Grainfather!!

[elreplica]

My Grainfather is no cross-dresser... He's sportin' his brand new "Tuxedo"! Looking forward to any improvement in heating times and mash temp stabilization.

It is a nice tight fit.It also will prevent minor dings and scratches. I wish it was a little more adjustable in the girth department, as I definitely couldn't double wrap it over my Reflectix coat.

 

[treacheroustexan]

First brew with the reflectix is working very well. My boil is so much more vigorous.

 

[d-bone]

Wait, you're saying that you are supposed to let the entire grain bed drain, then add sparge water? I can swear they specifically said not to do that in their video? They show the guy adding water constantly to keep it just over the perforated plate...

And I use the online sparge and mash water Calc from grainfather that lets you input your batch size. So I'd assume the water numbers are right?

I just wait until it drains just enough so that I can push the top plate against the grain bed lightly, and then add just enough sparge water to maintain about 1 inch above the top plate. works just about every time.

 

[doogster]

I just wait until it drains just enough so that I can push the top plate against the grain bed lightly, and then add just enough sparge water to maintain about 1 inch above the top plate. works just about every time.

What he said. This is exactly how I do it.

 

[treacheroustexan]

What he said. This is exactly how I do it.

Yep, same here.

 

[Kampenken]

Wait, you're saying that you are supposed to let the entire grain bed drain, then add sparge water? I can swear they specifically said not to do that in their video? They show the guy adding water constantly to keep it just over the perforated plate...

And I use the online sparge and mash water Calc from grainfather that lets you input your batch size. So I'd assume the water numbers are right?

Just like above responses drain until you can get top plate down to a completely compressed grain bed, then keep constant level ala the video you referenced is how I handle with good results.

As for water calcs I use the GF manual calcs slightly adjusted based on my performance. I have it in a spreadsheet that links mash and sparge totals to my Bru'n Water inputs. My brother has a GF too and he adds about a qt more than I do for his system.

 

[lewandowski46]

Made a Chinook/Amarillo IPA today, 4.25oz total hops, tossed em into the boil and recirculated through chiller then into fermenter without issue. Took about 20 minutes to cool and transfer.

 

[mos13gman]

Wait, you're saying that you are supposed to let the entire grain bed drain, then add sparge water? I can swear they specifically said not to do that in their video? They show the guy adding water constantly to keep it just over the perforated plate...

And I use the online sparge and mash water Calc from grainfather that lets you input your batch size. So I'd assume the water numbers are right?

There is a 1 gallon-or-so volume discrepancy between the pdf file and the online calculator (calculator is higher). I've been using the written instructions since those levels seem to be working better for me. I watched the video, too. For me, letting it drain first is giving me better results. Of course, since it has only been one week, I haven't tasted the difference yet between my beersmith oriented batch versus my grainfather instruction batch...will know more when they're completed & ready to drink.

 

[shadar]

I have been in communication with Grainfather support about the issue as well and an interesting question was raised about the draining of wort into the overflow pipe. I was asked if a little drained into it but most of the water flowed back down through the grains.... or if a ton of overflow went down the pipe. If a lot was going down the overflow it could suggest the grain bed was a bit stuck and not getting the benefits of the circulation and I gather also not changing temperature properly.

I've always had a very large amount of overflow going through the tube. Is this very uncommon for those of you with good efficiencies?

 

[BrewMeister49]

Not much goes through the pipe. I'd say your crush is too thin or your getting a lot of dough balls.

 

[lewandowski46]

I use the Grainfather app for water calculations. Build recipes in Beersmith. Plug the BS recipes into GF app, then use the calculations the GF app gives me for strike water and sparge water. Yesterday's IPA I had 5.6 gallons of strike water (for 13.5lbs of grain), then sparged with 2.6 gallons. I ended up with about 6.4 gallons into the kettle for the boil, just under 6gal after a 60 min boil, and about 5.5 gallons into the fermenter. I use the batch size of 5.5 gallons when plugging my numbers into the GF app. I would say it's been pretty accurate.

According to Beersmith my last couple brews were in the 85-88% range for mash efficiency. I'll need to adjust Beersmith's default mash efficiency up to 85% from 75% as I'm consistently overshooting the OG. The IPA was estimated at 1.072 but actual measured OG was 1.080.

The Grainfather has been very consistent for me so far. Loving it.

 

[shadar]

It sounds like the crush from my LHBS and the online shop have both been too fine then. And it's causing stuck mashes that are hurting efficiency. Likely due to lack of proper heating of the grains when stepping up and perhaps also due to inefficiency sparges.

Perhaps that's why my efficiency seems to be getting worse, I've been increasingly doing step mashes due to high wheat/oat percentages and german pils amounts. But way back my single step mash had the best (still not perfect) efficiency.

Until I am crushing myself, I plan to stir at each step in the mash (at least up to the 150's), probably not for mash out.

I will also stir a lot more when pouring the grains in to really make sure there isn't any clumping.

 

[BrewMeister49]

If you can, post a pic of your crush.

 

[shadar]

When I get home later I will be able to do that. I still have an entire recipe worth of crushed grains in bags at home.

 

[Kampenken]

I have been in communication with Grainfather support about the issue as well and an interesting question was raised about the draining of wort into the overflow pipe. I was asked if a little drained into it but most of the water flowed back down through the grains.... or if a ton of overflow went down the pipe. If a lot was going down the overflow it could suggest the grain bed was a bit stuck and not getting the benefits of the circulation and I gather also not changing temperature properly.

I've always had a very large amount of overflow going through the tube. Is this very uncommon for those of you with good efficiencies?

Yes. Watching the GF vid, they talk about overflow in the beginnings alright and it we'll settle down, thus you don't want much. I dial back the flow so none overflows the whole time. I Keep an eye on it and try to max flow, with zero overflow

 

[tjosborne]

I've always thought no matter what the same amount of liquid will flow through the grain bed regardless of overflow. Would it not, or am I overlooking something?

 

[RedlegEd]

Yes. Watching the GF vid, they talk about overflow in the beginnings alright and it we'll settle down, thus you don't want much. I dial back the flow so none overflows the whole time. I Keep an eye on it and try to max flow, with zero overflow

I've always thought no matter what the same amount of liquid will flow through the grain bed regardless of overflow. Would it not, or am I overlooking something?

I do it pretty much the same way as Kampenken, primarily so I know the wort is flowing through the grain. If you have it wide open and the wort is going straight down the overflow, you don't know how much is going through the grain bed. By adjusting the flow so that it just "kisses" the lip of the overflow collar and occasionally spills over, then you have a good idea of the efficiency of the recirculation. Like he said, if you keep an eye on it, you can maximize the flow, or know to stir your grain bed if it's needed.

 

[damdiver]

I don't have a local homebrew shop and usually have my grains crushed from NB or More Beer. My efficiency is usually around 75%.

I slow the flow so the wort doesn't go down the overflow pipe. My philosophy is that the hottest of the wort will go down the tube instead of through the grains if the valve is wide open. I'm sure the difference is negligible.

I'm happy with all the batches I've brewed on the grainfather. I do have one small problem with the 10 batches I've done. All my kegs are full, all my bottles are full and all fermentors are full. I need to drink some beer!

 

[shadar]

Yes. Watching the GF vid, they talk about overflow in the beginnings alright and it we'll settle down, thus you don't want much. I dial back the flow so none overflows the whole time. I Keep an eye on it and try to max flow, with zero overflow

I do it pretty much the same way as Kampenken, primarily so I know the wort is flowing through the grain. If you have it wide open and the wort is going straight down the overflow, you don't know how much is going through the grain bed. By adjusting the flow so that it just "kisses" the lip of the overflow collar and occasionally spills over, then you have a good idea of the efficiency of the recirculation. Like he said, if you keep an eye on it, you can maximize the flow, or know to stir your grain bed if it's needed.

I didn't even think to dial back the flow to see how the draining is going. Will do that next time as well


Here are pics of my grain crush:
/

 

[RedlegEd]

I didn't even think to dial back the flow to see how the draining is going. Will do that next time as well


Here are pics of my grain crush:

Shadar, that looks very similar to mine, except I condition my grain before milling. I recommend you check out this Wiki. It will give you a good overview of crush, and it's impact. I tend to disagree with the statement made that conditioned grain through the JSP Malt Mill will produce the same brew house efficiency as non-conditioned, especially with the Grainfather. My efficiency is significantly better when conditioned. Ed

 

[BrewMeister49]

To me, it looks like that can be crushed far better. Mine definitely is crushed finer and I get 80-85% eff. When you look at it, are there any hulls uncracked? They should be all or mostly empty.

 

[kennya]

FINALLY getting to brew with my GF tomorrow, I had so much travel after I got it that I couldn't plan a brew day. Well tomorrow is the day, starting off with a Hefe and then may brew a Kolsch on Saturday. So my question is this. For those of you that use the GF Sparge Water Heater (or something similiar), how are you regulating the water flow since it only has a "party tap"?

 

[elreplica]

FINALLY getting to brew with my GF tomorrow, I had so much travel after I got it that I couldn't plan a brew day. Well tomorrow is the day, starting off with a Hefe and then may brew a Kolsch on Saturday. So my question is this. For those of you that use the GF Sparge Water Heater (or something similiar), how are you regulating the water flow since it only has a "party tap"?

I got a piece of silicon tubing and will get a small ball valve to regulate the flow. Just looking around for a decent PVC, brass or stainless one and will measure the flow rate until I get it within 1/2 to 1 inch above the grainbed. That's the plan, anyway.

 

[kennya]

I figured a few folks switched it over to a ball valve, but I am starting in the morning so wont have time to make the mod for it. I was thinking of using a piece of string to tie around the tap and gradually tighten it until I get the flow I want. not sure if it will work or not. Going to give it a try tonight unless someone else chimes in with a different thought.

 

[elreplica]

I figured a few folks switched it over to a ball valve, but I am starting in the morning so wont have time to make the mod for it. I was thinking of using a piece of string to tie around the tap and gradually tighten it until I get the flow I want. not sure if it will work or not. Going to give it a try tonight unless someone else chimes in with a different thought.

In the meantime I just ladle the water over the grainbed until I reach the level required. I'll just wait until I get the valve to add a little more hands free...forgot about it until I saw your post so thanks for the reminder lol.

 

[doogster]

Hi

Anyone brewing in their basement with the Grainfather? One of the main reasons I went electric is so I can brew indoors in the winter months.

The rest of the family isn't a fan of the smell of brewing so I am going to set up shop in the basement and try to vent the steam/smells outside.

Another thread I found here indicates that the ventilation requirement is something on the order of total wattage divided by 17.6 which gives me a number of about 90cfm At that rate, a good bathroom fan should do the trick.

Just planning to build a simple vent "hood" to catch the rising steam and mount the fan on top. It will have a short, straight 4' run to the side of the house.

Any thoughts on the matter from the Grainfather crowd?

 

[BrewMeister49]

That should do just fine. I just keep an open window. Does the trick.

 

[elproducto]

I'm planning on doing a big beer (Denny Conn's Vanilla Porter), 1.08ish OG. I really only want 3 or 4 gallons, is there any difficulty doing smaller batches of a high OG beer? Or do you still need the micro pipework.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I'm planning on doing a big beer (Denny Conn's Vanilla Porter), 1.08ish OG. I really only want 3 or 4 gallons, is there any difficulty doing smaller batches of a high OG beer? Or do you still need the micro pipework.

I've done a few successful 2.5 gallon batches without the micro. I just didn't use the top plate during the mash. Worked like a charm.

 

[BrewBrains]

Grainfather Update after 4 brews:

After my 4th brew, I am very happy overall with using the unit. I transitioned from Brew-in-a-Bag (BIAB), which was fairly simple and had just a few drawbacks.

Grainfather Pros:
1. Fairly closed system. I am obsessed with sanitization and the immersion chiller always worried me; the need to keep the pot open after the boil seemed a setup for microbes to find a home. To be sure it's sanitized, I pump boiling wort thru during the end of the boil briefly, then recirculate after end of the boil before pumping out.
2. The closed system and 1 vessel for mash and boil cuts down on splashes and spills.
3. I cannot stress too much how efficient the counterflow chiller is. I need to use ice water here in FL to chill with, and I pump it thru the chiller with a cheap 400-GPH Submersible,Hydroponic, Pond, Aquarium Pump. If you set the Grainfather valve to slow, you can easily have wort in the 55 degree range going into the fermentor.
4. So far the Grainfather pump works well, and for my last IPA I successfully used it to pump wort through a Hop Rocket into the fermentor.
5. Not having to use a propane flame, and being able to brew indoors are huge advantages. With BIAB I used a pot that barely fit under the stove hood on a gas stove.
6. I have had very good efficiency after I got my mill working correctly, with a roller gap around .036 in.

Cons:
1. The cleanup is considerably more extensive than with BIAB. You have to disconnect the cords to dump the trub, scrub it a bit, partially fill it with water and Oxyclean or something similar, reconnect, pump this around the chiller then pump out, scrub a bit again, then fill with clear water and pump out. The parts of the grain basket usually need to be cleaned separately. I put a bit of star san thru the chiller before storage.
2. The ball-spring safety valve above the open-close ball valve in the line from the pump easily clogs with hops or other matter and this problem is a widespread one as witnessed by the posts in this thread and elsewhere. Many brewers report removing it.
3. Some of the silicone parts are an issue: the gaskets around the perforated plates start to get loose after a few brews and the little silicone piece holding the filter to the pump inlet can get knocked off during stirring if not careful.
4. It is a little weird that there is no handle on the lid.
5. A standard NPT fitting will not attach to the end of the pump out pipe. You have to buy another Grainfather connector if you need to attach it to something else.

Still using my BIAB bags, though: as giant hop boiling bags/ hop spiders, and the bag can easily be tied to those otherwise useless distiller clips on the side!

--------
In Kegerator: Dubbel, Cinnamon Vanilla Dubbel, VoCal Banger IPA
Dry Hopping: Mandarina Melon IPL
Fermenting: Old 20W/40 Robust Porter

 

[Kampenken]

Grainfather Update after 4 brews:

After my 4th brew, I am very happy overall with using the unit. I transitioned from Brew-in-a-Bag (BIAB), which was fairly simple and had just a few drawbacks.

Grainfather Pros:
1. Fairly closed system. I am obsessed with sanitization and the immersion chiller always worried me; the need to keep the pot open after the boil seemed a setup for microbes to find a home. To be sure it's sanitized, I pump boiling wort thru during the end of the boil briefly, then recirculate after end of the boil before pumping out.
2. The closed system and 1 vessel for mash and boil cuts down on splashes and spills.
3. I cannot stress too much how efficient the counterflow chiller is. I need to use ice water here in FL to chill with, and I pump it thru the chiller with a cheap 400-GPH Submersible,Hydroponic, Pond, Aquarium Pump. If you set the Grainfather valve to slow, you can easily have wort in the 55 degree range going into the fermentor.
4. So far the Grainfather pump works well, and for my last IPA I successfully used it to pump wort through a Hop Rocket into the fermentor.
5. Not having to use a propane flame, and being able to brew indoors are huge advantages. With BIAB I used a pot that barely fit under the stove hood on a gas stove.
6. I have had very good efficiency after I got my mill working correctly, with a roller gap around .036 in.

Cons:
1. The cleanup is considerably more extensive than with BIAB. You have to disconnect the cords to dump the trub, scrub it a bit, partially fill it with water and Oxyclean or something similar, reconnect, pump this around the chiller then pump out, scrub a bit again, then fill with clear water and pump out. The parts of the grain basket usually need to be cleaned separately. I put a bit of star san thru the chiller before storage.
2. The ball-spring safety valve above the open-close ball valve in the line from the pump easily clogs with hops or other matter and this problem is a widespread one as witnessed by the posts in this thread and elsewhere. Many brewers report removing it.
3. Some of the silicone parts are an issue: the gaskets around the perforated plates start to get loose after a few brews and the little silicone piece holding the filter to the pump inlet can get knocked off during stirring if not careful.
4. It is a little weird that there is no handle on the lid.
5. A standard NPT fitting will not attach to the end of the pump out pipe. You have to buy another Grainfather connector if you need to attach it to something else.

Still using my BIAB bags, though: as giant hop boiling bags/ hop spiders, and the bag can easily be tied to those otherwise useless distiller clips on the side!

--------
In Kegerator: Dubbel, Cinnamon Vanilla Dubbel, VoCal Banger IPA
Dry Hopping: Mandarina Melon IPL
Fermenting: Old 20W/40 Robust Porter

Funny to read this, I was thinking of a similar post for my now 12 brews completed (since Jan)!

So, few questions on your Pros & Cons.
Pros:
#1- I also did a brief recirc prior to end of boil (thought why wait to end??). I was surprised the small pump draw actually slowed down the boil! No worries, I just stopped after 2 min, and ran it again for 8min after the boil. Did you notice the same effect? I am direct plugged into a 20amp circuit.
#3- I'm in PA & surprised my tap temp yesterday was still 77! Anyway I pre-chill, but run my hose direct thru the IC in the cooler instead of the pump thru approach like in the Pre-GF days- with my IC I'd pump after chilled to ~100F. With a fairly strong hose flow, I don't think the pre-chill is effective with my approach. My question then is, how (or do) you refill your pre-chill reservoir? I figure with the 15-20 min cool time you'd pull off a fair amount of pre-chill water? I am thinking of freezing my ICs (2 that nest together) into a solid block and see how that works. I don't want to make the cooling longer than 20 min, as I'll just pop it in the ferm chamber to drop to pitching temp.

Cons:
#1- I've heard this complaint, disconnecting cords, before, but do not understand why. I have my unit's pump and boil/mash switches off and pick up and dump trub, as well as cleaning & rinse water when done, without unplugging. My GF has a reflectix coat. Why do you find the need to unplug? Ending w/a bit of star san thru CFC sounds like a good idea, I've been thinking of using my air compressor on it.
#3- I've been fine with plate gaskets, agree the end cap issue, though just avoid and I really don't stir too much. My complaint was that if you attempt to take the rubber pickup out of the hop filter it is fragile, mine was tearing, I no longer remove for cleaning.
#4- Yup!
#5- Curious, why, and what, were you thinking to attach to the wort out hose?

Cheers!

 

[BrewBrains]

Kampenken:

1. Didn't notice any problems with the boil, although I usually have a big hop bag in there. Certainly didn't drop below 212 degrees.
3. Pump the really hot water to a second bucket while adding extra ice/water and then recirculate the water after the discharge isn't that hot. Using the retired IC slowed things down due to resistance to the pump.
1. Cord isn't long enough and afraid of dumping the controller in the sink?
5. Used a Blichmann Hop Rocket for my last IPA, attached before chiller. Needed to remove wort outflow attachment from the chiller to do this.

Cheers!

 

[Kampenken]

Kampenken:

1. Didn't notice any problems with the boil, although I usually have a big hop bag in there. Certainly didn't drop below 212 degrees.
3. Pump the really hot water to a second bucket while adding extra ice/water and then recirculate the water after the discharge isn't that hot. Using the retired IC slowed things down due to resistance to the pump.
1. Cord isn't long enough and afraid of dumping the controller in the sink?
5. Used a Blichmann Hop Rocket for my last IPA, attached before chiller. Needed to remove wort outflow attachment from the chiller to do this.

Cheers!

I have my hop basket in there, and suddenly noticed the boil was not as prominent, so turned off pump and boil came back, really no big deal, but would be great to recirc the last 10 min as a time saver (ok, only 10 min!).
Ok, so you do add, that's what I figured. I'm going to freeze the IC into a solid block in the freezer, in a large pot, then place frozen IC block into another container w/water around it and recirc that water (after initial heat is gone, which with the CFC is about 30sec) through the frozen IC. All fun stuff to try out!
Ok, I get cord not long enough, mine plugs in under sink, but as for the controller, the GF came with set screws to keep controller in place, try that. For me the tight fit of the reflectix (around & behind the controller) keeps it all in place.
Ahhh, yes, you did mention the hop rocket, got it!

 

[boasist]

Hi

Anyone brewing in their basement with the Grainfather? One of the main reasons I went electric is so I can brew indoors in the winter months.

The rest of the family isn't a fan of the smell of brewing so I am going to set up shop in the basement and try to vent the steam/smells outside.

Another thread I found here indicates that the ventilation requirement is something on the order of total wattage divided by 17.6 which gives me a number of about 90cfm At that rate, a good bathroom fan should do the trick.

Just planning to build a simple vent "hood" to catch the rising steam and mount the fan on top. It will have a short, straight 4' run to the side of the house.

Any thoughts on the matter from the Grainfather crowd?

I do, I setup an inline fan with some basic duct work. Fan off of amazon and ducting from local shop. No big deal and it vents out great. I like stepping outside and it smells like a brewery during the boil. I used a wye and then blast gates from the local woodworking shop to direct between the dryer and GF. I don't have a direct pic but here is the full dump with progress shots. http://boasist.imgur.com/all/

 

[Wolfhound180]

What is that electric element with thermometer in the small pot next to your GF?

 

[boasist]

What is that electric element with thermometer in the small pot next to your GF?

The anova sous vide. It's how I do my sparge water. I put the temp in, then forget about it until I need it. It's quite nice. I'm a Chef in my spare time, so I have all of this stuff around anyway, it's nice to find another use for it.

Take a look

 

[Wolfhound180]

Pretty nifty. I might have to look into getting something like that. I've always wanted to try sous vide.

 

[doogster]

I do, I setup an inline fan with some basic duct work. Fan off of amazon and ducting from local shop. No big deal and it vents out great. I like stepping outside and it smells like a brewery during the boil. I used a wye and then blast gates from the local woodworking shop to direct between the dryer and GF. I don't have a direct pic but here is the full dump with progress shots. http://boasist.imgur.com/all/

That's great. The blast gate and wye saves me buying a 4" hole saw and cuttong another hole in my house!

 

[civilbrando]

The Grain father is $748 at homebrewsupply.com with promo code "Over". Too bad I ordered last week, and it still isn't here

 

[DownHomeBrewery]

The Grain father is $748 at homebrewsupply.com with promo code "Over". Too bad I ordered last week, and it still isn't here

Thanks for the heads up, I currently live in Japan and have been looking for a new system to buy when I move back to the states in a two months. This gave me the incentive to go ahead and pull the trigger. I went ahead and added the grain coat as well. Total of $800 shipped to my brother for him to store it for me. Now start the countdown until I get to use it #firstworldproblems