Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread

[BKBrews]

Probably the longest day of my life, but brew day 1 in the GF is in the books.

I could not believe how well everything works, but it literally took me over 6 hours from start to finish, most likely because I'm extremely anal and more likely because I wanted to ensure my thousand dollar toy stays in good condition.

My issues:
- missed my batch size by about 1L (22L in the fermenter). Not sure why - was bang on 28L prior to boil and post sparge.
- forgot to add my whirfloc tablet (whoops)
- when transferring the wort to my fermenter a lot of wort got stuck in the chiller (wouldn't go into the fermenter and wouldn't suck back down to the GF when I stopped the pump)
- while cleaning, I couldn't pump water through the chiller. Took me about an hour to figure it out - something to do with the seal. Was leaking water and worked, but I managed to stop the leak too and get it to work properly.
- cleaning. Took me a life time.

Notes for next day:
- clean all elements of malt pipe once boil and bittering hops addition is complete. Just clean EVERYTHING as you go.

Annoying things:
- I stuffed up the rehydrating of my yeast. I boiled water and when I went to pitch the yeast I noticed it was full of floating pieces so abandoned it. Chilling was done, needed to pitch, so I sprinkled directly onto the wort [emoji16] definitely want to get into making starters prior to brew day.

Notes:
- missed my recipe SG by 3 points. Ended with 1.062 instead of 1.065 (in beersmith with 73% brewhouse efficiency.
- no issues at all with the ball valve. There was heaps of shit stuck but it kept going. Might actually clean it out during the boil next time though to speed the flow through the chiller.

 

[BKBrews]

Also wanted to add, this thing uses an insaaaane amount of water to cool. I couldn't believe it. I filled a large plastic bin about 2 times.

Would also love some opinions on how people add 'whirlpool' or 'flameout' hops. Are you just dumping them in as soon as you switch the machine off from the boil? How long are you then waiting before starting to chill?

 

[paulyman]

Sounds like you have kept good notes to help improve the next brew. Clean as you go will definitely shorten brew day.

I've got to admit after 10 or so brews (on the GF) I am still yet to actually use the chiller I just whirlpool for 10 or so minutes after the boil and then pump into a cube. But I haven't brewed an IPA for over a year, so I don't miss it.

 

[Killer Brew]

- when transferring the wort to my fermenter a lot of wort got stuck in the chiller (wouldn't go into the fermenter and wouldn't suck back down to the GF when I stopped the pump)

Unscrew from the outlet pipe and hold the connection above the height of the chiller. Gravity will do the rest in about 30 secs.

 

[BKBrews]

Unscrew from the outlet pipe and hold the connection above the height of the chiller. Gravity will do the rest in about 30 secs.

Won't I spray it everywhere if I disconnect while there's still wort in the pipes?

 

[Killer Brew]

not as long as the pump is off. the ball lock will prevent it.

 

[BKBrews]

not as long as the pump is off. the ball lock will prevent it.

Yeah, I still had wort in the short pipe that goes from the recirc arm to the chiller though, so if I had disconnected it I would have spilt some of it before I managed to turn it up the other way.

I'm currently trying to figure out whether I can fit another fermenter in my fridge so I can do another brew this weekend haha. I bought a 30L fermenter which takes up a fair bit of room in my fermenter fridge - should have gone with 2 x 25L I think.

Next up will be a smash - Maris Otter Malt, US-05 yeast and lots of late Chinook. After that going to try my hand at a lager. Love this kit.

 

[kaiserben]

I bought a 30L fermenter which takes up a fair bit of room in my fermenter fridge - should have gone with 2 x 25L I think.

You'll change your mind on that once you've seen a big krausen or two. You really need that extra head space for quite a lot of yeasts.

25L is useless IMO. I have one 25L fermenter that only ever gets used as a bottling bucket.

 

[Bridgey23]

You'll change your mind on that once you've seen a big krausen or two. You really need that extra head space for quite a lot of yeasts.

25L is useless IMO. I have one 25L fermenter that only ever gets used as a bottling bucket.

Ever heard of a blow off tube?

 

[kaiserben]

Ever heard of a blow off tube?

Yeah. I've used one before. Personally I'd rather not have more crap to clean and sanitise. And I'd also rather not have to clean crud from the underside of the fermenter lid.

But each to their own.

 

[BKBrews]

My main problem is that the 30L fermenters aren't going to fit in my fridge. I think two of them side by side will be about 40 - 50mm too wide, which sucks. I might get away with having one at the back corner and the other at the front diagonally. We'll see. But I definitely want to be able to ferment 2 brews at a time!

 

[A.B.]

I had same issue, 2 30L fermenters and only 1 fridge with only space for 1Fv, so I built an insulated box out of a tea chest for the other. Works fine in cold months where I only have to heat the box, doesn't work in warmer months as I can't chill it, so I just don't brew so much in late spring and Summer.

 

[Killer Brew]

Yeah, I still had wort in the short pipe that goes from the recirc arm to the chiller though, so if I had disconnected it I would have spilt some of it before I managed to turn it up the other way.

A few drops if any in my experience instead of losing all that is within the chiller. You are not brewing if you are not making a mess!

 

[Killer Brew]

My main problem is that the 30L fermenters aren't going to fit in my fridge. I think two of them side by side will be about 40 - 50mm too wide, which sucks. I might get away with having one at the back corner and the other at the front diagonally. We'll see. But I definitely want to be able to ferment 2 brews at a time!

In my view not ideal having 2 different brews in the fridge at the same time anyway particularly if they are at different stages.

 

[BKBrews]

In my view not ideal having 2 different brews in the fridge at the same time anyway particularly if they are at different stages.

so you only ever brew one beer at a time? Or you have separate fridges for different brews? I think my girlfriend would kill me....

 

[Killer Brew]

so you only ever brew one beer at a time? Or you have separate fridges for different brews? I think my girlfriend would kill me....

I have a fridge and a chest freezer however I generally only brew twice per month so there is little overlap. When there is it usually has me cold crashing one beer in the chesty while the other is just starting out. Each fermentation has its own needs and I don't want to compromise one beer because another needs a temperature shift and vice versa. I think fermentation is a mix of art and science and I still have a lot to learn but take daily readings and graph them in Beersmith to try and improve my understanding. Having just finished 2 days assisting with judging at the SA state comps I was very surprised how often the subject of fermentation flavours came up, far more than infections of which we had few.

 

[BKBrews]

I have a fridge and a chest freezer however I generally only brew twice per month so there is little overlap. When there is it usually has me cold crashing one beer in the chesty while the other is just starting out. Each fermentation has its own needs and I don't want to compromise one beer because another needs a temperature shift and vice versa. I think fermentation is a mix of art and science and I still have a lot to learn but take daily readings and graph them in Beersmith to try and improve my understanding. Having just finished 2 days assisting with judging at the SA state comps I was very surprised how often the subject of fermentation flavours came up, far more than infections of which we had few.

daily readings - wow. Do you have any beer left from the 23L batches? haha.

I plan on buying one of those brewometers. Take a hydrometer reading after putting in the fermenter and then relying on the brewometer for my data for the rest. Take another hydrometer sample prior to bottling just to cross-reference. An interesting take above. I probably plan on only doing 2 brews per month as well, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue, but being new to the GF I can see myself maybe doing 3 - 4 per month to begin with while the excitement levels are still high.

PS. Have been fermenting my first GF brew (an American IPA) since Saturday and even though I dry pitched 2 packets of US-05, it took off within 24 hours. Now has a solid one inch krausen and smells fantastic. I have high hopes based on the smell - completely takes over your face when the fridge is opened. Will probably take another sample this weekend to see how we're travelling. Plan is to ferment at 18 degrees until about 1.020 and then bump it up to 20 degrees to finish somewhere around 1.12 - 1.13.

 

[Killer Brew]

Refractometer. I also only do the full hydrometer checks into fermenter and prior to cold conditioning.

 

[kaiserben]

Obviously best-case scenario is total temp control from start to finish, but with 1 fridge you could get away with brewing ales weekly, unless you're desperate for crystal clear beers and want to crash chill in your fermenter before bottling/kegging.

At certain times of year I only use the fridge for the first 4 days of active fermentation (then take fermenter out and leave it in cupboard at ambient temps, preferably a couple of degrees higher than I fermented at, until it has been at least 2 weeks since I pitched the yeast).

Making a lager usually means my fridge is in use for a full month. So at those times I make weizens, which you can get good results from without temp control.

 

[doctr-dan]

A few questions,

1. Is the new filter a worth while upgrade?

2. Say I find a recipe I like the sound of how to adjust it to make it compatible for the GF so I don't have to ask all the time.
Eg, on AHB theres, Danos feral hop hog clone, two birds taco beer, 4 pines pale ale, bling India.
In short I have no idea.

3. A good resource for learning to make a recipe for dummies. Probably will help with question 2.

4. Brewing software, there's a few, which one should I choose? EG, beer smith which also has the iPad app