Braumeister diseister!

[Belly]

Owner of a 3 vessel system, bought a braumeister off ebay on impulse last week (with a family I've been looking for something to make life simpler).

Watched a myriad of youtube vids and launched into my first brew on Sunday...and boy was it a shambles!

For the record it was a wheat beer (probably not best for a first bm brew but it's what I had planned. 3kg of wheat and 1.7kg of pils malt). Things that went wrong:

1. Wort fountains - constantly. Took top filters off and restirred three times, each time I had fountains again with 20 mins.

2. Fuse blew at the end of the mash....thankfully I had a spare kettle lead so that was only 10 minutes of utter panic.

3. When I lifted the malt pipe out, the top filter was at a real angle dunnow why, but it made sparging a bit pointless.

4. I lift the malt pipe right up to see if it was wonky on the bottom....malt pipe fell off the hook and nearly broke my finger as it descended back into the waste bin I had out. I remain plastered up today.

5. After that boiling and cooling was straight forward (althought the BM boil is rather weak)...ended up with an OG of 1.041....on what should've been 1.052. That's the worst I've ever had, normally hit my numbers fairly well on my 3 vessel.

6. On emptying the boiler there was a LOT of grain in the boil (assume this was from the constant removal of the filters and restirring??). I had been careful when I poured the grain in to ensure it all went inside the malt pipe.

7. Opened the yeast (wlp300), it squirted out the pack oddly all over the rubber glove (I was now wearing on my injured hand) and into the wort. Rubber glove was filthy....there goes the sanitation.

So I know lots of people will come back to me with talk of "crush", this was fresh grain from the maltmiller albeit I didn't specify it was for a BM brew.

Can I just 100% check that I have the filters on in the correct order? Heavy steel filter, followed by gauze followed by grain, followed by gauze, followed by the other steel filter??

So all in all a real disappointment and an utter shambles. Hoping it's just me, first time ignorance and doing a wheat beer. Any sage advice gratefully received, beginning to think I jumped at the BM a bit quick.

[Soay4699]

I have down 31 brews and never had wort fountains as you had. I always take my time pouring in the grains and stir occasionally, giving the grains plenty of time to absorb the liquor. But I have not brewed a wheat beer.

I bought some food grade Silicone Edging Strip To suit 2.0mm from Polymax Ltd to go around the top mesh which stopped a lot of the grain getting out.

I have started grinding my grain using a gap of 0.9mm which is giving me mash efficiencies of over 100% according to Beersmith.

Rob.

[DethApostle]

I don't have a BM so can't directly comment other than to say I think Brew 1 on pretty much any new system is a shambles!
Stick with it and remember that next time can't be anywhere near as bad!

DA

[Coffeeuk]

I had similar problems with the grainfather when I first got it. The wort wasn't clear and it was terribly slow at sparging. I now add 5% oat husks to every brew, there £2.40 a kg from the malt miller, so not expensive. I've not had a problem since, crystal clear wort every time, and sparging goes smoothly.

[Belly]

Thanks all. Added some oat husks to my order with the Maltmiller this afternoon. Assume they add nothing in the way or taste or texture to the beer?

I've also asked MM to do an appropriate crush for a BM brew, which apparently he is happy to do (I do love that store).

...and yes I'm kinda of the view that all brews will be epic from here on in as I managed to have pretty much all my problems in one go! or maybe not..

[woblylegs]

you really need to put some tubing around the top thick plate to minimise the gap to stop fountains and grain getting into your wort.

[Belly]

Noted...just around the filter plate, or filter plate and gauze?

[woblylegs]

just the plate will do the job.
a 29cm silicone pressure cooker gasket should do the job

[Belly]

Thanks will order one..

Can I just check I have the plates in the correct order, as per above:

Steel plate > Gauze > Grain > Gauze > Steel plate

Fairly sure this is correct, but utterly paranoid post above shambles.

[woblylegs]

ye thats correct.

[Mashman]

40 brews on the BM and I have none of your problems. 90% of my grain from the Malt Miller. It did take a while to get a grip on volumes and gravity but I would never go back to my DIY 3 vessel system. Stick with it, all will be well. RDWHAHB.

M

[Mashman]

I use a slit length of beer line around the top filter, cheap and effective, Your order of filters is correct.

[IPA]

I have been using a BM for eight years. In fact I bought one of the first programmable models after the manual one and have made all of the mistakes imaginable plus a few more. I now have a fifty litre and a twenty litre. The wort fountain you describe is almost certainly due to not thoroughly mixing the the grains and liquor when filling the malt tube. Add the malt very slowly a bit at a time stirring thoroughly before you add a bit more. No need for any seals around the filters they work fine as supplied. If you are using flakes in the grain bill it is essential that they are mixed with the grains and do not form a separate layer in the malt tube which will result in a gelatinous layer which the pumped liquor will have difficulty in passing and also will create a fountain in the thinnest part of this layer. Good luck next time.

[wezzel01]

I have been using a BM for eight years. In fact I bought one of the first programmable models after the manual one and have made all of the mistakes imaginable plus a few more. I now have a fifty litre and a twenty litre. The wort fountain you describe is almost certainly due to not thoroughly mixing the the grains and liquor when filling the malt tube. Add the malt very slowly a bit at a time stirring thoroughly before you add a bit more. No need for any seals around the filters they work fine as supplied. If you are using flakes in the grain bill it is essential that they are mixed with the grains and do not form a separate layer in the malt tube which will result in a gelatinous layer which the pumped liquor will have difficulty in passing and also will create a fountain in the thinnest part of this layer. Good luck next time.

What he said


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[Belly]

Thanks chaps. Will mix slower and with a better crush first....then if that doesn't work look to add the oat husks.

No plans to give up just yet, the simplicity and control over mash temps remains a draw