Why do people look down on the Grainfather?

[linusstick]

I was considering getting one because I think it would be nice in the winter time and a lot less cleanup. I see lots of people saying the beer doesn’t turn out very good. Is that just traditionalists looking down at a different way to brew? I can’t see why if the thing holds mash temps, boils and cools wort how would beer made with it be any inferior to beer made on a three tier system?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Because it only stands a couple feet tall.

 

[stz]

I've a friend with one and he is very happy with it. I am envious of the small footprint, ease of clean up and ability to set and forget hot liquor. He seems to fit more spontaneous brew days in where as I have to plan ahead. I am not fussed about anything else because my three tier system handles bigger volumes at higher gravities with greater hop loads, was cheaper to make and is much more flexible. It does occupy the kitchen, garage or a bit of either alongside some patio depending on how I set it up though and a 15g batch cannot be reduced down to less than 4 hours so pretty unreasonable with children around.

 

[linusstick]

Since I am only doing 1.5-3 gallon batches I can’t see any downside but apparently others do. Just trying to get some more info before I seriously consider

 

[chickypad]

Where are you seeing lots of people saying it doesn't make good beer? That sounds like a problem with the brewer not the system. The Electric Brewing forum has a bunch of GF threads including a very long one titled "Grainfather!!"

 

[madscientist451]

Man, I'm not going to "look down" on anything you choose to buy, even if its a 30 pack of BudLimaRita. Do what's best for you, and don't worry....

 

[kh54s10]

About the only complaints, after learning how to work it, that I have heard is the trouble trying to brew really high gravity beers. But that is a problem with any BIAB system of that size.

 

[jturman35]

I agree if it works for you then who cares? I choose another route because I wanted to make big gravity beers at 5 gal batches!

 

[Smellyglove]

Lots of people are very happy with it. Lots of people would never touch it.

My thought is that those two camps are separated by experience. If you're all in, you'd like to build a system does exactly what you want it to do. With a one-vessel fabric-made systems you'll run into some compromises either way. You can't ask it to do more than it can. It could be a cheapo thing, or a Speidel or a GF.

If you build your own system you can make it do whatever you want it to do. I believe that's the difference.

 

[linusstick]

Lots of people are very happy with it. Lots of people would never touch it.

My thought is that those two camps are separated by experience. If you're all in, you'd like to build a system does exactly what you want it to do. With a one-vessel fabric-made systems you'll run into some compromises either way. You can't ask it to do more than it can. It could be a cheapo thing, or a Speidel or a GF.

If you build your own system you can make it do whatever you want it to do. I believe that's the difference.

What exactly is it that you (or anyone) is looking to do with their systems that this can’t? That’s where I’m confused. I hear statements like that but when I ask a follow up question about specifics, I don’t get any concrete answers. I’m sure there must be some, I’m probably not talking to the right people [emoji3]So specifically, can you think about something you would want to do on a brew day and think “oh wait I have a Grainfather- to do <blank> I need to build my own system. The only thing I can think of (as stated above) would be bigger batches or high ABV beers, but the fact that I’m only doing small batches I think I got both of those things covered

 

[applescrap]

Never heard anybody looking down at the gf. Biab, no chill, warm fermented lagers, quick brewing and no hydrometer on the other hand[emoji85]

 

[ancientmariner52]

This is Ford vs Chevy stuff. Buy what you like, tweak it til it runs sweet.

I'd rather walk than be seen in a Chevy, but that's just me.

 

[AkTom]

I love my 3 tier system. If a grainfather works for you, jump on it.

 

[mongoose33]

Man, I'm not going to "look down" on anything you choose to buy, even if its a 30 pack of BudLimaRita. Do what's best for you, and don't worry....

You do what you want to do, but if he buys a 30-pack of BudLimaRita, I'm looking down on him.

 

[thehaze]

I have a Grainfather Connect and it works great. I do not believe, I have read about people saying the beer was bad.

I made 19 batches on it ( 4 are being carbonated at the moment ). I made a NEIPA, Saisons, Red ales, IPAs, Stouts, Belgian pale and dark, etc. and all turned out very well. Some better than others, but as chickypad stated above, it is a brewer / lack of experience / recipe / fermentation capability, etc. limitation. At least with my brews, but you cannot really skip the learning phase, which is different from brewer to brewer.

Regarding high gravity brews: it is half true. It is really hard to brew 5 gallons ( 19 L ) of high gravity beers. But I just bottled 5.5 gallons ( 21 L ) of A 9.2% Dark Ale ( OG 1.096 ), so it is not impossible.

If you just brew 4-4.5 gallons of a high gravity beer, you can easily hit 10-11%. So I would not call that an issue. High gravity beers are meant to be aged a bit ( style dependant ) and I usually bottle in 0.33 L bottles, so I do not care I only got 50 bottles instead of 60.

 

[Smellyglove]

What exactly is it that you (or anyone) is looking to do with their systems that this can’t? That’s where I’m confused. I hear statements like that but when I ask a follow up question about specifics, I don’t get any concrete answers. I’m sure there must be some, I’m probably not talking to the right people [emoji3]So specifically, can you think about something you would want to do on a brew day and think “oh wait I have a Grainfather- to do <blank> I need to build my own system. The only thing I can think of (as stated above) would be bigger batches or high ABV beers, but the fact that I’m only doing small batches I think I got both of those things covered

I see I edited out from my first answer by accident that I see mostly happy people with a grainfather. And it seems like a great buy.

Every brewer has different needs. I like to chose components myself. For instance many people report that the pump or filter gets stuck when doing very hoppy beers, I use a march pump which never gets stuck, and don't need to mess around with a pump filter. I like to be able to tweak how my PID performs (not just calibrating it), I want a WP port, I don't want to lift the grain-thing, I want an immersion chiller (can add one, but why spend money on something you don't want). I want a temp-probe in the middle of the mash tun, and not on the bottom, and not a probe which can be covered by scorched stuff or hops which will make it read wrong temperature. If the thing breaks down I can't brew on it. If of of my components break down I just swap that piece out, or brew without it.

There's always some sort of "workaround" for things that doesn't work flawlessly, or aren't just like you'd want them to be, but then I feel it's more suited to build a system which doesn't need much workarounds, as it does as it's designed.

Basically, I want a different system than a Grainfather, as it can't do what I want it to do, like said in the first post.

 

[linusstick]

I see I edited out from my first answer by accident that I see mostly happy people with a grainfather. And it seems like a great buy.

Every brewer has different needs. I like to chose components myself. For instance many people report that the pump or filter gets stuck when doing very hoppy beers, I use a march pump which never gets stuck, and don't need to mess around with a pump filter. I like to be able to tweak how my PID performs (not just calibrating it), I want a WP port, I don't want to lift the grain-thing, I want an immersion chiller (can add one, but why spend money on something you don't want). I want a temp-probe in the middle of the mash tun, and not on the bottom, and not a probe which can be covered by scorched stuff or hops which will make it read wrong temperature. If the thing breaks down I can't brew on it. If of of my components break down I just swap that piece out, or brew without it.

There's always some sort of "workaround" for things that doesn't work flawlessly, but then I'd rather build a system which doesn't need much workarounds, it does as designed.

Basically, I want a different system than a Grainfather, as it can't do what I want it to do, like said in the first post.

Makes sense. Thanks for clarifying. Gives me more to consider

 

[Lefou]

This is Ford vs Chevy stuff. Buy what you like, tweak it til it runs sweet.

I'd rather walk than be seen in a Chevy, but that's just me.

Off topic .... I can call a 2003 Ford Lightning my own, but the wife's little gas miser - a Prius -makes me secretly jealous. If I was to go electric, Grainfather would be a great mid-range brewing choice as opposed to the more expensive setups I've seen.

 

[ancientmariner52]

That's what I'm talking about. But take a half ton of cinder blocks to the end of a dirt road? Better drive the truck. Fit for purpose is the question, and everyone needs to decide for themselves.

 

[brewbama]

The only issue I’ve heard is the pump clogging and I think there’s a fix for that. ...but other than that Brew the way you want to brew. It’s your beer. Cheers!

 

[hopjuice_71]

Well, long time lurker here...first post (sorry for not introducing myself). I started brewing ~25 years ago..used a Zapap lauter tun..3V system (spent a lot on this)...BIAB..been there, done almost everything. I bought a Grainfather a year ago because I was done with messing around and just wanted to focus on recipe development. Things are bit slower (110V in Canada) but I wouldn't go back. So easy. I even do double brew days with the help of a bucket heater to heat up the water in another pot for batch #2. My beer is as good, or better, than ever. I had my own issues with what equipment and how the equipment was used to make the wort until I realized..far too slowly, to my detriment..that the recipe and fermentation procedures are really where the gains are made. The GF is really just a wort-maker...and its pretty good.

As for the pump..I have had issues with large hop additions and using pellet hops, but using bags or a hop spider got rid of these issues entirely. Totally happy. However, i'm sure many of these single vessel, recirculating BIAB-type instruments would be equally good, though the full-on stainless steel of the GF is pretty nice.

Totally your choice. Hope this helps with your perception.

Cheers

 

[jalc6927]

The only reason I didn’t buy it was because it isn’t big enough to do 10 gallon batches, other than that it’s a great system