Is anyone here brewing with one of those Grainfather systems? If so, what do you think of it?
When all those automated systems first came on the scene a few years ago, I had absolutely no interest in them, but I’m starting to change my mind.
Maybe it’s because I can only brew at night now due to the baby (that means I’m up until 1:30, which is tough because I get up at 6:30 every day), but lately brew days have started to seem like more of a chore than something to look forward to.
I never had any desire to set up a recirculating system or an electric one (after 10 years of brewing, I don’t even own a pump), but the Grainfather has definitely caught my eye.
They were supposed to send me one to review, but apparently there are supply problems. LHBS got one to sell. I helped him unpack it yesterday and it was badly dented. That;'s all I know!
I have been brewing on one. 6 batches in. It’s a well designed system, but the element is a bit under powered. The boils is really a strong simmer, but I haven’t noticed a lot of difference in the final product vs. my Brew-Magic. The boil-off rate is low, and there is about a quart of dead space. Unlike most people’s impression, it is not automated, rather the controller simply manages mash temps. Sparge is manual, unless you rig up something. I use the same coarse crush with this as the recirculation rate is key to efficiency. Max grain is about 19lb, and 6 / 6.5 gallons max finish volume. The little chiller works pretty well.
Biggest deal for me was moving back into the house. I can brew in the AC again rather than stand over 60k BTUs in a 115f garage. It is also incredibly quiet - especially the pump.
Easy to clean as you go. Lifting the basket is really the only chore,.
A little off-topic here, but I sometime see a trend in homebrewing that’s exemplified by where these systems are going.
At one time, you could give ten different homebrewers the same recipe and get back ten unique beers. Between the use of RO water and artificially built water profiles and these automated systems, those ten brewers will all end up with something very close to the same product.
A lot of you may think of this as a good thing, but my old, curmudgeon self sees it as a drift away from the spirit of homebrewing. Moving toward something that closer resembles brewing commercial beer at home. Less about creativity and innovation. More about how deep your pockets are.
But I guess there will always be those of us who see something in a surplus store or yard sale and think, “I could make beer with that.” I also guess there’s plenty of room in homebrewing for the smartphone generation. So I guess there’s really no point in this post. Just me feeling old and curmudgeonly.
I think a strong simmer is likely all you need (the Zymatic doesn’t boil at all), though you could probably increase the vigor if you used some reflectix insulation.
It looks like the European version has a 2000 watt element as opposed to the 1600 watt element in the US version.
You know, I’m a keep-it-simple-stupid kind of curmudgeon myself, but as I get older, (hence more curmudgeonly) I tend to enjoy being outside in sub-freezing temperatures, carrying large amounts of equipment up the cellar stairs only to clean it and carry it back down the stairs much less than the hip youngster that I used to be. So, I find myself looking at these “smartphone” type systems and thinking that they’ll allow me to brew “my beer” which will always be the result of my cumulative knowledge and skill. So, I don’t think that these things “homogenize” homebrew, rather I think they broaden the scope of what we can do with everything that we brewers have at our fingertips to create our masterpieces.
However, the semi-automated system that I am lusting over is the Electric Blichmann Brew Easy. I like this one because it will solve the carrying and the cold that I’m tired of, but it still retains many of the traditional aspects of the brewing process.
Yeah, the smaller batches do solve many of the problems that I have, but I still like to entertain quite a bit, and my friends and I go through a lot of beer. So, I’d like to do five gallon batches with the ease of the smaller ones.
They should offer a 2000W option. The circuit that supplies the counter top outlets in most American homes is 20A, and so is the washing machine circuit.
Well, I was all set to brew last night, but I was not too excited about it - even considered pushing it back again.
Then it turned out to be one of the easiest, most relaxing brew sessions I’ve had in a while. Go figure. Guess I can hang onto that $900 for the time being.
Well - there you go. The GF is an alternative to keep me brewing when it is miserably hot and humid. Looking forward to brewing out in the garage again very soon, unless the garage floats away in all this rain.
The Grainfather interests me because I’m moving to Colorado and will not be able to brew on the back porch year around like I do here in Houston. I would not buy it unless it would boil vigorously or you could modify it to get a big boil. I found this video of a European version that appears to boil nicely…
Then again…It looks like you could make something similar using their idea and your own 220 V outlet…
There is a drop in coil kit that Bobby sales at Brew Hardware that shows a very vigorous boil in parallel with the built in heat element. Haven’t seen the need for it yet… beers have come out fine and the first comp brew from it scored pretty well.
Looks like it would add just about $80 to the cost of the GF.
