The grainfather

[Topcook49]

Good evening.
I purchased a grainfather last week. On the first brew the mash stuck. The pump was running but there wasn’t any circulation of the mashing wort.
I cleaned it and found the filter to the pump was blocked solid with what I can only describe as sludge.
The latest sack of maris otter I purchased has been milled very fine, some as fine as four.
I assumed this was the cause
I sieved the maris otter taking out the flour and started again. The grainfather worked perfectly this time.
However I’m prepared for the beer flavor to be compromised, saying that the gravity came out at 1050.
We will see.
Has this happened to anyone else.
Has anyone any tips to avoid this happening again.
Thanks Andy

 

[ska'n'zen]

To prevent stuck sparge with very fine milled grains, use rice hulls.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, yuge Grainfather thread is here Grainfather!!

Cheers!

 

[The M]

I've been using Grainfather for 2.5 years now. I have had two close calls with stuck mash, both of them because of too fine milled malt. I have noticed that even if the pump filter has been blocked with generous amounts of solid material (hops/flour from malt) the pump has worked ok and recirculated the wort. Both times when I almost got stuck mash I just lifted the malt pipe and gave the grainbed couple of stirs with a wooden spoon and after that everything was smooth sailing. So I guess my problems were related to the grainbed itself and to be more precise the fine flour trapped inside the grainbed even though I always stir the grains as small portions to the mash water.

I don't know how fine your malt was milled but if it's too fine the flour might block the pump filter so that the circulation stops. The technique I have used has worked for me. The pump itself is surprisingly powerful so if you encounter same kind of problems you might want to try the method I described. Hope your next brewing sessions will be more successful. I've been very pleased with the Grainfather so give it another chance

 

[Jim R]

This guy had a similar problem from the filter being plugged (see video at 37:00 or so). As I recall on his next Grainfather video he used a "hop spider" to reduce hop residue around the filter which helped.

 

[Pkrd]

Usually it's the ball valve on the vertical pipe thats blocked with hop junk. You can take it apart to clear, or remove the ball and spring if you trust yourself to not turn on the pump without anything connected there (I don't). A hop spider helps for sure. I also swirl a large sieve around before the boil to remove any husks that have found their way out of the malt pipe.

 

[Jag75]

Along with the removal of ball and spring in the valve a false bottom that Robobrew uses works perfectly. I've made some hoppy stuff and dont have issues .

 

[Topcook49]

Good evening.
Thank you everyone for the advice. On my next brew day I’m going to remove the valve ball and spring prior to mashing and also add rice hulls. How much rice hulls do I need to add as a percentage to the mash load?
Cheers Andy

 

[Jag75]

Good evening.
Thank you everyone for the advice. On my next brew day I’m going to remove the valve ball and spring prior to mashing and also add rice hulls. How much rice hulls do I need to add as a percentage to the mash load?
Cheers Andy

I usually add .5 to 1 # of rice hulls . Look into the false bottom that Robobrew makes . It fits perfectly down at the bottom.

 

[Willee]

Here are some tips that work for me.
Replace the pump filter screen with something larger in size.
I found one that goes clear across the bottom.
Remove the spring and ball bearing from the valve ... it clogs up easily.
Dont press the top screen down against the grain bed.

If the pump or filter gets cloged or air locked blow air into the line (back into the pot) to clear it