Hi all, just joined the forum, and am effectively new to brewing (except for some horrible kit stuff as a student 30yrs ago)
I have gone straight to all-grain brewing in a Grainfather, and having read lots of forum posts here and elsewhere thought I might share some observations.
Generally I'm pretty impressed with the system, behaves as the manufacturers describe. I was a little concerned with a few problems other users have had but have han no real trouble - possibly helped by mine being a newer unit with the upgraded hop filter.
So far I have made a Timothy Tailor's "Landlord" clone - which I am now drinking and very happy with on a direct comparison with a bottle of the commercial product (mine is marginally more bitter and has a slight, and reducing, chill haze). Second brew was the "UK surfing" golden ale from the BrewUK website recipe - that is conditioning in the fridge. Third is a Fullers London Pride copy from Graham Wheeler's book - currently fermenting.
I have heard lots about the hop filter and/or pump blocking with hop debris - I haven't had a problem with this and have found that the hops form a nice natural filter around the stainless one leading to fantastically clear wort after the first 10 minute recirculation prior to cooling. I would be reluctant to put hops in bags as this would remove this natural filter effect
The counter-flow chiller is Brilliant - my only problem with it is having to make an effort not to cool too much (from 90+C), as initially I was pumping into my corny to ferment at 14C and had to turn the cold water flow down quite a lot to even the temperature up and end up at 18C. I might add a tap to reduce the cold water flow next to the chiller for convenience.
A minor problem was with some grain debris ending up in the boil - many people have ascribed this to overflow down the centre pipe during mashing but although I have seen the pump bring a bit of debris up it has stayed on the upper perforated plate rather than anything going down the overflow. I'm pretty sure the debris comes from small bits of grain dropping through the holes in the bottom perforated plate when adding/stirring the grain, it then sits on the bottom of the boiler until after sparge and starting heating to boil. I have just skimmed it out with a sieve before boil, but have wondered about adding a fine woven stainless steel mesh on top of the bottom perforated plate.
I have found clean up to be easy and not time consuming, though I do rinse the chiller separately after cleaning rather than reconnecting to the unit.
I'm fermenting in on of the cornelius kegs with a shortened dip to avoid the yeast & trub, and transferring air-free under CO2 pressure to a fresh corny after fermentation and crash cooling.
Now I have a tentative plan for a warming and cooling temperature control unit I could build to clamp to the keg to keep fermentation temperature where I want it - currently I use a heat mat and some insulation around the keg, but summer could be different.
I have gone straight to all-grain brewing in a Grainfather, and having read lots of forum posts here and elsewhere thought I might share some observations.
Generally I'm pretty impressed with the system, behaves as the manufacturers describe. I was a little concerned with a few problems other users have had but have han no real trouble - possibly helped by mine being a newer unit with the upgraded hop filter.
So far I have made a Timothy Tailor's "Landlord" clone - which I am now drinking and very happy with on a direct comparison with a bottle of the commercial product (mine is marginally more bitter and has a slight, and reducing, chill haze). Second brew was the "UK surfing" golden ale from the BrewUK website recipe - that is conditioning in the fridge. Third is a Fullers London Pride copy from Graham Wheeler's book - currently fermenting.
I have heard lots about the hop filter and/or pump blocking with hop debris - I haven't had a problem with this and have found that the hops form a nice natural filter around the stainless one leading to fantastically clear wort after the first 10 minute recirculation prior to cooling. I would be reluctant to put hops in bags as this would remove this natural filter effect
The counter-flow chiller is Brilliant - my only problem with it is having to make an effort not to cool too much (from 90+C), as initially I was pumping into my corny to ferment at 14C and had to turn the cold water flow down quite a lot to even the temperature up and end up at 18C. I might add a tap to reduce the cold water flow next to the chiller for convenience.
A minor problem was with some grain debris ending up in the boil - many people have ascribed this to overflow down the centre pipe during mashing but although I have seen the pump bring a bit of debris up it has stayed on the upper perforated plate rather than anything going down the overflow. I'm pretty sure the debris comes from small bits of grain dropping through the holes in the bottom perforated plate when adding/stirring the grain, it then sits on the bottom of the boiler until after sparge and starting heating to boil. I have just skimmed it out with a sieve before boil, but have wondered about adding a fine woven stainless steel mesh on top of the bottom perforated plate.
I have found clean up to be easy and not time consuming, though I do rinse the chiller separately after cleaning rather than reconnecting to the unit.
I'm fermenting in on of the cornelius kegs with a shortened dip to avoid the yeast & trub, and transferring air-free under CO2 pressure to a fresh corny after fermentation and crash cooling.
Now I have a tentative plan for a warming and cooling temperature control unit I could build to clamp to the keg to keep fermentation temperature where I want it - currently I use a heat mat and some insulation around the keg, but summer could be different.
