Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread

[rawlus]

Rawlus,

What size did you get?

Brewing Filter - 6 x 14 - straight hangers (Continental US - Ships from Michigan)
Item# CAFBrew6x14straight , Micron Rating: 300 Micron

It fits my old pot but I think will fit the grainfather as well. Waiting on delivery.

 

[dschoemaker]

Mine arrived today (Chicago area). Let me know how it works in the Grainfather, will put it on my list of stuff I want.

Dave

Brewing Filter - 6 x 14 - straight hangers (Continental US - Ships from Michigan)
Item# CAFBrew6x14straight , Micron Rating: 300 Micron

It fits my old pot but I think will fit the grainfather as well. Waiting on delivery.

 

[HeavyNova]

Thanks wobbly, I had a look at that but I still don't know if it's simple to do on the GF. Does anyone know if a 3/8" fitting will screw on to the GF outlet?

I'm hoping it's that simple but I don't have an 3/8" female fitting to test it.

Anyone adapt their Grainfather outlet to 1/2" for use with other chillers or a hopback with 1/2" fittings? I've tried checking directly with the Grainfather guys but I still haven't got a reply from them.

I've search the web for hours and I'm surprised to see find basically nothing on this...

 

[meathead]

Here is a link to a video about upgrade kits

http://youtu.be/v0g0IMniMVI

 

[rawlus]

Anyone adapt their Grainfather outlet to 1/2" for use with other chillers or a hopback with 1/2" fittings? I've tried checking directly with the Grainfather guys but I still haven't got a reply from them.

I've search the web for hours and I'm surprised to see find basically nothing on this...

Have not rec'd the grainfather yet but anything with threads can be adapted to anything else with threads generally speaking, it's just a matter of research and perhaps trial and error. Since the pump terminates in silicon hose, it makes it even simpler, anything you can connect with silicon hose would work, you just need a barbed fitting to go in the end of the silicon hose if you want to go to a different chiller or a hop back or a thrumometer or anything else you can think of. Unless I am grossly misinterpeting what you're asking.

In normal operation mode during the mash you have the mash arm which connects to a silicon hose which sits on top of the grain bed. Put a barb into that and you can go through any other thing you want... And go from recirculating to going through a plate chiller or hop back or filter or whatever..... Right?

 

[Coodgee]

my grainfather has a leak! just a slow drip coming out of the "out" end of the pump around the little plastic/rubber cover. tried tightening the cable ties but no good. what a pain. at the moment I just have to put a cup under there to collect the drips, but it's only 3 brews old

 

[acarey]

my grainfather has a leak! just a slow drip coming out of the "out" end of the pump around the little plastic/rubber cover. tried tightening the cable ties but no good. what a pain. at the moment I just have to put a cup under there to collect the drips, but it's only 3 brews old

This happened to me. I had to undo the clamp completely, undo the support brackect and push the rubber cover back over the copper then put it all back together.

 

[Coodgee]

thanks acarey, I'll take a look at that. what a pain though! they should have a mobile grainfather service technician to come out and fix it haha

 

[acarey]

thanks acarey, I'll take a look at that. what a pain though! they should have a mobile grainfather service technician to come out and fix it haha

No worries,

Actually on rereading your question, I've realized you were talking about the pump. I was talking about the chiller, so probably no help to your actual problem....

Sorry about that :huh:

 

[Coodgee]

haha no worries. The sight glass on my grainfather HLT also leaks

 

[butisitart]

there's some bloody good stuff coming through here recently - lots of food for thought.
just clocked another sparge timed at 4m 50secs. and that felt slowish, had a slightly sluggish grainbed that i had to pull the mash apart and re-stir going from 63 to 68C. but yeah - i would think that if you're doing much over 5mins on a sparge, to hit the sparge as soon as you lift the cylinder out of the mash and keep the water flow between the top grain filter fins.

 

[nads]

This forum has been such a wealth of information and my brews have improved as a result. My sparge time on my last Citra APA was just over 5 mins compared to the previous identical brew which was around 1/2 hour. Only difference is starting the sparge immediately after lifting the inner basket as well as increasing sparge water temp from 76 to around 78 - 80 deg.

 

[butisitart]

good to hear, nads... i had a wobbly theory on gf sparge, which seems to be starting to bear some fruit. i think (from memory) it were coodgee that had similar sparge times. waiting to hear from carniebrew on his next. that makes me pretty bloody happy if that's the solution.

 

[arzaman]

Here short guide to upgrade grainfather equipment with Open ArdBir controller providing full brewing process automation and much more !

enjoy
Davide

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzJctwTmh10[/media]

 

[HeavyNova]

Thanks for those links to upgrade guys, I'll check them out when I get home today.

Yep, Rawlus, that's basically what I mean, however I'd like to avoid messing around with the pump outlet. Ideally, a QD installed immediately after the ball valve with the corresponding end on the other side of the recirculation arm and anything else that you wanted to pump out to (e.g. chiller or hopback). I've seen this on YouTube but haven't found any follow up info on the parts required to do it.

Trial and error will likely get you there but if possible, I would like to avoid buying a bunch of unnecessary parts just hoping one of them will fit. I'm slowly getting somewhere with the office Grainfather crew, but we seem to be taking forever to decide on which thread I'm talking about.

On a side note, I put the first Grainfather brew down on the weekend and it was a pleasure. Very easy to work with, no issues with sparging and had an efficiency of 80%. Loved it. Looking forward to getting the end result in a glass.

 

[welly2]

Had my first grainfather brew day. It went very well! I'm really pleased. Made an English Special Bitter and made my first yeast starter which is looking good. I'm cube chilling it so waiting for it to chill before I pitch the yeast.

All the numbers worked out as expected. About 28L pre-boil, about 23L post boil. And I'm not sure how, I'm yet to figure out, but the efficiency was off the scale. 91.2%. Estimated OG was 1.046. Actual OG ended up being 1.058. I didn't weigh the grain before it went in the Grainfather but the only thing I can assume is that my grain supplier weighed out too much grain. They've always been reliable though so can't really explain that one.

The sparge went on for about 1/2 hour which was perfect timing for getting up to boil temperature. Overall, chuffed to bits. Can't wait to try the beer!

 

[fishingbrad]

I also had my fist grainfather brew day yesterday. Did a German Style lager. no chill cubed as the yeast wasn't ready (on the stir plate). How great are these things. I have come from Biab using 2 pot method and the grain father just blew me away.

I did find my 19lt Big W pot was the perfect size to place the malt pipe in to carry out to the compost.

Does anyone else have a better cleaning method. I found the protein really stuck to the bottom (not that there was much)and needed more than what they show you in the videos. I had to use a green scrubbing pad to get it off.

Cheers.

 

[nads]

I have the same problem with a lot of gunk stuck to the bottom and it's been the same with all 6 brews I've done. I also use a green scrubbing pad and a lot of elbow grease to remove it. Tried bicarb and lemon juice as suggested but it did not work for me.

 

[fotofisher]

First of all, thanks to all those who blazed the trail ahead of me by posting some really helpful GF brewing tips. I recently received my GF here in the States and put it through 3 back-to-back batches (barley wine, Belgian trippel, imperial dunkelweizen) this past weekend. I was consistently near 80% efficiency with some complicated multi-step mashes and hit or exceeded all my OGs. I have been brewing since 1990, and seasoned as homebrewing goes, but really I am a newbie with the GF unit. I am already a more efficient brewer with the GF, but I know it can be pushed further. I learned alot from this board and from doing non-stop brewing this weekend. I made a video of some of my tips which may (or may not) be helpful for others in the US that are just now receiving their GF units. >>> https://youtu.be/WV8dVWvrpzY.

.fotofisher.

 

[butisitart]

cleaning the stuck bits off the bottom.....
i leave a thin film of trub/beer over the bottom as i pour the dregs through a filter into the fermenter.
then IMMEDIATELY (before everything goes completely cold and seriously stuck) i use a stainless steel (eg $3 from woolies) egglifter and lift all the black/burnies off. like lifting oil off the bbq. comes off easily and fast, but you need to do it while it's still hot. i suspect leaving a thin film of trub over it may keep the burnt bit from hardening up too fast.
note - don't then filter the last bit of trub into a fermenter unless you like a smoky burnt flavour in your beer. i only did it twice, now i have 2 rauschbiers whether i wanted them or not.

yep - done the bi-carb and vinegar - this is sooo much easier and quick