Grainfather!!

[BrewMeister49]

I don't see any issues with small batches. What size grain bills do you use? On their website they have water calculations for small batches.

 

[bford]

I don't see any issues with small batches. What size grain bills do you use? On their website they have water calculations for small batches.

I really knew it shouldn't be a problem. The biggest beers I've made have been around 8 pounds of grain for a 2 gallon batch barleywine that was right at 10% ABV.

I use 3.2 gallon Speidal fermenters. I would pick up one larger fermenter so I could do the occasional five gallon batch also!

At this point I'm pretty sure its the system I'm going to go with. I've looked at Brew-boss and the Baumester and Zymatic also.... I still love the idea of the Zymatic but not at twice the price or more. This also gives me the option for larger batches.

 

[BrewMeister49]

thats actually not a bad idea. Small, high abv batches! I've never Brewer an imperial anything although my next brew is borderline imperial stout (cavatica stout recipe 1.084 OG). 16.5 pounds! I'm stoked Lol. Small batches will be the same as normal, just smaller amounts of water and you just move the top plate on the grain basket down further. No difference between that and a normal 5 gallon batch.

 

[blizzard]

Is it possible to do a full volume mash instead of sparging? I'm wondering why they include a sparge step and if you could mash with the full water volume like you would with BIAB.

 

[BrewMeister49]

You could. But with a sparge you will get better efficiency.

 

[DarkUncle]

Here's a question. Is this unit serviceable in any way as far as the heating element or pump goes? Looks like a cheap proprietary pump that could be replaceable if needed. But what about the element? It's a hidden element from what I can see but is it removeable? Wouldn't want to spend a grand on this, have the element take a crap 6-12 months in and find out you'd need to buy a whole new system. Lot of money for a disposable unit.

 

[TexasWine]

Is it possible to do a full volume mash instead of sparging? I'm wondering why they include a sparge step and if you could mash with the full water volume like you would with BIAB.

Your batch size would need to be reduced without a sparge step.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I am wanting a GF sooooo bad! Thanks for all of the info guys....keep it coming!:rockin:

 

[BrewMeister49]

That's a great question DarkUncle. Honestly, I would assume. It has a full warranty for 1 year. I would email Estee at GF and see. Their email is [email protected] . I blew them up with questions before I bought one. I know you can get parts at different carrier shops like williamsbrewing and such. Let us know what you find out!

 

[Jkane101]

Mine arrived today! Hoping to put it to use this weekend, next weekend latest

 

[BrewMeister49]

Sweet! You'll have to post a report/review! Recipe, pics and how it goes!

 

[gwapogorilla]

What would really be helpful is if you folks that are brewing with GF already, would post your boil off, mash eff, total eff, trub loss....stuff like that.

I was looking at the Beersmith numbers for GF....I can tell they are totally out of wack.

 

[BrewMeister49]

For Beersmith I used the 10 Gallon electric urn as it seemed the closest to the GF. I started with 6.75 gallons of wort and boiled down to about 6 in a 60 min boil. I estimated 72% eff but Beersmith says I got 92%. Not sure on trub loss as it's still in the primary, but it seems like normal after its all in the carboy. I can tell you it's a heck of a lot cleaner than my old three tier setup.

 

[pagrider]

Use the Grainfather APP the numbers are perfect

 

[BrewMeister49]

The GF app I have, you have to add all the numbers manually. Nothing is expected or anticipated. I just do my recipe in Beersmith and then transfer the numbers to GF app.

 

[pagrider]

After you input the recipe. Start a brewing session and it will give you how much water you need for the mash and then the sparge

 

[DarkUncle]

That's a great question DarkUncle. Honestly, I would assume. It has a full warranty for 1 year. I would email Estee at GF and see. Their email is [email protected] . I blew them up with questions before I bought one. I know you can get parts at different carrier shops like williamsbrewing and such. Let us know what you find out!

Ok, the answer is if the element fails it is not replaceable. The entire boiler would need to be replaced. But he said in a couple years time they've only had a handful that took a dump and needed to be replaced. So this unit does have a shelf life of some indeterminable amount of time.

 

[DarkUncle]

That's a great question DarkUncle. Honestly, I would assume. It has a full warranty for 1 year. I would email Estee at GF and see. Their email is [email protected] . I blew them up with questions before I bought one. I know you can get parts at different carrier shops like williamsbrewing and such. Let us know what you find out!

Ok, the answer is if the element fails it is not replaceable. The entire boiler would need to be replaced. But he said in a couple years time they've only had a handful that took a dump and needed to be replaced. So this unit does have a shelf life of some indeterminable amount of time.

 

[bford]

Ok, the answer is if the element fails it is not replaceable. The entire boiler would need to be replaced. But he said in a couple years time they've only had a handful that took a dump and needed to be replaced. So this unit does have a shelf life of some indeterminable amount of time.

It would be nice if they could figure out a way to make that part easily replaceable.

 

[DarkUncle]

Yes, agreed. I believe it has a 1 year warranty but hey, nothing lasts forever.

 

[BrewMeister49]

Im pretty sure that if it takes a dump at year 2, they would work with you. They seem like a solid company. I wish it were a replaceable part! I didnt know that. Kind of strange that you cannot replace the heating element? How did they get it in there?! lol Must be a way.

 

[pagrider]

The question is what is the price of replacing the boiler should the heating element fail after the one year warranty

 

[BrewMeister49]

Exactly. I don't see the need in replacing the entire shebang!

 

[rmchair]

The question is what is the price of replacing the boiler should the heating element fail after the one year warranty

It says the US version has a 16oowatt element. That should cost no more than $30, but with the whole boiler it probably $199 to keep you from electrocuting yourself.

 

[DarkUncle]

Well I have yet to read anything about the element burning out with these so that's a little reassuring.

 

[BrewMeister49]

Yeah. There are people who split it between like 10 guys and they all just pass it around. What I read was something like 75 brews in a few months and zero issues. They said they beat it up pretty solid tossing it in vehicles and just not really being nice to it. They were all impressed. That was in 2014.

 

[myerstyson]

I'm debating on just getting it now or waiting until next year when a new model is released. Say a 220v version. [emoji6]

A new model is coming out?

 

[BrewMeister49]

They will probably offer up a 240V version next year.

 

[pagrider]

The current version gives you a rolling boil. My last batch my boil off in an hour was 3/4 of a gallon after using reflectex. The advantage of 240 would be speed to temperature

 

[DarkUncle]

They will probably offer up a 240V version next year.

That is the response I got back from the Grainfather team when I contacted them.

I seriously considered waiting for the 220/240v system. But then I started weighing the pros and cons.

The 110v version allows me to brew right in my kitchen. With a 220 I'm right back in my garage.
There's a much less chance of a boil over due to the more calm rolling boil with the 110v which is a boil nonetheless. I would certainly not want to have a boil over with an electrical control box mounted right on the outside. That could get ugly real fast.

The 220v really only has two advantages. The boil off rate would be a bit higher and temps would be reached quicker. But, these are easily matched with the 110v by adjusting water amounts and/or boil time.

These are my thoughts on it.