Grainfather G-40 info

[chopps]

I really like the look of the G40, I read about the 3 year warranty so that's always a good idea for early adopters. Nice capacity. Counterflow chiller and full >3kW element. Wireless controller looks smart.

But £1095... Seriously guys that's bonkers. I can see all the YouTubers loving their review models online. And not surprisingly. I'd love one for free too.

 

[The Baron]

Er, its max pre boil volume is 46 litres.

Yes but that means 19ltr to the corny so it will have to take in to consideration trub loss and boil off in the boil then yeast and trub loss in a FV as they are intimating 2 cornies of beer @ 19Ltr.
It would have to be a perfect brew to stand a chance of getting that

 

[nickjdavis]

Is £1095 bonkers? Depends on who Grainfather see as the competition....they will win a lot of business from folks who may be considering the Brewtools B40 (£1530 plus all the extras you need to buy to alleviate its flaws) or the Braumeister 20L (£1789)....compared to those two products it looks on the face of it to be stonking value.

They've pitched it at a price pretty much split between their own two main products the G30 and G70 so as not to walk all over those product lines....could do nothing else really.

If folks want something cheaper then the S40 fits the bill price wise....obviously there will be design compromises at this lower price level but that's for folks to decide if they can live with them.

Lets face it...we could all brew with a picnic cool box, plastic boiler and ferment in a bucket if we really wanted to and price was of the utmost importance.

 

[2Beers]

The G40 looks awesome, they'll sell a lot of them I think.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Still trying to suss out how the perforations up the side work instead of the overflow pipe...the overflow pipe kept the recirculated wort on top of the grain forcing it to percolate through and if it slowed the level would rise and overflow to prevent the elements going dry....with perforations all the way up the side the recirculated wort will just run off through the perforations, rather than creating a head of wort on top of the grain? I thought the idea was to run the wort continuously through the grain? If you get a stuck mash how would you know as the pump would draw wort from the side and you'd never spot you had a problem?

Does look well made but the push in recirculation pipe/hose looks a bit cheap and nasty. Almost a bit of an afterthought. I guess sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.

 

[The Baron]

I had sussed that too the sparge water will just run off down the perforations but at £1100 what do you expect (oops sorry its a Grainfather)

 

[hoppyscotty]

Good point on the sparge...hadn't got that far in my thought process. How odd. You have to assume we've missed something clever that the smart people at Grainfather have cottoned onto. I can't imagine them making such an oversight. Maybe the leakage rate is not enough to cause a problem or a noticeable hit to the efficiency. I love the simplicity of it, but just don't understand it.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I think they've slightly overpriced the S40. If it came in at £399 I reckon that would get a lot of people to part with their cash.

 

[Andrew Booth]

The S40 is around the same price point as the brewzilla I don’t think it will worry the likes of Brewmonk, Brewster etc since they are around £98 cheaper and come with two years warranty. The g40 on the other hand is way too expensive 10 litres more than the g30 and 400 odd more expensive. One of the reasons Grainfather (Bevie) stated for the new range was to make them more financially accessible in that regard I think they Failed Miserably. I’m currently using a Brewster Beacon 40 from Geterbrewed. I’m not entirely happy with it so I’m getting a g30 soon. The S40 as far as I can see isn’t much more than a Beacon or Brewmonk So I wouldn’t pay that price for it. I’m getting my g30 from a mate who is upgrading to the g40.

 

[chopps]

getting my g30 from a mate who is upgrading to the g40.

Good plan! Should be a few around soon.

 

[Andrew Booth]

Yes I’ve wanted a g30 for a while sadly my pockets aren’t deep enough to pay full whack for one. I enjoy brewing and do brew twice a month normally work permitting. I reckon there will be quite a few second hand g30s out there soon.

 

[Matt_W]

It’s definitely going to have to be a slow sparge to make sure it filters through the grain bed. Although the other option at 40L is just do a full volume mash for a single batch.

 

[Andrew Booth]

Quite often on my beacon 40 I do full batch no sparge similar to a BIAB doesn’t affect anything really.

 

[chopps]

Lets face it...we could all brew with a picnic cool box, plastic boiler and ferment in a bucket if we really wanted to and price was of the utmost importance.

Absolutely. And make beer just as good.

Perhaps I’m too harsh about the price.
I’m a bit odd as I built my set up from scratch. All stainless by the way, no plastic :). 56L recirculating, malt pipe, chiller, PID controller, CIP and all required bits and bobs for under £400. So I don’t see the value personally, but recognise that for most people an off-the-shelf warrantied set up of that spec is appealing, and at £1000 some will feel that is not cheap, but represents good value.

 

[Deadhead]

Boy that G40 looks great! And no stinkin' seals that drive me crazy.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Well we could all buy a kit car and build it in our garages but most of us don't. Not sure that is the point. Buying an ready engineered product is convenient and convenience has a price. You can cobble together your own kit from various buckets, bits of hose, assorted plumbing fittings and with a bit of trial and error and the odd back to the drawing board re-design, you can get to brew good beer ...and some people love a project and happy to spend time developing a system that produces good beer and that is part of the fun...I get that, but some of us just want to crack on and brew beer so happy to spend a bit more and get an out of the box brew system.

 

[fgoulding]

If I buy a G40, then I’m going to need a bigger FV and then I’m going to need a bigger fridge and then I’m going to need…oh my God…what is happening to me…I need help!!

 

[hoppyscotty]

You just need some man-maths to justify it!

 

[fgoulding]

I think I just have GAS - Gear Acquisition Syndrome ;-)

 

[stripeyjoe]

I like it, shame it's the wrong side of £1k! Would prefer it if the sight glass was separate so it would work when the pump was in use and if it came with a bottom tap fitted.
I think 40l is a good size, makes it more comfortable to get 25l or so into the FV, I struggle to get 19 or 20 with my 30l set up. I like to keg most of it and bottle the rest.