Grainfather trial feedback

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Okay so after a couple of issues with the machine and a couple of emails exchanged with the Grainfather guys I managed to get a couple of brews on this weekend and will be sending one of the two test machines back ready to go out for the next tester. I will get my feedback, as it stands, written up over the next few days but is there anything specific that people would like me to reference?
 
Okay so after a couple of issues with the machine and a couple of emails exchanged with the Grainfather guys I managed to get a couple of brews on this weekend and will be sending one of the two test machines back ready to go out for the next tester. I will get my feedback, as it stands, written up over the next few days but is there anything specific that people would like me to reference?
I would say, how easy/difficult was it to use, what was the efficiency, would you buy one, upsides, downsides? Whatever, thanks for taking part and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks also to GrainfatherUK for the opportunity - much appreciated.
 
Hi guys,

I own a grainfather.. at this particular moment I'm wasted (as in.. I'm ******) on my latest brew due to the fact Darth Clibit suggesting having a go on the all grain method! :-D (in for a penny, in for a pound)

The grainy is far too effeicient, My recipes say for instance an OG of 1050 but with the grainy are coming out at 1060 for example. I used the calculators on the grainfather website to the letter (or number) but the OG will always be higher. So. I suggest at least another 2 liters of sparge.

great kit though
 
Hi guys,

I own a grainfather.. at this particular moment I'm wasted (as in.. I'm ******) on my latest brew due to the fact Darth Clibit suggesting having a go on the all grain method! :-D (in for a penny, in for a pound)

The grainy is far too effeicient, My recipes say for instance an OG of 1050 but with the grainy are coming out at 1060 for example. I used the calculators on the grainfather website to the letter (or number) but the OG will always be higher. So. I suggest at least another 2 liters of sparge.

great kit though
Yep, reckon you're p****d!! Lucky sod...!!!! I've got to pick up someone from airport, leaving in 5 mins. Otherwise I'ld have been with you!
 
I found the efficiency to be insane as well but it did seem to be consistent from my limited experience, when I adjusted for it on the second run I only came pretty much bang on. I used freshly milled high quality grain from the Malt Miller but I suspect you would see very high efficiency with so so grain.
 
Another thing that did shock me was that the pump was almost silent, I hadn't really thought about it being a magnetic pump and had to check it was actually working.
 
I got my Grainfather last week but was only able to use it for the first time today and I am over the moon with it, it's easy to use and as was said about the pump it's whisper quite, I made a small 9L batch of Irish stout from my own recipe ( as a test of the recipe and the Grainfather) and the wort was superb, it was like a guiness milkshake all sweet and lovely:-D I can't wait for it to ferment out to see how it is when the yeast has done its thing
 
Sadly waved goodbye to my trial machine last week.

I did two brews - the first just to learn lessons and get to know it and then a second one to use it 'properly'. First was a porter (with an unplanned added ingredient in the form of a fruit fly), second a Deuchars IPA clone.

First impressions - serious piece of kit but not over-powering, not too heavy so you can carry it about, mostly clear instructions (more later).

First brew - learned that where instructions say 'important' it is important. I ignored the mash water requirements and ended up with a cake mix instead of a mash. Quickly heated up a few more litres of water, chucked it in and got it to a better consistency. The re-circulation during the mash is great, especially towards the end when it is running clear. I found I had to 'ride' the power selector for the first few minutes to get it to settle on the chosen temperature but then just left it to get on with it.

The sparge - this is where you need a second device (boiler, big pan) to create the sparge water. If (like me) you have a boiler or similar this is not a problem but could be an issue if you are jumping straight from kit brewing. After sparging you need somewhere to put the grain container as it will continue to drip. Just something to be aware of.

The boil is spot on - not too aggressive, just a nice rolling boil. I found it didn't get to 100 degrees according to the control unit but later discovered this was because I hadn't pushed the temperature probe in fully. I did wonder if having a built in timer would be good.

Chilling - the counter-flow chiller is the dogs do-dahs. Once you get the flow right it goes in at one end at 80 degrees and comes out the other at your chosen pitch temperature. I use garden hose to get water into my brew shed and the hose attachment leaked. Not a big issue as I just stuck it in a big container so it could drip away. I added an o-ring for the next brew which sealed it. This is where the instructions are vague. It says pump the wort through and back into the GF until it is running cold then turn off the pump and drain into your FV. It doesn't. You need to turn the pump back on, maybe they thought it was obvious. Pumped the wort into the FV letting it splash and couldn't stop the suicide fruit fly from flying into the stream of wort and disappearing under the foam. Fruitless (pun intended) search for the fly followed by a shrug of the shoulders. Shorter brew than I expected so higher OG. Pitched the yeast.

Cleaning was surprisingly easy. As I was going to do another brew in a couple of days I only rinsed it (everything was going to be boiled anyway). As it is shiny steel it cleans really easily. Only took about 15 minutes to disassemble, clean and re-assemble.

Second brew - IPA. Didn't look at the instructions. Put the temperature probe in properly so it recognised 100 degrees. I found the boil warning beeps useful as it came to the boil but then annoying as this brew needed late additions. I was adding sugar and as I added it the wort cooled to below 100 and then back up again, it beeped repeatedly and I just had to put up with it. Maybe a beep once setting would be good? The OG was a bit high again but that's not a problem is it ? I guess the GF increases efficiency.

Two successful brews - the fruit fly porter was tested last night and tastes great, IPA being tested tomorrow.

I spent a while thinking about how to avoid needing a second water heating vessel but didn't come up with a solution until after I sent it back. Maybe a subsequent tester or owner to could try it ? My thought is that you could :-

Do a full volume mash i.e. fill it to maximum capacity.
Remove the short plastic pipe from the sparge arm and replace it with a long plastic pipe.
Loop the long pipe up into the grain basket.
Set the temperature to sparge temperature.
Sparge using the pump to re-circulate the runnings back through the grain basket for a few minutes.
Remove the grain basket and top up slowly with cold water as it heats up for the boil if needed.

Overall a really good piece of kit. Well engineered, dead easy to use and really efficient OG wise.

Wish I'd thought of the full volume mash thing before I'd sent it back.
 
Deuchars IPA clone tested and it tastes like Deuchars IPA :p The Missus is impressed. 13 days from grain to glass, and the bottle had no sediment. I did of course plant the seed that the reason it had no sediment was because it was made with professional kit ;-)

Must say I'm impressed with the Gervin G12 yeast I used as an experiment, didn't go off like a rocket but steady away, took it down from 1.049 to 1.010 and the trub was so compacted that I only left about 1/2 litre of brew in the FV.
 
I just made another brew using my Grainfather and thought I would just post one small niggle with the Grainfather, when it comes to sanitising the chiller you need to run the boiling wort through it and to do this you are supposed to sit it on top of the Grainfather on the the lid and let the wort recycle from the pump at the bottom and then up and around the chiller and back into the the boiling wort, well each time I have done this due to the extra heat build up under the lid the wort all froths up, not like a hot break but larger bubbles that come out of the hole in the centre of the lid, so then you have to move a boiling hot chiller to take the lid off to stop the frothing coming up and dribbling all over the Grainfather and onto the floor, heres the thing if they made the tube connecting to the pump pipe a bit longer it would be easier to place the chiller next to the Grainfather and not on top of it and that would solve the problem
I am going to take the short hose off and take it to a hose maker to see if they remove the fittings and connect a longer hose to it
 
I've done three brews with the grainfather and not had any problems with boil over................yet!. I did get a leak at the tube that connects the pump to the upright pipe, this was caused by the jubilee clip cutting into the silicon tube. I jammed a pipe of plastic pipe on then refitted the small tube, this should work until a new tube arrives which will be secured with a plastic cable tie.
 
I just made another brew using my Grainfather and thought I would just post one small niggle with the Grainfather, when it comes to sanitising the chiller you need to run the boiling wort through it and to do this you are supposed to sit it on top of the Grainfather on the the lid and let the wort recycle from the pump at the bottom and then up and around the chiller and back into the the boiling wort, well each time I have done this due to the extra heat build up under the lid the wort all froths up, not like a hot break but larger bubbles that come out of the hole in the centre of the lid, so then you have to move a boiling hot chiller to take the lid off to stop the frothing coming up and dribbling all over the Grainfather and onto the floor, heres the thing if they made the tube connecting to the pump pipe a bit longer it would be easier to place the chiller next to the Grainfather and not on top of it and that would solve the problem
I am going to take the short hose off and take it to a hose maker to see if they remove the fittings and connect a longer hose to it



I haven't checked but am sure the guy in the video says he extended the pipes as he prefers it not to be on top of the lid. http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=54878
 
I've done three brews with the grainfather and not had any problems with boil over................yet!. I did get a leak at the tube that connects the pump to the upright pipe, this was caused by the jubilee clip cutting into the silicon tube. I jammed a pipe of plastic pipe on then refitted the small tube, this should work until a new tube arrives which will be secured with a plastic cable tie.
The new models don't have a jubilee clip but have a round plastic ring that is pushed over and this seems to do the job of sealing very well, maybe if you get in touch with Grainfather they can send you a new plastic clip, after all they must of changed to the new plastic clip for a reason
 
I'm trialling the grainfather now, and did my first brew with it last night (full reports and thoughts to follow). I had an issue with the extending overflow pipe, the top section just slides down to cover the bottom section (attached to the lower grain plate) completely, which sort of makes it redundant. Doughing in was tricky as the mash level was well over the top of the overflow pipe to start with and I had to reach in and pull up the top overflow pipe section and try to hold it in place while tipping grains in and getting the top plate secure, eventually I drafted the wife in to help and she held it up as I stirred the grains in. Am I doing something wrong?
 
There's supposed to be a spring clip on the top pipe that stops it sliding down.
 
The new models don't have a jubilee clip but have a round plastic ring that is pushed over and this seems to do the job of sealing very well, maybe if you get in touch with Grainfather they can send you a new plastic clip, after all they must of changed to the new plastic clip for a reason

i've emailed them and they asked for my address but they didn't mention anything about a clip. i'll find out when it arrives. the other problem was that the overflow inlet was missing which I also mentioned to them.
 
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