Grainfather!!

[Kampenken]

Is your sparge time overlapping when the boil starts? With my .038 mill setting my sparge is a bit slow, but I never worry as it never goes so long as to still be draining when the hot break occurs.

Precisely! I even mash out the last 15min of my 60 min mash at 170, set to boil at start of sparge, and still end a bit below 200 prior to end of sparge. If anyone is concerned about sparge time, add a handful or two of rice hulls. Problem solved. KISS principle folks!

 

[Kampenken]

1-I used the water calc on GF site and used the GF app too. Both were similar. Even the beersmiths GF settings (customized) were close. What water calc do u use?
2- And I am pretty sure I had mash and mash settings during mash...99.9% sure
3- crush my own. Havebeen for many years

Water calc from GF manual for mash. Per my last post on this I do adjust manual figures for sparge water.
My crush is fairly fine, some flour, I didn't test with a gap tool, set it up w/credit card method. Possibly you can go finer.

If you're not adjusting your water that can have a significant impact too. Found that with my brother's water once, lost a lot in efficiency w/o adjusting his water

 

[shortyz]

Is your sparge time overlapping when the boil starts? With my .038 mill setting my sparge is a bit slow, but I never worry as it never goes so long as to still be draining when the hot break occurs.

thats a good point, now that i think about it.

 

[seabrew8]

Just got my Grainfather in. Assembled and cleaning now. Time to figure out recipe calculation (a little overwhelmed as this will be first all-grain and researched BEFORE deciding to go with this system). Pretty excited!View attachment 375537

Good luck its pretty easy to use, but of course things will probably go off the rails a little bit.

Some ideas for your first brew - take a sg reading after you cool the wort for your pitch and don't look at the temp readout when your using the chiller. Its a useless measurement at that stage. I put a thermometer in my bucket if i'm using one or just use hand touch on the outlet hose to judge if its 20-30C - when i use a carboy. However, i have hung a temp probe from a stc in the carboy before lol. Just look for luke warm or so is all i do.

The chiller is probably the quickest piece of equipment on the GF. I usually have cool wort in 5-10 minutes no problem to put in my fermenter.

 

[bigtex52]

Beersmith mod? Do you have a profile that you wouldn't mind sharing with me?

Check the post at the top of Page 124 of this thread.

 

[blaster_54738]

Just wanted to post a few pictures from my brew day yesterday. 3rd brew on the Grainfather. 1.060SG for 79.8% efficiency.

Here's the sparge water heater I made with a leftover pot and parts from Auber Instruments


Boil!


Transfering into the fermenter. I made a thermometer using leftover parts from an e-brew rig to check the temps going into the fermenter. With tap water the chiller got it down to 66 degrees with the ball valve throttled back a bit, 70 with it running full bore

 

[elreplica]

Nice kit...

 

[jonesry09]

I was wondering if anyone had made a "stand" for their sparge water heater. I was thinking of making something to sit it on that is just a little bit taller than the grandfather (with he basket sitting up of course). That way I could just open the spare water spout to add water. Having to lift the dang thing is becoming a pain.

Also, has anyone changed the silly valve on the water heater? I was looking at the blichmann spare arm and thought it might work. Especially if I build the stand, I could just extend the arm down into grainfather basket. Thoughts?

If you have done something like either of these, would you please post pics.

BTW, I brew outside, so putting it on a kitchen counter doesn't work for me like it does for those who brew inside.

 

[jonesry09]

Transfering into the fermenter. I made a thermometer using leftover parts from an e-brew rig to check the temps going into the fermenter. With tap water the chiller got it down to 66 degrees with the ball valve throttled back a bit, 70 with it running full bore

WOW!!! The grandfather pump is strong enough to counteract any back flow when filling the SS like that? Thats awesome. I have the same setup and always go into the top. Was never a fan of the exposure I got when doing that thought.

 

[d-bone]

same here. I also have the same setup but after seeing this i figured ill give it a shot next brew day.

 

[blaster_54738]

WOW!!! The grandfather pump is strong enough to counteract any back flow when filling the SS like that? Thats awesome. I have the same setup and always go into the top. Was never a fan of the exposure I got when doing that thought.

Yeah no issues at all. At first I was concerned that it wasn't going until I realized my mistake...MUST OPEN VALVE ON FERMENTER...after that it flowed in like champ!

 

[scallopking]

Wasn't expecting this. I finished up brewing last weekend as usual, everything all cleaned up and put away. Started out yesterday and got it ready to bring mash water to temp and the heater button was stuck in off, I mean really stuck. So frustrated I took the four screws out the back and found this, surely wasn't brewing in that condition:

I send then an e-mail and will call them on Monday. I'm looking for my receipt for when I bought it but pretty sure its over a year, I would never expect this to happen.

Here it is now:

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

Whoa! That is nuts! Hope mine doesn't have this issue. I think that if it did it once, it would do it again. Safe brewing!

 

[scallopking]

Whoa! That is nuts! Hope mine doesn't have this issue. I think that if it did it once, it would do it again. Safe brewing!

Me too. Thanks. All went well today.

Got a reply from GF already, sent them some more info.

Interesting note, I held 209 degrees for most of the 75 min boil. Before I'd hit 209 and within 2 mins would drop to 208 and never reach it again. I dunno.

 

[kennya]

Just got my Grainfather in. Assembled and cleaning now. Time to figure out recipe calculation (a little overwhelmed as this will be first all-grain and researched BEFORE deciding to go with this system). Pretty excited!View attachment 375537

I didn't see anyone else say anything, but just in case, wanted to let you know your chiller is on upside down.

 

[kennya]

So I just made my 4th batch of beer on my GF Saturday and each time my preboil SG reading has been low. In last batch, my preboil OG came in at 1.036 (calibrated refrac). My post boil right before pitching came in at 1.044 (calibrated hydro). Expected OG is supposed to be 1.048. This batch was actually the closest I have gotten post boil. I believe it has to do with the sparge because my sparge time is quick, 15min or less. Out of the research I have done, sparging should take around 30 minutes or more. True? I read that with the GF we should keep the sparge water almost a half an inch above the top mesh screen to get good coverage through the grain bed. If I was to do that, my sparge time would take less than 15 minutes. When I let the water flow from the GF Sparge heater, it just goes straight into the bed. With that said, I do push the screen down on top of the bed before sparging, so I am trying to keep it tight. All four brews have been wheat style beers, so I am using rice hulls. I have been using about a pound of rice hulls, could that be over kill on 10lb of grist? Just cant figure out why my sparge is so quick.

 

[Kampenken]

I believe it has to do with the sparge because my sparge time is quick, 15min or less. Out of the research I have done, sparging should take around 30 minutes or more. True? ... All four brews have been wheat style beers, so I am using rice hulls. I have been using about a pound of rice hulls, could that be over kill on 10lb of grist? Just cant figure out why my sparge is so quick.

I've certainly read about sparge time, however not sure exactly if a quicker sparge would necessarily lead to lower OG. With the GF we are limited by the grain bill on sparge volume, however your 10# bill is low enough to allow for a large enough sparge, ~3.6g or 46% of total water, compare that with say a 16# bill and it drops to just over 2.2g and 25% of total water.

Beyond all the above, its your rice hulls, man! 1# for a 10# wheat beer is huge! My first wheat beer was 11# (50% wheat) and I used a bit less than 1/2#. I found that to be too much (yes, quick sparge) so my next shot would be down to 1/4# at most. Give that a try, it should help.

Finally, I think a good check on your concern would be to run a liter or so through after your done into a pot, take a gravity reading, this will provide an indication of sugars still left that you're "missing" out on. Then next time adjust the hulls and a bit less mash water, with the lower amount added to the sparge. Sounds like you've got some testing to do!

Oh, and btw, if you're not adjusting your water chemistry, take a look into that as it will impact efficiency.

 

[Kampenken]

I didn't see anyone else say anything, but just in case, wanted to let you know your chiller is on upside down.

I think you're right, but where are the CFC feet? This looks like a change in design?

 

[Kampenken]

Me too. Thanks. All went well today.

Got a reply from GF already, sent them some more info.

Interesting note, I held 209 degrees for most of the 75 min boil. Before I'd hit 209 and within 2 mins would drop to 208 and never reach it again. I dunno.

I'm interested in hearing their response. Even if out of warranty, they should correct that for you, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do. Wonder why that happened, are you on a GFCI outlet?

 

[EisBerg]

I think you're right, but where are the CFC feet? This looks like a change in design?

I don't have CFC feet that I am aware of. Will have to look back at others photos to see what the difference may be in mine. I also have a Blichmann plate chiller and have been wondering which would be more efficient. The quoted photo was taken while I was running some PBW through everything to clean it out. Still haven't had a chance to brew since I've been away for work. Reading as much as I can to ensure I get a decent first session.

Edit to add: After looking at the photo a little more closely I do see little rubber caps at the ends of the three metal frames that hold together the CFC. I believe these may be the feet that should be on the bottom rather than the top to prevent slippage while in use. Although I have yet to use it in practice it so far seems to me not to be in the ideal location for a chiller.

 

[scallopking]

I'm interested in hearing their response. Even if out of warranty, they should correct that for you, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do. Wonder why that happened, are you on a GFCI outlet?

I'm waiting for their response. No, not on a GFI abut will be now. Yeah, no idea why it did that. I do hope they replace it.

 

[jrcrilly]

Probably a slightly deformed and thus loose-fitting terminal. Or a poor crimp on the terminal. At 13 amps, even .2 ohms of resistance at that point would generate 34 watts of heat. As it heats, the resistance would increase even more.

 

[kennya]

I think you're right, but where are the CFC feet? This looks like a change in design?

In the photo, the rubber feet are on the three metal legs, you can see them on top as someone mentioned. Those should be on the bottom which helps hold it on the glass lid. The updated CFC from what I understand doesn't have the rubber feet. So in either case, you just want to be sure that where the wort enters the CFC is on top, that way gravity is helping to work the wort through the CFC. If you have it upside down, the pump has to push the wort up through the CFC, which is unnecessary work for the pump.

I kinda thought I might be using to much rice hulls. On my next batch, Ill use a quarter of a pound and see what happens. Thanks!!!

 

[jrcrilly]

If you have it upside down, the pump has to push the wort up through the CFC, which is unnecessary work for the pump.

A larger issue is that if the inlet is on the bottom the CFC can't drain until it is disconnected, at which time it will drain onto the floor.

 

[bigtex52]

Something important to remember when using a CFC (COUNTER FLOW chiller) is to make sure the hot wort in/cool wort out and cool water in/hot water out are flowing in opposite directions.

 

[Colbizle]

I was able to significantly increase my boil vigor by keeping the lid partially on almost fully on.. If I keep the lid on fully it will boil over. The temp is solid at 213. Curious if anyone else experienced this?

 

[Teesquar]

I was able to significantly increase my boil vigor by keeping the lid partially on almost fully on.. If I keep the lid on fully it will boil over. The temp is solid at 213. Curious if anyone else experienced this?

Keeping the lid on will hamper the release of DMS during the boil and may lead to off flavors.
The soft boil I achieve without the lid gives me a nice hot break. I am brewing indoors and do have a home made graincoat.

 

[Colbizle]

Keeping the lid on will hamper the release of DMS during the boil and may lead to off flavors.
The soft boil I achieve without the lid gives me a nice hot break. I am brewing indoors and do have a home made graincoat.

No it wont.

 

[kh54s10]

No it wont.

Yes it will.

 

[Colbizle]

Yes it will.

Sure maybe if lid was metal and completly covering the unit not allowing any steam escape, then I could see that.


But keeping the lid partially on that even has a hole I doubt would hamper the driving off of dms.