Braumeister vs top recirculation

[Yettiman]

Hi,

I am thinking of trying to build a basic Braumiser-ette, not a full Braumiester or even a Braumiser, but a smaller, cheaper version.

But I have a basic flow question.

As I understand it from the official Braumeister site the reason the hot liquid is pumped up from the bottom of the malt tube is to increase efficiency, and prevent a compacted grain bed.

The reason to pump from the top, into the malt tube / or mash tun, is to allow the grain to act as a filter an thus obtain cleaner wort.

Have I got this correct?

If so, is there a benefit from reversing the flow from bottom to top, during the last 5 mins

This, I think, would allow for the efficiency of a bottom to top system, but then would utilize the grain bed as a filter at the last 5 mins.

Thoughts ?

Many thanks for any replies.

Just trying to learn

[wilsoa11111]

yep sounds right to me, but tbh u may need more than 5 mins to establish the grain bed- ideally while adding heat so dont get stuck (reckon it takes a couple of litres) and it will need to be at a lower flow rate than the recirculation (so as not to form large channels in the filterbed)- u want a nice even flow of water for even rinsing of sugars- as presumabaly u have a fly sparge step planned next?

this establishing the grain bed is very important for fly sparging but not for batch- confused yet?

[Yettiman]

Thank you,

The answer is Yes to the fly sparge and yes to being confused.

So a lot more reading to do

Thank you again

[Kev888]

I'm also (tediously slowly) building an upward recirculating system myself. As I see it the benefit is mainly that the flow lifts the grain against gravity rather than pushes it down with gravity - so the compaction should be less. It can still become compacted against the top filter if the flow is high enough though, so I believe the braumeister stops pumping briefly now and again to let the grain fall and loosen.

I don't think the direction of flow really affects clarity - the key thing is that its passing through the grain which (once the loose particles have been washed out) filters the bits out.

Cheers
kev

[mojonojo]

Quite a lot of work done by some ozzies on this very thing - http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/57924 ... gen-build/

[Yettiman]

Thank you all.

It will take a while to make the journey, from kit, to BIAB, to Malt tunnel, but with the advice I am receiving here, I will get there.

[jonnyt]

Well I have a kind of simple home made version which is BIAB with HERMs. i.e. My grain is held in a bag and I use an external HERMs to keep the mash temp, raise to mash out etc.
I recirculate via the top and because it's BIAB and therefore high liquid to grain ratio trust me compaction of the grain bed simply won't happen. Marketing bull if you ask me.

I've done 10 plus brews using this setup without a compaction issue with a 60L Mango Chutney container and 23 to 30L brew lengths.

[Kev888]

I recirculate via the top and because it's BIAB and therefore high liquid to grain ratio trust me compaction of the grain bed simply won't happen. Marketing bull if you ask me.

I think the braumeister mashes stiffer and is topped up afterwards - at least I seem to recall their marketing blurb saying that. Presumably to keep the size down, as I don't think they suggest sparging (though some users do anyway). I had a look into the possibility of diluting the enzymes too much in case that could have been their reason, but concluded that theres not really anything in that.

Full volume mashing isn't restricted to BIAB or visa versa, but personally I'm planning to make my system both full-volume and upward recirculating. I did some tests with the spent grain from my last brew, and could achieve a notably higher recirculation speed going upwards. Interestingly I could still get it to stick though, so its not the perfect solution - I believe the braumeister cuts the pump once in a while to help it fall looser again.

Cheers
Kev

[Yettiman]

Thank you,

Really appreciate the info