Grainfather glycol chiller

[karrathabrewer]

Hey fellow brewers I was just wondering if any of you guys owns one of these flash new grainfather glycol fermenter chillers and if they are worth the Cost? They sell for around $1400 Aus not including the fermenter which is another $700 on top? Iv done a bit of reading up on these things and apparently they can cold crash and lager down to 4c? I lager in my old chest freezer at 1 to 2c and that's always worked well but 4 would be a little high I'd habe thought? Anyway guys thought and reviews on these things let hear it?

 

[karrathabrewer]

Hey fellow brewers I was just wondering if any of you guys owns one of these flash new grainfather glycol fermenter chillers and if they are worth the Cost? They sell for around $1400 Aus not including the fermenter which is another $700 on top? Iv done a bit of reading up on these things and apparently they can cold crash and lager down to 4c? I lager in my old chest freezer at 1 to 2c and that's always worked well but 4 would be a little high I'd habe thought? Anyway guys thought and reviews on these things let hear it?

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

Looks pretty sweet.

I just watched the video for it here:
https://www.homebrewing.org/The-Grainfather-Glycol-Chiller-with-Cooler-Connection-Kit_p_7527.html

It holds 6L of glycol and they say to add 350ml-500ml for each additional fermenter connected. That does not seem like enough to me. I think it would struggle with 4 connected and trying to cold crash.

I'm currently working on a glycol chilling system at the moment for my 2 50L fermentors. It's not as neat and tidy as this unit, but should do the job nicely.

I'm using the Icemaster G40 from Keg King, Temperature controllers, solenoid valves, and a loop return back to the chiller unit. It holds 40L of glycol, with an additional 10L in each jacketed fermenter.

I'll post a 'how to' if it works well.

 

[EalingDrop]

Hi KB, the revised Glycol only came out a couple of months ago after some issues with the first ones leaking, so it'll be some time before the reviews are posted (I know two AHB members have it, see Grainfather Conical thread).

The standard controller won't work with the glycol, so you're looking at $800 ish for the pro edition.

Based on my ghetto version (using a fridge and cooling kit), recently I cold crash from 26c to 6c (can aim for even lower if I'm game enough to add Metho into the water bath to allow me to chill below 0c). Once it's reached, the cooling pump hardly comes on because of the insulated design of the conical. To answer your other question I think multiple tanks are fine, but it'll take a while to get there, but should be no problems maintaining that temp for say lagering.

 

[karrathabrewer]

By the looks of things blokes habe been getting far better results knocking up there own system rather then fork out thousands for a system that just barely gets the job done? I think the standard old chest freezer and a good temp controller seems to be doing a better job for the average home brewer!

 

[Don]

I had issues with mind. I bought the grainfather chiller and two fermenters. After receiving the chiller and going through the setup process. The chiller failed and burnt out. So I returned the whole lot. Customer service is pretty good and I may of just been unlucky. But i now went with two ss brewtech 74L unitanks and a icemaster d40 chiller. This gear is a bit more interchangeable as which the grainfather gear could only be used with other grainfather gear. I'm yet to test the new icemaster d40 but it has a good track record, has more functionality than the grainfather and is around $600 bucks cheaper and $1000 cheaper than the ss brewtech chiller.

 

[Maksym B]

Hey fellow brewers I was just wondering if any of you guys owns one of these flash new grainfather glycol fermenter chillers and if they are worth the Cost? They sell for around $1400 Aus not including the fermenter which is another $700 on top? Iv done a bit of reading up on these things and apparently they can cold crash and lager down to 4c? I lager in my old chest freezer at 1 to 2c and that's always worked well but 4 would be a little high I'd habe thought? Anyway guys thought and reviews on these things let hear it?

I purchased UBC chiller for 4 conicals and I'm completely happy with it. And it was under $1k

 

[Drowro]

I purchased UBC chiller for 4 conicals and I'm completely happy with it. And it was under $1k

Which one did you get? I have been looking for a while but got a bit confused. I only have one fermenter (SS Brewtech 14gallon) but was hoping to pick up a SS brewtech Unitank to ferment and serve out of.

I could go with the Brewtech stuff but always looking at options.

 

[Maksym B]

Which one did you get? I have been looking for a while but got a bit confused. I only have one fermenter (SS Brewtech 14gallon) but was hoping to pick up a SS brewtech Unitank to ferment and serve out of.

I could go with the Brewtech stuff but always looking at options.

I have UBC T75FBC. You can can check all available UBC models and their specs here Homebrew Glycol Chillers | Conical Fermenter Glycol Chillers I see that are offering 10%off for Black Friday

 

[kadmium]

I have UBC T75FBC. You can can check all available UBC models and their specs here Homebrew Glycol Chillers | Conical Fermenter Glycol Chillers I see that are offering 10%off for Black Friday

Yeah but shipping from Canada might be a bit expensive.

 

[Maksym B]

Yeah but shipping from Canada might be a bit expensive.

I received mine with a free shipping option as it was under $1000.
"Eligible orders are: Over $100 and under $1,000 USD for US customers. Mainland Canadian provinces and Continental United States only." I checked and this promotion is still valid on their site.

 

[hezzer]

I'm using an Icemaster d40 from Grain and Grape with the small SS brew tech unitank. Working well after ten batches. Chills faster than the GF I had before.