Anyone using the guten 70 or similar vessels??

[danny3460]

I'm looking to buy a all in one brewing machine and i think i am leaning towards the guten70. I was initially thinking of the 40L version but i think i will want to go higher in the future, so I'm just going for it.
I'm going to start with 5gal batches and gradually move on to higher OG/ higher volume brewing and I have two concerns.
1. Is there a minimum volume required for the guten to work its pump/heating elements? I heard of this issue in some AIOs and guten 70 is a pretty big machine. No info on the manual too.
2. Do the hop spiders so all the way down to the wort when brewing 5 gal batches? Again, its a big machine so I thought the hop spider would just hang on the top if brewing 5gal batches.
Thank you in advance!

 

[DuncB]

Hi I've been using Gluten 70 for about 80 batches.
Most of my batches are 21 to 23 litres.
I don't use the hop spider just throw hops in and have a trubtrapper type thing I made.
I use about 18 litres of mash water and sparge around 10 litres, however I use a condenser so my boil loss is low.
Works great for high gravity batches.
My Guten modified with 3 way on recirculate and the tap taken out and changed to whirlpool.
Also took out controller and fitted SmartPID.

 

[danny3460]

Hi I've been using Gluten 70 for about 80 batches.
Most of my batches are 21 to 23 litres.
I don't use the hop spider just throw hops in and have a trubtrapper type thing I made.
I use about 18 litres of mash water and sparge around 10 litres, however I use a condenser so my boil loss is low.
Works great for high gravity batches.
My Guten modified with 3 way on recirculate and the tap taken out and changed to whirlpool.
Also took out controller and fitted SmartPID.

If you were to use hop spiders on the 5gal batch, do you think hop spider would go deep enough to touch the wort?

 

[DuncB]

If you were to use hop spiders on the 5gal batch, do you think hop spider would go deep enough to touch the wort?

Sorry forgot to ask that question, I'll check when I get home, how much would be in the wort during boil of 25 litres. You can just attach a string to the hop spider to have it lower in the kettle.

 

[danny3460]

Sorry forgot to ask that question, I'll check when I get home, how much would be in the wort during boil of 25 litres. You can just attach a string to the hop spider to have it lower in the kettle.

Thats a good idea actually. Think i will use that method if needed. Thank you so much

 

[fluketamer]

i use a vevor which is the same thing. i would lose the hop spider as it took me several batches to realize that was what was preventing me from getting good hop flavor. and bitternenss and even some aroma.

 

[DuncB]

Currently my Guten tucked in corner.
But base of hop spider is at the 10 litres level on the sight glass, I've indicated the 25 litre level so about 10 cm would be in the wort.
More if you strung it down.
This also assumes the hop spider hasn't changed size.
As @fluketamer says I'm not a fan of the spider or hop bags unless using loose leaf hops or something like elderflower.
It's very handy hanging in a corner with the bottle brushes and jugs hanging off the edge.

 

[danny3460]

Currently my Guten tucked in corner.
But base of hop spider is at the 10 litres level on the sight glass, I've indicated the 25 litre level so about 10 cm would be in the wort.
More if you strung it down.
This also assumes the hop spider hasn't changed size.
As @fluketamer says I'm not a fan of the spider or hop bags unless using loose leaf hops or something like elderflower.
It's very handy hanging in a corner with the bottle brushes and jugs hanging off the edge.View attachment 879947View attachment 879948

Thank you so much. Truly appreciate it. Good advice on the hop spiders too. I just saw a video from apartment brewer which mentions the same thing.
Have a great day!

 

[Ballaratguy]

I use a Guten 50Lt and love it. I swapped out the computer (got sick of standing on my head to be able to access it) and rewired the heating elements and pump to be run via a grainfather control box (looked at the smartPID but it was too complicated and expensive). The grainfather control box I have mounted remotely and have also inserted plugs to just plug in the control box
I always just chuck in the hops (or any other addition)
To transfer I use a mag drive pump from the tap which has a helix coil inside the Guten for filtering. I also use a false bottom screen on top of the helix coil
It all works well for me

 

[DuncB]

My first modification was the " whirlpool arm " instead of the tap, i was using my Mk 1 trubtrapper and the helix coil just pumping out using the normal drain hole and out through the recirc tube.
To whirlpool I was just attaching to the tap on the outside and using the tap on and off as a ball lock. Bit fiddly and some spillage.

 

[DuncB]

THen I added 3 way and a ball lock instead with better whirlpool attachment on the inside and made a " finer mesh " copy of this brewtools trubinator.

Also swapped in the SmartPID. Being able to have a slow whirlpool during mash is good because it mixes the dead space wort between malt pipe and kettle but also mixes the wort at the bottom to flow evenly over the sensor which is at about Four thirty on the first view.

 

[danny3460]

THen I added 3 way and a ball lock instead with better whirlpool attachment on the inside and made a " finer mesh " copy of this brewtools trubinator.View attachment 879987View attachment 879988View attachment 879989
Also swapped in the SmartPID. Being able to have a slow whirlpool during mash is good because it mixes the dead space wort between malt pipe and kettle but also mixes the wort at the bottom to flow evenly over the sensor which is at about Four thirty on the first view.

Thank you for the info. Just one last thing, how much water do you think is lost during transfer using the pump inside guten?