AG full kit for 25L help (leads to Grainfather purchase)

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Morning all,
Well it's about time I thought about AG brewing again.
Bet a few were thinking "When I Brian going to brew some more AG?"
Well I feel the time is now!
Getting back on the forum and the research has had an emazing theropy for me...memories flooded back within seconds..
If people don't know I lost my memory, use of my left side of my body..my speech is affected, couldn't read or write and learning difficulties were immense..multiple strokes that left me for 11 hrs before I found..god only knows how I lived.
7 months intense theropy in 3 hospitals and 3 months in the home, getting stronger every day..coming up to two years now!
If you can share the experience with friends and family that have been lucky to go throughout the ordeal this isn't a sob story or 'look at me, look at me!'
But me getting stronger every day on a hobby I thought I would never get back to.
It started by my pal asking about homebrewing and if I could teach him! (Think he's a crafty bloke!)
A message to chippy-tea every few weeks how I'm doing got me looking at my old threads and looking on other threads, boy I was emazed..at last I could remember how to do things, the words what they're called...but alas the words came out different and confusing! And it messed up my written words...so I'm sorry if you do not understand exactly at times I'm trying to say! Lol
Yes I can prep the AG kit ocordingly I'm

Anyways, that's my battle in brief..
Time to slowly piece the jigsaw together and learn again.
My old AG kit (from fil) is now living with my pal in Scotland, so now I'm enjoying my research.
Why 25l? This is proply the weight with one hand I can manage lifting manually...and I don't normally drink it's going to an expensive hobby for me..but not my pals lol!!
I can set up the kit for brew day..needs to be fine tuned,dry runs and the SAFETY going through time again...
One thing I've never done is jump in unless I'm 100% certain!
There be obvious questions, can you do this, do that, what type of kit you want?
All options are open...DIY set ups, more expensive set ups I.e. Stainless steel set up.
The more expensive option is I think where I want to go..my old kit is great and does the job but upgrading in the long run suits me fine.
I could put an add on 'wanted' section
But for now I'm enjoying research and getting views from yous all.
This is the longest NOVEL, I'll not tell you how long it took lol.
Liquor tank, mash tun, boiler, sparch equipment etc..
I've got my stc1000's and the brew day area sorted, water etc.
Any suggestion would be greatly apreciated....it may be simple in your eyes getting the kit,but the battlefield for me and I can't see the wood for the trees sometime and need a helping hand.
Atb
Bri
 
A 25l FV is 50lbs when full of brew, that's a big lift for anyone using one arm, it might be ok to move it about around floor level but if you need to place it up onto something it may be a struggle. Provided you have the space I would look to a system that involves a pump of some sort where you can pump out into a FV at worktop height and leave it there, that means once fermentation is finished you can gravity drain from the FV into secondary/bottle/keg, no point struggling when a simple pump could save you a lot of effort.
 
A 25l FV is 50lbs when full of brew, that's a big lift for anyone using one arm, it might be ok to move it about around floor level but if you need to place it up onto something it may be a struggle. Provided you have the space I would look to a system that involves a pump of some sort where you can pump out into a FV at worktop height and leave it there, that means once fermentation is finished you can gravity drain from the FV into secondary/bottle/keg, no point struggling when a simple pump could save you a lot of effort.

M8!
I've been looking at the brewmaster what ever is name lol vs grain father..only onto part three now...
Thinking straight away I'd have be ground level for my good arm to lift the dense grains!!
Fortunate for me my good arm is twice as strong now!! Looks and feels like a body builders arm!!!
Ill practice with buckets and see is there going to be a problem lifting the grains....
Let u know what I come up with!!!
Unless our lass is handy at brew day!!
Atb
Bri
Btw I'm liking both options so far...the grainfather could be a still lol haha!
 
The Grainfather is certainly very good, I would avoid stove top system (to high) unless you can place a gas burner at floor level or some sort of winch overhead to lift grainbag. The Grainfather at floor level doesn't have to big a lift for the grain basket to rest and drain, tipping grains out could be done into a bin liner on the floor.
 
well after building the big kit and selling the small brewery i decided i needed to brew smaller batches again, the big kit is great But brews 3x the beer and means 3x less brewdays.. and one not so hot brew can choke up the keg supply too.

I went and treated myself to a grainfather, and its great it just works.. compared to a BM machine the pots wall is thinner and the MK1/MK2 controller is Basic but highly functional, it gets the job done, but it lacks the sophistication th BM controller offers but there is an STC1000 reflash option ;) and the MK3 has an all singing controller with something like a �£100 price premium to boot.

IT also has a responsive manufacturer, i had a few queries when i first opened mine up and an email was replied to in full within 24 hours..

couldn't recommend it highly enough..

16480281883_91dd622e81.jpg

My grainfather sparging.. notice the 'new' clean white walled brewshed Bri ;)
 
The Grainfather is certainly very good, I would avoid stove top system (to high) unless you can place a gas burner at floor level or some sort of winch overhead to lift grainbag. The Grainfather at floor level doesn't have to big a lift for the grain basket to rest and drain, tipping grains out could be done into a bin liner on the floor.

Thx m8,
Not looked nuff to see the stove top system...
Leccy all the way I think!
Yeah I have a big bin that can put the tipping grain into until the lift get manageable..good thinking pal.
Atb
Bri
 
M8!
I've been looking at the brewmaster what ever is name lol vs grain father..only onto part three now...

Are you watching these from the Sticky thread in this forum?


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr2Qlh5YKwo[/ame]


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJokmBauur4[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-13UGBuJSc[/ame]
 
well after building the big kit and selling the small brewery i decided i needed to brew smaller batches again, the big kit is great But brews 3x the beer and means 3x less brewdays.. and one not so hot brew can choke up the keg supply too.

I went and treated myself to a grainfather, and its great it just works.. compared to a BM machine the pots wall is thinner and the MK1/MK2 controller is Basic but highly functional, it gets the job done, but it lacks the sophistication th BM controller offers but there is an STC1000 reflash option ;) and the MK3 has an all singing controller with something like a �£100 price premium to boot.

IT also has a responsive manufacturer, i had a few queries when i first opened mine up and an email was replied to in full within 24 hours..

couldn't recommend it highly enough..

16480281883_91dd622e81.jpg

My grainfather sparging.. notice the 'new' clean white walled brewshed Bri ;)

Hi my ol m8,
Your Defo got your new set up nice...white wash!!! Haha!! Good one.
Think you have moved me to buy a grainfather!!! Why not!
Our old kit is in use...lol some great brews from u and me..I had a drink of a stout last week..nearly 2 years old!! Beautiful...think I had one of your that was older...perfection.
I'll keep u in the loop...
Now where to buy the grainfather hmmmmmmmmm!!!
Catch you soon m8
Bri
 
£594 - Now includes the Grainstopper and Pump Filter as standard. http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/grainfather/

I am probably going to kick myself but why is this so much cheaper than the two above?

Lol
Thank pal..
I'll look in the morning and tell you what I decided..
And looking at this 5% thingy aswell lol
Took my meds so I'm slower than normally lol
Nite nite pal
Bri
 
I've seen them on Ebay for £575, plenty of places selling at £595, with the nosediving pound as last while prices could well rise when new stock has to be imported, there may also be some offloading done soon to as new ones are bound to be shipping with the new controller.
 
�£594 - Now includes the Grainstopper and Pump Filter as standard. http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/grainfather/

I am probably going to kick myself but why is this so much cheaper than the two above?

£595 from BrewUK as well, they're the same kit so god knows why there is such a price difference.

I love my GF, great bit of kit, I just wish I'd kept it as clean as @Fil seems to have managed!
 
Morning lads,
I best my **** into gear and buy one...don't you think?
TBH this option is what I need to get back into AG brewing...miss it!
And the days are drawing in..
Now to check my bank balance...lol
Atb
Bri
 
I've bought one!!!
Couldn't resist!!!
Now working out how much it is to our lass....and why?
Chuffed ta bits...
Now sorting my old recipes and getting the app onto my craptop!! For brewing..
Reckon there be plenty of questions incoming...lol
Thx guys I appreciate the help.
Atb
Bri
 
Dont think you will regret it, out of the box its virtually ready to go.

2 design issues i have with the out of the box kit are
1) the little aluminum miniature spirit bottle cap supplied to cover the drain tube when mashing in to ensure no grain falls down it is best replaced with a baggy or bit of cling film secured with a lazzy band . there is a 3rd party weight SS Plug alternative available for about a fiver or a tenner iirc, ;

and
2) flame out and later hop additions can be a pita IF the cfc is sat on the lid as suggested requiering an ad-hoc cone/funnel to feed the hops through the lids 2" central hole. much better imho to sit the cfc on a table next to the g/f tho you may need to extend its feed hose a tad? but its only a problem for post boil hop additions..

a 2nd vessel to heat up the 17l or so of sparge liquor (brew dependent) during the mash is a great help, otherwise you will need to heat that up with the strike volume and save for later.. (How hot is your hot water supply???)

Mine is a MK1 so this may not apply, but out of the box assembly involved one fiddly screw and nut. Used to secure the SS stand pipe in position.


PS Dont clamp the glass lid in place, the clamps are designed to secure and seal a much thinner metal lid for use as a still and stretching them with the glass lid could ruin em ;)
 
The SS piping and bracket now comes assembled, the grain stopper is now a piece of blanked end pipe that fits down inside the wort overflow.
 

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