Grainfather G40/G70 Discussion Thread: Questions, Tips and Tricks

[Spivey24]

I’ve been using a brew bag with a small grate on the bottom now for over a year. Latest one is a custom 17x14 400 micron which is perfect. I tried that blasted basket again a few weeks ago and instantly remembered why I hate it. It makes me mad to not use it but the bag is just easier. And easier to dump and clean to boot. I could see how removing that bottom grate would be better though - never thought of that. But that basket is staying in the basement. Lol

 

[pvpeacock]

I’m curious if the grain is slipping through the holes in the basket or through the handle holes. I had the latter problem until I bought a top plate for the basket. I have not had problems with grain escaping the basket otherwise.

 

[Spivey24]

I’m curious if the grain is slipping through the holes in the basket or through the handle holes. I had the latter problem until I bought a top plate for the basket. I have not had problems with grain escaping the basket otherwise.

For me it was always through the handle holes. If I plugged them then it would eventually spill over the top of the basket and splash down.

How is the efficiency with the top plate? Does the liquid flow through the grain ok? Do you lift the top plate and stir at all? Just curious.

 

[pvpeacock]

I had the same issues you described with grain, escaping the basket, either through the handle, holes or over the top of the basket. The top plate successfully prevented the grain from escaping through the handle holes. To prevent an overflow over the top of the basket, I adjusted my grain mill to have a more coarse grind particularly when using a lot of flaked oats or wheat. This solved the problem for me.

My efficiency has actually gone up since using the top plate.
In addition, I do not stir during the mash. Instead, I rely on the pump recirculating the wort through the grain basket top.

 

[Christ71]

For me it was always through the handle holes. If I plugged them then it would eventually spill over the top of the basket and splash down.

How is the efficiency with the top plate? Does the liquid flow through the grain ok? Do you lift the top plate and stir at all? Just curious.

I stir the grains only once with large grain bills, then place the top plate. Circulation and efficiency are fine really. The grist is held in place nicely as you can see in attached pic. This allows the wort to trickle through evenly. If your grains are flowing through the top holes, perhaps you milled too fine? Also, restrict the circulation flow a little, find the sweet spot. If the grind is right, you can open the valve all the way.

 

[pvpeacock]

I echo the restrict the recirculation flow if necessary by adjusting the ball valve. This weekend, I made a 5 gallon batch and received a high water alarm on my phone while mashing/recirculating. Sure enough the grain bed was not allowing water to flow through it as quickly as the pump was trying to recirculate it. So, I adjusted the flow rate with the ball valve to solve the problem. I didn't even know there was a high water alarm or whatever they call it. Nice.

 

[Christ71]

Yeah, I like the software and all its little perks. Job well done if you ask me.

 

[hilljack13]

Does anyone use a brewbag with their G40? I'm thinking of doing this to get smaller grain crush. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Spivey24]

Does anyone use a brewbag with their G40? I'm thinking of doing this to get smaller grain crush. Correct me if I am wrong.

I use a 400 micron bag instead the basket, custom 17x14. I get a decent crush. A bag with the basket will be very difficult to get flow through.

 

[Craiginthecorn]

I’m curious if the grain is slipping through the holes in the basket or through the handle holes. I had the latter problem until I bought a top plate for the basket. I have not had problems with grain escaping the basket otherwise.

In my case, no. I use a top plate and am making batches that are too small for liquid levels to reach anywhere near the handle holes.

 

[hilljack13]

I'll be working on my second brew this weekend and was comparing Brewers Friend to GF recipe input. They are pretty close, but some distance between OG/FG and ABV, SRM, and total water. Especially different sparge amounts. I did full volume for my first batch, which was a pre-crushed kit. This next one I'll do the crush myself, but using a hand mill while I wait for the roller to arrive.

Anywho...is the experience in using BF or GF recipe builders favor one over another? At some point I'll be doing my own recipes but I would like to get a handle on which is more accurate for me. I have never tried beer smith.

 

[hilljack13]

I did my second brew and things went better than the first. I did a sparge and follwed GF app numbers. I also used a brew bag since I did the crush myself. I thought the crush was more fine than it should be, which is why I used the bag. Based off the reported efficiency (69.4%), I think I could have gone smaller.

My OG was 1.058, and target was 1.064. Still have some adjustments to make, but seems like the efficiency using an electric brew might not get much better.

 

[hilljack13]

Gonna try this again...any takers?

I am about 6-7 brews into the G40 and I just about have the settings dialed in. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I mostly use kits for now. I am trying some 1 gal batches until I get something I like. So all the grains and instructions are pretty much standard. The only thing I see different is the water profile based on how my G40 is performing. On my first brew I think I was at 58% efficiency, and now my last to (according to the GF app) I was 88% and 86%. Is this normal? I build my profile on 77 or 80 depending on how I think I can do. Needless to say, my last brew was an Oktoberfest clone and it came out to 6.34% abv, so maybe a maibock? I don't mind the higher abv, but should I consider changing something in the profile to hit the expected numbers or just keep going?

 

[Spivey24]

I think you will have problems getting consistent numbers with such small batches. Even when using a brew bag. I usually aim a little high and add water at the end to get to where I want.
Check your temperatures during mash too. It’s really easy to be off of what the Grainfather is saying and miss numbers because the mash was too low. Extending mash times and doing step mashes can help with consistent numbers.

 

[pvpeacock]

In addition, if you are buying kits, the grain milling may not all be the same. the finer the grain is milled, the better efficiency. I mill my own grain, so my mash efficiency is pretty consistent from batch to batch.

 

[pvpeacock]

I was making a 10 gallon Oktoberfest/ Marzen this weekend. Given the grain bill, I was concerned that using 10 gallons of strike water would cause the grain to overflow the basket through the handle holes before I could put the top plate in the basket. I thought about putting the grain in the basket outside of the G 40 with the top plate on and then submerging it into the water. However, I realized I would not be able to stir it if I did that. So, it dawned on me to drain a gallon of hot, strike water out of the bottom, then add the grain, stir it, add the top plate and then put the 1 gallon of water back in. Voilà. No spill over. I could have used less strike water to begin with and used more during the Sparge. However, I wanted to start with 10 gallons of strike Water given the grain bill. Problem solved.

 

[hilljack13]

Not sure if this relates to anyone else, but if you use the GF app and have DuckDuckGo installed on your phone, it will block the app. It took me a few batches to figure this out and is a major PITA. The block can be disabled in the browser settings. Now you know.