Oh - what I am thinking about doing is putting a sock over the recirc pipe (to stop floating bits of grain etc from heading down it). Saw a guy using a proper metal thing in the same way. Thought it was a great idea).
Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread
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carniebrew
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Hmmm, not a bad idea...you could even just cut a bit of hop sock cloth, put it over the pipe and put the overflow inlet over the top of that.
I just had a look at the online instructions for the Grainfather (to remember what the overflow inlet widget was called)...it look like they've changed the recirc pipe to have a valve and spring assembly. Take a look at page 4 on here:
http://media.wix.com/ugd/e8b8c7_997167c3346440cb9223b0b3a1e378bf.pdf
I just had a look at the online instructions for the Grainfather (to remember what the overflow inlet widget was called)...it look like they've changed the recirc pipe to have a valve and spring assembly. Take a look at page 4 on here:
http://media.wix.com/ugd/e8b8c7_997167c3346440cb9223b0b3a1e378bf.pdf
Ah - looking at that diagram, what I meant was a sock over the covering the overflow pipe, but over the recirc pipe might work too.
Another thing I tried once (but have been too lazy to bother with again) was putting a hop sock over the chiller hose as it pumps into a fermenter.
Another thing I tried once (but have been too lazy to bother with again) was putting a hop sock over the chiller hose as it pumps into a fermenter.
carniebrew
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Why? Isn't the GF filter keeping all the crud out of your fermenter?kaiserben said:
Sorry yeah - it was during a recirc that i did it - ie back into GF (but now can't remember how early in the brew day it was. i'm thinking it was last part of boil, when recircing through chiller).
the gf filter doesn't catch the finer stuff.
the gf filter doesn't catch the finer stuff.
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bradsbrew
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I use a cut of end from a bazooka hop screen, works great. Should have made it longer thoughkaiserben said:
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bradsbrew
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I use the return pipe cover during the mash to prevent excess grain bits going to the bottom of the kettle, which in turn avoids excess grain in the boil. With a good floc agent like brewbrite or whirflock followed by a decent whirlpool and rest, the need to filter hop bits post chilling should be redundant.nads said:
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Killer Brew
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I would love to know this too. Have pre-approval from the minister of finance to invest in one of these late in the year.panzerd18 said:
HBHB
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It has?panzerd18 said:
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carniebrew
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Actually I spoke to the GF guys about this in a recent conversation....they sent me one of their "brew in a box" kits to apologise for a couple of small issues I had with my unit on delivery....the recipe (their "Jacked up!" APA) had a large flameout addition then a "stand" for 20-30 minutes. When I referred to it as a whirlpool in some feedback I sent them, they came back and said specifically that the Grainfather does not need a whirlpool, the design is such that getting a trub cone is not important...I guess because of the filter and its placement? Let me see if I can dig out the actual wording...kaiserben said:
EDIT: Here we go:
"Cool, thanks for sending this info through- just wanting to confirm that you are aware that you do not need to do a “whirpool” when brewing with the Grainfather. Most of the trub is left behind in the grainfather when chilled into the fermenter, as the pump is covered with a filter which stops the trub from getting trough. This isn’t really necessary with the Grainfather as the pump filter prevents this from being pumped into the counter flow wort chiller.
We don’t see getting a small amount of trub into the fermenter as a major issue as it is a good source of fatty acid’s for the yeast and actually enable them to perform a healthy fermentation. When removing all the cold break you actually get an increased ethyl acetate production which make the air drop character come through(undesirable) You also end up no nucleation points and end up with total saturation of CO2 in the wort – which impede fermentation"
fishingbrad
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carniebrew
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I believe an updated version has already come out. The pictures I'm seeing of the current version look a bit different to mine, specifically the return pipe that runs up the side of the unit, it appears to have a new tap/valve that wasn't there before. They also replaced the counterflow chiller a while back...that seems to be their modus operandi, they upgrade components as they go along and just start supplying the new units with those new pieces.
There's been talk for a while about a PID to replace the controller, I'd be surprised if that didn't come out soon enough...but it may have a corresponding price increase.
There's been talk for a while about a PID to replace the controller, I'd be surprised if that didn't come out soon enough...but it may have a corresponding price increase.
GalBrew
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That explains why they have jacked the price up on their website to $1150.
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