Grain father v robobrew

[Keemju]

I love the naivety of the average punter, the Guten / Ace / Klarstein which are from the same stable as the Grainfather and Robobrew with better fittings, polished finish, larger capacity same 1 year warranty and a stepped mash feature could be landed taxes,shipping and agents paid for, for around $275 AUD and not that much more for the 50 litre version.
That is for a 20 foot container, cheaper again with a 40 footer. Without any doubt 100% mark up.

Shame you can't get one in Australia unless you order 50

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You can, nosco only just got his. Unless an importer was going to sell direct through eBay and the like, its not worth bringing them in when you can get them direct.

 

[Keemju]

You can, nosco only just got his. Unless an importer was going to sell direct through eBay and the like, its not worth bringing them in when you can get them direct.

They look realy good do you know which site sells the unit i looked at abilbaba they only sell in 50 lots

 

[goatchop41]

You can, nosco only just got his. Unless an importer was going to sell direct through eBay and the like, its not worth bringing them in when you can get them direct.

They look realy good do you know which site sells the unit i looked at abilbaba they only sell in 50 lots

I'd love to know too, I've had a good look and can't find one that sells <50 units
Maybe just message/email one of the vendors? Might have to PM nosco too to find out which he got his from

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Write to Sandy, they do samples of 1.
https://gutenequipment.en.alibaba.c...er_mash_tun.html?spm=a2700.8304367.0.0.YmZDLV

 

[MartinOC]

Getting a bit more on-track....

Without trawling-through multiple Grainfather threads, how do these units handle adjuncts?

 

[Coldspace]

Getting a bit more on-track....

Without trawling-through multiple Grainfather threads, how do these units handle adjuncts?

Good, I've done multiple brews in my G/father's using adjuncts..

My rice lagers have all turned out great, the unit handled 6 kgs of grain plus 2 kgs of white rice pre cooked and dumped into mash, mash in 1 kg of grain and 500 grms of gelantised rice at a time to get even spread throughout the mash, my fluted mill is a perfect mill for the grainfather as it keeps lots of husks intact and therefore a perfect mash profile and sparge with or without adjuncts , I've tried multiple mills but these are the best for what I do, a finer crush using a heavy rice adjunct then a single batch mash run in this unit would be alot easier.. Turned out 2 x 15 ltr cubes which were watered down by 5 ltrs each gave me 2 cornies at about 4.5% each, as I didn't want too high ABV as it was summer .Double high grav grain father brew method .
Only small issue was the sparging took about 20 mins longer due to the rice, but no biggy...
But this was due to me maxing out the unit to get 2 cornies in one brew up lol.
If I went with say a single batch then the sparge would be shitload faster. But time saved to get 2 kegs was worth it.

Done a few oatmeal style stouts, all worked great, I used heaps of oats in one batch and no issues.
Only single batch these as I wanted a higher grav single batch stouts anyway.

Cheers

 

[MartinOC]

Thanks for that. Any issues with wheat & rye (ie. rice hulls definitely required)?

Reason I'm asking is that I just bought a Robobrew (pump model) for use whilst I'm at work & need to know what I can get away-with.

 

[Coldspace]

Thanks for that. Any issues with wheat & rye (ie. rice hulls definitely required)?

Reason I'm asking is that I just bought a Robobrew (pump model) for use whilst I'm at work & need to know what I can get away-with.

I've done heaps of 150 lashes type ales, using upto 35% wheat, doing double batch, only issue was the wheat would sometimes coat the element base, causing the ramp up to boil to take awhile, easy fix was after mash out while the ramp up continues, I just use my long stainless mash paddle to scrap abit off the bottom been carefull as to not nock the pump filter off. This made the ramp up and less scorching better. This was only evident when going all out and doing a high grav mash using upto 3 kgs of wheat and 6 kgs of other grains.
Was no issue when say using 2.5 kgs of pilsener and 1.5 kgs of wheat for single batch.
Sparging was good for normal batch size, just about 10 mins slower when going all out and craming upto 9 kgs of grain into the unit. But then it had 9 kgs of grain to drain through.
My twin fluted mill has solved all my sparging issues when going 9 kgs of grain and my effiencey is up to 75 to 80% now for the big grav mashes.
Just going over my notes, and I'm only dropping less than 5% effiencey when doing say 4.5 kg mash single run to a 9 kg high grav mash, so alittle loss but for the time worth it for a standard type ale or lager it's fine with me.

Rice hulls would only be needed if trying to do say double batch with loads of grain , I don't need them as the fluted mill makes my grist perfect for my brew techniques anyway.
No rice hulls if just staying in the design parameters of these units as long as your crush is not like flour or too fine, you'll be ok.
I've bought many of crush from various brewshops around Brisbane , all have been ok for using upto 6 kgs of grain per mash, but suffer abit when pushing boundaries like 9 kgs, the fluted mill solved all these issues.

I only double batch when doing standard guzzling type pale ales and lagers all under 5.2% which seem to be the guzzlers around here.

For more specialty brews, or a nice fancy IPA or stout I just do single runs due to the higher grav required in the end product., and the sheer amount of hops required in the boil.

The rye, works good. I've only done a few rye beers and it was no issues. I milled the rye seperate to other grains due to the finer size required.
All rye beers have turned out great, I've only done single batch rye brews as I have not needed the volume of these brews to try a high grav mash. But will try it some time.

Cheers

 

[MartinOC]

Thanks mate. All good info. I also just found your double, high gravity method & will definitely give it a go (I'm kinda time-poor these days).

Cheers!

 

[user 37368]

re: mash temps.

 

[Coodgee]

I've done heaps of 150 lashes type ales, using upto 35% wheat, doing double batch, only issue was the wheat would sometimes coat the element base, causing the ramp up to boil to take awhile, easy fix was after mash out while the ramp up continues, I just use my long stainless mash paddle to scrap abit off the bottom been carefull as to not nock the pump filter off. This made the ramp up and less scorching better. This was only evident when going all out and doing a high grav mash using upto 3 kgs of wheat and 6 kgs of other grains.
Was no issue when say using 2.5 kgs of pilsener and 1.5 kgs of wheat for single batch.
Sparging was good for normal batch size, just about 10 mins slower when going all out and craming upto 9 kgs of grain into the unit. But then it had 9 kgs of grain to drain through.
My twin fluted mill has solved all my sparging issues when going 9 kgs of grain and my effiencey is up to 75 to 80% now for the big grav mashes.
Just going over my notes, and I'm only dropping less than 5% effiencey when doing say 4.5 kg mash single run to a 9 kg high grav mash, so alittle loss but for the time worth it for a standard type ale or lager it's fine with me.

Rice hulls would only be needed if trying to do say double batch with loads of grain , I don't need them as the fluted mill makes my grist perfect for my brew techniques anyway.
No rice hulls if just staying in the design parameters of these units as long as your crush is not like flour or too fine, you'll be ok.
I've bought many of crush from various brewshops around Brisbane , all have been ok for using upto 6 kgs of grain per mash, but suffer abit when pushing boundaries like 9 kgs, the fluted mill solved all these issues.

I only double batch when doing standard guzzling type pale ales and lagers all under 5.2% which seem to be the guzzlers around here.

For more specialty brews, or a nice fancy IPA or stout I just do single runs due to the higher grav required in the end product., and the sheer amount of hops required in the boil.

The rye, works good. I've only done a few rye beers and it was no issues. I milled the rye seperate to other grains due to the finer size required.
All rye beers have turned out great, I've only done single batch rye brews as I have not needed the volume of these brews to try a high grav mash. But will try it some time.

Cheers

I used rice hulls a few times but they are such dirty, ****** things that I don't like the idea of using them in a delicate wheat beer etc. I found that a 20 minute beta-glucanase rest at 40 degrees which will also provide a quick protein rest while ramping up to the sac rest is enough for a nice easy sparge on a 5kg wit grain bill of 50% wheat and 10% oats.

 

[Jonez121289]

Write to Sandy, they do samples of 1.
https://gutenequipment.en.alibaba.c...er_mash_tun.html?spm=a2700.8304367.0.0.YmZDLV

Did anyone actually tried to order a sample? I am about to get a Robobrew with pump, however I would prefer to get a 50L model which they do not plan to offer (messaged them on FB recently)

 

[DU99]

you will require a 15 amp supply...

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Did anyone actually tried to order a sample? I am about to get a Robobrew with pump, however I would prefer to get a 50L model which they do not plan to offer (messaged them on FB recently)

A few people have got the 50 litre, you will have to check out the Guten thread, upgraded now to 8 step mash schedule and a recipe database memory, if my memory serves me correct.

 

[Jonez121289]

Thanks, can't upgrade to a 15 amp supply unfortunately. Should I simply settle for anything around 30L as more is simply not feasible with the 10amp supply?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I could hold off for now, see what Keg King do, they were well impressed with the Brew Monk or get it slightly cheaper ordering direct. But as soon as Keg King order there will be no more buying direct from China once they have a supplier here.