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I'll have to check out that video . If it aids in keeping the filter and pump from getting plugged I'm all for that . Theres been a couple times I've had issues .
 
I was thinking of getting the (RoboBrew) false bottom for my Grainfather. Anyone that has it pluses, Minuses..

Why does this free forum cost me money? Haha. Just ordered it from Williams. I saw the video a while back and it was out of stock but they’re now restocked. For $30 I’ll be the guinea pig. I’ve also been kicking around the idea of a paint strainer around the Mash Tun. Been stirring halfway through mashes and feel that’s been getting more grain in my wort.

Thanks for the reminder to buy the false bottom! Cheers!
 
I would get it. I make a lot of hop heavy beers and the filter has gotten clogged a few times. I have considered getting it since using a hop spider (in my opinion) reduces the hop efficiency when whirlpooling. Just my two cents, I’m sure others will have different experiences.

How many oz of hops are you using when it clogs? I’ve done 6-8oz pellets loose in the GF with no issues so far. *knock on wood*

I just make sure I get a good whirlpool going and then leave it alone so all the material settles into a cone. Usually wait about 15-20 mins before I start transferring to the fermenter
 
It just doned on me that I have an extra top screen . When I received it the little tab was broke off so I was sent a new one. You think that would work as a false bottom? Or does there need to be some sort of legs on it to keep it off the bottom?
 
Jag75, there's three legs on the bottom of the plate . The legs hold the plate up about 1 1/4" . You could probably use your plate and use three stainless bolts and nuts to make some legs... I got my plate from MoreBeer. They had the best price. You might have to wait till they have it in stock. They'll send you a notification when it's in stock.
 
Jag75, there's three legs on the bottom of the plate . The legs hold the plate up about 1 1/4" . You could probably use your plate and use three stainless bolts and nuts to make some legs... I got my plate from MoreBeer. They had the best price. You might have to wait till they have it in stock. They'll send you a notification when it's in stock.

Stainless bolts & nuts are good idea. Easy peasy . So I'll just have it about 1 1/4 tall . I think that screen will fit perfectly in there without the rubber ring
 
If you do this with the bolts they can't extend above the top of the plate any more than the thickness of a stainless nut. Need space between the top of the plate and the bottom of the inner basket other wise the basket won't sit all the way down.
 
It should work out for you.. Remember if you go with the bolt and two nuts to lock down the plate and make three legs like that, no part of the bolt should be above the top nut. Keep the bolt and nut flush. There's little space between the inner basket and the new plate. After you make the legs make sure the basket sits flush on its metal support ring.
 
Was thinking of putting the bolt through the bottom going up and having a nut on the bottom and top . Dont know if I explained that very good .
 
Have you all been using the grainfather app exclusively for your recipe building and everything?

I'm a long time beersmith user and have continued to use it as my primary brewing software, just importing the file to grainfather for brew day. But the lack of a fully functional beersmith app is pushing me away. Beersmith is literally the only thing I use my old laptop for.

Has anyone moved on to use the grainfather app and regretted it?

I'm planning my new basement brewery build. I'm thinking of mounting a kindle fire on the wall and using that for my tilt, inkbird wifi, and brew day app.
 
Have you all been using the grainfather app exclusively for your recipe building and everything?

I'm a long time beersmith user and have continued to use it as my primary brewing software, just importing the file to grainfather for brew day. But the lack of a fully functional beersmith app is pushing me away. Beersmith is literally the only thing I use my old laptop for.

Has anyone moved on to use the grainfather app and regretted it?

I'm planning my new basement brewery build. I'm thinking of mounting a kindle fire on the wall and using that for my tilt, inkbird wifi, and brew day app.

I use my Gf app for recipes . Then I use Bru n water for my water profile . The app has been on the money for everything. I love the app tbo.
 
Anyone doing overnight mash on the GF ? For example, 4 rests ( betaglucans, beta, alfa, mashout ) of 2 hours each ?Does it make sense ?. Before purchasing my GF I was doing overnight mash in the electric oven: dough in at 50C, set the oven temp to 75C ( mashout ) put the kettle in the oven and let the temperature rise slowly during the night.
 
Anyone doing overnight mash on the GF ? For example, 4 rests ( betaglucans, beta, alfa, mashout ) of 2 hours each ?Does it make sense ?. Before purchasing my GF I was doing overnight mash in the electric oven: dough in at 50C, set the oven temp to 75C ( mashout ) put the kettle in the oven and let the temperature rise slowly during the night.

The GF only allows you to do a 3 hour mash cycle, then it automatically goes to the boil setting. A flaw in the design in my opinion, but none else seems to mind. It would be nice if they made the "go to boil at end of mash" setting optional, but seems like not a lot of people are complaining...
 
The GF only allows you to do a 3 hour mash cycle, then it automatically goes to the boil setting. A flaw in the design in my opinion, but none else seems to mind. It would be nice if they made the "go to boil at end of mash" setting optional, but seems like not a lot of people are complaining...
I'm not aware about that fact. Thank's
 
The GF only allows you to do a 3 hour mash cycle, then it automatically goes to the boil setting. A flaw in the design in my opinion, but none else seems to mind. It would be nice if they made the "go to boil at end of mash" setting optional, but seems like not a lot of people are complaining...
Is this with the Grainfather connect?
I am able to put in just about any quantity of minutes into the recipe creator. That isn't to say that the grainfather itself wouldn't click on boil after a 2 hours.
...then again, I think I have had a mash go over 2 hours before too.
 
I checked both GF and GF connect manuals , none of them mention that after more than 3 hours mash it enters the boil stage. I never used the mobile app.
 
Hmm...I've done a kettle sour over a few days holding a constant temp, but I guess that didn't involve different temps over that period.
Same here- held at 90F for a few days, no issues. I just created a test recipe and I put in 300 minutes for 2 mash cycles and 1000 in the third. So unless the unit itself refuses to follow the recipe program, I would think it would work fine.
 
Same here- held at 90F for a few days, no issues. I just created a test recipe and I put in 300 minutes for 2 mash cycles and 1000 in the third. So unless the unit itself refuses to follow the recipe program, I would think it would work fine.

They must have changed it recently. When I tried a month or 2 after the app update, it gave me an error saying the time value must be between 1-180. Just setting a temp was never an issue, it will maintain that temp, it was only with a mash cycle. Anyways, guess I am a happy camper again. Now just gotta remember to set the mash out time to 1000 when doing a delayed boil brew day!
 
Well, Grainfather did come through and replaced the unit even though it is past warranty! My replacement should be arriving today. In the meantime I bought a Connect unit and have brewed twice with it. I took the advice of another post here and have a fan pointed at it from heat up through the boil and the unit has stayed nice and cool.

I did the fan cooling on my last brew and the box was barely warm.. Going to keep doing it. I really do not want to have a melt down and electrical work ain't my thing to redo the plug.
 
Hey guys fixing to brew a choc milk stout . I added some stainless bolts and nuts on my extra top screen to make a false bottom like you guys said . Thanks for the idea ! 20191102_093301.jpg 20191102_093309.jpg
 
Has anyone added a second heating element to their Brewfather? I'm wondering if there's enough clearance between the bottom and the grain basket. I could do a drop in since I only need it for the boil, but it would be a much more neat installation permanently installed in the bottom. I'm assuming the stock element for the 120V version is different from the 240V element?
 
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Jag75, Good job on the legs and the brew.. The false bottom that you can by covers the whole bottom with little gap between the edges of the false bottom and the sides of the unit. Twenty dollars will get the false bottom and shipping to your front door. Look at MoreBeer for item #AG475D.. Only thing you need to make is a pull tab for lifting the bottom when done brewing. Easy... Soon as I learn how to post pictures I'll post mine...
 
Jag75, Good job on the legs and the brew.. The false bottom that you can by covers the whole bottom with little gap between the edges of the false bottom and the sides of the unit. Twenty dollars will get the false bottom and shipping to your front door. Look at MoreBeer for item #AG475D.. Only thing you need to make is a pull tab for lifting the bottom when done brewing. Easy... Soon as I learn how to post pictures I'll post mine...

Yeah that's the only thing about the screen from Gf I didnt like. So the RB false bottom covers the whole bottom?
 
Hello all. I’ve had my Grainfather Connect (110 US version) for a couple years and probably done 10 batches. I can not get my temp past 199 even with the lid on or stirring. I’ve even invested in a grain jacket. I do see the boil (not vigorous) when temp shows 199 so I usually manually kick it over to the boil step manually from the app. Does anyone else have issues hitting 200? Any solutions? I see a lot of threads about underrated plugs/cords...could that be related?
 
What's your altitude? And yes, long and/or inadequate gauge extension cords absolutely should be avoided.
 
jake77444 , I have the 110 V unit and the graincoat. The boiling stage on the 110 V unit is far from being impressive , but it is ... boiling. I don't use the app . To do a manual test ,press on the heat button and hold for 3 seconds. The manual mode doesn't take altitude into account.
Jacques
 
I misspoke I was meaning 99C / 210F is where my grainfather gets stuck at..I can’t get past that. Altitude is 1000ft
 
If you are at 1000 ft/300 m the boiling temperature will be 99C/110 F. So it is normal.
Could you post a picture of the boil so we can compare ?
 
I’m testing my U.S. version at an altitude of 4500’ to see where my boiling point is. Set target temp for 212f and let it go. I had a good rolling boil at 200f and temp wouldn’t go higher so I assume my boiling temp is 200f. Then I readjusted my target to 200f and added a little cool water to lower the temp. Now the temp has been holding at 196f for 30 minutes with heat at 78%. It will not heat up to the target. how will the app ever know when to shift to boil if I can’t reach my target boil temp?
 
I’m testing my U.S. version at an altitude of 4500’ to see where my boiling point is. Set target temp for 212f and let it go. I had a good rolling boil at 200f and temp wouldn’t go higher so I assume my boiling temp is 200f. Then I readjusted my target to 200f and added a little cool water to lower the temp. Now the temp has been holding at 196f for 30 minutes with heat at 78%. It will not heat up to the target. how will the app ever know when to shift to boil if I can’t reach my target boil temp?

Hi! Why would you set your target temp right at your boil point of 200°F? If you are boiling, let it go to the default setting of 212°F and your wort will boil when it hits 200°, it certainly won't get any hotter. If you're worried about the boil being too rigorous, then set your target at 205°, but at 1500 watts, I don't think that'll be an issue. Ed
 
Hi! Why would you set your target temp right at your boil point of 200°F? If you are boiling, let it go to the default setting of 212°F and your wort will boil when it hits 200°, it certainly won't get any hotter. If you're worried about the boil being too rigorous, then set your target at 205°, but at 1500 watts, I don't think that'll be an issue. Ed
I assumed that’s what I am supposed to do, set target at what I want. I’ve only played with manual settings. I’ll set my boil temp to 200f in the app and run it through a brew and see if the timer starts when the boil temp is reached. Maybe I’m worrying about a non issue.
 
If the target is set to 212 and the real boil temp is 200, the real temp will never reach 212 and the boiling timer will never start. I'm at sea level and run my GF 100% in manual mode. Once I used a GF clone at 3000 feet and had to change the default value so the boil timer could start
 
I’m testing my U.S. version at an altitude of 4500’ to see where my boiling point is. Set target temp for 212f and let it go. I had a good rolling boil at 200f and temp wouldn’t go higher so I assume my boiling temp is 200f. Then I readjusted my target to 200f and added a little cool water to lower the temp. Now the temp has been holding at 196f for 30 minutes with heat at 78%. It will not heat up to the target. how will the app ever know when to shift to boil if I can’t reach my target boil temp?

At 4500 feet, your boiling temp should be between 203 and 204.
 
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