G30 owner for the last 5 years. The choice is Lexus versus Toyota. Both are great cars and will get you from point A to B. It’s just how much comfort is important to you.
The difference in bling to me has been well worth the difference in price. The G30 is the slicker, more integrated setup, but either system will brew fine beer if you take the time to understand it thoroughly.
I continue to look at the Brewzilla line from time to time. For years, Grainfather sat on their asses without upgrading the unit while Brewzilla was the innovator- false bottom, quick release recirculation pipe, handles on the unit and lid.
The Grainfather App in its early stage was rock solid, although there were a fair number of calculation errors present, 2 of which I personally reported to them which they ultimately corrected.
And then some company bozohead decided the app needed updated after which it became a nightmare, crashing left and right for many, many users. People were begging for a return to the old app, but their cries fell on deaf ears.
I abandoned it, switched to Brewfather, and haven’t looked back for my recipe software needs. I just import the Brewfather XML file into Grainfather when I go to brew. The transfer is never perfect and requires a close look for touch up, but I’ve never had a brew fail using this technique.
FINALLY though, after many additional updates, the Grainfather app is back to rock solid stability, at least for me, especially since the brew water volume calculations just about identically match those of Brewfather which they hadn’t previously, so I really wouldn’t have any problem only using the Grainfather app at this point if I had to.
The G30 v3 has some nice updates like the rolled edge plates to do away with the stupid silicon gasket and the side perforated malt pipe to increase flow, but why they didn’t copy Brewzilla and put on some handles and a quick detach recirc arm is a head bender. The Grainfather Bluetooth Connect is slick and has always flawlessly linked to my iPhone but some users have had problems which luckily I haven’t.
So I built my own QD arm using parts from Williams Brewing and also picked up a Brewzilla false bottom from them which works perfectly on the Grainfather. DEFINITELY 2 things you’ll need to add on.
I’ve abandoned the central recirculation tubing nonsense and gone to using a brew bag inside my malt pipe. It works spectacularly well by allowing me to fully stir when mashing rather than be constantly whacking the recirc tubing and potentially dislodging the bottom plate. I can also run the recirc flow at nearly full open, only having to back it off just a bit so I don’t pump out the dead space wort over the heating element leading to trub scorching which then trips the reset switch and temporarily shuts off the unit. Had that happen once. Sucked big time, so I just keep my ear on things and if it sounds like the pump is cavitating, I just back off until it stops. Been fine ever since with much better efficiencies by at least 5% using these tricks, and sparging through a grain bag is an absolute breeze. Remember, a grain bag is just a Grainfather malt pipe with a bazillion holes, not just those decided upon by some engineer. Still use the malt pipe for support and bag protection, just none of the internal tubing nonsense. An no top plate either is needed with the bag.
Hope this helps. It’s been a fun adventure. Check out David Heath’s YouTube videos for a wealth of info about these systems.
