The Grainfather

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spickup
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by spickup » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:10 pm

Anybody here brew on the GF yet? Looking forward to reviews. Considering picking one up. I have considerably less time these days to brew and this seems like a great option.


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Re: The Grainfather

Post by jtmwhyte » Wed Dec 23, 2015 2:51 pm

I'd be interested in hearing some feedback as well
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by mcgster » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:46 pm

I stopped by and saw some of Dave83's brew day on Sunday, i was pretty impressed with the unit, he has it pretty dialed in already and insulated it with reflectix wrap, the heating speed surpassed my expectations by quite a bit.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by jtmwhyte » Wed Dec 23, 2015 10:39 pm

mcgster wrote:I stopped by and saw some of Dave83's brew day on Sunday, i was pretty impressed with the unit, he has it pretty dialed in already and insulated it with reflectix wrap, the heating speed surpassed my expectations by quite a bit.
I'm curious how ramp times would compare to my 5500W eKeggle.
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by McGruff » Thu Dec 24, 2015 9:22 am

I would assume your system is much faster if you are 240v.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by mcgster » Thu Dec 24, 2015 10:56 am

Agreed, it wouldn't touch a 5500W for the same volume of water.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by jtmwhyte » Thu Dec 24, 2015 11:28 am

Oh, I know my current system would be much faster, I'm just curious about what the ramp times on a grainfather actually look like.

For 5 gallon batches using full volume mashing (7-8 gallons of strike water depending on recipe) my ramp times are very quick, but due to space constraints I was looking into the GF to potentially replace my equipment. Time is an important factor for me with 2 small children.
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Such hilarious visions clamber
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by MitchK » Thu Dec 24, 2015 3:49 pm

The one concern I have with it before I am ready to start earmarking my spare change is how quickly it can change temps for a step mash, since being able to accurately step mash is a big advantage of this system if it works well imo.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by mcgster » Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:49 pm

From what I saw the ramp times would likely not be sufficient for a step mash. You could use a heat stick in the GF to put you well into step mash ramp times though.


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Re: The Grainfather

Post by MitchK » Thu Dec 24, 2015 6:03 pm

or do the cooler-style step mash method of adding enough hot water to bring it up I guess, basically doing part of your sparge ahead of time.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by gm- » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:30 am

mcgster wrote:From what I saw the ramp times would likely not be sufficient for a step mash. You could use a heat stick in the GF to put you well into step mash ramp times though.


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I have the 220V version, and it is quick enough to do a step mash if I want to, so I suspect with a little help from a heat stick it would work fine.

Fermenting: Oud bruin/Vienna Pekko SMaSH
On tap: Nelson dry hopped Berliner/ Scottish Heavy 70-/ NE IPA

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by MitchK » Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:38 pm

I just brought my grainfather home, if I'm rained out of work tomorrow I might be able to fire it up for either a hop test bitter recipe from brulosophy or take 1 on an unfiltered style double ipa SMaSH recipe for an exchange.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by Keith » Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:25 pm

Get on the dipa!
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by GAM » Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:48 pm

Awesome! I want to see it in action.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by jtmwhyte » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:29 pm

http://homebrewery.nz/process/grainfather-stc-1000/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting mod for the GF that allows you to perform programmed step mashes.
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Tap 1: Festa Brew Scotch Ale
Tap 2:
"Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain -
Quaintest thoughts - queerist fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today." ~ Poe

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by MitchK » Thu Dec 31, 2015 6:55 am

That mod looks cool for the future, we'll see how many step mashes I actually do and whether I'm really bothered by using my phone timer and pressing buttons.

I 99% assembled my grainfather last night, just haven't taken a look at the chiller yet to make sure it will hook up where I want it to. Pretty easy assembly (a couple of mildly tricky "jam metal rod into silicone tube" moments)... The only real tricky part I could see someone getting pissed at is the gasket-like silicone seals on the grain basket perforated inserts (like a false bottom almost, there's one that gets installed at the bottom of the grain basket once, and another that you push onto the top of the grain bed from above each time) - I fought with the bottom one for quite a while to slide the false bottom all the way down the basket without the silicone seal slipping off, making me dig the now loose fitting screen out from the bottom of the basket and try again. I then panicked a bit because fitting the top screen is going to be something I have to do regularly rather than something I can fight with for 30 minutes once and then never again. Turns out it goes in a lot easier if the silicone is wet. So there's that tip for anyone else who picks one up.

Weather today looks like I'll actually be working so I'm probably aiming for my first brew on it this weekend (probably a 2-row and cascade SMaSH dIPA with a long simmer step before the boil to get more malt flavor)

Also: Grainfather sent Dave from everwood a bit of swag for the first few people who buy one out there - I got a keychain bottle opener (an actually sturdy seeming one) as I am not a hat person, but whoever buys the next one might be able to score a baseball cap with the grainfather logo on it :lol:

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by Keith » Thu Dec 31, 2015 8:44 am

I was tempted to open the box at Dave's but figure I would leave the unwrapping to you. Take a few pics while you're at it.
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by jtmwhyte » Thu Dec 31, 2015 12:57 pm

I'd love for one of you who owns a unit to fill me in on ramp times with the grainfather. Specifically in looking for:

1.) volume of mash water.
2.) Temp of a water at the time you turn on the element.
3.) time to arrive at strike temp from step 2.
4.) time to boil after mash is complete.
Nova Prime Taproom
Tap 1: Festa Brew Scotch Ale
Tap 2:
"Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain -
Quaintest thoughts - queerist fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today." ~ Poe

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by MitchK » Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:28 pm

I'll time those things when I do my first batch (probably this weekend, might do it with a friend who is curious about the hobby). I just hooked everything up this morning to make sure I installed everything water tight, no leaks, pump works, etc and it all looks good. Just cooling hot test water with the counterflow chiller was exceptionally impressive with regards to how quickly the wort started coming out cold.

edit: thinking of switching my SMaSH this weekend from cascade to centennial because I don't want to burn an ungodly amount of hops bittering with an aroma hop to 120 ibu.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by Keith » Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:14 pm

Aim for 20-30 ibu bittering at 60. Then hammer the shit out of it 5 Min's and less. 120 ibu bittering will be harsh.
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by jtmwhyte » Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:14 pm

Awesome! Thanks. I'm looking into whether or not to go for the grainfather over my current eKeggle setup (unlikely, but I'm just curious) mostly due to wanting to be able to use 120v
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Tap 1: Festa Brew Scotch Ale
Tap 2:
"Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain -
Quaintest thoughts - queerist fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today." ~ Poe

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by MitchK » Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:17 pm

Keith wrote:Aim for 20-30 ibu bittering at 60. Then hammer the shit out of it 5 Min's and less. 120 ibu bittering will be harsh.
Yeah, I meant total but good call on limiting to 20-30 at 60 mins - the first draft recipe I'm staring at in beersmith while doing more research currently has 48 ibu at 60, so I'll shift more of those hops to later.

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Re: The Grainfather

Post by Keith » Thu Dec 31, 2015 3:00 pm

I normally go 24 ibu on apa, IPA and DIPA for bittering.
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by jtmwhyte » Fri Jan 01, 2016 12:57 pm

Keith wrote:I normally go 24 ibu on apa, IPA and DIPA for bittering.
I just bumped up my 60 minute addition in my latest APA to land around 25 ibu. Found my beers have lacked the bitterness backbone (lack of a better term) that I used to get before going almost entirely to late hopping
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Tap 1: Festa Brew Scotch Ale
Tap 2:
"Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain -
Quaintest thoughts - queerist fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today." ~ Poe

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Keith
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Re: The Grainfather

Post by Keith » Fri Jan 01, 2016 1:00 pm

Yep. I've gone higher but just takes away from the beer.
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