20 Litre Braumeister Max Grain

[Darren365]

Morning all

Wondering have any of you put more than the 5kg Max Grain in you 20l Braumeister and how did it turn out?
some of the recipes I have call for 6 to 6.5 kg
any advice?

[Kyle_T]

6kg is the maximum

[Aleman]

You can double mash for big beers, so mash once with 6Kg . . . then remove the malt pipe, and fill with fresh grain, mash again.

If you do start to push the limits, then remember that you can invert the top plate to give you a bit more room . . . also stopping the mash half way through, removing the top plate and giving it all a stir is a very good idea.

I think I agree with Kyle that 6Kg is the absolute maximum, but I am sure that there is a thread on the Braumeister Forum where a chap had a successful run with 7.5Kg

[jaroporter]

i've been thinking about the doublemash for a while, but unsure as to the chemistry.. Aleman, do you have any tips regarding the second mash. Is it still as simple as checking alkalinity, or does wort buffer the pH in a different way to just water? Cheers for any insight

[Aleman]

The wort has already been treated for the first mash so does not require any further treatment.

One thing I have found, is that with Full Volume mashing the mash pH with a 'standard 3V' treatment is higher than I normally get (around 5.7-5.8 instead of 5.2 to 5.5) so I treat my liquor to lower alkalinity levels and add a bit more calcium than I would on a 3V mash which does the trick . . . With the second batch of grain the mash pH would fall naturally so you might need to not do the adjustment.

You will of course need to sparge the second batch of grain to ensure that you account for the grain absorption . . . even if you planned on a full volume mash, I'm not sure the BM is up to that level of spare capacity.

[woblylegs]

6kg is the maximum

you can fit more than 6kg in a 20l bm. i done an imperial stout with normski and it was nearer 7kg. was pushing the limits mind but we did manage it. jim done a brew with normski too and it was over 6kg.
edit.. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=71478&p=749349#p749349

[McMullan]

6kg is the most I’ve used in the 20L malt pipe. I find steeping crystal and dark malts separately can free up space in the pipe for base malt. Inverting the top filter plate creates a little extra space too.

[Darren365]

Great Advice as Usual guys

[jaroporter]

late getting back to this but thanks for that advice! looking forward to giving it a go in the next few brews now

[IPA]

An important thing to remember is because components of the mash have different volumes for the same weight the total weight will vary accordingly. That is to say that torrified wheat has a bigger volume for a given weight than wheat malt for example. The same applies to flakes. When the total volume is bigger than the malt tube I always divide it in half and then double mash. One other point to remember is if you are using a high percentage of flakes do not overload the tube because the pump will struggle to pump the liquor through the gelatinous mass. As a general rule I find when using a recipe for a 25 litre brew the grain bill for a 23 litre brew will give you the same OG because of the efficiency of the BM.

[macca]

I recently brewed a big IPA. Maxed out the pipe at 7kg with no problems.
Things I did -
1 - stirred in really well at the start - a small mixing paddle on a drill helps do this without spilling a full pipe of grain over the edge of the pipe.
2 - stirred once again half way trough the mash.
3 - inverted the top pate to gain space in the pipe. I ran a bit of beer line cut in half lengthways round the edge of the plate to help ensure no gaps and put a spacer on top so as it would sit below the bevelled edge of the pipe.
4 - mashed for longer than I normally would.
5 - Mashed with full volume of liquor.
6 - sparged slowly and thoroughly.

It recirculated happily and I got decent efficiency.
Pic below of a very full malt pipe:

[Waffty]

This kit is designed to get the max grain bill out of either the 20L or 50L versions http://www.bacbrewing.com/epages/990497 ... B.BM20.003. You can either use it with the top filter in place and turned upside down or remove it completely, as with the mesh screen, there's no grain leakage.



This is the 50L version, fitted to the 25L 'short' malt tube.

[Rhodesy]

This kit is designed to get the max grain bill out of either the 20L or 50L versions http://www.bacbrewing.com/epages/990497 ... B.BM20.003. You can either use it with the top filter in place and turned upside down or remove it completely, as with the mesh screen, there's no grain leakage.



This is the 50L version, fitted to the 25L 'short' malt tube.

Brew UK now selling this if any are considering, should save a fair whack on poor exchange rate and shipping

[McMullan]

That looks interesting. Is it compatible with the hood in situ?

[Waffty]

That looks interesting. Is it compatible with the hood in situ?

Yes, the picture is slightly distorted, with respect to the Braumeister is the 50l version and the malt tube is the smaller 25l, half height tube, therefore what you're looking at is the spacer to keep the whole thing in place.

On the full size 20l and 50l machines the new plates will simply sit on top of your existing malt tubes and add maybe 3mm on the existing height, so no real difference with the standard lid in place. Basically it's an oversized filter plate and associated mesh screen but rather than sit inside the malt tube, it sits on the top of it.