Grainfather sales now live in U.S.! Woohhooo

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Can I get some more info on this hot rod heat stick. I am very interested in buying one and how to hook it up. I am not electrical friendly. Thanks

Can I get some more information on the hot rod heat stick. I am interest in purchasing one like this for my grainfather and how to wire it. Or I'll pay extra for some one to do the wiring. Thanks send me a message please.

I'm on the verge of bringing in some bulk SJ type cord and I may be offering a pre-wired hotrod in the future but I'm not ready yet.

Got My GrainFather Yesterday! I looked at the GF and the BM .. After all the efficiency is what matters and the end product for me. I looked at both of these and I really did not want total automation or have to brew in one spot because that's where the 220V line is. I like a schedule and having to increase temps during my step mashing keeps me engaged in the process. Looking forward to brewing my first batch..

Keep us posted!

I want one

got one as a retirement present from the place i worked

I am seriously considering buying one of these and selling all of my existing equipment. Mostly, just for the convenience and space savings. If the people who already have this could keep us all posted on the good and bad of the system, it would be appreciated. It already looks like an auxillary heating source such as the hotrod will be needed based on previous posts. What else is needed besides a way to heat your sparge water ?

pauld315 said:

I am seriously considering buying one of these and selling all of my existing equipment. Mostly, just for the convenience and space savings. If the people who already have this could keep us all posted on the good and bad of the system, it would be appreciated. It already looks like an auxillary heating source such as the hotrod will be needed based on previous posts. What else is needed besides a way to heat your sparge water ?

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I bought a $8.99 heater save time on heating water and built a hop spider. Those are my only changes so far.

I will probably add a insulation jacket also.

My efficiency is not as high as my old system, so I'm going to adjust my crush.

I love it. It's simple to use and clean. Definitely a space saver.

Ok first brew down with the GrainFather! Let me start by saying! EASY!!! I love it. What a great device! Started off with a simple recipe..
4 lbs Pilsner Malt
4 lbs Two Row
1 lb Honey malt
1 lb biscuit Malt
1 lb flaked Maze

Heated the Water up in no time 14 min. I did a step Mash 142 for 20 152 for 50 and mash out at 167 for 10 min.. did all the calculations SG was calculated at 1.052 and the Grain Father hit it right on the nose 1.052 .
I heated up sparge water to 167 on my stove and sparged with that and it worked well.
After Sparge was complete I removed the Grain Can and placed in a bucket . Fired up the Boil buttons and that took about 20 min to get to a boil and I was impressed that it was a decent Boil. I had heard that the US versions were hard to get to Boil but that was not the case.
Used FUGLE hops 1oz for 60 and 1oz for 15min also had some Orange peel I added to the Boil at 30 min..
As of right now it is in the fermenter and bubbling away with US05 in there doing it's magic!
I am sorry for no pictures this time but Next time I will I wanted to concentrate on getting the process down with the new system. I am brewing again this Thursday and can't wait ! If you can get your hands on one of these I would!!

Brew Calculator worked perfect from Grainfather.

What did you get for efficiency?

andysim said:

I bought a $8.99 heater save time on heating water and built a hop spider. Those are my only changes so far.

I will probably add a insulation jacket also.

My efficiency is not as high as my old system, so I'm going to adjust my crush.

I love it. It's simple to use and clean. Definitely a space saver.

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What did you reach for efficiency?

I've been between 63-69%.

I think I need a finer crush.

It's takes me only 10-15 minutes to sparge.

I was getting 75-78% batch sparging on my old system

It definitely is Grain Crush size I am looking at numbers and it says it is between 85-90% which is fantastic and my crush is exactly that crushed.

Out of stock

I love the grandfather! however be aware of unfinished machining on the sharp edges of the grain basket..I was in the middle of sparging, and i accidentally knocked the basket and caught it only to realize my fingers were cut pretty good. I fortunately didn't drop it into the hot wort however.
-j

how do you sparge? do you really have to heat up a pot of water and pour it over the top.

you can buy an optional unit which similar to a hot water urn.sparging is hand done with a jug or similar item.check the video on you tube

My two cents:

Did my first brew with the GF last weekend, and for the most part it's AWESOME. For convenience and ease of use, it's hard to beat. The ONLY downside is the less than vigorous boil. That being said, the wort was technically boiling. In 4 weeks if the beer tastes fine, I'd say there's no issue at all.

Also, for anyone worried about the sparge (and I was), it was no big deal at all. You do have to heat it up separately, and pour it over the top in small increments. But it was so easy. Just heat it up on the stovetop during the mash, and get a 1 qt glass measuring cup, pour it over in small increments. Only took 10 min or so. And during the boiler is heating up to boil anyways.

Easy to clean too, and I got the clearest wort I've ever seen in the fermentor. All in all, great little unit.

I am currently drinking the first 2 beers made with the grainfather. They are great, and way less work than my previous set up.

sdufford said:

Easy to clean too, and I got the clearest wort I've ever seen in the fermentor. All in all, great little unit.

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I have to agree the Wort was crystal Clear!!

Please keep us all posted on your brews, eff numbers, mods, likes/dislikes.

Some Pics of My new Grain Father

Did my first brew last night a Vanilla Porter. I happened to be in my local brew supply house AVID BREWING and bought one. By far my best beer brewing purchase. Makes brewing a little boring. Couple of points

Good

- Wort crystal clear
- super easy to use
- no boil issues at all. The other poster may have an issue with their Grainfather
- solid build
- no need to add anything.
-easy clean
- pump works really well and its quite
-was worried about the sparge but its super easy

Not so good
-efficiency 67%, maybe this was due to me not being used to the system yet.

If i didn't see this unit at my local shop I was getting ready to by the PicoBrew. Glad I didn't. Saved over $1000 and can still brew 5 gallons. This unit rocks!!!!

The most common efficiency issues has tended to be dialing in the right crush. Crush it a little finer next time and I'm sure you will be fine. I had the same thing. Are you crushing at home or at shop?

Andyoesq said:

The most common efficiency issues has tended to be dialing in the right crush. Crush it a little finer next time and I'm sure you will be fine. I had the same thing. Are you crushing at home or at shop?

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I agree I adjusted my mill and my efficiency was right where it should be!

You guys are probably right. I crushed at the shop. I should have posted that as that is the likely cause.

Also i just did the add on for the Grainfather in BeerSmith has anyone adjusted anything.

pagrider said:

You guys are probably right. I crushed at the shop. I should have posted that as that is the likely cause.



Also i just did the add on for the Grainfather in BeerSmith has anyone adjusted anything.

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Add on??

add on profile in beersmith. Has anyone made any adjustments to the profile

For those that have done brews with the GF, how long was your brew day including set-up, brewing, cooling and transfer to fermenter and clean-up??

4 hours

4 hours

4 hours, as long as you clean as you go

pagrider said:

4 hours

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bmorosco said:

4 hours

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That's awesome. For me, that would mean a 2 hour reduction to my brew day.

you are actually only doing something about 45 minutes of the time. I run beersmith on the iphone, and spend most of the down time either pitching wiffleball for my boys, or winning the flag football superbowl in the back yard while it is mashing

I brewed a pumpkin today in the Grainfather and OH BOY it was quite the difficult task doing the Sparge! The pumpkin likes to make a waterproof layer and really slows down the sparge process. Had to mix it up a few times to get it going again..

Anyone use the grainfather app yet. Any thoughts

pagrider said:

Anyone use the grainfather app yet. Any thoughts

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Yes I used it for the first 2 Batches I did it is ok but there are a lot of stuff not in the app I found I had to add a lot of grains and adjunct.