The Grainfather

[dperry586]

Hi guys,
New to brewing and the forum. Picking up my GF next week and can't wait to get brewing. Here's hoping I'll have plenty of tales of success / failure / fun to share with you all soon.

 

[mudd]

One of these having its maiden brew at Melbourne brewers Monster Brew Day this Sunday 12 April.

Details
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/85903-monster-brew-day-melb-brewers/

For some reason this doesn't show in recent threads, hoping to get a few people interested in coming along and seeing a few systems in action.

Cheers Mudd.

 

[H@wkeye!]

Hi all

Just doing my second GF brew and wondering. Currently in the mash stage and there seems a lot of wart (the liquid, if that's what it's called) going down the overflow pipe, bypassing the mash bed. There is not much grain in there thankfully, but just wonder how much should be going down there?

Thanks,

Hawk

 

[denemc]

That's normal. It's designed to have a good flow to keep the wort moving so that it has a consistent temp throughout, rather than just hot spots in the bottom. As long as your wort clears as the mash goes along everything is ok.

 

[slcmorro]

wart

Wort* mate - wart sounds gross.

 

[Julez]

Hi all,

Looks like an awesome package for the coin to me....I have a few questions though.

1/ What are people's experience with the pump - reliability, frequency of blockages, etc., and what would a GF pump cost to replace if it packed it in? Are spares readily available?
2/ Once you lift the malt pipe up to begin the sparge process, the mash is obviously not floating any more - have people experienced significant compaction issues/stuck sparges?
3/ The SC-200 controller is a bit clumsy, though I agree with other comments that it is still a wicked overall package for the $. Any further updates on the rumoured PID option though?

Cheers,

Jules.

 

[meathead]

Hi all,

Looks like an awesome package for the coin to me....I have a few questions though.

1/ What are people's experience with the pump - reliability, frequency of blockages, etc., and what would a GF pump cost to replace if it packed it in? Are spares readily available?

I can't comment on spares etc although I've heard nothing but good things re their after sales service
I've done at least 20 brews and had no issues with the pump

2/ Once you lift the malt pipe up to begin the sparge process, the mash is obviously not floating any more - have people experienced significant compaction issues/stuck Sparge

I've done mainly 5-6 kg grain bills and only had a slow sparge when using a high % of wheat, I'm told rice hulls will fix this

3/ The SC-200 controller is a bit clumsy, though I agree with other comments that it is still a wicked overall package for the $. Any further updates on the rumoured PID option though?

Can't comment on this other than to say I find the sc200 easy to use

Cheers,

Jules.

 

[slcmorro]

1 - Never had an issue with the pump. I use a hop sock however.
2 - Never had a stuck sparge myself. I like to do a beta-glucan rest anyway, regardless of the grist.
3 - The SC200 is simple to use and does what it needs to.

 

[wambesi]

Jules,

1. Like others I've not had a problem with the pump at all, no blockages - but like others as well I've used a hop sock from day one and just moved to a stainless spider.

2. Stuck/slow sparges can happen depending on crush size but I've not had any stuck sparges - had some slow ones but that's from me playing.

3. The STC-200 is a simple and effective controller for the package, I don't agree with the clumsy comment as it does it's job very well. Keeps temp much better than my old esky MLT from years ago. We've not heard anything more about the PID option except the initial comments that it may be a future option but if you want to automate (rather than actual PID) then the STC1000+ BREW controller does all that. I'm not to fussed now about the PID as I initially was.

Spare are starting to appear in NZ, as are the "upgrade" parts for first generation buyers to upgrade to some of the new changes so they shouldn't be to far away and if you ever have a problem you just need to send the guys a message - their service and replies have been pretty bloody good.

 

[Gregos]

I bought a GF last week, did my first brew in it on Saturday, so simple to use, controller does the job, held the mash temp perfectly for 90mins,chiller worked well got down to pitching temp in 20mins with tap water @20deg, did a 5kg grain bill took 10mins to sparge.

 

[meathead]

I bought a GF last week, did my first brew in it on Saturday, so simple to use, controller does the job, held the mash temp perfectly for 90mins,chiller worked well got down to pitching temp in 20mins with tap water @20deg, did a 5kg grain bill took 10mins to sparge.

Just out of interest what was your procedure using the chiller?

 

[Julez]

Thanks for the info guys. I already factored in use of a hop spider. Good to see so many positive reviews of both product and service.

Wambesi, re the sc200, I just mean they are not quite as elegant in their usability or function compared to other controllers. I use one to control a fermentation fridge. Not knocking them, but a PID option would float my boat ☺
This wouldn't stop me from buying a GF though.

Cheers.

 

[GibboQLD]

Does anyone have/use the GF sparge water heater?

The image of the control knob on ibrew makes it look like it can be set between 45° & 110°, and I'm wondering whether it would hold a temperature well enough to be used for mashing/boiling for <15L mini-batches...

 

[wambesi]

Thanks for the info guys. I already factored in use of a hop spider. Good to see so many positive reviews of both product and service.

Wambesi, re the sc200, I just mean they are not quite as elegant in their usability or function compared to other controllers. I use one to control a fermentation fridge. Not knocking them, but a PID option would float my boat ☺
This wouldn't stop me from buying a GF though.

Cheers.

Jules, fair enough. Perhaps not as elegant but much simpler than some PIDs i've used in the past.
Most likely a PID version in the future sometime but no idea when.

 

[Gregos]

sjGibson

My brother has a GF sparge water heater, he swears by it, set's his sparge temp and it holds it until he's ready to sparge, says I'm crazy for not buying one, I have pot on gas stove, the down side with that is that you've got to keep checking temp of water and time it right for sparge.@ $149 I seriously thinking about one.

 

[Gregos]

Meathead,

My just followed the instruction in the GF book, recycled the wort back into the pot until it ran cool, then transferred to fermenter.

 

[GibboQLD]

My brother has a GF sparge water heater, he swears by it, set's his sparge temp and it holds it until he's ready to sparge

Any chance you could get a photo of the inside of it? I imagine it'd probably need a false bottom if someone were to use it for mashing/boiling...

 

[Julez]

Hi guys. One more question. What are your thoughts on the location of the temp probe being so close to the element? Surely the water temp here would be higher than in the mash itself higher up the vessel?

Cheers.

 

[Smokomark]

Hi guys. One more question. What are your thoughts on the location of the temp probe being so close to the element? Surely the water temp here would be higher than in the mash itself higher up the vessel?
Cheers.

Ideally you want to measure the highest temperature any part of the wort reaches. Not the temp of the bulk of the mash.
Temps will equalise with good flow thru the pump.

 

[Julez]

Ideally you want to measure the highest temperature any part of the wort reaches. Not the temp of the bulk of the mash.
Temps will equalise with good flow thru the pump.

But if the probe is in the high temp zone surely the controller will cut power to the element prematurely before enough hot liquor has been pumped up top? I would be interested to know difference in temp in upper part of mash Vs where the controller is measuring. Even if there is a significant difference, I spose easy to compensate by notching the target temp up a degree or so if required, so no biggie really....

Cheers