hydrometer?

It has the hose disconnects which fit any standard hozelock or the likes connection, you will have to supply the hose. Yes, a hydrometer is a must. If you are going to bottle then some silicone or pic tubing and a bottling wand is a great help.

[Onthebrew]

cheers. all ordered!

[duncans]

30 + on a 20 so am sure you could do 15 + in the ten litre version.

you'd be suprised! i got the ten and although it's a great little machine i struggle to get 10L into a keg with a gravity of much over 1,040!

duncans, how do you find the BM10 for efficiency?

one advantage with 10 litre is that you can brew more often allowing a quicker learning curve and a wider range of beers on the go - but are there specific recipe kits for 10 l? i know you could use a 20l one in two batches but that sort of defeats the point.

don't totally agree here. my learning curve didn't start until i spent time brewing and repeating similar recipes. it's the only way you learn what effect different techniques or ingredients are having on your beer, rather than bouncing around from a stout to a sour to a bitter to a wheatbeer. making some great beers as you go for sure, but not learning as much.

i use and love the BM10, as it allows me to brew more often. not for consumption reasons, but because it's small enough to set up on the counter top, wash in the sink, use 10L kegs that i can wash in the sink, or not have to bottle too much at a time.

wish i could sort the efficiency out just a little bit though..

My efficiencies vary from 65 to 80%, typically 75%. I haven't worked out what tweaks give high and low numbers yet.

I think small batches do offer a faster learning curve. I have just been working on wheat beers with slight variations. If I had been brewing double size batches I would only have been able to brew half as many batches and try half as many things.

[serum]

I've been having a think about getting a braumeister too as it'll save valuable space in the house and I want to do more step mashing. I looked at the 20l version but noticed you can only get 6kg of grain in it. I like bigger beers so I sometimes go above that. Is that really the limit or is there room to cram a bit more in?

A 20l batch size is fine for me but is it still worth getting a bigger machine to do bigger beers?

[Aleman]

7.5 kg is the absolute limit with some trickery pokery.

Another trick is to mash 2 batches of grain in the same liquor/wort.

You obviously accept a drop in efficiency doing so, but it's only grain, and even imported Czech grain is cheap

[barneey]

My thoughts, a 10l is fairly pointless IMHO better to get the 20BM and buy a smaller Malt Tube if needed at a later date. Don't get sucked into the buying anything bigger UNLESS you are sure you will brew/need the additional capacity.

Me personally have owned the 20l BM which was sold on due to size & now brew with a BM50ish, complete with smaller malt tube (yet to use the smaller Malt Tube )