Grainfather!!

[Brewmasher]

How in the world is your wort going into the fermenter at pitching temps? Do you close the ball valve so that it just trickles in? After recirculating for an hour, the digital readout was 100*F and the wort coming out was cool, but still warm to the touch. Maybe the flow was too much? What’s the flow of your water going in?

I don't recirculate back into the GF. I just turn cold water on so its coming out at a fair clip- not blasting. Let the water circulate through the coil for a few min to cool things down. Then slowly open the pump valve right into the fermenter so it splashes up some oxygen. Mid summer I get 65F. My first brew in the spring came out high 50's.

 

[cpham574]

I just tried to change my hysteresis settings, but when I follow the instructions it doesn't work.

According to the instructions, I pressed the Up and Down arrows together until the screen says F01. I press Set and change the value to 231. I press Set again. I press UP until the unit displays "uni". Then I change to F. Now this is where things don't work out. After I change it to F and press Set, "FAC" is supposed to display, but it doesn't! It just shows me --- and then times out. What is going on?!

 

[Teesquar]

I just tried to change my hysteresis settings, but when I follow the instructions it doesn't work.

According to the instructions, I pressed the Up and Down arrows together until the screen says F01. I press Set and change the value to 231. I press Set again. I press UP until the unit displays "uni". Then I change to F. Now this is where things don't work out. After I change it to F and press Set, "FAC" is supposed to display, but it doesn't! It just shows me --- and then times out. What is going on?!

Watch this vid and follow exactly. He has you switch to Celsius first (don't worry, you change it back to F later). Followed this exactly and it worked the first time.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTIxjCD07vU[/ame]

 

[TBC]

I noticed that my pre-boil volume was 7gal. In the end, I had 5.75-6gal going into my fermenter. Was aiming for 5.5gal. Is that the typical post-boil volume GF users are shooting for

As for the OG, I did have more volume…I guess I didn’t account properly for the amount of ice I added. Is everyone generally using the formula for mash and sparge volumes that came in the GF booklet? I used ((Grain weight (lb) x 0.34) + 0.9) to get the MASH volume and ((7.4 – mash volume) + (Grain bill (lbs) 0.1)) to get the SPARGE !

Welcome to the group. Definitely keep the grainfather booklet by your side for your first couple of brews. Looking at your formula above you sparged with enough water for a 6gal batch plus your ice addition. The sparge water calculation tells you to substitute the 7.4 figure for 6.4 for a 5gal batch (pg 10, #1). This is what I do and usually end up with 5.25-5.5 gal in fermenter.

 

[cpham574]

Thanks! That worked. I guess you have to change it to Celcius first before doing anything else

 

[cpham574]

This has probably been covered, but I'm going to ask anyway while I am in the process of going through all 189 pages of this tread...Anyone have any tips for higher grain bills? I thought I read something awhile ago when I was researching before buying my GF, but I haven't found an answer yet.

 

[Kampenken]

This has probably been covered, but I'm going to ask anyway while I am in the process of going through all 189 pages of this tread...Anyone have any tips for higher grain bills? I thought I read something awhile ago when I was researching before buying my GF, but I haven't found an answer yet.

Define higher grain bills.
Much over 18-19 suggest that you want a high G, so you will need to handle in various other ways- increase with DME, planning a smaller batch size to hit OG, or even simply doing double batches. GF notes max grain bill it can handle, to my knowledge you really can't get around that one.

 

[Teesquar]

This has probably been covered, but I'm going to ask anyway while I am in the process of going through all 189 pages of this tread...Anyone have any tips for higher grain bills? I thought I read something awhile ago when I was researching before buying my GF, but I haven't found an answer yet.

Can't remember where I ran across it ... probably through visiting many sites or even in here ... but your efficiency will be lower with a larger bill. If you use BeerSmith, lower that setting by maybe 5 to 10 points.

I have yet to do a high ABV batch as I've been satisfied with 6.5 to 7.5 when I do want to go big.

 

[stevo155]

I just did a batch in my GF that had 16 lbs ( 1.5 lbs was flaked oats) and I added a 1/2 lb for rice hulls. The mash was getting really close to the top, so I don't expect I could have gone much higher on the grain bill. My mash efficiency was 77.5% so I was very pleased.

 

[cpham574]

Define higher grain bills.
Much over 18-19 suggest that you want a high G, so you will need to handle in various other ways- increase with DME, planning a smaller batch size to hit OG, or even simply doing double batches. GF notes max grain bill it can handle, to my knowledge you really can't get around that one.

Something in the range of 16lbs. I thought I had read somewhere that someone increased their sparge volume to more thoroughly rinse the grain bed and then increased their boil time to make up for the increase in volume. I think I'm going to give this a shot and then report back.

Can't remember where I ran across it ... probably through visiting many sites or even in here ... but your efficiency will be lower with a larger bill. If you use BeerSmith, lower that setting by maybe 5 to 10 points.

I have yet to do a high ABV batch as I've been satisfied with 6.5 to 7.5 when I do want to go big.

Sounds good, I'll factor that into BeerSmith!

I just did a batch in my GF that had 16 lbs ( 1.5 lbs was flaked oats) and I added a 1/2 lb for rice hulls. The mash was getting really close to the top, so I don't expect I could have gone much higher on the grain bill. My mash efficiency was 77.5% so I was very pleased.

That's awesome! Did you do anything different from your other batches? I plan on doing something around that range today. The recipe has 16lbs of grains and I'm also going to be adding some maple syrup and turbinado sugar. I have a little less than 1/2lb of rice hulls leftover that I plan on using too. What do you think about the idea of increasing sparge volume by like half a gallon and then increasing boil time from 60 to 90 mins? It seems like my GF was evaporating half a gallon every 30 mins

 

[arfenarf]

EDIT: While not on your list, here is an additional friendly suggestion. DON'T THROW OUT YOUR TOP OVERFLOW PIPE WHEN EMPTYING YOUR SPENT GRAINS.

Ha! I had to dig mine out of the compost heap this weekend!

 

[lewandowski46]

Ha! I had to dig mine out of the compost heap this weekend!

Yeah my first brew ever with the GF I did nearly the same thing, dumped the grains into a garbage bag, tied it up, threw it in the trash, figured while I was there I would move the cans to the street as garbage day was following day. Cleaning up I'm reassembling the unit, hummmmm.....I'm missing a couple parts. Run out to the curb, fish the bag of grains out, and sure enough there's the missing overflow pipe.

Could have been a bad first experience lol, already ordering replacement parts.

 

[kennya]

So I ordered my Grainfather and grain coat this past Wednesday from the GF website. Question for those of you who ordered yours from the website, how long did it take you to receive it? Thanks!

 

[stevo155]

That's awesome! Did you do anything different from your other batches? I plan on doing something around that range today. The recipe has 16lbs of grains and I'm also going to be adding some maple syrup and turbinado sugar. I have a little less than 1/2lb of rice hulls leftover that I plan on using too. What do you think about the idea of increasing sparge volume by like half a gallon and then increasing boil time from 60 to 90 mins? It seems like my GF was evaporating half a gallon every 30 mins

Nothing different than any other batch. I boiled only 60 minutes and still had a ton of wort left over. Probably should have gone another 30 minutes because my OG was a little low, but I was already planning a 30 minutes whirlpool and didn't want to drag the day out any longer.

Ha! I had to dig mine out of the compost heap this weekend!

Did the same thing on my first batch.

 

[lewandowski46]

So I ordered my Grainfather and grain coat this past Wednesday from the GF website. Question for those of you who ordered yours from the website, how long did it take you to receive it? Thanks!

When you get the tracking number, see where it's coming from. Odds are it's being fulfilled out of Brewcraft's DC. I ordered mine on May 31st, was shipped June 2nd, received at the UPS Store near my house on June 7th. As you have to sign for it I had it dropped off at the store because the delivery time was inconvenient and that's a free service through UPS's MyChoice.

 

[kennya]

When you get the tracking number, see where it's coming from. Odds are it's being fulfilled out of Brewcraft's DC. I ordered mine on May 31st, was shipped June 2nd, received at the UPS Store near my house on June 7th. As you have to sign for it I had it dropped off at the store because the delivery time was inconvenient and that's a free service through UPS's MyChoice.

Thanks. That's kinda why I was curious, I ordered it Wednesday and haven't gotten a tracking number yet. I'm not upset or anything, just was curious as to how long it took them to ship. 5 days isn't bad at all for the actual shipping time. Thanks again!

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

I did a boil off test today and am getting about half a gallon per hour boil off
https://youtu.be/QDlIIWxOuJw

 

[RichPetersen]

Has anyone (besides me) lost the pump filter during boil? I'm pretty sure I must have knocked it off when I was stirring the wort (got a little over zealous). I've got a hop spider so hopefully I won't clog the pump later but I was just wondering if I was the only one to see this. I know I installed it correctly and during the last 3 batches this had not happened so I was a bit surprised.

 

[scallopking]

Tried something new today and covered the overflow pipe with ss mesh. Worked great! Then took it off about halfway through.

 

[jonesry09]

Has anyone built a table/structure to sit above the grainfather for during sparge time?

I purchased the grainfather mash heather and its a little bit of a pain to try and lift to fill the sparge water.

If you have, please post pics. I am looking for some ideas before building one.

 

[dmenace79]

Yeah, I was actually looking for an example that just now!

 

[dmenace79]

Nothing different than any other batch. I boiled only 60 minutes and still had a ton of wort left over. Probably should have gone another 30 minutes because my OG was a little low, but I was already planning a 30 minutes whirlpool and didn't want to drag the day out any longer.


I actually did my first brew yesterday, it took about two hours longer then it should have, because I was learning the system and had to do a little shopping in the AM for a water filter set-up. I had a 15 LB, 13.6 OZ grain bill, and my efficiency came out to 82 percent.

I had no issue with sparging , but I warmed the water on the range inside and it lost temp pretty fast when I took it to the garage where I was brewing. So I will have to eventually move to the electric unit.

I was expecting 1.072 OG and that's exactly what I got, so that was cool. Got the recipe from beer smith then entered the ingredients into the GF app, worked without incident.

The one true issue I had was when filling the fermenter (Plastic Big Mouth Bubbler). I calculated for 6.00 gallons in the fermenter, and GF app gave me 6.1 gal for mash and 2.8 gal for sparge. After sparged I had exactly 7 gal in GF. After 60 minute boil I was at like 6.75 gal. I boiled another 25 minutes to boil down a little so it would all fit in the fermenter.

I started the chilling/transfer and at just under 5.5 gallons wort stopped transferring. There was still about quarter to half a gallon of wort in the GF. I turned off pump and somewhat cleaned the filter, then turned the pump back on, but didn't realize I had not turned ball valve back on, and ended up throwing the wort.

I wonder why the wort stopped transferring initially? I thought it may have been a clogged filter, but most of my hops were in a drawstring bag, except for last 20 min addition, so not sure? On GF instructional video the guy says the hops make for a nice filter bed?

Anyway it was fun, and almost everything went smoothly. It's crazy how accurate the numbers were. GF app helps a lot.

 

[dmenace79]

Just in case anyone is interested, some photos....

 

[dmenace79]

Just after I posted the last threads I went to check on fermenter and found out I had a blow out. I went to the hardware store to get a blow off tube and after sanitation, placed it into the fermenter and a bucket of sanitizer. I had originally tried to take the lid off so I could put another one on already outfitted with tube, but there was so much pressure I couldn't unscrew the lid. Don't know if you guys can tell, on photos, the bow in the white part of the lid from pressure. If anyone is familiar with the blow off tube, let me know if this looks right to you. I placed teflon tape around the tube and lid for sealing, not sure how effective it will be, but the tube was a tight fit. There is a lot of activity in the sanitizer from the tube.

 

[dmenace79]

Here are some videos.

 

[dmenace79]

Videos

View attachment IMG_5975.mov

View attachment IMG_5984.mov

 

[Brewmasher]

This has probably been covered, but I'm going to ask anyway while I am in the process of going through all 189 pages of this tread...Anyone have any tips for higher grain bills? I thought I read something awhile ago when I was researching before buying my GF, but I haven't found an answer yet.

I almost exclusively brew 20lb grain bills. One tip is to trim the silicone pump tube so it pumps the wort closer to the center of the tun. Otherwise the recirculated wort goes down the sides rather than through the grain.

 

[GamecockBrewer]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger, so add me to the club. I'm looking to do my first brew sometime during the week because I don't want to wait until Saturday. How long is everyone's average brew day with the Grainfather?

 

[Brewmasher]

About 5 hours including clean up, but I can probably do it in 4 if I tried.

 

[stevo155]

About 5 hours including clean up, but I can probably do it in 4 if I tried.

I'd say that was about the same for me. I usually brew in the morning so I try to do my grains and water the night before. I may hook mine up to a timer and have it start warming water before I get up.

I've also experimented once with cold water sparge after reading the Brulosphy experiment. That seems to work well and it doesn't really have a negative effect on efficiency.

The last couple recipes I've done have required a 30 minute whirlpool, so I'm losing time there.

 

[GamecockBrewer]

Great, thanks! That's totally doable for a midweek brew after work.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Yep 4-5 hours here as well. Allow yourself a little extra time for your first brew just so you can familiarize yourself with the the equipment.

 

[domdom]

Yep 4-5 hours here as well. Allow yourself a little extra time for your first brew just so you can familiarize yourself with the the equipment.

i'm curious about how much of that is active work. i've been debating getting one so i could do other household task instead of just devoting 5-6 hours brewing, but not sure how hands off it is. right now my brew day is pretty passive the first couple hours. I premeasure the water and grains the night before. i wake up, heat the mash water, go back to bed for about 45 minutes, mash in, lay down/sleep another hour and then sparge. once i get done sparging, i'm pretty busy with other stuff for the next 4 hours, either prepping stuff, stiring, sanitizing, waiting for the water to cool, and then cleaning all the stuff. i was hoping that the GF would cut down on active time spent cleaning (cleans itself, single vessel so less pieces of equipment).

 

[crusader1612]

i'm curious about how much of that is active work. i've been debating getting one so i could do other household task instead of just devoting 5-6 hours brewing, but not sure how hands off it is. right now my brew day is pretty passive the first couple hours. I premeasure the water and grains the night before. i wake up, heat the mash water, go back to bed for about 45 minutes, mash in, lay down/sleep another hour and then sparge. once i get done sparging, i'm pretty busy with other stuff for the next 4 hours, either prepping stuff, stiring, sanitizing, waiting for the water to cool, and then cleaning all the stuff. i was hoping that the GF would cut down on active time spent cleaning (cleans itself, single vessel so less pieces of equipment).

lol, not much.
i had a nap once.
Aside from adding the malt, adding hops, and sparging, its easy as pie.

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger, so add me to the club. I'm looking to do my first brew sometime during the week because I don't want to wait until Saturday. How long is everyone's average brew day with the Grainfather?

Also, expect to do a longer boil than normal or cut back your sparge water by half a gallon as the boil-off rate consensus seems to be half a gallon per hour.

 

[Kampenken]

Hmm, count me as odd man out!

For a 5.5g, 60/60 mash/boil my time with a thorough clean up and storage is 5+ hrs still. This is everything. Fill up boiler w/cold water, during time to strike temp (+10-12f over mash) I measure and add water additions, measure and mill grains. If time I measure and fill up sparge water and water additions and measure and label hop additions too (though this can happen at beginning of mash). Gather items 10min, About 40-45 min to strike, dough in is 5-10 min, mash 60, sparge 30 min, time to boil 10 min, boil 60, sanitize CFC 10, cool & transfer 20 min. If cool enough, O2, pitch and store in ferm chamber 10 min. Full cleaning, drying and storage, 60 min. Total is 5 hr 20 min. Seems about right to me. Would like to hear where I can cut 1hr plus!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Hmm, count me as odd man out!

For a 5.5g, 60/60 mash/boil my time with a thorough clean up and storage is 5+ hrs still. This is everything. Fill up boiler w/cold water, during time to strike temp (+10-12f over mash) I measure and add water additions, measure and mill grains. If time I measure and fill up sparge water and water additions and measure and label hop additions too (though this can happen at beginning of mash). Gather items 10min, About 40-45 min to strike, dough in is 5-10 min, mash 60, sparge 30 min, time to boil 10 min, boil 60, sanitize CFC 10, cool & transfer 20 min. If cool enough, O2, pitch and store in ferm chamber 10 min. Full cleaning, drying and storage, 60 min. Total is 5 hr 20 min. Seems about right to me. Would like to hear where I can cut 1hr plus!

I know I'm going to get crap for this but my last few batches I have used hot tap water and have had nothing but great results from it. That definitely saves me a lot of time. I'l continue doing it that way until I run into any issues. I clean as I go as well. Mainly during my boil, I get the basket and other components cleaned out and get rid of the spent grain. Then all I have to do is clean the actual unit after I pitch yeas and that only takes me a few minutes. But it wouldn't kill me to spend a few extra minutes cleaning, to be honest.

 

[d-bone]

Hmm, count me as odd man out!

For a 5.5g, 60/60 mash/boil my time with a thorough clean up and storage is 5+ hrs still. This is everything. Fill up boiler w/cold water, during time to strike temp (+10-12f over mash) I measure and add water additions, measure and mill grains. If time I measure and fill up sparge water and water additions and measure and label hop additions too (though this can happen at beginning of mash). Gather items 10min, About 40-45 min to strike, dough in is 5-10 min, mash 60, sparge 30 min, time to boil 10 min, boil 60, sanitize CFC 10, cool & transfer 20 min. If cool enough, O2, pitch and store in ferm chamber 10 min. Full cleaning, drying and storage, 60 min. Total is 5 hr 20 min. Seems about right to me. Would like to hear where I can cut 1hr plus!

get a heat stick to help get to strike temp faster. I added one a couple batches back and my water heat up twice as fast. saves about 25 minutes. I also use it with an old stc to keep my pbw solution hot when CIP cleaning. This is the one i use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BDB4UG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[TexasWine]

I'l continue doing it that way until I run into any issues.

By the time you realize there are issues the adverse health affects from consuming lead will have already set in. I wouldn't risk it.

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/water.htm

 

[Brewmasher]

I know I'm going to get crap for this but my last few batches I have used hot tap water and have had nothing but great results from it. That definitely saves me a lot of time. I'l continue doing it that way until I run into any issues. I clean as I go as well. Mainly during my boil, I get the basket and other components cleaned out and get rid of the spent grain. Then all I have to do is clean the actual unit after I pitch yeas and that only takes me a few minutes. But it wouldn't kill me to spend a few extra minutes cleaning, to be honest.

I use hot tap water also. It really only takes about 10 min or so to get close to strike temp. I dough in when it gets within about 10 degrees of strike temp and recirculate as I stir in the grains. By the time I'm done it is either at temp, or close enough to switch to mash.

I also clean as I go. Something I got in a habit of doing during the years I was a Chef.

I batch sparge. Instead of heating up sparge water, I pump the first runnings into a kettle and put it on the stove to boil. I then fill the GF with as much of the sparge water I can, again hot from the tap, give it a stir, and recirculate with both elements on until it reaches 170F. Pull the grains and top off with any remaining sparge water. By then the wort on the stove is already at a rolling boil. It doesn't take that long for the sparge to come to a boil, although I haven't really timed it.

I do take about 10 min to bring about a gallon of water to a boil to flush out the system before brewing. That way I only have to run hot wort through the CFC for a min or so just to be safe on the sanitizing. Maybe the tap water is just colder here- it only takes me about 10 min to cool and transfer.

I brew in the kitchen, which saves time cleaning and having a secondary heat source. Each time I brew, it gets a bit more efficient.