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I've yet to use Rye in any beer so I have zero clue how it functions, never even researched it. It doesn't usually fit the styles I brew. Guess it's time to research :)

What don't you like about your hefes? What are they missing? I made a 50% munich, 50% wheat hefe (or I guess it's closer to a very light dunkelweizen) as my 3rd all grain beer and it is delicious. Loads of flavor, wheaty, banana, a little clove. But it's not perfect... what I don't...

People are going to freak out when I say this, but I find all Belgian and German ales to be fantastic when underpitched. I never make starters, not even for quads or tripels. These are all yeast driven styles so you want the yeast to do their thing and propogate and produce their natural...

So no one has found a way to add a much larger bottom filter into the grainfather yet have they? That would be a HUGE advantage I would imagine.

Which SS Splatter Screen did you go with? I'd like to do this as well as it seems a handy way to avoid so many grains leftover after the mash. Already ordered some tea balls, 2-3" (got several as I found them for $1-$1.50 each on ebay). Figured I might use some for hops and then cut one in...

The color of extract beers will generally always be darker. They also tend to taste slightly more.... rich. That could be perceived as a malt backbone. It's all from the processing of the extracts. Some people will prefer that flavor they add, some will not. It definitely wouldn't be as...

You're over thinking it. Just forget the terms top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting. They serve no real purpose to even know or care about. Just know you picked your yeast because it will provide the characteristics you want for your beer.

I must say that in almost every case I hear people coming up with complex reasons things didn't work, the answer is much simpler. I don't do a single complex thing at all when I brew. Everything is ultra simple and I don't give two licks about oxygen. I just won 1 gold, silver and bronze in...

I definitely need to do #3, that sounds like a great idea. Saw someone (maybe you?) post a picture with that recently and it is brilliant. #4 sounds brilliant too, I'd love to never have the chiller on the lid personally. But what do you mean by #5?

I replied in the other thread.... and your last paragraph sums up my advice there. KISS, Keep it simple stupid. The added complications people think are so important generally do VERY little in the scheme of things as Brulosophy tests have shown. And as long as you keep using the same...

You have nailed my largest problem with the grainfather. The flow through the grains is quite slow and thus causes step mashes to take ages to actually reach temperature... thus defeating the purpose or precision. As was suggested, removing the screen and stirring is about the only way you...

I had no idea the graincoat made such a difference... Can I ask, what was your ambient temperature?

I tend to do large grain bills, even if my beer is lower alcohol I tend to increase the batch size to still get maximum utilization. And I get poor flow during the mash circulation.... so who knows.

I definitely notice a LOT of extra gain bits remain after mashing. My best method to combat this is to use a jumbo strainer and strain out as much as possible right after sparging. But as you said we have no idea how much of that is clogging our filter already. I'll sometimes try and "rub"...

This has long been my largest complaint with the grainfather... the filter is TINY and clogs very easily and actually lets a lot through still that clogs up the pump. While I've managed to get through all my brews, a few have been close calls because of filter/pump issues. I would...

Yes, I make sure to push it down when sparging. The only difference I'd see with a 5 or 10% beer is that there would be half as much quantity of grain and a different water to grain ratio (due to dead space staying equal). So I could see it causing some changes... but it sounds like our...

My sparge takes less than 20-25 minutes (closer to 10-15) lately because I'm using more and more rice hulls to try and get the wort to drain through the grains faster while mashing. I'm worried it's because of channeling though now. But I make sure to stir my grains HEAVILY before I put the...

I've been having issues with my unit not using the full strength heater. The last two brews when I turn it on and put it to "Normal" it heats EXTREMELY slowly in the 80's to 120's. I have hit the reset button on the bottom of the grainfather (its more like a reset button on a surge protector...

Just saw this thread, so I wanted to ask how people manage to keep the wort flowing through their grains so quickly? I've never been able to get mine to drain fully through the grains. The overflow is basically always used unless there's only a tiny tiny trickle of wort being recirculated...

It's a grainfather without recirculation and chiller... interesting. Definitely a place for this. The grainfather seems plenty powerful.... though more powerful would speed things up I suppose.