Grainfather!!

[seabrew8]

I got my Grainfather after going to get it on a road trip to the border.I put it togeather and did a leak test/boil test and a cleaning.

I have never throttled back the recirculation during the mash I just let it go wide open.I am about 20 minutes away from adding in my last hop addition to my latest batch as well as adding some Irish moss and I had no problems.I ran a pretty heavy grainbill today at 14 pounds and I did see a lot of stuff going into the over flow when I started....20 minutes later it was crystal clear.After the mash was done lift out the basket and sparge......no grains at all were drained out/leaked....nothing but clear wort.

The Grainfather is wicked....so wicked that if Dana Carvey did a "Grumpy Old Man" sketch about it on SNL he would say "All these young folks want to make their own beer and they want it nice and pretty...with the clear wort and all in one brew vessel.....well back in my day if I wanted to make my own beer I had to use 3 garbage cans and a blow torch and I had to siphon the scalding hot wort from the mash tun into the boil kettle with a piece of garden hose and my own mouth and I had to deal with 3rd degree burns to my lips and face and all I got was a lousy 45% efficiency....but that was the way it was and we LIKED it....hell we LOVED it

I hope my humour is appreciated

RMCB

Interesting i got grain debris in my wort.

Side note: I lived in Airdrie for over a year.

 

[Kampenken]

....if Dana Carvey did a "Grumpy Old Man" sketch about it on SNL he would say "All these young folks want to make their own beer and they want it nice and pretty...with the clear wort and all in one brew vessel.....well back in my day if I wanted to make my own beer I had to use 3 garbage cans and a blow torch and I had to siphon the scalding hot wort from the mash tun into the boil kettle with a piece of garden hose and my own mouth and I had to deal with 3rd degree burns to my lips and face and all I got was a lousy 45% efficiency....but that was the way it was and we LIKED it....hell we LOVED it

I hope my humour is appreciated

RMCB

Ah yes, much appreciated, been watching some old SNL skits with SWMBO on You tube, mostly Church Chat. Loved those, and the one you shared as well!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming, can you answer my other questions? Would like to know about the chilling and if you've changed anything over all those brews. My first, and only so far, brew was with a 14# grain bill, and I experienced the same thing you did with overflow, so seems like that's normal, so thanks for that.

 

[RockyMountainCraftBrewing]

Ah yes, much appreciated, been watching some old SNL skits with SWMBO on You tube, mostly Church Chat. Loved those, and the one you shared as well!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming, can you answer my other questions? Would like to know about the chilling and if you've changed anything over all those brews. My first, and only so far, brew was with a 14# grain bill, and I experienced the same thing you did with overflow, so seems like that's normal, so thanks for that.

I have my old IC chiller connected to the faucet and the IC is in an ice bath....the cold wort from the Grainfather is coming out very cold.I have used my IC chiller method from day 1 and I liked it for the results....hell I LOVED it.

RMCB

 

[seabrew8]

Holy cow! i Just took a gravity reading and got 1.012 from 1.056 3 days ago!

I used about 13lbs of grain and a 23L batch. Nottingham yeast - re-hyrdrated for a hour and fermenting at 19C ambient.

 

[RockyMountainCraftBrewing]

Just got home a 1/2 hour ago and after opening my latest brew shipment(shank kit as well as 8 pounds of specialty grain and some other stuff) I finally checked on the batch I brewed yesterday and it is bubbling away nicely.I did not take any gravity readings as it was a late brewday and I had to finish clean up when I got home.I did have a 14 pound grain bill and my pre-boil volume was 26 litres and final volume was 20 litres and I went well past 60 minutes for boil time...more like 90 actually.I think this ale may hit the 8% mark

I have the GF running on clean as I type this and after I post I will put the CF back on to recirculate and empty out the boiler and when it is nearly empty I will snake in my hose from the sink and feed in fresh water to flush the system out.

RMCB

 

[Traveling_brewer]

I had my first GF brew day yesterday. Was a 12 lb grain bill. I thought pouring in the grains I got some outside the grain basket, but later found none in my wort. I ran with no GrainCoat. Mash went well. Temp seemed to spend a lot of time 2 degrees below set point. So I left the lower switch on "normal" and put the set point 1 degree higher then my desired mash temp and it kept it closer to where I wanted it. I'm hoping the GrainCoat will help that. Wasn't a big issue though and easy enough to fix. Sparge seemed to go quick for me. My sparge water went through the top screen almost as quickly as I could pour it in. Don't know if it should be slower. Maybe push the screen down lightly on the grains? I'll re watch the video. Took about 20 minutes to stop dripping into the kettle. I turned it to boil right as I started sparging, when finished it was already around 190. Boil went very well. I was very happy with it. No hop spider, and no issues. Chilling, my water is so cold in Massachusetts right now I just let if flow as high as I could and opened the valve all the way. It entered the carboy around 72-73 degrees. Was also very happy with that. Cleanup was a little awkward with having to pick the whole thing up to dump, but not too bad. Over all I loved it. Totally simplified my brew day. Made a good quality beer. And I was nice and relaxed the whole time. I already talked a friend into buying one today. One issue I had was I was very low on my OG. I think my grains could have been crushed a little more. But I'm curious if it also could have been my sparging. Don't think it had anything to do with the system. Great buy. If you don't have one yet, get it!

 

[seabrew8]

Nice, my first brew was 6lbs of marris otter + 6lbs canadian 2 row, with 0.5lbs of crystal 20L + 80L each.

OG 1.056 - Using the GF numbers for a 23L batch.

 

[Kampenken]

Glad to hear about your brew! Smart call on setting your mash temp
up 1 deg. I'd expect grain coat should help. Yes when you mash you push the top plate down onto the grain bed until it touches the bed and even a bit of wort seeps just barely up onto the plate (yeah watch the GF video). My sparge, about 3.2g lasted about 22 min, and it didn't run right through the plate. Not sure if your experience cost you OG pts. How much water did you sparge with? Did you do a mash out step? If so, what temp? Your chill sounded great, how long do you think it took?

I kept my grain crush as I always have, which is finer than the GF video's crush, no problem with filter/stuck sparge. I did use a hop basket.

Cheers on your successful GF brew!

 

[Lazer Wolf Brewing]

Overreaction panic first brew. Ignore.

 

[Traveling_brewer]

Overreaction panic first brew. Ignore.

An arrogant nobody... Ignore

 

[Yambor44]

How's everyone cleaning the grain out of the pipe? I just dumoed mine and of course the bottom screen dumps along with it. Worried about maybe damaging it in the future.

Also, I have a HELL of a time getting the bottom screen in without knocking the seal off. It takes me at least 6 tries each time. Last brew about ten. I've tried everything I have read and seen up to this point and it still slips off at some point or other. Just wondering if anyone found a easier way. My screen is a little warped but I would assume they all are that way due to thickness.

One last thing, are the US versions supposed to read HH and beep when they hit boil? I'm thinking not but thought I'd ask.

 

[scallopking]

I water down the bottom screen, seal and inside of the tun completely from top to bottom. I then put the seal on the screen and put it in at an angle slightly and move it towards the bottom angled all the way down. Once at the bottom I straighten it out and push down. Sometimes the seal will creep up a little bit but just by lifting a very small amount can put it back in place and push down again. I turn it over to check the seal is right at the bottom. in the beginning I had issue with it but watering it all down it is a snap now.

 

[Lazer Wolf Brewing]

US version doesn't beep or read HH. My plate is warped (concave) as well, I don't know for sure if one way is easier than the other.

I have as much trouble as you getting the bottom plate in. I've heard someone recommend spraying some star San mixture on it. I think I'm gonna try that next time, it seems pretty slick.

 

[Yambor44]

I've tried starsan, water, submerged in water, dry, concave up, concave down, with pipe attached, without....it is very temperamental!

 

[seabrew8]

Well since we are the GF family i figured i'd post my Irish Red Ale recipe for ideas!

Red ale was actually the first "craft beer" i ever tasted - about 5 or 6 years ago - and i realized beer can actually taste great! Not just a means to an end.

Anyhow, the beer i drank was called "Fighting Irish Red Ale" in St. Johns, Newfoundland. In a small brewpub called yellowbelly.

The brewmaster was kind enough to give me the basic recipe. However, i don't have any of the same hops! haha

This is what i'm thinking: Ingredients very limited.

5lbs 2 row
2lbs MO
1lb Crystal 80L
2oz Roasted Barley

Boil 1oz Williamette for 45min and 0.25oz for 5min.

Mash water and spage with the small batch GF calulator for 4 gallions in the bucket.

 

[Yambor44]

That seems like a ****pile of 80L for a 4 gallon batch!

 

[seabrew8]

That seems like a ****pile of 80L for a 4 gallon batch!

Really? It only clocks in at 17SRM on the beer charts.

 

[mos13gman]

My arbor fab hop screen showed up today testing it out now.

Hey what size did you get? sorry if you already posted, couldn't find it...

 

[TBC]

I bought the 6"x14" 300 micron mesh. I use it for hops, Irish moss, and spices. It keeps the pump screen clean. It's also faster and easier to clean instead of the nylon hop bags.

 

[Kampenken]

That seems like a ****pile of 80L for a 4 gallon batch!

I thought the same thing! That's 12.5% of Crystal, I think keeping closer to 5% would be a better decision.

 

[Kampenken]

I water down the bottom screen, seal and inside of the tun completely from top to bottom. I then put the seal on the screen and put it in at an angle slightly and move it towards the bottom angled all the way down. Once at the bottom I straighten it out and push down. Sometimes the seal will creep up a little bit but just by lifting a very small amount can put it back in place and push down again. I turn it over to check the seal is right at the bottom. in the beginning I had issue with it but watering it all down it is a snap now.

I do the same. Interesting too, I was curious if folks were taking that apart each brew. I dumped my grain, after scooping out about half, and the bottom plate held firm, so I figured a good cleanup and good to go.

 

[Lazer Wolf Brewing]

Anyone here use an IC instead of the provided CFC? I'm tempted to try it as lots of people are hyping up a recirculating IC these days. It seems so much easier, and you could use a basic IC with the grainfather pump providing the whirpool/recirc. Would be nice for me as I'm going to be doing a lot of flameout hops and hopstands at 170F, so I wouldn't need to have the top on with the CFC sitting on it.

I will say this, my CFC cools my wort to pitching temp very very quickly. It's just more work it seems.

 

[Yambor44]

I just watched a video on YouTube if a guy using an IC with the GF. Chilled his wort to about 66° in 15 mins.

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iGvTcT8HKbA[/ame]

 

[Lazer Wolf Brewing]

Yeah I'm liking the looks of that.

 

[seabrew8]

I thought the same thing! That's 12.5% of Crystal, I think keeping closer to 5% would be a better decision.

Thanks for that! I thought it was %11 i will reduce it to 14oz. Thats what the brewmaster gave me. Like i said - it was the first craft beer i tasted and i went "wow".

Grain Bill
%88 a blend of MO, 2 row, Superior Pale
%11 Dark Crystal
%1 Roasted Barley

He recommended i up the Roasted Barley to %1.5.
IBU: 35

Its pretty simple but he uses 3 hops: Nugget, Goldings - both sold out - and fuggles.

So i guess i'm asking more about the hops: I'm thinking now.

0.75oz williamette 60min, 0.25oz 15min and about 1/2 oz i had in my fridge for a few months at flameout?

 

[gotbeer74]

Anyone here use an IC instead of the provided CFC? I'm tempted to try it as lots of people are hyping up a recirculating IC these days. It seems so much easier, and you could use a basic IC with the grainfather pump providing the whirpool/recirc. Would be nice for me as I'm going to be doing a lot of flameout hops and hopstands at 170F, so I wouldn't need to have the top on with the CFC sitting on it.



I will say this, my CFC cools my wort to pitching temp very very quickly. It's just more work it seems.

You could always put the CFC on a small table next to the GF then you wouldn't need the lid on.
I am not sure how an IC is easier then CFC. It still needs to be cleaned afterwards to remove break and hops.

 

[Traveling_brewer]

You could always put the CFC on a small table next to the GF then you wouldn't need the lid on.
I am not sure how an IC is easier then CFC. It still needs to be cleaned afterwards to remove break and hops.

I'm with you. I had my CFC on a stool next to my GF. I can't see any way that an IC would be better.

 

[RockyMountainCraftBrewing]

You could always put the CFC on a small table next to the GF then you wouldn't need the lid on.
I am not sure how an IC is easier then CFC. It still needs to be cleaned afterwards to remove break and hops.

I dont see any upside to using an IC instead of the CFC.In fact I see nothing but downside.Will the IC catch on the hop filter?What about the contact with the heating element?Not to mention the added fuss as well as the risk of an infection.

That being said I re-purposed my IC to use with my Grainfather as a pre-chiller.I hook up my kitchen faucet to a washing machine hose and connect it to my IC which sits in one of the sinks in an ice bath.Hook up the cold water inlet to the CFC and run the hot water out to the other sink.Super wicked cooling effeciency to say the least.I will run a timer when I cool down my next batch.

RMCB

 

[Yambor44]

I use a small pond pump submerged in a cooler full of ice water. Recirculate water back into the cooler. with the CFC I didn't have to add any more ice during the chill.

 

[gotbeer74]

I need to create an IC to cool my tap water for the CFC for summertime brewing. It works well now in PA with 55 degree water but this summer it may be a bit slower. I was wondering if my old Chillzilla would work with the GF for warmer weather chilling.