Grainfather!!

Sweet! You'll have to post a report/review! Recipe, pics and how it goes!

What would really be helpful is if you folks that are brewing with GF already, would post your boil off, mash eff, total eff, trub loss....stuff like that.

I was looking at the Beersmith numbers for GF....I can tell they are totally out of wack.

For Beersmith I used the 10 Gallon electric urn as it seemed the closest to the GF. I started with 6.75 gallons of wort and boiled down to about 6 in a 60 min boil. I estimated 72% eff but Beersmith says I got 92%. Not sure on trub loss as it's still in the primary, but it seems like normal after its all in the carboy. I can tell you it's a heck of a lot cleaner than my old three tier setup.

Use the Grainfather APP the numbers are perfect

The GF app I have, you have to add all the numbers manually. Nothing is expected or anticipated. I just do my recipe in Beersmith and then transfer the numbers to GF app.

After you input the recipe. Start a brewing session and it will give you how much water you need for the mash and then the sparge

BrewMeister49 said:

That's a great question DarkUncle. Honestly, I would assume. It has a full warranty for 1 year. I would email Estee at GF and see. Their email is [email protected] . I blew them up with questions before I bought one. I know you can get parts at different carrier shops like williamsbrewing and such. Let us know what you find out!

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Ok, the answer is if the element fails it is not replaceable. The entire boiler would need to be replaced. But he said in a couple years time they've only had a handful that took a dump and needed to be replaced. So this unit does have a shelf life of some indeterminable amount of time.

BrewMeister49 said:

That's a great question DarkUncle. Honestly, I would assume. It has a full warranty for 1 year. I would email Estee at GF and see. Their email is [email protected] . I blew them up with questions before I bought one. I know you can get parts at different carrier shops like williamsbrewing and such. Let us know what you find out!

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Ok, the answer is if the element fails it is not replaceable. The entire boiler would need to be replaced. But he said in a couple years time they've only had a handful that took a dump and needed to be replaced. So this unit does have a shelf life of some indeterminable amount of time.

DarkUncle said:

Ok, the answer is if the element fails it is not replaceable. The entire boiler would need to be replaced. But he said in a couple years time they've only had a handful that took a dump and needed to be replaced. So this unit does have a shelf life of some indeterminable amount of time.

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It would be nice if they could figure out a way to make that part easily replaceable.

Yes, agreed. I believe it has a 1 year warranty but hey, nothing lasts forever.

Im pretty sure that if it takes a dump at year 2, they would work with you. They seem like a solid company. I wish it were a replaceable part! I didnt know that. Kind of strange that you cannot replace the heating element? How did they get it in there?! lol Must be a way.

The question is what is the price of replacing the boiler should the heating element fail after the one year warranty

Exactly. I don't see the need in replacing the entire shebang!

pagrider said:

The question is what is the price of replacing the boiler should the heating element fail after the one year warranty

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It says the US version has a 16oowatt element. That should cost no more than $30, but with the whole boiler it probably $199 to keep you from electrocuting yourself.

Well I have yet to read anything about the element burning out with these so that's a little reassuring.

Yeah. There are people who split it between like 10 guys and they all just pass it around. What I read was something like 75 brews in a few months and zero issues. They said they beat it up pretty solid tossing it in vehicles and just not really being nice to it. They were all impressed. That was in 2014.

DarkUncle said:

I'm debating on just getting it now or waiting until next year when a new model is released. Say a 220v version. [emoji6]

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A new model is coming out?

They will probably offer up a 240V version next year.

The current version gives you a rolling boil. My last batch my boil off in an hour was 3/4 of a gallon after using reflectex. The advantage of 240 would be speed to temperature

BrewMeister49 said:

They will probably offer up a 240V version next year.

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That is the response I got back from the Grainfather team when I contacted them.

I seriously considered waiting for the 220/240v system. But then I started weighing the pros and cons.

The 110v version allows me to brew right in my kitchen. With a 220 I'm right back in my garage.
There's a much less chance of a boil over due to the more calm rolling boil with the 110v which is a boil nonetheless. I would certainly not want to have a boil over with an electrical control box mounted right on the outside. That could get ugly real fast.

The 220v really only has two advantages. The boil off rate would be a bit higher and temps would be reached quicker. But, these are easily matched with the 110v by adjusting water amounts and/or boil time.

These are my thoughts on it.

DarkUncle said:

That is the response I got back from the Grainfather team when I contacted them.

I seriously considered waiting for the 220/240v system. But then I started weighing the pros and cons.

The 110v version allows me to brew right in my kitchen. With a 220 I'm right back in my garage.
There's a much less chance of a boil over due to the more calm rolling boil with the 110v which is a boil nonetheless. I would certainly not want to have a boil over with an electrical control box mounted right on the outside. That could get ugly real fast.

The 220v really only has two advantages. The boil off rate would be a bit higher and temps would be reached quicker. But, these are easily matched with the 110v by adjusting water amounts and/or boil time.

These are my thoughts on it.

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That may be your case but most homes have at least one 240v plug for a dryer or electric stove in their house.... a 240v line is also very easy to install and would have the benefit in the long run. Also its worth mentioning that boilovers are easy to avoid with electric, you just kill the heat and stir to break up the foam and then when you turn the heat back on theres no more boilover...Plus I believe they would have anticipated such accidents when designing the unit and that electrical box is likely sealed for such events... The device wouldnt be very good if it wasnt.

Well I have a 240 in my kitchen for the stove but that would require pulling it in and out every time. Not convenient. Plus it would need a GFI of some kind installed. Not cheap for a 220.

I've had boil overs with my propane system no matter how careful I was. It requires constant attention to avoid. With the 110 system not so much.

There is no one system that's perfect for everyone and I'm glad it looks like the option will at least be there next year. Who knows. Maybe I'll upgrade as well. After the reviews come out that is

I have one and love it. I went through this thing very thoroughly with the GF guys at the conference in June in San Diego. Just about made them tear it apart for me I was impressed and really don't worry about the heating element crapping out. It's sealed so you can't mess it up by exposing it and accidentally firing it up which will blow it out.....same as what happens to a heat stick not immersed.

I have put 16 lbs in it and it's fine...wouldn't handle my grain bill for Barleywine though But that's OK...I still have my three tier system for the rare time I need to do a larger batch or really high gravity brew.

Cleanup is a breeze. Use Craftmeister tabs and it is even easier.

I pair mine with FastFerment and I love only two things to clean now.

I sell these and have sold 4 of them in 4 months....all to rave reviews. My most experienced customer says less than 4.5 hours, complete start to finish....and he now does it in the bathtub because he too has kids to watch.

I'm only about 30 feet above sea level and have no problem. And if I am in a boil hurry, I simply drop in my heat stick and whammo...super fast boil.

Just search Amazon for a step up or down transformer. For a 2000 watt grainfather you would want to go with a 3000 watt unit which can be had for $100 or less and can plug into any 110/120 recepticle in your house. It is to bad the US model doesn't have at least a 1800 watt unit. My commercial induction cooktop works just fine to do full boils and not just a simmer like the grainfather.

I'd say mine boil was a boil, not a simmer. A boil is a boil whether it is rolling so hard to splash out of the pot or you get the low roll. Bigger is more for show.

BrewMeister49 said:

I'd say mine boil was a boil, not a simmer. A boil is a boil whether it is rolling so hard to splash out of the pot or you get the low roll. Bigger is more for show.

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Did my first brew today with the Grainfather, the boil was exactly that...a boil! Absolutely no complaints in that regard

Jkane101 said:

Did my first brew today with the Grainfather, the boil was exactly that...a boil! Absolutely no complaints in that regard

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Exactly! I was very nervous to order mine due to what people were saying. Come to find out, lots of people were talking about it and they dont even own one! Its a decent boil. :rockin:

+1 The boil is not an issue I have brewed 5 batches now.

Can someone elaborate on how long it takes to reach mash temps and then how long to each a boil after slashing?

Thanks!

I did a full review on my first brew with the GF. Maybe 15 minutes for initial mash temp with tap water. Then after mash out about 40 minutes to boil.

blizzard said:

Can someone elaborate on how long it takes to reach mash temps and then how long to each a boil after slashing?

Thanks!

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There are lots of variables that affect the time....volumes and temperatures to begin with. So take what I say with an allowance....."Your results may vary."

Saturday we demo'd this device at Learn to Homebrew day. We followed the GF water calculations (I have the Beersmith settings that a guy in England came up with but it's just as easy to use the GF guidelines) and heated 5.2 gallons of RO water that was 82F to begin with to 152F. We set it on BOIL and NORMAL and wandered off.....came back in 20 minutes and it was at 164F!!!! Yikes....no sweat, add some ice, turn it to MASH and pump out a bit of water to maintain the proper volume. Added 13.5 lbs of grain, mostly pilsen. Temp dropped a degree and then bounced back and forth between 151 and 152 for sixty minutes. Had 3.x (can't remember exactly) gallons of 168F sparge water in an elevated pot ready for sparge. Raised the GF basket, set the GF to BOIL/NORMAL, put the recirc arm in and turned on pump while dribbling sparge water on the upper plate. Left for 30 minutes (recommended sparge time by Grainfather) and came back to boiling wort!
A nice gentle roll...and if you put the lid on and turn on the pump during the boil you can get a boil over! (We were brewing very close to the road and I wanted to keep crap out so I put the lid on but ended up cocking it about 1/3 open to prevent a boil over.)

So that gives you some indication of time....

Another batch with the same recipe was done but the pump was not utilized during the sparge....we had not hit boil in 30 minutes but were at 198F. I popped in my heat stick and wham...within 5 minutes we were boiling and the heat stick came out and we lost boil for about a minute while the GF built back up.

I have brewed over 10 batches now since July....I am learning to trust it and getting a better sense of time needed to get to temp. I like it!!!

A cleanup tip....the Craftmeister Tablets do wonders on this thing. Add 2-3 gallons, heat to 135 and drop in a tablet and turn on the pump. Anything on the bottom gets removed without any scrubbing.

Visit your LHBS and buy one!

Settings in BeerSmith...but Sparge water calculation is always different than GF's method. Fermenter is a FastFerment, hence the three dumps in the notes.

I've never heard of craft master tabs! I will look for them. One thing I really wish was incorporated ( I guess the one con I have found) is no handles! You have to tip it to remove all the trub after you pump to your fermenting vessel. I also wish they would give the US peeps who already purchase a GF a huge discount on the jacket. 70$ is pretty steep.

BrewMeister49 said:

I've never heard of craft master tabs! I will look for them. One thing I really wish was incorporated ( I guess the one con I have found) is no handles! You have to tip it to remove all the trub after you pump to your fermenting vessel. I also wish they would give the US peeps who already purchase a GF a huge discount on the jacket. 70$ is pretty steep.

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Looks like it's $50 not $70 but still when you consider that roll of reflectix is about $16 ...not sure about spending the $50.
http://www.grainfather.com/#!online-store/c8k/!/Accessories/c/12375701

$70 with shipping. But it looks cool. Hopefully it works.

DarkUncle said:

$70 with shipping. But it looks cool. Hopefully it works.

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Ahh didnt add the shipping into it, thanks for pointing that out!! Think I'll just stick with reflectix

Haha! Yeah. Some people bought it on the grainfather users group on FB and said it was $20 to ship!

I bought it too and don't even have the GF yet. But to add some salt to that wound they came back in stock on the Grainfather site and there's a coupon to get both for $930 with free shipping. [emoji15]

As with many things in life, timing is everything.

Haha! Now that's funny! Did you ask them? Where did you order yours through?

DarkUncle said:

I bought it too and don't even have the GF yet. But to add some salt to that wound they came back in stock on the Grainfather site and there's a coupon to get both for $930 with free shipping. [emoji15]

As with many things in life, timing is everything.

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Ouch that sucks.
Let me brighten your day... I'm betting you're going to love the Grainfather. I love it so much that I already have my next 3 brews planned out and grain/yeast orders placed.