How to brew with the Speidel Braumeister

This site comes as a complement to the amazing Speidel Braumeister by providing the most complete, yet super easy to follow, instructions on How to brew with the Speidel Braumeister

This guide is the result of countless brews by a passionate owner, with many hints learnt through experience

So, let’s get started!

Ideally, place your Braumeister right next to a source of hot water, like a shower, and a drain (bathtub, sink or just a hole in the ground), which will make your entire brew day much easier

Weigh your malts and crush them if needed

Prepare 4L (1 gallon) of sanitizer in a bucket, that’s about 5ml of Star San or 15g (1/2oz) of sanitizing powder such as One Step

Doublecheck that the pump of the Braumeister is properly tightened

Clean the Braumeister like this:

• Rinse the inside
• Activate the pump
• Drain through the spigot

Repeat if needed

Make sure the pump is powerful and free from malt from previous brews

Place the malt pipe, as well as one perforated disc at the bottom and a fine mesh disc on top of it

Mash

Turn your Braumeister on and make sure the recipe is correctly programmed

Start the program making sure you are on the right recipe

If you correct your water, it’s time to add lactic or phosphoric acid
More info
Water by John Palmer | Bru’n Water | EZ Water Calculator

Fill with 23L mash water (the top mark is 25L and the one below 20L, so that’s a little higher than halfway between the two)

As you fill the Braumeister, keep an eye on the display and adjust the shower (if any) for approx. 60°C (140°F), starting at this slightly higher temperature, 60°C (140°F) instead of 38°C (100°F), prevents sugars from sticking onto the coil during dough-in and makes cleaning a bliss, without any difference on the beer taste

Pour the malt into the pipe taking great care not to drop grain outside the pipe, which could clog the pump

Place the top fine mesh disc and the perforated disc on top of it, and secure them with the tube and wing screw

Install the insulation thermocollar if any. You can use a foam camping pad with aluminum lining as a cheaper alternative
More info about Braumeister insulation

Put the lid on

If you want to measure the mash pH, do it 15 minutes into the first mash step
You can set an alarm on your phone for this
Let the wort cool down in a cup before measuring if you use a pH meter, those devices are easily damaged by high temperatures
Mash pH after 15 minutes should be between 5.2 and 5.4 and it’s a very important factor for optimal conversion of starch into sugar

The Braumeister will go through both mash and mash out automatically without stopping, until it will beep to ask you to remove the pipe
That’s about 1.5 hour with the above program

Feel free to open a window from now on to let steam and smell escape

You can already prepare your hops additions during the mash

Sparge

When the Braumeister beeps to asks you to remove the pipe, start the rest of the program immediately (= 3 clicks), as it will take a good 15 minutes to reach a boil anyway

Lift the pipe and, without removing the perforated disc, sparge about 3L of hot water (77°C/170°F) on top of it, that’s about up to its little cylinder handle
Your simplest bet for this is to use a shower at max temperature ~65°C (149°F)

Let the pipe drain for 2 minutes and then move it on top of your fermentation bucket the same way it was sitting on the Braumeister

Don’t forget to add hot water to the Braumeister up to 24.5L (right below the top mark on the central piece), that will be your pre-boil volume

If you want to speed up the temperature rise, you can use a 2000W portable water heater, which allows to reach a boil in 7-8 minutes instead of 15
Note: on a 220V 10A network, this might blow your fuse, but worry not, even if after a power cut, your Braumeister will be able to resume the program

Measure the pre-boil gravity
Your best bet for this is a refractometer

Pour the wort you collected in the bucket into the Braumeister

Boiling 25L of wort for 60 minutes creates quite some steam (not to mention 90 minutes) and you may want to extract this outside to make sure it won’t start dropping from the ceiling, which could create a risk of contamination

Boil

When the boil starts, remove the lid, so that off-flavors can be released

Add bittering hops
The first hop addition will likely end up on the sides of the kettle because of the hot break (foam), feel free to scrub and push them down with a plastic paddle

Dump the grain into the bucket and discard it
You can keep some to make dog treats as per this recipe

Also, clean the pipe and discs before things gets sticky

Add flavoring and aromatic hops at given times according to the recipe

Cool wort down

Prepare your wort chiller and place it in the Braumeister 10 minutes before the end of the boil to sanitize it

Sanitize your fermenter
More about Braumeister fermenters

Remove the insulation thermocollar if any and plug your sink or other tank if you want to recover the warm water from the wort chiller for later cleaning, which is very handy

Do not unplug the Braumeister, as you will need its thermometer during the cooling

Start chilling the wort
When you reach yeast pitching temperature 21°C (70°F), measure Original Gravity (OG)

Pitch yeast in the fermenter before transferring the wort, this way it will naturally get mixed and not remain stuck in the foam in case you use an aerator

It’s a good idea to place a strainer bag in the fermenter (after the yeast), because, even with a proper whirlpool, a lot of hops will make it to the fermenter and this can affect the bitterness of your beer

Open the spigot making sure it splashes as much as possible for better oxygenation
Towards the end, you can tilt the kettle, but stop when it’s almost only hops

If you use a wort aerator, put it in the fermenter for 10 minutes while you clean the Braumeister

Take note of your batch size (that’s the volume of wort in the fermenter)

Finally, in your favorite calendar, add the various remaining operations:

• Check fermentation (24-48h)
• Rack to secondary fermenter if any (after 7 days), not necessary
• Dry hopping additions (generally 5 days before bottling = after 9 days)
• Bottle (14 days after brew day)
• Refrigerate (5 weeks after brew day)
• Taste

Clean

To clean, use a pot brush

You can also clean behind the heating coil with a non-scratch scrub pad

Don’t forget to run the pump and also let water flow through the spigot

Finally, flip your Braumeister over and open the pump to let it dry

We have detailed Braumeister cleaning instructions

Ferment

It’s now time to ferment

Take note of the batch size and enter it in a software such as BeerSmith if you want, as well as the Original Gravity you previously measured

Enter any dry hopping additions into your calendar

For fermentation, we highly recommend a conical plastic fermenter, which allows to conduct primary and secondary fermentations and bottling without racking and, hence, with minimal risk of contamination and/or oxidation
Otherwise, the Speidel 30L plastic fermenter is also a decent option, but for a fraction of the price, a standard 6.5 Gal (30L) fermentation bucket will do the job even better, because it’s easier to clean

More about Braumeister fermenters

If you have the 50L Braumeister, it’s a good idea to use two 30L fermenters instead of one 50L, as they can still be moved around easily and lifted for bottling

All set!

Need recipes? Check our Braumeister recipes

Have fun brewing with the Braumeister!
And remember: you haven’t brewed until you have brewed with a Braumeister!