Grainfather Review

[JSSTR8]

Finally got the chance to test out the Grainfather. My overall impression was very favorable, although I did find many shortcomings. Some of these were mere mistakes on my part and others were slight design flaws. I tried to identify all the things that I didn't like and will surely not list all the things that I do like about the system. Hopefully this review won't read to negatively, because I do love my new toy. I will definitely have to modify my techniques some, but that is expected with any new piece of equipment. Two big mistakes that I made in this review were: #1 not getting any gravity readings, and #2 not measuring the time to heat from mash to boil. I was doing two beers at once and both of these slipped my mind. But here is what I found so far.

Dry Run
It took about an hour to get to mash temperatures (166 degrees) on 6 gallons of water that started at 77 degrees. I had the pump running during this which runs super quiet! I didn't get to raise it to a boil because my five year old son and wife wanted to go out and eat; what could I do, I was outnumbered. I got back home 2 1/2 hours later and the temperature was 129 degrees; i switched the pump back on and the temperature rose to 138 degrees. So I was pretty satisfied with the heat retention with the element off.

Brew Day
First, the digital readout was hard to read in the bright sun. Not a big deal because I plant to eventually have this thing exclusively indoors, but still definately worth mentioning. It got much better later in the evening. Once again it took about an hour to get my mash water to strike temperature (161 degrees). Here is mistake number one on my part. I raised the basket, added all my grain, and tried to lower the basket. The grain should be added with the basket lowered. Had to pour the grain back into the bucket and start over again. Adding the grain was slightly difficult because because the Grainfather is tall and slender. To make things worse, some of my grain was slightly wet and clumped; I had to be very careful and slow so as not to splash too much. Some also fell in the space between the lauter system and the brew pot (more on that later), and also spilled some on the ground. Also with the tall slender design, I need a longer mash paddle. Another mistake that I made was that I turned the element off instead of just switching from boil to mash while doughing in. Not a big deal. I lost 9 degrees while doughing in, just not sure if it would have been that much had I done it correctly. I did not use the Grainfather app. Couldn't really get it to work right (didn't play with it much beforehand), but it also gave no temperature correction for doughing in which my iBrewmaster app does.
The mash went well and the pump was still super quiet. My propane on my old system was much louder then the pump, I am sure because they were both running at the same time. When it came time to lauter, lifting the basket was much more difficult than I had anticipated. Not only was I lifting the grain, but there was a few gallons of water on top of the grain too. Probably could have used one arm, but used two just to be safe. I was also worried that the handle (which rests in two notches) would slip, but it did not. Still made me nervous. I took quite some time for the wort to drain through the grain; should have timed this too but didn't. Initally wanted to batch sparge in a separate vessel, but when I was how the system was lautering decided to lauter per the instructions. This went very well too, although slow to drain also.
I failed to capture the amount of time to achieve boil. It felt like a long time, but looking back I was probably just impatient. It seemed to reach 200 degrees fairly quick, but the time for the hot break to fall and boil to start seemed forever. Again though I was probably just being impatient, because this time always seems like forever. I didn't get the amount of boil-off (staring and finishing volumes) but it seemed comparable to my propane system. I have both batches in fermenters and the levels look identical. The pump did get stuck once while cooling the wort and I had to disassemble it at the valve and clear some grain (probably a result of my sloppiness while doughing in). But the counter-flow chiller (CFC) worked well and was able to cool much faster and lower than my immersion was. The propane/immersion batch had to be put in the freezer for a while to continue cooling. Another thing of note was that the Grainfather stayed pretty hot throughout the cooling process.
Clean up was amazingly easy! There was very little buildup on the bottom of the pot (less then with my propane setup). I cleaned the bottom and sided with a soapy sponge which came clean with almost no effort. I had previously dumped the grain into a bag and cleaned the lauter system. It too came clean very easily, although the mesh screens are VERY sharp on the edges. I knew this from assembly, but still managed to give myself a few paper-like cuts. After a quick scrub I ran an Oxy Clean mixture through the Grainfather and CFC for ten to fifteen minutes. Lastly I ran a Onestep mixture through both to rinse. Disassembled the valve (twists at two spots) and put everything up to dry. The ease of cleanup may be the best thing about this system!

So overall I was very impressed with the system. While I did find some shortcomings, I believe that they can all be eliminated with small changed to my techniques. The small footprint and user friendly setup are great. I wish that I had taken more data, but I am not used to doing things like gravity readings and boil volumes. My old process was pretty routine and I knew pretty much where my numbers would fall. I will try to add to this as I brew with the system more and any adaptions I decide to make. I will also see if I can add some pictures later.

[JSSTR8]

[mashani]

FWIW, 200 is hot enough to toss in your bittering hops and consider that the beginning of your "boil" if you want. You will get full utilization at 200. 190 even. So if you want to save some time and make that last bit waiting for it to boil to not seem like a drag you can throw in your hops and count that "lag" time before the boil as part of the boil, at least for many kinds of beer.

[JSSTR8]

I was worried that since the hot break hadn't fallen yet that would somehow mess up my hop utilization. If there is a consensus about throwing hops on top of hot break, I am all for anything to shorten by brew day.


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[BigPapaG]

Mash has it right...

I too start my hops at 190-200°F...

The break happens anyway and there seems to be no problems with hop utilization.

[JSSTR8]

Sweet that should shave at least 20-30 minutes of my brew day. It will be real easy with the digital thermometer too.


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[mashani]

FWIW, the Pico brew never actually boils anything and it apparently makes good beer. It just get up to 207 degrees and stays there and just recirculates the wort.

The full utilization down to around 190 is why I have been really liking doing short boils with lid on hop stands. I get the best of both worlds, the utilization to get the IBUs I want and the extra aroma/flavor with a shorter brew day, and it keeps my Brett out.

So "boiling is overrated". LOL.

[Pudge]

No DMS worries?

[HerbMeowing]

I was worried that since the hot break hadn't fallen yet that would somehow mess up my hop utilization. If there is a consensus about throwing hops on top of hot break...

Can't say anything about consensus; however ... my bittering hop additions are made 5' into the boil. This gives me time to skim the hot break.

[mashani]

No DMS worries?

I've done everything in my power lately to get DMS (lid on at the end of boils and left on while it cools to keep my airborne Brett out, etc, and short boils even in PM batches) and I can't get it to happen. Apparently holding temps below boil doesn't make enough DMS to notice, otherwise the PicoBrew would be a DMS making machine. Folks who do Aussie no chill don't get DMS. Has anyone here actually ever gotten DMS?

I do know that a vigorous fermentation will blow off DMS. I'm "semi-open" fermenting, as in my fermenters freely vent with no pressure build up (I don't airlock, lid is on loose so bugs can't fall in), and I'm pitching at near commercial pitch rates much of the time. Most of my fermentations are actually done in 3-5 days, they just sit in the fermenter longer so I can determine if the Brett in my air got into it.

But it makes me wonder how much DMS in the final product is more due to wimpy fermentations then other factors.

EDIT: I should say that I don't mash pilsner these days, any Pilsner I use tends to be MoreBeer pilsner extract as a late addition. I do mash other stuff though. I just don't mess with pilsner due to extended brew day concerns (I usually don't have time to mess with a longer mash and longer boil). But that might make a difference. Maybe. I've heard of people doing short boils with Pilsner without getting DMS too though.

[Jon]

Awesome! I had my first AG grainfather brewday today--it was pretty nice! I did a Butternut Squash beer (basically a pumpkin beer--some pumpkins are the same species as butternut squash) and everything went great, though it drained really slowly. I thought that was thevsquash, but it may just be a characteristic of the Grainfather.

Mine also reads 214° when boiling, sooo it might be a couple degrees off. There are some quirks, for sure, but I'll say it definitely beats my old traditionsl mash/sparge plus stovetop boil system!

And I can still smell the spices I added to the beer--it's gonna be delicious!

[RickBeer]

Interesting. For my all extract batches, if I put in bittering hops at 200, that would save me time also.

[JSSTR8]

Jon,
I had a few stray grains that plugged up the pump my first batch to just a trickle. I had to disassemble the valve and clean it during cooling.
That being said, the pump does seem to drain slow. However I have never used another pump + CWC combo, so I don't have much reference.


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