Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread

[enoch]

I've done 3 brews since Christmas. All have been fairly stress free.
8kg is the realistic maximum grain bill. Beyond that it is a bit too full to get the top screen on. Next time I'll try less water for a big grain bill.
Definitely needs a gentle crush or it does struggle a bit too.
As I am coming down from a bigger system I have been stretching the brew length by brewing higher gravity 1060+ and diluting with 10 litres into the fermenter to give 35 litres at 1040-1050.
Last brew I hooked up an Ardbir controller and it was fantastic! Step mashed through to mashout and able to turn down the boil to control boilover.
Overall a great bit of kit and flexible enough to just decide to brew rather than the go through the set up and knock down of the old (and now lonely) big system.
The old system is likely to turn into a great grainfather hacked together from bits. I'll still use the small one most of the time though.

 

[bradsbrew]

Looks like I can brew in the house again. Probably should fix that skirting, bah , I'll wait until the floor gets done.

The GF has also had it's first mod done.

 

[Natdene]

I have done two brews on mine now, one no chill, one using the chiller and its a great bit of kit. Second brew it got a bit foamy in the last ten min of the mash, but a quick call to Martin at HBHB and my fears were put to rest. I would like to say that the service from HBHB has been outstanding, ordered the unit and delivered in two days to Brisbane, came with a few little extras that really impressed me and I will be using them again!

Both brews hit all their numbers and are in the fermenters now and can't wait to try them.
Coming from BIAB I don't think it has saved me anytime on brew day but being able to circulate and keep a constant temp is a big plus. I will post some pics over the weekend to show how clear the wort gets.

One comment I have on my unit and looks the same on Bradsbrew, the return pipe could have been 5/10mm longer to fit better into the centre hole on the lid, which would make connecting to the black nut a lot easier.

 

[wambesi]

For those on here who do have feedback and are not in the Facebook users group, send it through to their email addresses.

These guys are very proactive to issues and want as much feedback as possible to improve what they can.

 

[Natdene]

For those on here who do have feedback and are not in the Facebook users group, send it through to their email addresses.
These guys are very proactive to issues and want as much feedback as possible to improve what they can.

Thanks for that wambesi, just joined up, I didn't know it existed

 

[wambesi]

No worries.

 

[jc64]

Just joined as well, yet to actually get time to even assemble the unit yet though.

 

[jc64]

Assembled and running through the initial cleaning process. Is there a good way to ensure the counter flow wort chiller is completely drained? I'm used to using a immersion chiller and feel a bit uncomfortable about using the chiller, not being able to see the inside etc.

Also just wondering how long are people running the still near boiling wort through the chiller to sanitise? And are people doing a whirlpool to minimise the trub going into the fermenter?

Cheers

 

[wambesi]

I drain by rotating the chiller a few more times than actual coils which gets rid of most. I also do a co2 blast as well.

As to sanitising I will run the hot wort through back into the Grainfather for a while.

This sort of makes a whirlpool as well and once the temp has dropped well I then run it into the fermenter.

 

[Trevandjo]

Finally got a gf brew down. I had some issues with the chiller. I ran tank water (20deg) through an pre chiller in an ice bath before reaching the chiller. After 40min the temp seemed to stall out at 23deg. The body of the gf was still bloody hot. I was running water at about 3L/min. Is there a way I can better get the temp lower or do I just need to be more patient? Would cooling the outside of the gf help?

Trev

 

[postmaster]

[SIZE=medium]No disturbance of the grain bed, Just followed the GF instructions, but as soon as I did a mash out. (heat to 75 deg) it became cloudy with sediment, during the 60 mins mash it was lovely and clear.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]This is the reply from “Grainfather Support”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]So talking to our tech team :[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The grain crush is within standard parameters.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Our first thought would be maybe a bump to the unit which disturbed the grainbed -although that seems pretty hard to do. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Second thought is that as the temperature has increased a high mash pH and raised temperature has contributed to an excessive polyphenol and protein extraction into the wort although we are not sure why these are visible at this temperature.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Most likely reason is that as the temperature has increased the viscosity of the wort has decreased and the fluidity of the mash bed has increased creating an increase in pressure between the pump and the filter plate pulling particles that were previously caught by the mash bed into the wort, this increase in pressure is one of the main reasons why lautering/runoff’s become cloudy even though they often start of clear. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The best solution to this problem would be to continue recirculating until it runs clear again and then sparged. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]My reply in acknowledgement[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]I did measure the PH pre-boil and It was 5.6 which I think is okay.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Will keep in mind the recirculating until clear and then sparge, if this happens again.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Initially when I took a gravity reading in the fermenter it was still very cloudy and a lot of protein but,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I have just pulled a sample from the fermenter and I must say the beer is very clear and I have not used any finings. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] Anyway it all looks good [/SIZE]

 

[mrsupraboy]

Sorry guys has someone figured out the beersmith equipment profile yet

 

[wambesi]

Mine works fine with the 7 litre part removed from the one doing the rounds

 

[stevodevo]

Hi All,

Hopefully posting this question in the correct spot?

I'm keen to get some informed opinions about how these would go with small 10 litre batches? I really like everything about the Grainfather, and the wife has given full approval for the purchase (yes it will cost me), so I'm really just looking to dispel any niggling concerns I have about it working well for my micro(scopic) brewery situation (I did 5L brews for ages and had heaps of fun but it is a lot of work for 2 six packs)... There's specific instructions in the manual for grain bills under 4.5KG which just say to keep adding enough water at the mashing stage to just cover the top plate, but keep a record of how much extra was added to deduct that from the sparge water. I've never done all grain before, so I'm unsure if this is a case of being, yes you can do it... but it won't really produce the best results. Doing some quick calcs in Beer Smith I'm thinking my grain bills might be as low as 2KG total! That said, I really like the idea of having something versatile enough that I have the option to do a full sized batch when I nail a recipe and feel confident enough to share it around :beer:

This guy in this YouTube link does a great review where he does a full size brew, as well as a 10 litre brew and it seems to go well for him - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmkRuLdLH5U


Thanks

Usual disclaimer for small batch brewers... I like to brew, but don't really drink a lot. It lets me experiment often without drowning in the stuff.

 

[meathead]

Mine works fine with the 7 litre part removed from the one doing the rounds

Is there a link to the one doing the rounds?

 

[wambesi]

Is there a link to the one doing the rounds?

There is on the Facebook group but I don't have access at the moment, otherwise I'd post it for you.

If no one else does I'll try and get to it when I get home.

 

[stevodevo]

OK, I just went and had a look at one in a shop. The telescopic overflow pipe only goes down as low as about the 20 litre mark (give or take). My total boil volume will likely only be around 15L. Am I right in thinking it won't matter (or even be preferable) that I won't hit the overflow? The top plate goes down far enough that it will sit down on the grain bed (not using the top section of overflow pipe), and by my [noob] way of thinking, it's desirable to not have any recirculating wort going over into the overflow so that everything has to get sucked down through the grain bed. Am I on the right track?

 

[stux]

Chuck a brick in the mash

 

[wambesi]

This is my profile I've been using for last three brews. Seems to work all right.
It's from one originally submitted on the Grainfather's Facebook group but I removed the 7L deadspace.

View attachment BS-Grainfather-Profile.bsmx

 

[meathead]

This is my profile I've been using for last three brews. Seems to work all right.
It's from one originally submitted on the Grainfather's Facebook group but I removed the 7L deadspace.

BS-Grainfather-Profile.bsmx

Thanks much appreciated