Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread

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Mill gap is different for every mill, so 1.2mm crush on a Mash Master is diferent to that off a Monster Mill, and different again on a Crankenstien or Maltmuncher. And different brewing methods need differing crush, hence having your own mill is handy. Maybe have your HBS run the grain through twice.
 
btrots87 said:
I'm getting the grain crushed when I buy it since I don't have my own mill yet. Website said their mill was set at 1.2mm as standard, should I ask for a smaller gap next time?

Won't help for this weekend since I already have the grain.
Did you let the grain bed drain and then move the top plate down on top of the grain bed before sparging?
 
Futur said:
Did you let the grain bed drain and then move the top plate down on top of the grain bed before sparging?
I never do that. I start sparging immediately and don't touch the top plate and no problems with efficiency here.
 
Coodgee said:
I never do that. I start sparging immediately and don't touch the top plate and no problems with efficiency here.
I've done both methods and noticed improved efficiency by moving the top plate down to the top of the grain bed. This is the reason I asked, not to mention that it's the recommended method in accordance with the grainfather instructional videos.
 
Futur said:
Did you let the grain bed drain and then move the top plate down on top of the grain bed before sparging?
Yeah, lifted the grain, pushed the top plate down till it was just sitting on top of the grain and started sparging.

Can't upload any photos atm but to my untrained eye the crush looks pretty similar to the grainfather website.
 
Hello Grainfather Brewers

The recent conversations on this thread are about mash efficiency and the various effects of grain bill size, mill crush and sparging technique. As I'm new to AHB and brewing in general I've been scrolling through a lot of the forum threads recently. The information I have learned from this thread in particular has been invaluable. So thank you all. Given that many of us have come up against similar problems I thought I should summarise the best recommendations (dating back to to the threads beginnings!) and throw in my two cents worth after the grand total of two GF brews. I'll try to stick to GF specifics.

1. Pay attention to water chemistry and mash pH
This may be obvious to the seasoned brewers but it wasn't something I paid much attention to initially, just threw in some Gypsum and didn't test pH. Many of you may be using RO or distilled water and are building your water profile from scratch (so you must know what your doing). I'm using boiled tap water and adding salts/distilled water. For my second brew I used the Bru'n water spreadsheet. Contacted my local water authority for average scheme water salt and pH values.

The first brew I didn't have a pH meter and I suspect my mash pH was nowhere near low enough and was a factor in poor mash efficiency (56%). The second time around I tested pH. I boiled the mash and sparge water the evening before to drive off chlorine. To my surprise the pH went from 7.1 pre-boil to 9.1 post boil. This is because boiling tap water drives C02 out of solution, lowering the bicarbonate concentration (removing temporary hardness). I therefore had to revise my salt and acid additions to achieve the desired mash pH (5.2 to 5.5). A pH meter is very helpful and got one for $49 at the LHBS . Also remember to add salts and acid to your sparge water to achieve a pH of 5.5.

2. Grain crush size does matter.
My first brew's mash efficiency was poor and consequently under shot OG by 20 points. In retrospect grain crush was a factor amongst others. I bought the grain pre-crushed and now that I know more about it realise it was far too coarse. It's said LHBS generally undermill (if you don't specify) as they don't want to be accused of creating a stuck sparge. For my second brew I purposely used a Grainkids Kit (The Belgian Witbier) as I wanted to see the crush size Amake used. The crush was a lot finer and I hit the OG bang on. I have a mill on order and will be playing around with crush size. Carniebrews share yesterday of graincrush recommendations on the GF Weekly Mash post is a good guide. http://www.grainfath...839464746745922

3. Sparging
There has been lot's of talk regarding the best method to sparge. I haven't even come close to a stuck sparge (probably to do with crush size.) Start sparging straight after I pull up the mash tun and all over in 5 minutes, both times. The premature sparge, don't tell my wife. I was so concerned the first time that I might have been channeling sparge water through the grain bed that I removed the top mash plate half way through and gave it a good stir. It didn't seem to make any difference, probably worse. Others in this thread have reported sparge times as low as 5 minutes and some up to an hour. I think that if it goes through easily then don't worry too much, the GF people seem to think it should take up to 15 minutes. If you experiencing a slow/stuck sparge perhaps give it a stir. Advice in this thread suggests that if you wait too long for the mash tun to drain before sparging, the grain bed will compact too much and you are more likely to get a stuck/slow sparge. Use rice hulls if you have a big grain bill with lots of unhusked grain (e.g., rye or wheat). A 10 min mashout at 75C before sparging will also help the wort be more fluid and provide an easier sparge.

4. The Boil
You should have hit the boil button as soon as you started sparging. Faster that way. Wait for the hot break before starting the timer for the boil. Even though Amake don't think it's required, use a Hop Spider or Sock, especially for large hop additions. So many brewers on this thread have found their pump has clagged with hops during the chill when they have big hop additions. My first brew was a hoppy APA and I dumped the hops straight in. It took me almost an hour to pump the wort into the fermenter because of the massive hop trub around the filter. Consequently my 5 minute hop addition hung around at 80+ degrees for ages so I way overshot on IBUs and didn't get the aroma I wanted. Second brew had a puny hop addition as it was a Belgian Wit but there was 5 minute Coriander and (powdered) Orange Peel addition. Chucked all this in the hop spider and had no problems with the pump. Piss easy to clean up as well.

5. Using the Counterflow Chiller
What a cool piece of kit eh? Some debate in this thread about how long you should recirculate before dumping into the FV. The argument is that if you re-circulate until you get the wort down to 40 degrees or so you leave the cold break in the boiler rather than transferring it to the FV. But cold break is supposed to be good food for Yeasties and you should be able to leave the cold break in the primary anyway. Still haven't worked out what is best but I'm siding with the 'dump it straight into the FV camp' for now.

The chiller is most efficient if there is a high temperature gradient between the cooling water and the wort. On hot days when ground water is 28 degrees plus and you are anal about rapid chilling it is worth using a pre-chiller. A few months ago there was good advice given about using an immersion chiller coil in a bucket of ice water laced with pool salt to cool your tap water before it enters the counterflow. Tried this is on the weekend and it worked a treat. I'll take a photo next time. Other threads state that rapid chilling is over-rated and as you know there is whole tribe of no-chillers out there. It probably matters most if you are brewing a lager and don't want to hang around for ages whilst your wort chills in the fridge down to pitching temp.

Start counterflow chilling with the side-arm tap barely open and adjust the flow of wort and tap water to achieve cool wort. When the wort out hose feels cool lift it out of the boiler and direct it into the FV. If you are really worried about temp measurement you can stick a thermometer in a sample, or if you are really fancy there is something called a 'Thrumometer' which you can plumb in and measures the wort temp in the line. Around $50 at my LHBS but I don't think I'll bother.

I reckon that if you don't achieve a rapid chill don't sweat it. Some on this forum have said that Palmer's advice about the importance of rapid chilling is over-rated. Just let the wort cool in the FV until it reaches pitching temp and chuck it in the fermenting fridge to speed things up if you have one.


6. Cleaning Up
Clean up straight away. Clean your mash tun whilst the wort is boiling. Dismantle it entirely and dry throroughly. I have seen pictures of rusty bottom perforated plates where the nut traps water against it. Best to dismantle. The Grainfather cleaner solution seems to work fine especially if you recirculate at 50 degrees as per the recommendation. There may be just as suitable and cheaper cleaning solutions but for now I'm happy with the recommended stuff.


Well there you have it. A newbies limited experience. Please take me to task if i've said anything outrageous.

Cheers

Chris
 
Chridech said:
Hello Grainfather Brewers
<snip>

3. Sparging
There has been lot's of talk regarding the best method to sparge. I haven't even come close to a stuck sparge (probably to do with crush size.) Start sparging straight after I pull up the mash tun and all over in 5 minutes, both times. The premature sparge, don't tell my wife. I was so concerned the first time that I might have been channeling sparge water through the grain bed that I removed the top mash plate half way through and gave it a good stir. It didn't seem to make any difference, probably worse. Others in this thread have reported sparge times as low as 5 minutes and some up to an hour. I think that if it goes through easily then don't worry too much, the GF people seem to think it should take up to 15 minutes. If you experiencing a slow/stuck sparge perhaps give it a stir. Advice in this thread suggests that if you wait too long for the mash tun to drain before sparging, the grain bed will compact too much and you are more likely to get a stuck/slow sparge. Use rice hulls if you have a big grain bill with lots of unhusked grain (e.g., rye or wheat). A 10 min mashout at 75C before sparging will also help the wort be more fluid and provide an easier sparge.

5. Using the Counterflow Chiller
What a cool piece of kit eh? Some debate in this thread about how long you should recirculate before dumping into the FV. The argument is that if you re-circulate until you get the wort down to 40 degrees or so you leave the cold break in the boiler rather than transferring it to the FV. But cold break is supposed to be good food for Yeasties and you should be able to leave the cold break in the primary anyway. Still haven't worked out what is best but I'm siding with the 'dump it straight into the FV camp' for now.

<snip>
Great work Chris, really comprehensive. Couple of questions/points from me...

With your sparge, you mention your crush between brews 1 and 2 was very different, with the grainkids crush being a lot more fine. But your sparge speed (5 mins) was the same on both, is that right? The one thing that's been putting me off going back to a finer mill size is the memory of the 45m sparge I had when I last did it...but admittedly back then I didn't know the trick about starting the sparge as soon as you pull the malt pipe up. So I guess the slow sparge must be a lot more to do with the latter (which is good to know as I've just closed my mill gap significantly for my next brew).

Re: chilling...I hadn't heard/read the advice about chilling to 40C before racking to the FV, I reckon that's madness. I chill for around 5 minutes, the wort in the GF would be around 80C or so by then, then I go straight into the FV. Depending on the time of year it's anywhere between 21C and 26C. If it's 22C or below I pitch straight away, above that I'll let it cool in the fridge first. And as you say, an army of no-chillers have completely disproved any myths about having to chill quickly...but even if it's taking you 30m to chill your brew from 100C to under 50C, that's still considered quick chilling.

Oh and hop spiders...I've done quite a few big hoppy pales using both spider and straight into the GF...I don't mind either way in terms of transferring to FV, as I find the filter being clogged acts as a natural way to slow down the transfer, making the chiller more effective....i.e. no need to change the valve on the side-arm or chiller itself. But I couldn't agree more on the ease of clean up when I use my stainless hop spider...and I haven't found it affects my hop utilisation at all...it's almost half the size of the GF itself so there's plenty of room for the boil to extract what it needs (and I find myself regularly stirring it during the boil anyway).

Cheers again for the write-up, it'd be good to make this a sticky post somehow.
 
Chridech said:
Hello Grainfather Brewers
.
.
.
Well there you have it. A newbies limited experience. Please take me to task if i've said anything outrageous.

Cheers

Chris
Some great stuff here. Cheers Chris!
 
Thanks Carniebrew

With your sparge, you mention your crush between brews 1 and 2 was very different, with the grainkids crush being a lot more fine. But your sparge speed (5 mins) was the same on both, is that right? The one thing that's been putting me off going back to a finer mill size is the memory of the 45m sparge I had when I last did it...but admittedly back then I didn't know the trick about starting the sparge as soon as you pull the malt pipe up. So I guess the slow sparge must be a lot more to do with the latter (which is good to know as I've just closed my mill gap significantly for my next brew).

Yes, my post is ambiguous. I think the grainbills for both brews (both just shy of 6kg) weren't large enough to cause a sparging issue and neither were a particularly fine crush. Just that the second was finer than the first which was definitely way too coarse. There was little or no flour in the second (finer) grain bill but it was enough of a crush to expose all the endosperm from the pilsener malt and free up the husks. There was also whole rolled oats in this second (finer) grain bill which may have assisted with ease of sparging. There is not much point quoting mill gap sizes, as it has been pointed out earlier in the thread, as it varies so much depending on the type of mill used. I found a technical article comparing grain crush with various mills (but not the Mashmaster) which I will post when I work out how to do it!

One brewer theorised earlier in the thread that starting the sparge immediately keeps the grain bed fluid and assists with the ease of sparge. As long as you are getting a good flow through the grain bed with the specified amount of sparge water at the correct temp (at least 75C) and acidity (pH 5.5) then a quick sparge hopefully won't adversely effect efficiency.

Re: chilling...I hadn't heard/read the advice about chilling to 40C before racking to the FV, I reckon that's madness. I chill for around 5 minutes, the wort in the GF would be around 80C or so by then, then I go straight into the FV. Depending on the time of year it's anywhere between 21C and 26C. If it's 22C or below I pitch straight away, above that I'll let it cool in the fridge first. And as you say, an army of no-chillers have completely disproved any myths about having to chill quickly...but even if it's taking you 30m to chill your brew from 100C to under 50C, that's still considered quick chilling.

Agree. I just get impatient to pitch the yeast!

Oh and hop spiders...I've done quite a few big hoppy pales using both spider and straight into the GF...I don't mind either way in terms of transferring to FV, as I find the filter being clogged acts as a natural way to slow down the transfer, making the chiller more effective....i.e. no need to change the valve on the side-arm or chiller itself. But I couldn't agree more on the ease of clean up when I use my stainless hop spider...and I haven't found it affects my hop utilisation at all...it's almost half the size of the GF itself so there's plenty of room for the boil to extract what it needs (and I find myself regularly stirring it during the boil anyway).

Yes, if you argue that taking an hour to chill doesn't actually matter, then having hops packed around the filter is a good thing as the GF people point out. With my large hop addition the pump was very slow (1 hour) but didn't block. Others in this thread have posted that the pump blocked completely such that they had to rack the wort out the boiler rather than use the pump. Worse still, if I remember correctly, one brewer posted that he knocked the pump filter off with the mash paddle when trying to free hops off the bottom to improve flow. That would make for a bad afternoon brewing.

I also think that if its going to be unpredictable how long it going to take to chill, it will have a bearing on your IBU calculations. I reckon last minute hop additions that hang around in hot wort for up to an hour are going to lose their aroma and contribute to undue bitterness. So it's a hop spider for me because it gives more control.

What do you think about performing a whirlpool? Meant to try it with the second brew but forgot. Also if you leave a large hop spider in place it cant be done, but would probably be achievable with a hop sock?

Cheers again for the write-up, it'd be good to make this a sticky post somehow.

I've got some thoughts on Grainmaster profiles for Brewsmith recipe formulation and boil volume shortfalls but will post when I've thought about it some more.

Cheers

Chris

Edited by carniebrew, Today, 07:02 AM.
 
Chridech said:
Oh and hop spiders...I've done quite a few big hoppy pales using both spider and straight into the GF...I don't mind either way in terms of transferring to FV, as I find the filter being clogged acts as a natural way to slow down the transfer, making the chiller more effective....i.e. no need to change the valve on the side-arm or chiller itself. But I couldn't agree more on the ease of clean up when I use my stainless hop spider...and I haven't found it affects my hop utilisation at all...it's almost half the size of the GF itself so there's plenty of room for the boil to extract what it needs (and I find myself regularly stirring it during the boil anyway).

Yes, if you argue that taking an hour to chill doesn't actually matter, then having hops packed around the filter is a good thing as the GF people point out. With my large hop addition the pump was very slow (1 hour) but didn't block. Others in this thread have posted that the pump blocked completely such that they had to rack the wort out the boiler rather than use the pump. Worse still, if I remember correctly, one brewer posted that he knocked the pump filter off with the mash paddle when trying to free hops off the bottom to improve flow. That would make for a bad afternoon brewing.

I also think that if its going to be unpredictable how long it going to take to chill, it will have a bearing on your IBU calculations. I reckon last minute hop additions that hang around in hot wort for up to an hour are going to lose their aroma and contribute to undue bitterness. So it's a hop spider for me because it gives more control.

What do you think about performing a whirlpool? Meant to try it with the second brew but forgot. Also if you leave a large hop spider in place it cant be done, but would probably be achievable with a hop sock?
I've done some heavily hopped beers but haven't found it block the pump completely, or to a level where transferring out takes an hour. But I do think I'll use the hop spider for my hoppy beers going forward, it just makes a number of things easier and I haven't found any drawbacks.

In terms of a whirlpool, I actually conversed directly with iMake on the subject...they suggested that an actual whirlpool isn't necessary with the grainfather...a post-boil whirlpool is primarily aimed at trying to get a good trub cone in the centre of the boiler, away from the boiler's ball valve outlet. The GF's filter/pump setup means that cone isn't necessary. Instead you can just do a hop stand at flameout...which is really just the same thing without having to create an actual whirlpool. I've been following that myself for 6 months or so myself with good results.
 
Chridech said:
Hello Grainfather Brewers

The recent conversations on this thread are about mash efficiency and the various effects of grain bill size, mill crush and sparging technique. As I'm new to AHB and brewing in general I've been scrolling through a lot of the forum threads recently. The information I have learned from this thread in particular has been invaluable. So thank you all. Given that many of us have come up against similar problems I thought I should summarise the best recommendations (dating back to to the threads beginnings!) and throw in my two cents worth after the grand total of two GF brews. I'll try to stick to GF specifics.

1. Pay attention to water chemistry and mash pH
This may be obvious to the seasoned brewers but it wasn't something I paid much attention to initially, just threw in some Gypsum and didn't test pH. Many of you may be using RO or distilled water and are building your water profile from scratch (so you must know what your doing). I'm using boiled tap water and adding salts/distilled water. For my second brew I used the Bru'n water spreadsheet. Contacted my local water authority for average scheme water salt and pH values.

The first brew I didn't have a pH meter and I suspect my mash pH was nowhere near low enough and was a factor in poor mash efficiency (56%). The second time around I tested pH. I boiled the mash and sparge water the evening before to drive off chlorine. To my surprise the pH went from 7.1 pre-boil to 9.1 post boil. This is because boiling tap water drives C02 out of solution, lowering the bicarbonate concentration (removing temporary hardness). I therefore had to revise my salt and acid additions to achieve the desired mash pH (5.2 to 5.5). A pH meter is very helpful and got one for $49 at the LHBS . Also remember to add salts and acid to your sparge water to achieve a pH of 5.5.

2. Grain crush size does matter.
My first brew's mash efficiency was poor and consequently under shot OG by 20 points. In retrospect grain crush was a factor amongst others. I bought the grain pre-crushed and now that I know more about it realise it was far too coarse. It's said LHBS generally undermill (if you don't specify) as they don't want to be accused of creating a stuck sparge. For my second brew I purposely used a Grainkids Kit (The Belgian Witbier) as I wanted to see the crush size Amake used. The crush was a lot finer and I hit the OG bang on. I have a mill on order and will be playing around with crush size. Carniebrews share yesterday of graincrush recommendations on the GF Weekly Mash post is a good guide. http://www.grainfath...839464746745922

3. Sparging
There has been lot's of talk regarding the best method to sparge. I haven't even come close to a stuck sparge (probably to do with crush size.) Start sparging straight after I pull up the mash tun and all over in 5 minutes, both times. The premature sparge, don't tell my wife. I was so concerned the first time that I might have been channeling sparge water through the grain bed that I removed the top mash plate half way through and gave it a good stir. It didn't seem to make any difference, probably worse. Others in this thread have reported sparge times as low as 5 minutes and some up to an hour. I think that if it goes through easily then don't worry too much, the GF people seem to think it should take up to 15 minutes. If you experiencing a slow/stuck sparge perhaps give it a stir. Advice in this thread suggests that if you wait too long for the mash tun to drain before sparging, the grain bed will compact too much and you are more likely to get a stuck/slow sparge. Use rice hulls if you have a big grain bill with lots of unhusked grain (e.g., rye or wheat). A 10 min mashout at 75C before sparging will also help the wort be more fluid and provide an easier sparge.

4. The Boil
You should have hit the boil button as soon as you started sparging. Faster that way. Wait for the hot break before starting the timer for the boil. Even though Amake don't think it's required, use a Hop Spider or Sock, especially for large hop additions. So many brewers on this thread have found their pump has clagged with hops during the chill when they have big hop additions. My first brew was a hoppy APA and I dumped the hops straight in. It took me almost an hour to pump the wort into the fermenter because of the massive hop trub around the filter. Consequently my 5 minute hop addition hung around at 80+ degrees for ages so I way overshot on IBUs and didn't get the aroma I wanted. Second brew had a puny hop addition as it was a Belgian Wit but there was 5 minute Coriander and (powdered) Orange Peel addition. Chucked all this in the hop spider and had no problems with the pump. Piss easy to clean up as well.

5. Using the Counterflow Chiller
What a cool piece of kit eh? Some debate in this thread about how long you should recirculate before dumping into the FV. The argument is that if you re-circulate until you get the wort down to 40 degrees or so you leave the cold break in the boiler rather than transferring it to the FV. But cold break is supposed to be good food for Yeasties and you should be able to leave the cold break in the primary anyway. Still haven't worked out what is best but I'm siding with the 'dump it straight into the FV camp' for now.

The chiller is most efficient if there is a high temperature gradient between the cooling water and the wort. On hot days when ground water is 28 degrees plus and you are anal about rapid chilling it is worth using a pre-chiller. A few months ago there was good advice given about using an immersion chiller coil in a bucket of ice water laced with pool salt to cool your tap water before it enters the counterflow. Tried this is on the weekend and it worked a treat. I'll take a photo next time. Other threads state that rapid chilling is over-rated and as you know there is whole tribe of no-chillers out there. It probably matters most if you are brewing a lager and don't want to hang around for ages whilst your wort chills in the fridge down to pitching temp.

Start counterflow chilling with the side-arm tap barely open and adjust the flow of wort and tap water to achieve cool wort. When the wort out hose feels cool lift it out of the boiler and direct it into the FV. If you are really worried about temp measurement you can stick a thermometer in a sample, or if you are really fancy there is something called a 'Thrumometer' which you can plumb in and measures the wort temp in the line. Around $50 at my LHBS but I don't think I'll bother.

I reckon that if you don't achieve a rapid chill don't sweat it. Some on this forum have said that Palmer's advice about the importance of rapid chilling is over-rated. Just let the wort cool in the FV until it reaches pitching temp and chuck it in the fermenting fridge to speed things up if you have one.


6. Cleaning Up
Clean up straight away. Clean your mash tun whilst the wort is boiling. Dismantle it entirely and dry throroughly. I have seen pictures of rusty bottom perforated plates where the nut traps water against it. Best to dismantle. The Grainfather cleaner solution seems to work fine especially if you recirculate at 50 degrees as per the recommendation. There may be just as suitable and cheaper cleaning solutions but for now I'm happy with the recommended stuff.


Well there you have it. A newbies limited experience. Please take me to task if i've said anything outrageous.

Cheers

Chris

Chridech said:
Thanks Carniebrew

With your sparge, you mention your crush between brews 1 and 2 was very different, with the grainkids crush being a lot more fine. But your sparge speed (5 mins) was the same on both, is that right? The one thing that's been putting me off going back to a finer mill size is the memory of the 45m sparge I had when I last did it...but admittedly back then I didn't know the trick about starting the sparge as soon as you pull the malt pipe up. So I guess the slow sparge must be a lot more to do with the latter (which is good to know as I've just closed my mill gap significantly for my next brew).

Yes, my post is ambiguous. I think the grainbills for both brews (both just shy of 6kg) weren't large enough to cause a sparging issue and neither were a particularly fine crush. Just that the second was finer than the first which was definitely way too coarse. There was little or no flour in the second (finer) grain bill but it was enough of a crush to expose all the endosperm from the pilsener malt and free up the husks. There was also whole rolled oats in this second (finer) grain bill which may have assisted with ease of sparging. There is not much point quoting mill gap sizes, as it has been pointed out earlier in the thread, as it varies so much depending on the type of mill used. I found a technical article comparing grain crush with various mills (but not the Mashmaster) which I will post when I work out how to do it!

One brewer theorised earlier in the thread that starting the sparge immediately keeps the grain bed fluid and assists with the ease of sparge. As long as you are getting a good flow through the grain bed with the specified amount of sparge water at the correct temp (at least 75C) and acidity (pH 5.5) then a quick sparge hopefully won't adversely effect efficiency.

Re: chilling...I hadn't heard/read the advice about chilling to 40C before racking to the FV, I reckon that's madness. I chill for around 5 minutes, the wort in the GF would be around 80C or so by then, then I go straight into the FV. Depending on the time of year it's anywhere between 21C and 26C. If it's 22C or below I pitch straight away, above that I'll let it cool in the fridge first. And as you say, an army of no-chillers have completely disproved any myths about having to chill quickly...but even if it's taking you 30m to chill your brew from 100C to under 50C, that's still considered quick chilling.

Agree. I just get impatient to pitch the yeast!

Oh and hop spiders...I've done quite a few big hoppy pales using both spider and straight into the GF...I don't mind either way in terms of transferring to FV, as I find the filter being clogged acts as a natural way to slow down the transfer, making the chiller more effective....i.e. no need to change the valve on the side-arm or chiller itself. But I couldn't agree more on the ease of clean up when I use my stainless hop spider...and I haven't found it affects my hop utilisation at all...it's almost half the size of the GF itself so there's plenty of room for the boil to extract what it needs (and I find myself regularly stirring it during the boil anyway).

Yes, if you argue that taking an hour to chill doesn't actually matter, then having hops packed around the filter is a good thing as the GF people point out. With my large hop addition the pump was very slow (1 hour) but didn't block. Others in this thread have posted that the pump blocked completely such that they had to rack the wort out the boiler rather than use the pump. Worse still, if I remember correctly, one brewer posted that he knocked the pump filter off with the mash paddle when trying to free hops off the bottom to improve flow. That would make for a bad afternoon brewing.

I also think that if its going to be unpredictable how long it going to take to chill, it will have a bearing on your IBU calculations. I reckon last minute hop additions that hang around in hot wort for up to an hour are going to lose their aroma and contribute to undue bitterness. So it's a hop spider for me because it gives more control.

What do you think about performing a whirlpool? Meant to try it with the second brew but forgot. Also if you leave a large hop spider in place it cant be done, but would probably be achievable with a hop sock?

Cheers again for the write-up, it'd be good to make this a sticky post somehow.

I've got some thoughts on Grainmaster profiles for Brewsmith recipe formulation and boil volume shortfalls but will post when I've thought about it some more.

Cheers

Chris

Edited by carniebrew, Today, 07:02 AM.
Joisus,

If I didn't know better I would think PistolPatch has started a second account.
 
Great work Chris


6. Cleaning Up
Clean up straight away. Clean your mash tun whilst the wort is boiling. Dismantle it entirely and dry throroughly. I have seen pictures of rusty bottom perforated plates where the nut traps water against it. Best to dismantle. The Grainfather cleaner solution seems to work fine especially if you recirculate at 50 degrees as per the recommendation. There may be just as suitable and cheaper cleaning solutions but for now I'm happy with the recommended stuff.


Might go without saying but I also pull the ball valve and tap assembly apart, even after the cleaner has gone through hop debris can be left behind, then let it air dry.
 
Good point Wadey. Forgot to do this during cleanup on the weekend. Judging by the number of small grain particles that made it through the pump and sat on top of the mash plate when recirculating there is very likely to be some left in the ball valve.
 
I've noticed that the protein stain on the bottom of the boiler takes quite a bit of scrubbing to get off (even after recircing the GF cleaner for a while). Has any one else had this problem?
 
Brooa said:
I've noticed that the protein stain on the bottom of the boiler takes quite a bit of scrubbing to get off (even after recircing the GF cleaner for a while). Has any one else had this problem?
Yes, lemon juice works well after rinsing and drying.
 
I was halfway through doughing in a 7.56kg grain bill earlier today when I inadvertently knocked the top overflow pipe & the grain stopper into the basket with my mash paddle.

I raised the basket & let the water drain through the grain bed until I could retrieve the pipe & stopper. Once replaced, I lowered the basket back into the water, gave it a good stir, and continued doughing in. It's now mashing at 64c for the next 60mins.

My concern is that some of the grain will no doubt have made it's way through the bottom overflow pipe, and will therefore be in the boiler post mash/sparge.

I am considering sanitising a SS kitchen strainer and skimming as much as I can out before boiling, but just wanted to know if anyone else had encountered this,and how you resolved it.

FWIW it's a black rye ipa with the following grain bill;
- 6.12kg BB ale
- 750g rye
- 230g cara rye
- 230g carafa special T3
- 230g chocolate wheat
 
Yeah my first couple of brews my bottom plate was a bit warped and some grain was getting through...just use the strainer like you suggested leading into/during the boil and you shouldn't have any issues. During the boil I find any grain in the wort is frequently brought to the top by the air bubbles so they're easy to capture.
 
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