Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread

[mrsupraboy]

Cube people cube. So much effort in trying to chill it down straight away. Home brew is easy ☺

 

[Paulbroad]

I thought I’d share an interesting experience I had this morning, when the unit stopped working.

In the interests of getting started on the brew day early, I set the GF up with a timer on the power point, so that once I had the kids up and fed this morning my mash water would already be at strike temperature. When I went downstairs, the display was still showing 23 degrees.

I stuffed around with it for twenty minutes or so, trying to get it to work, but still no heat in the unit, even when I switched to boils and switched the button to alternate between the two elements. Needless to say i was starting to get a bit worried that on my third brew day with the GF something was broken.

A quick Google search revealed that there is a re-set switch on the bottom of the unit. I emptied the water out, hit the switch, and it started working immediately.

The unit performed perfectly throughout the brew, so no lingering effects, but thought it was something worth sharing.

 

[HBHB]

I thought I’d share an interesting experience I had this morning, when the unit stopped working.

In the interests of getting started on the brew day early, I set the GF up with a timer on the power point, so that once I had the kids up and fed this morning my mash water would already be at strike temperature. When I went downstairs, the display was still showing 23 degrees.

I stuffed around with it for twenty minutes or so, trying to get it to work, but still no heat in the unit, even when I switched to boils and switched the button to alternate between the two elements. Needless to say i was starting to get a bit worried that on my third brew day with the GF something was broken.

A quick Google search revealed that there is a re-set switch on the bottom of the unit. I emptied the water out, hit the switch, and it started working immediately.

The unit performed perfectly throughout the brew, so no lingering effects, but thought it was something worth sharing.

there's 2 levels of protection on them, first is the reset switch for thermal protection. (as you've found, it's the little push button in the middle of the base) the second is a fusible link which is hard wired in underneath.

 

[carniebrew]

I thought I’d share an interesting experience I had this morning, when the unit stopped working.

In the interests of getting started on the brew day early, I set the GF up with a timer on the power point, so that once I had the kids up and fed this morning my mash water would already be at strike temperature. When I went downstairs, the display was still showing 23 degrees.

I stuffed around with it for twenty minutes or so, trying to get it to work, but still no heat in the unit, even when I switched to boils and switched the button to alternate between the two elements. Needless to say i was starting to get a bit worried that on my third brew day with the GF something was broken.

A quick Google search revealed that there is a re-set switch on the bottom of the unit. I emptied the water out, hit the switch, and it started working immediately.

The unit performed perfectly throughout the brew, so no lingering effects, but thought it was something worth sharing.

Do you think it was the timer that might have caused the switch to trip?

 

[Paulbroad]

Do you think it was the timer that might have caused the switch to trip?

I thought that, but to be honest, I'm not sure. I've used the timer on other appliances without issue, so I would say not.

That said, the power point that I'm using is an old one, so that may be the better guess.

 

[chopdog]

Has anyone else had this happen? I noticed it when I first purchased but didn't think it would be a issue. I have now noticed grain and crap getting caught

 

[Darrens]

Mate, that is part of the packaging .... Throw it away and now you wont have a problem.
Regards Darren.

 

[chopdog]

Hahaha, really? Mine like it is glued in

 

[slcmorro]

That's very strange. Looks like you've mounted the filter and thermowell over it and secured it in.

 

[carniebrew]

Nah I think it's sitting just above the top of both of those. Did you boil with that thing in...and it survived??

I must admit I had to think twice when assembling my unit about whether it was something important or not, as the manual and videos didn't refer to it at all. I'm guessing the GF guys might have had some issues with the inner pipe moving around during shipping and that ring is a late addition to things.

 

[chopdog]

I've brewed 5 times and it still surviving. I'll pull it out after this one!!

 

[slcmorro]

So I have some issues... attached are some photos from my Boulders and Tinder S&W Pacific Ale clone. Recipe calls for 4.7kg of grain.

I think my main problem is, with just 4.7kgs the top perforated plate sits too low. With bigger batches however it still sits relatively low. I mashed in with 18L, which could have been too much however I wouldn't have thought it'd still cause many problems. Not once during the recirc could I see the plate or even the top piece which sits on the overflow pipe however.

As you can see, I ended up with a lot of grain particles sitting on top of the plate after my 60 min mash, and a whole load in the wort which is currently boiling away now. The seal around the perforated plate is intact, and the bottom perforated plate sits almost flush (slight warp but the grain weight would sort that out) so other than grain escaping back through the overflow hole in the plate I'm at a loss to explain it. I've collected 250ml of wort during the start of the boil to show how much is in there.

I'll still ferment this brew and hopefully it doesn't turn out astringent as buggery.

Ideas?

 

[acarey]

So I have some issues... attached are some photos from my Boulders and Tinder S&W Pacific Ale clone. Recipe calls for 4.7kg of grain.

I think my main problem is, with just 4.7kgs the top perforated plate sits too low. With bigger batches however it still sits relatively low. I mashed in with 18L, which could have been too much however I wouldn't have thought it'd still cause many problems. Not once during the recirc could I see the plate or even the top piece which sits on the overflow pipe however.

As you can see, I ended up with a lot of grain particles sitting on top of the plate after my 60 min mash, and a whole load in the wort which is currently boiling away now. The seal around the perforated plate is intact, and the bottom perforated plate sits almost flush (slight warp but the grain weight would sort that out) so other than grain escaping back through the overflow hole in the plate I'm at a loss to explain it. I've collected 250ml of wort during the start of the boil to show how much is in there.

I'll still ferment this brew and hopefully it doesn't turn out astringent as buggery.

Ideas?

I regularly do brews of that size without issue. Are you pushing the top plate all the way down and compress mash? If so, I wouldn't (and don't). I just push it down until it touches the top of the mash (ie, don't submerge it) and away I go. I've never had this problem.

2c

Cheers

 

[slcmorro]

I didn't push it all the way down to the grainbed, however I did submerge it. The problem I speculate exists when the grain can come back up through the hole in the perforated plate. Technically though, I wouldn't think any grain particles could make it back into the wort being that it all drains back through the mash tun and the bottom perforated plate anyways - but obviously something is causing it.

 

[acarey]

I didn't push it all the way down to the grainbed, however I did submerge it. The problem I speculate exists when the grain can come back up through the hole in the perforated plate. Technically though, I wouldn't think any grain particles could make it back into the wort being that it all drains back through the mash tun and the bottom perforated plate anyways - but obviously something is causing it.

Dunno then. I get a small amount of floaties during the mash, but such a small amount I could probably count them.

They could be coming from the bottom by just leaking out underneath somehow, or from the top and draining down the centre pipe. I'd guess the latter because of the gap you have between the whole in the top plate and the top of the pipe thingy that's supposed to sit flush (but isn't) letting more grain get on top.

Just try to have it sit gently on top of the mash without submerging and see if that's high enough to plug the gap. It will become submerged as it resercs (depending on how quickly wort drains through the grain bed) anyway but it wont be so low as to create that gap.

edit. Just actually read your last post and realised I said the same thing with way more words....

 

[slcmorro]

I recently adjusted the crush of my mill due to my poorer efficiency in two previous brews (65-70%) and this is the first brew since. Could have something to do with it, but it's still coarser than my previous BIAB settings. Maybe 20% flour. Will try the positioning of the top plate as you suggested next time.

 

[carniebrew]

My first GF brew was an IPA with a 6.3kg grain bill, and despite the fact my overflow widget was firmly blocking the hole in the top plate, I got a fair bit of grain through into my wort. I think it was my warped bottom plate causing the issue. I ended up seiving out the grain before starting my boil, which was probably overkill but it felt safer.

For my 2nd brew (after I flattened out the bottom plate) I did a low gravity Berliner Weisse with a puny 3.4kg grain bill, and the top plate didn't reach the grain bed, so the overflow widget wasn't blocking the hole. I expected to have a lot of grain coming through that hole, but in the end I had a lot less than the first brew, no more than a tablespoon full or so sitting on the top plate post-mash. I did follow GF's instructions though on small grain bills, where I added more mash water so that it came to just over the top plate.

 

[HBHB]

I recently adjusted the crush of my mill due to my poorer efficiency in two previous brews (65-70%) and this is the first brew since. Could have something to do with it, but it's still coarser than my previous BIAB settings. Maybe 20% flour. Will try the positioning of the top plate as you suggested next time.

Is this how you have the wort overflow pipe set during the mash?



If so, there's most of the problem. You need to place the top plate at the top of the mash, then drop the height so the overflow leveller is sitting snugly inside the top plate opening. That will stop undermining the grain bed as shown in the other pic....it's in the instructions Clayton.

The other thing that helps is to put a longer hose length on the wort return arm 9.5mm silicone hose at around 45cm length fixes the issue with small grain bills so the hose isn't pointing straight down at the grain bed causing further undermining. In testing we managed to get a pissy 2.1% weak lager to work flawlessly before it was added to the compost heap h34r: . Took us a while to replicate that one, but that was the simple fix.

Hope this helps

Martin

 

[kaiserben]

I didn't push it all the way down to the grainbed, however I did submerge it. The problem I speculate exists when the grain can come back up through the hole in the perforated plate. Technically though, I wouldn't think any grain particles could make it back into the wort being that it all drains back through the mash tun and the bottom perforated plate anyways - but obviously something is causing it.

The overflow inlet part should fit snugly into that hole in the top plate, so that nothing floats/escapes through the hole.

I've noticed occasionally that some grains can still escape from somewhere though (but nowhere near the amount in your photos).

 

[HBHB]

Also, I should add.....

That would explain the poor efficiency because the returning wort will create a wall effect straight down the side of the central overflow pipe, bypassing the actual grain bed. Some will go through the grain, but not nearly enough to get reasonable efficiency.

it should look like this:

 

[carniebrew]

But Martin, what do you reckon you should do when your grain bill is so small that the top plate doesn't go down far enough to reach the top of the grain bed, e.g. what happened with my 3.4kg grain bill Berliner? My mash looked like your photo above, where the return widget wasn't sitting inside the top plate hole.

For your 2% lager, what was the grain bill, and did the top plate reach your grain bed?

Thinking back now, it's possible I didn't try and push my return widget all the way down into the top plate for the berliner...I wasn't sure if the top part of the return pipe was all the way down, but I was getting resistance, and didn't want to force it.

 

[slcmorro]

I just cubed this batch, and it worked out to 81% efficiency. The sample wort didn't taste astringent but I'm not sure if that'll come out before fermentation anyways.

My question is, how does one drop the height of the overall plate/overflow pipe? It won't go down any further than what I have it, even if I remove the extender...?

 

[HBHB]

I just cubed this batch, and it worked out to 81% efficiency. The sample wort didn't taste astringent but I'm not sure if that'll come out before fermentation anyways.

My question is, how does one drop the height of the overall plate/overflow pipe? It won't go down any further than what I have it, even if I remove the extender...?

I just slid it down and then adjusted the water up to about 19L, where the grain bill was only 2.05kg from memory, I think it was about 19 litres of water total to reach the top plate. with the top plate in place, it sat there the whole time suspended. I believe Imker and Peter are working on an alternative fitting for small grain bills. Whether that be a dead space filler basket or just a shorter pipe I'm not sure.

 

[slcmorro]

So you'd need to mash in at whatever temp with say 15L, and then add the same temperature water to the volume which gets the plate to sit level with the lowest height of the overflow tube? I would have assumed that the top plate would slide down during the mash anyway, therefore exposing that gap once the overflow piece stays on the pipe and the plate drops lower?

 

[slcmorro]

What I *could* do, is cut the bottom overflow pipe say 50mm shorter - I'll never do huge grain bills (I say that now of course) requiring more than 3/4 of the volume of the mash tun anyway.

An ideal solution, would be to provide the same length pipe overall, but increase the size of the extender and make the solid piece attached to the bottom plate quite small, say 100mm total.

 

[acarey]

What I *could* do, is cut the bottom overflow pipe say 50mm shorter - I'll never do huge grain bills (I say that now of course) requiring more than 3/4 of the volume of the mash tun anyway.

An ideal solution, would be to provide the same length pipe overall, but increase the size of the extender and make the solid piece attached to the bottom plate quite small, say 100mm total.

but you'll have the same issue. You wont be able to telescopically push a longer tube down. The bottom part needs to be at least as long as the top part otherwise theres nowhere for it to go. The minimum size will always be the length of the larger pipe.

For gods sake don't cut it I reckon. Maybe your crush is too fine or something. 4.7 kg is a fairly standard grain bill. You can get it working without cutting stuff.

 

[carniebrew]

I agree, don't cut it...I've done a 3.4kg grain bill with very little grain leakage. My crush for that brew would have been a 1.1mm mill gap with a MashMaster mini mill.

 

[postmaster]

Don't use the extension pipe. You should get about 12 litres in the basket plus 3.5 litres under the basket. Not sure what volume of grain you could use as it would also take up some space.
Happy Brewing

 

[carniebrew]

I want to do a small volume Black IPA soon, might try that without the extension pipe on...will see what Beersmith says.

 

[slcmorro]

The extension pipe doesn't actually extend the height at all if you've got a smaller grain bill, being that it sits flush with the bottom pipe. Fair point about not cutting it. I might have milled too fine, being that it's the most recent change I've made. Will make it a little coarser. Thanks all for your comments and help