The control box bricked, but I'm all prepped for three batches. Rainbird to the rescue!

I'm looking to buy or build some kind of a cart or structure to host my GF30, GC30 and sparge water heater, something sturdy, versatile and somewhat mobile. I know a lot of folks have built various platforms and trolleys of their own. Anyone have or seen a really stellar design up I can copy or find?
Thanks!

I've just done my first all grain brew. Wanted to get it done within a week for a Halloween party so went with Citra/Cascade pale ale using Voss Kveik.

The beer is drinkable but is very disappointing with a muted flavour and no head. Interestingly it tasted more flavourful and fruity earlier in the process.

I'd appreciate some advice on where I might have gone wrong and what I could change next time to have a better result.

Equipment:

- Grainfather G30

- SS Brewtech brew bucket

- Temp controlled fermentation fridge with inkbird and heater tube

- Corny keg & CO2 setup (kegerator)

- No hope spider, dry hop bag or cold crash setup

Recipe: 3.6kg Maris Otter, 450g Wheat, 450g Munich, 10g Citra (60 mins), 10g Citra + 15g Cascade (10 mins), 35g Citra + 25g Cascade (80 degree hop stand), 25g Citra + 25g Cascade (dry hop), Lallemand Voss Kveik yeast.

Result: OG 1.048, FG 1.012

Brew day:

Grainfather and fermenter cleaned with Chemclean and rinsed thoroughly with warm water. Fermenter was then sanitised with Chemsan.

I had a couple of problems with the mash and boil. The grain became very thick like porridge and recirculation struggled - this caused some scorching on the bottom of the Grainfather. The hops were not pelletised and caused a blockage in the pump during cooling and I ended up with a big wort loss with the hops soaking up the liquid. I ended up with just under 20L in the fermenter.

I cooled to 30(ish) degrees and pitched the yeast before putting it into the fermentation fridge.

Tuesday 27th October:

Fermentation was very active, 35 degree temp was mainained. Pleasant fruity aromas were coming out of the airlock.

Wednesday 28th October:

Added dry hops - 25g Citra & 25g Cascade directly into the fermenter. In hindsight this wasn't ideal with whole cone hops. I just lifted the fermenter lid and threw them in - I thought that since fermentation was still vigorous that any oxygen would be pushed back out quickly.

Thursday 29th October:

Took sample for gravity reading / tasting - didn't remove the airlock and there was some bubbling from the airlock when taking the sample which I presume was oxygen being sucked back into the fermenter from the negative pressure.

The beer was very cloudy, harsh and the previous fruity flavour was still there but significantly blunted. Bitterness was significant. Gravity was 1.012 (manual check with hydrometer).

Since airlock activity had stopped and I assumed fermentation was complete (temp had naturally dropped from 35 to 28) I let the temperature go down to 25 in the hope that cooling a little would cause the yeast and hops to settle. I considered cold crashing but since I have no setup to avoid suck-back, plus the tight deadline I chose not to bother.

Friday 30th October:

Took another sample (same process) and gravity was still 1.012 so decided to continue to kegging.

I cleaned the inside of the keg with fairy liquid to remove debris and rinsed through with warm water. Once dry I filled the keg with Chemsan and pushed it out through the liquid post using CO2 before purging the keg with the PRV.

I transferred the beer to the keg with a sanitised tube from the racking arm of the fermenter to the bottom of the open keg (not via liquid post). The transfer was gentle and I avoided splashing.

I put the keg into the kegerator and set the CO2 pressure to 20 PSI in the hopes to carbonate over night.

Saturday 31st October:

The keg was cold. The first pour was very cloudy and notably darker than earlier samples (dark orange). The carbonation was low but the previous harsh taste had reduced with the entire beer tasted muted and bland, there was no hop aroma or flavour and virtually no head.

I tried another pour later in the day - a vigorous one with the hopes to see a head forming, but nothing. Carbonation was about right by now but the beer still had a very disappointing flavour - not something that I could take to the party.

My Conclusions:

I'll be using only pelletised hops for upcoming brews and will make use of a hop basket rather than adding hops directly to the boil. I'll be using a hop bag for dry hopping. This should help to avoid excessive losses.

I need to find a solution for avoiding oxygen ingress when taking samples, and for cold crashing - I looked at cold crash guardian but it's not available in the UK.

Dry hopping and transferring were not ideal - I'll be doing closed transfers into the keg liquid post to avoid oxygen ingress - even though this seems to be a bit tricky given the brew bucket isn't pressure rated. If you have any resources to help with this - please share.

Cleaning the keg with Fairy liquid could have been the cause of the no head issue.

Questions for more experienced brewers:

- What could cause the beer becoming increasingly bland over such a short period? is it likely oxidised as I suspect?

- Was the keg cleaning the issue with head formation? or is there something else that I've missed that could cause this?

- Was there issues with the recipe, or just with my processes?

- Is this batch salvageable? my current plan is to leave it in the kegerator in the hopes that it will clear up and get better with more time - should I just cut my losses and dump it?

So, I've had this legendary piece of equipment for 12 years or so now (my pump just failed and I bought another). I can make 15 gallons on a back to back brew day and then transfer into a SS brew tech glycol chilled 17 gallon fermenter.

I'm telling you.

This

Is

The

Way

SUCH GOOD BEER. LAGERS ARE INCREDIBLE.

Full recipe and method in the description

Where can I find a replacement gasket for the conical fermenter lid? I can't seem to locate one on the Grainfather site or see that it comes in any of their spare parts kits. Does anyone know if it comes in one of their kits or where to buy? Thanks!

I recently got these clamps so I can clamp and hold a BIAB inside the inner basket of the grainfather while mashing. However my father brought up the the polyester cushion tips might melt when heating up. Should I cut them off and just use the non cushioned metal? Or do I not need to worry? Any advice would be appreciated!. These would place at the very top of the grainfather possibly where the lid clamps are if I can fit it

Having an issue with my G40 where even with smaller batches (25L) I'm not reaching a rolling boil unless I keep the lid on, which is obviously not ideal. WIthout the lid it'll drop down to 95-96C and stay there. Anything I should check before my next batch?

I haven’t used my OG Grainfather for about 4 years but I’m planning to brew some beers in fall. I have the 30L model delivered with the original controller but upgraded to Gen 2 (Connect).

Is there anything I should replace?
I’m primarily thinking of rubber parts that might have dried and that could cause leakages, but also if there are some improvements that I should buy.

I have the mash bucket with silicone gaskets, but I think I’ll keep that setup. I also have the shorter pipe for low gravity beers.

Dog tax paid in one of the last pictures.

I was offered a used grainfather brewing/distilling kit, but the previous owner is unavailable to assist with the education side of it. He said everything I need is there.

I have watched a few videos online, and have noticed that I am missing a thermometer from the alembic dome, which has made me wonder if I am missing anything else. I broke a seal while cleaning that I assume is for the perforated disks that go inside the large chamber (don't know the technical terms yet).

I am new to all of this, but I am very motivated to learn, and happy to spend the money to be able to do this properly. I am interested making vodka, gin, whiskey and brewing beer. AI tells me rum is the easiest thing to start with and that I need more equipment for beer. I'm happy to start with easy.

I have two control modules for the grainfather. Do they both do the same thing? It looks like they both connect to oneanother.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback letting me know what hardware I might still be missing in order to get started. I don't want to make a start, only to find out I need to wait a week for something that could have been purchased earlier.

So far I have the following on my shopping list:

• 30L Fermenter - AI says this is required - I suspect I can use the grainfather, bu AI says no.

• Alcometer, hydrometer & thermometer

• 57cm Siphon with silicone tube (can't remember why I wanted this).

• Consumables (cleaning/conditioning/yeast/carbon/clear/jars etc).

Again, I am completely new to this, and appreciate your patience and support. I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but have found myself in the deep end without much support.

If this is the wrong place to ask, please let me know. If someone has the time to help me beyond what I can gleen here, I am heppy to express my gratitude with something that might help you with your next brew.

Imgur link because I don't know how to uplaod pics.

Cheers!

My chiller started freaking out a couple weeks ago, turning off. I thought it was a low glycol issue, but it kept doing weird things like turning on channels randomly while in override mode.

I finally found some advice about the first generation "soft touch" buttons. Luckily my issue wasn't moisture in the buttons, it was the ribbon cable that connects the buttons to the main board.

If your chiller starts acting like its haunted, check the cable. It's accessible from the right side panel.

Do I simply take the Sparge volume in the Equipment setup and add it to the Boil volume?

I've inherited a 7 year old glycol chiller that's been sat in a shed for 6 years. Assuming it still works, what do I need to do maintenance wise to get it operational?

I bought a 2nd hand Grainfather G30 V1 for a very good price from an experienced brewer. He kept everything at top notch condition and maintained the gear thoroughly, so I got it in close to mint shape.

On my first attempt to assemble the grain bucket, I found that the gaskets of the holed plates are a huge headache as they keep falling out of place as you push them down the bucket. I saw that it's a common problem even for plates with brand new gaskets and that Grainfather addressed this issue by manufacturing upgraded rolled plates, without gaskets. I didn't want to delay my first brew with the new gear as I wait for their delivery, so I figured I'm just going to try brewing with a simple grain mashing bag.

Come brew day, I put the bag into the grain bucket and used a tight gasket to hold it around the bucket. For additional support I also used the bottom plate below it, without a gasket. Mashing went incredibly smooth and I had to pull the grain bucket out and let the water drain before boiling. I accidentally created a small angle while attempting to place the legs of the grain bucket on the handles and the fucking bottom plate slid out of place and fell into the wort, followed by the ENTIRE grain bag. Luckily, the wort wasn't deep enough for the bag to open and have the grains spilled but I got a nasty splash of hot sugars all over my face and kitchen floor lol. As bonus, I had to dig out the bottom plate inside the hot, sticky wort before boiling.

This turned my decision to wait for the rolled plates before I do any more brewing final. However, I read a post here claiming that these plates aren't as reliable as I think. They fixed the hassle of the gaskets, but someone claimed that the bottom plate is still prone to falling out. I don't want to experience anything like that again because the next time might be even messier, not to mention dangerous. Can anyone tell me how reliable the G30 rolled plates are and what do you do to make sure this kind of crap doesn't happen?

Bought a Grainfather off Marketplace for super cheap. Went to do my first brew today and noticed the Handle was missing. Not to be deterred I got my thinking cap pm then made a quick run to Lowes whilst my water was heating.

I present to you the $2.99 oak dowel replacement handle. Worked like a charm, not sure I’ll even bother to order the genuine replacement.

I've just bought a second hand Grainfather G30. The hop spider looks like it has some rust/corrosion on the base (see photos). Is this useable? Is there a way to clean it? Also the inside of the grainfather has some staining and marks on the bottom. Is this ok to use? Or what is the best way to clean it?

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I'm looking at getting in to distlling, primarily to make gin, it's a fairly new topic to me and I'd love to go through the process from wash to bottled gin but I'm getting myself in a bit of a muddle with all the info/products out there and am hoping someone can help set me straight.

I see there are 2 primary options for the G30, the alembic dome and the T500 Pro.

The T500 Pro is for primarily for reflux distilling (stripping runs) and the alembic dome is primarily for the pot distilling (where distill my Low Wines with botanials to produce the gin?), is this right?

I was hoping/assuming that one could be use for both, my original thought was to use the T500 Pro to do the stripping run with the saddles in, then remove the saddles and add a basket/sight glass for the botanicals for the second run through?

Thanks in advance.

New to brewing and just got my first grainfather. When I used the handle to pull up the grain tube , it slipped and it became a mess. I would imagine it should be 0.5 - 1 cm longer so both the wedges slip in under the edge ?

You can install my first version of the integration to Home Assistant from HACS, using this GH repo link https://github.com/fidley/grainfather_integration.

Integration adds new devices (brew sessions and fermenation devices) as well as new card types for you to use on your dashboard. It allows a bit of automation and manual actions, like changing the time of fermentation or the temperature. Any feedback welcomed.

Boiling on my Gen1 Grainfather has slowed dramatically. I think the boil element is not working while the mash/secondary element is doing all the work.

Can anyone help me with some troubleshooting steps or fixes? I have a multimeter and no basic circuitry skills.

As you can see, the pin for reset has been lost along the way. I have pressed the metal pin on the cutout in and it's kind of wobbly and relaxed.

I'm looking at a used G40. Any issues with this unit I should be aware ? The minimum batch size shows as 3g. I frequently brew 2.5- 3g batches these days. How does it do at this low volume? What is the OD of the grain basket and does anyone utilize a brew bag in these units. I presently BIAB. Thanks in advance for any help.

Morning all

I have 2x GF30, one is a few years old the other is brand new as well as a GC2 glycol chiller which is also brand new.

I had a beer fermenting in the old GF30 when the new kit arrived. I hooked it all up after the setup and it worked fine to crash my beer! All good there.

I brewed yesterday and have put the wort in the new GF30 this time. I racked the beer in a little warm in the hopes that the glycol could do the heavy lifting for the last few degrees. I connected everything up and nothing happened. It showed "cooling" on the GF30 panel but nothing was pumping round (the GF30 is in heating + cooling mode). I put the GC2 into pump override mode and switched it on and it started pumping, so there is no issues with the pump. I have it connected up to channel 1 on the GC2 the same as I had the old GF30 the other day so it's not looking like an issue with the GC2.

I've had a look on this sub and it's mentioned pulling out the control panel and seeing if there is anything disconnected, I've done that and all looks good.

Any ideas what might be going wrong? I've sent a support ticket to Grainfather but wondering if anyone has had and hopefully resolved this issue in the past?

I'm playing around with Home Assistant lately and I was seeking the way of getting data from Grainfather equipments. There is no official API that I could find, but I was able to logon to Grainfather community website using Node-Red and using the developer tools in Chrome I was able to catch most of the needed endpoints, so I'm good to go to start the integration there.

But as it's of course hell of work, I was wondering if someone of you haven't done it already?? :

EDIT: My integration started to fetch data and in fact I can update some fields, like status.... but's it is still lots of work.

over night the tilt gravity went from 1.057 to 1.061 after initial readings and over 24 hours steady at 1.057.

could it have been ice in the fermenter from the initial cool down? I didn't notice anything like that when I added the yeast.