Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread

[BrotherOz]

Hi,

Procured a Grainfather not so long ago; first brew went smooth and the Blond was a success, specially with the wife .

Now, in yesterday's IPA attempt, the worth did not soak into the mash, most worth went down the overflow pipe, in addition, the GF heat protection started at 43 dgr C and turned off heating recurrently. Had to use the reset button over and over again, I got it to rise, but took some effort. Finally got it up to 68dgr for some time and could then go into sparging. The gravity before boild had a BeerSmith estimate on 1,056, I had 1,032, confirming the mash problem. Made some adjustments with sugar and maltodextrine (yes, quite uncertain results...). At boil-time I experienced no heat protection problems.
After putting to fermento​r, I saw that the GF heater at the bottom had a a seriously burned layer. Got it cleaned and seem alright. works alright as well.

Now, any idea from you guys what happend?
Why did the worth not run through the mash? Why did the heat protector go off all the time?
How to avoid in the future?

Don't really remember, but it could be so that I added grain after heating the water the first time. That is how I have made it before the GF.

 

[meathead]

Now, any idea from you guys what happend?
Why did the worth not run through the mash? Why did the heat protector go off all the time?
How to avoid in the future?

Don't really remember, but it could be so that I added grain after heating the water the first time. That is how I have made it before the GF.[/quote]

Welcome to AHB
How big was the grain bill, how fine was your crush, how much water did u mash in with and what was the mash consistency like?

 

[bradsbrew]

Thank **** for this thread. The gf facebook page would have to be one of the worst brewing advice out there.

 

[HBHB]

Hi,

Procured a Grainfather not so long ago; first brew went smooth and the Blond was a success, specially with the wife .

Now, in yesterday's IPA attempt, the worth did not soak into the mash, most worth went down the overflow pipe, in addition, the GF heat protection started at 43 dgr C and turned off heating recurrently. Had to use the reset button over and over again, I got it to rise, but took some effort. Finally got it up to 68dgr for some time and could then go into sparging. The gravity before boild had a BeerSmith estimate on 1,056, I had 1,032, confirming the mash problem. Made some adjustments with sugar and maltodextrine (yes, quite uncertain results...). At boil-time I experienced no heat protection problems.
After putting to fermento​r, I saw that the GF heater at the bottom had a a seriously burned layer. Got it cleaned and seem alright. works alright as well.

Now, any idea from you guys what happend?
Why did the worth not run through the mash? Why did the heat protector go off all the time?
How to avoid in the future?

Don't really remember, but it could be so that I added grain after heating the water the first time. That is how I have made it before the GF.

Triggering the heat overload protection is caused by build up of proteins and debris on the cover plate for the element. At the end of the mash, it's worth while to use the grainfather mash paddle to give a very light scrape before trying to bring it to the boil. It's mainly caused by really fine milling (finer than is really required). If the residue stays on the plate, it burns in as you've found. If I'm doing beers with high wheat or high rye content, then I tend to lift the basket 15 minutes or so after mash in and give the bottom a scrape to be sure it doesn't cause problems.

 

[BrotherOz]

Scraping could a good idea for the future.
Then, why the worth went to overflow. I used 6,6kg grain and 20,5l water during mash. When thinking, it actually was thicker than I am used to. And - I used the gf recommendd water formula instead of the 21,5l as was in the recepie's in Beersmith. I will check the considtency in the future.

Thanks guys for the sparring!

Let's see how the 'failure' turns out in the end.

 

[carniebrew]

You might find it'll have a slight acrid/burnt flavour to it given what happened on the element cover. It definitely sounds like your milling might have been way too fine, it would explain the burned-on layer and the issue with it not re-circulating properly.

 

[stuartf]

I had a reply from one of the GF technical advisors regarding the failure to maintain 100C during the boil so thought I'd share:

"It is worth noting that the temperature controller is bypassed when you switch to boil. The temp controller isn’t accurate over about 80 as we selected one to be accurate at the important stages ,like during mashing etc.Once you reach a nice rolling boil-you know it’s boiling- better to go by this than the temp."

So can't be a dodgy temp controller causing this as it isn't controlling the temperature during the boil, I checked the positioning of the temp probe and it seemed to be in correctly.

Certainly in my brew I had a good rolling boil going on and I'm not too worried about the display not reading 100 (HH), as Paulyman said it only displays whole unit temp changes anyway so I dont expect it to be that accurate. One thing I would like is to be able to disable the beep that happens when it does hit 100 as it was going off every few seconds at some stages which gets pretty annoying on a 60 minute boil. Does anyone know if thats possible?

 

[acarey]

"One thing I would like is to be able to disable the beep that happens when it does hit 100 as it was going off every few seconds at some stages which gets pretty annoying on a 60 minute boil. Does anyone know if thats possible?"

thats weird, mine only goes off the once, not heaps of times during the boil.

I find it useful because when it beeps, I know i have about 30 seconds too rush in and prevent the boil over.

edit: stuffed up the quote bit because I'm a retard no good at forums

 

[bradsbrew]

You can turn the controller off once it beeps as it is bypassed, if it boiling, its boiling. You can then turn it back on once you start chilling, if you wish.

 

[HBHB]

Scraping could a good idea for the future.
Then, why the worth went to overflow. I used 6,6kg grain and 20,5l water during mash. When thinking, it actually was thicker than I am used to. And - I used the gf recommendd water formula instead of the 21,5l as was in the recepie's in Beersmith. I will check the considtency in the future.

Thanks guys for the sparring!

Let's see how the 'failure' turns out in the end.

You'll find most of it has gone through the mash through several volumes of wort being pumped up to the top. What you see going through the overflow pipe is just that - overflow. The rest is going through the grain bed, unless it's a stuck mash from over milling. That will decrease your overall efficiency significantly if that happens. Stick with the GF calculators water and you'll be a lot closer to the expected volumes in the vast majority of cases.

 

[Coodgee]

. One thing I would like is to be able to disable the beep that happens when it does hit 100 as it was going off every few seconds at some stages which gets pretty annoying on a 60 minute boil. Does anyone know if thats possible?

are you saying you stop the beeping by pressing down the power button, and then it starts beeping again? This can happen if it goes off the boil because you add some cool ingredients or something but once it's boiling it should stay boiling. If you fix the problems with the heating cutting out due to overheating then it should solve this problem.

 

[SmuggledBudgie]

Hey all,

I'm on my third brew with the GF and am absolutely blown away by the results. I've read through all 48 pages of this thread (keen I know, but I'm on holiday and can't brew) and gained some really useful advice, thanks for that.

My last brew was a Cream Ale with a 90 minute mash and I was surprised at how clear the wort came out, keen to taste the end result.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any issues with the black silicone joiner running from the filter to the pump inlet. It appears that after having taken it out to clean it, the sharp edge of the filter is tearing the silicone. I haven't noticed anyone report this problem in the past, just wondering if its something I'm doing wrong?? Do others actually take the little pipe out to clean it, or are you leaving it in place?

Cheers guys and thanks again.

 

[carniebrew]

I'm wondering if anyone has had any issues with the black silicone joiner running from the filter to the pump inlet. It appears that after having taken it out to clean it, the sharp edge of the filter is tearing the silicone. I haven't noticed anyone report this problem in the past, just wondering if its something I'm doing wrong?? Do others actually take the little pipe out to clean it, or are you leaving it in place?

The only time I've ever taken anything apart around the filter was when I installed the upgrade kit. I just follow the Grainfather cleaning instructions when cleaning, i.e. just re-circing hot cleaning solution (PBW in my case) and then hot water throughout the system.

I do remember both when I first built the GF, and then upgraded it, those filter connections were a right pain in the arse getting them to fit correctly.

 

[SmuggledBudgie]

I think I've got the 2nd gen version which by looking at the diagrams, the pump filter attachment is different to 1st gen. The little silicone pipe slides on and off the pump inlet quite easily so you can remove the filler for cleaning (as per instructions). But the other end of it which squeezes into the filter is the end that is giving me a bit of grief. I guess to preserve it, I'll leave it alone and just use a bottle brush to get rid of any trub caught in and around it.

 

[stuartf]

I remove the filter when cleaning but I have a v5 GF so not sure what the earlier ones look like. Mine is a black rubber tube that connects to the filter to make a t-shape. I will post a photo tomorrow if I remember, so far no issues with tearing or splitting of the tube but only had it since end of December

 

[SmuggledBudgie]

Oh gosh, I didn't realise there was that many version. How do you know which version you have? I purchased in December also and I have the same filter that you are describing. I can post a pic also in a few weeks when I get back home. But it looks like it maybe an isolated issue caused most likely by my error.

 

[Chridech]

I dissasembe the filter with every clean. (GF purchased December, so probably latest version). Probably overkill, but I have found hop matter inside after the rinse cycle. Haven't had any problems with damage to the silicone joiner but I can see it could be damaged with repeated assembly. It might be enough to take the end cap off and just rinse the filter out under water without removing the silicone joiner. If yours is damaged suggest contacting Imake; they seem pretty good with their customer service and I'm sure they would send you another one (or two).

 

[carniebrew]

The only time I've ever taken anything apart around the filter was when I installed the upgrade kit. I just follow the Grainfather cleaning instructions when cleaning, i.e. just re-circing hot cleaning solution (PBW in my case) and then hot water throughout the system.

I do remember both when I first built the GF, and then upgraded it, those filter connections were a right pain in the arse getting them to fit correctly.

My apologies, I thought you were talking about the silicon connectors on the outside of the GF, connecting to the pump. I realise now you are referring to the inside filter. No issues with that boot for me, and I definitely remove and clean that after every brew.

 

[wambesi]

Just a quick one fellas, above someone said they have a version 5 Grainfather - there is really only "two" releases so far, the original and the one with the upgraded pipework/pump seals/filter.

 

[stuartf]

Sorry my bad, just going by what the guy in the hbs told me.
In reference to the filter I take off the whole thing then remove the end cap and wash out but don't remove the rubber boot that connects it to the outlet.