Dedicated Grainfather Guide, Problems and Solutions Thread

[peteru]

Make sure your element switch is on full blast, not the mash setting. If you are brewing in a cold or draughty area, insulate.

 

[meathead]

Make sure your element switch is on full blast, not the mash setting. If you are brewing in a cold or draughty area, insulate.

Yeah thanks but covered all that

 

[peteru]

I guess if it wasn't the obvious things, it may be time to contact imake tech support. Good luck.

 

[breaky]

Hi all, I've just acquired a grainfather and am wondering how you guys connect the red hot water out tube to a garden hose. Anyone done this?

Thanks all

Mark

 

[fletcher]

sorry if this has been answered or discussed but i searched and wasn't able to find anything.

i'm doing a rice lager and using 20% minute rice (1kg). has anyone done similar and if so, was your sparge okay? any experiences or recommendations would be a big help!

 

[doctr-dan]

Any advice or methods when doing banco to back brews?
Do you need to fully clean the grainfather prior to starting your next brew or a rinse is fine?

 

[sirosis]

Just got a new grainfather connect and I can't seem to establish a Bluetooth connection, tried three different devices but no go, any things I may be doing wrong.

 

[kaiserben]

After 95 brews my CFC has sprung an internal leak. Unfortunately I've past the warranty period.

I was about to brew something when I noticed water coming out where it shouldn't. And it explains why the previous batch ended up being 25L into the fermenter instead of 23L ... (and I assume I probably picked up an infection there too, although I'm yet to taste this batch).

RIP CFC.

 

[Mr_Brewer]

grainfather connect
make sure you have the new app not the old app old app did not work for me
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/grainfather-connect/id1169264880?mt=8
i have tried the new one and works well with note4 and my iPad and from my Dropbox it Imported recipe upload as XML file from beersmith

 

[Coodgee]

Any advice or methods when doing banco to back brews?
Do you need to fully clean the grainfather prior to starting your next brew or a rinse is fine?

Quick rinse seems fine to me. Makes for a long day but you do save some time with only having to do a full clean up once. I have a 40L urn that I can use to boil the wort while I start mashing the second batch in the grainfather. so that's what I do for double batches.

After 95 brews my CFC has sprung an internal leak. Unfortunately I've past the warranty period.

I was about to brew something when I noticed water coming out where it shouldn't. And it explains why the previous batch ended up being 25L into the fermenter instead of 23L ... (and I assume I probably picked up an infection there too, although I'm yet to taste this batch).

RIP CFC.

That sucks man. I think the new CFC are a bit better quality anyway so you will be getting a small upgrade if you get a new one.

 

[suffolk]

Hi all, I've just acquired a grainfather and am wondering how you guys connect the red hot water out tube to a garden hose. Anyone done this?

Thanks all

Mark

The red pipe is the waste water, you don't connect it to a hose

 

[breaky]

As I'm brewing inside I want to send the hot water outside and use it to clean my gear with

 

[BKBrews]

Just thought I'd put this here for anyone struggling with efficiency issues. I have started turning off my pump during the mash, about every 10min, and letting the water above the top plate filter back down through the grain bed. I never really had issues with efficiency, however I've gone from pretty much bang on 73% BH efficiency in every batch, to 75% - 80% in every batch regardless of the SG. I attribute part of this to lowering the pH of my sparge water as well, but I think it plays a part.

Last two brews -
Munich Helles: aiming for SG 1.048 with 76% efficiency - ended up with 1.050
Indian Helles Bock (pitched straight onto the above cake): got bang on 1.068 with 75% efficiency. 7.91kg of grain FYI.

 

[wildwhitty]

Leaving the pump running will ensure you have maximum flow though the grain. Switching it off allows the water level to drop, reducing head pressure above grain. Water flowing down the overflow ensures the wort temperature above the grain is correct. Both good for efficiency.

 

[Gloveski]

I'm getting a consistent 80% efficiency last 5 or 6 brews . All I have done is add between 1.5 to 2 litres more to the mash for a 21 litre batch , great bit of kit.
I also had issues with grain in the boil I tried using a BIAB for a couple of brews , more pain than its worth for me ended up with water and grain stuck in the bag causing a stuck mash and the element to trip.
I have found that my last lot of hop additions I will put straight into boil (I bag the rest) this creates a great natural filter. I use a fine sieve to aerate the wort into fermenter and this also catches the first bit of grain and trub , but after a few minutes the wort is usually nice and clear

 

[Gloveski]

sorry if this has been answered or discussed but i searched and wasn't able to find anything.

i'm doing a rice lager and using 20% minute rice (1kg). has anyone done similar and if so, was your sparge okay? any experiences or recommendations would be a big help!

How did you go with this fletcher ?

 

[fletcher]

How did you go with this fletcher ?

sadly i haven't got to brew it yet - it's on the list now with thousands of others but i'll be brewing it before too long. i recently did a wheat beer with 50% wheat and 50% ale, and used about 200gm rice hulls. there was no issue at all with the sparge. i'll definitely be using them for any beers that use a lot of wheat, rice, or rye. i'm sure i could get away without them but they're cheap and easy to use and i'd rather not run the risk

 

[pnorkle]

just trying to find out if anyone has had this problem with the grainfather

i did a single 4.5kg of Joe White Pale Malt 27l water and 4l of sparge water
problem was did not get to a good boil and would only get to 91dg
all in all i brewed it for 90mins and in the fridge see what happens ?

today i tryed the same again to see if any problems and bugger me it would not get over 40dg
so i had to transfer all out to see if it was suck some how or what so clean it all out bugger of a job tipped it upside pushed the reset button and tried again and it worked to 67dg and sat there again farkk
did the same but only tipped it on its side a bit and push button and of it went again to 95dg and sat there
so be sides hitting with hammer any one had this problem.

Hi Mr_B - I can't comment on the reset switch tripping, but as for the boil only getting to 95degrees, as someone else mentioned, make sure you have the switch on the bottom set to "Normal," not "Mash"... AND - if the power cord is hanging too close to the GF, it will not reach boiling (cord heats up, will affect power flow to element.) so make sure it's sitting away from the boiler.
Cheers.

 

[user 37368]

I always seem to end up with higher FG's on step mashed beers than calculated with the GF and recipes I follow. For example I just did AndrewQLD's no sugar coopers clone recipe which used 35/52/63/72/77 steps which in his recipe and the GF calc ends up about a 1.006 FG but I get 1.011, a 2 step starter from CPA bottles and healthy pitch rate and fermented at 16c, I should really get higher than 66% attenuation here.

And sure 35 mash in isn't required with fully modified malt and to be honest I wouldn't do it again as it just burns onto the element when it's heating.

I have a suspicion/theory that the cause is the complexity of sugars being created, with step mashes when you heat between steps you are heating wort well above the mash temp and using that to transfer the heat into the malt pipe through the pump and heating the grist.

Anyone else experienced this? Thought/ideas?

 

[fishingbrad]

So my GF is over 2 yrs old now and are having problems with the filter cap coming off during whirlpool. it seems tight enough fit on the filter body. I should mention I whirlpool clockwise. (and no I'm not hitting the filter with the paddle). maybe if I whirlpool anticlockwise. So, time for a replacement ? anyone else having this issue? remedies- stainless cable tie?