Advice on Grainfather?

[rinhaak]

I've been brewing for about 8 years. Been doing gas stove top brewing the entire time and having excellent results. Just bought my first house, and my new kitchen won't have a gas stove (and I refuse to do brewing on an electric stove!). Though I want to convert my kitchen to gas eventually, that won't happen for a few years.

So, I've got two real options: I could buy a propane tank and maintain my same setup but shift the enterprise from the kitchen to the garage (which will be great except in winter – #RhodeIsland), or I buy an electric brew system.

I've been leaning towards buying a Grainfather: I've read how awesome it is for rookie brewers. How does it stack up for experienced brewers? Is this what you've always wanted? Does it improve your brew? Brewday?

Would love some real suggestions before I dump $1k on this!

 

[NGD]

So you don't want to brew on an electric stove, but you want an electric kettle?

Just kidding, I've been looking at getting one myself although I'm far from what I would call an experienced brewer. I've read hundreds of reviews each on the GrainFather and the Robobrew. Aside from some quirks with each system, overall people seem incredible happy with both. I'm sure the main complaint you've come across is when you want to make a big brew or something heavily hopped. It seems like that's when most brewers start to bump up against the size limitations.

That and the fact only has a 1500watt element so it takes a bit to get up to a boil. Check out David Heaths Youtube Channel for some mod's etc. Best of luck with whichever way you decide.

 

[couchsending]

I’m close to 150 brews on my Grainfather.. it has some limitations for sure but the convenience of it makes up for its limitations...

Step mashing is awesome

You have to double mash if you want to make big beers. I’ve never done it as I have no desire to make anything over 8%, but it can be done.

You can throw 16oz of pellet hops in one and it won’t clog, the hops actually act as a really good filter and will help keep more trub out of the fermenter. You do not need a hop spider.

Warranty is awesome. I’ve had some issues as of late but I’ve got some serious use out of it and whatever sh*t happens. Everything has been replaced or I’ve figured a way around it.

I’ve moved to a fine mesh screen that I put under the bottom perforated plate to try to keep as much grain particulate as possible from getting into the boil. Seems to work.

Yeah it takes a little while to boil but with the new connect controller just set it to heat before you need to use it or split your strike amount in half, heating half on the stove or sparge heater and half in GF.

I’ve stopped using the CFC and moved to an immersion as I can keep almost all the cold break in the Grainfather that way. It takes longer but to each their own. After 100 or so batches I started to wonder what the inside of that CFC looked like and i run pbw through after every batch.

Get the Grainfather. You’ll be psyched. The space savings, ease of cleanup, and not having to brew outside / deal with propane makes it worth the few shortcomings.

 

[TheBrewBrotha]

The major pro about brewing on the GF is convenience. One vessel, electric, easy to clean and store, perfect for beginners and those with limited brewing space.

You are limited when it comes to batch size (max is about 8gal) and amount of grain to use (I’ve pushed 20lbs at the max). The US version, as mentioned, is only 1500w so it takes a while to heat water and forget about a vigorous boil if that matters.

Depending on elevation you’ll be lucky to get the GF to reach 212. I’m in TX so I can only heat my GF up to 209/210F. However, this can be corrected with a heatrod and I acquired one from Brewers Hardware to add another 1200-1500w.

Mashing is a breeze! Holds temps very well. I had to add a brew bag over the “mash tun” portion of the device to keep grain particles out of my Wort. Plenty of tips around this and other minor issues on YouTube.

The CFC works pretty well. Of course, ground water plays a factor in how fast you can chill. Seeing the reply above mentioning an immersion chiller may be a great idea.

My $.02 is based on having a GF for two years and having it replaced 3x. The Bluetooth controller version has overheating issues where the controller and separable power cord will merge together. That was my first replacement. They mistakenly sent me a EU version as the replacement so i couldn’t use it and had to wait a while to have that version replaced with a US version. GF customer service is awesome if there’s any issues so never hesitate to reach out. Overall, it is a well worth it system to have. I have a 15gal 3-vessel system and usually lean towards brewing on the GF more often lol.

 

[rinhaak]

Really appreciate these opinions; thanks everyone! Definitely leaning towards it!