Does anyone use...

[mitch]

The all in one machines from Brewdevil Grainfather Klarstein or any other brand?
How do they rate in your opinion?
Or have you simply set your own up? post a pic.

 

[IrishH]

I bought a Grainfather before Christmas and for me its the best purchase I made. I love it! The ease of use, cleaning etc... Often on brewdays I will smoke a brisket or something and with the app its so easy to monitor. I bought the G30 plus a Ferminator too, put my tax back from the part of the year I worked to good use

 

[mitch]

I bought a Grainfather before Christmas and for me its the best purchase I made. I love it! The ease of use, cleaning etc... Often on brewdays I will smoke a brisket or something and with the app its so easy to monitor. I bought the G30 plus a Ferminator too, put my tax back from the part of the year I worked to good use

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After a whole day in the kitchen monitoring mixing checking until 11pm last night Ive been looking at these systems all day! Must say the grainfather looks great actually. Even the vids make it look easy to use and help me with a better use of my time.

 

[cheeseyfeet]

I have a Brewzilla 35l - it is excellent and very good value for money. To be honest they are all much of a muchness I believe, it seems hard to get a Brewzilla in the UK these days so you would be good with one of the other brands from Angel homebrew or Geterbrewed.

Unless you need the bells and whistles of app connectivity I don't see the point in shelling out so much more for a grainfather, just my opinion!

 

[IrishH]

After a whole day in the kitchen monitoring mixing checking until 11pm last night Ive been looking at these systems all day! Must say the grainfather looks great actually. Even the vids make it look easy to use and help me with a better use of my time.

Its certainly made my brewdays so much more streamlined and allows me to do lots. Cleaning and setting up is a breeze. I will add, that photo isn't great, I am usually a lot tidier than that! ha!

 

[jeg3]

I've got a GF, done three brews on it. My old kit, HLT / boiler + converted coolbox lasted me about six years and 50 brews before I upgraded. Primary reason was space and time, but it also gives me slightly better beer.

All systems are basically the same at this size. I went for the GF because BZ stock seemed to be constantly zero and I liked the connectivity, although to be honest if that's all you want it for I think it's too expensive. Also the GF screen is in a different place to the others and it depends how you brew as to whether that would be an advantage or not.

 

[mitch]

I have a Brewzilla 35l - it is excellent and very good value for money. To be honest they are all much of a muchness I believe, it seems hard to get a Brewzilla in the UK these days so you would be good with one of the other brands from Angel homebrew or Geterbrewed.

Unless you need the bells and whistles of app connectivity I don't see the point in shelling out so much more for a grainfather, just my opinion!

I will take a look. i live "app" free and plan to continue in that vein.
I was considering getting an old tea urn maybe converting it but in all actuality and for the relatively small batches i am making more for pleasure and hobby than actual consumption, trying that with an urn or BV is more time wasting for the money it may "save".... Its just hard to know which type of machine is good bad or ugly.

 

[Cptn_Needa]

I also have the Brewzilla 35l and would recommend it (2 months and 2 batches in).
Agree with @cheeseyfeet in that they are all very similar with the standout being the more expensive grainfather. The GF has a few nice touches like the location of the panel, the app and the externally mounted pump but he pricepoint on the brewzilla sealed the deal for me.

 

[trueblue]

+1 for the grainfather

 

[The Baron]

The GF is way over priced nowadays compared to the competition go for the Brewzilla Brewmonk Angelbrew etc as they are better value. Don't forget its a brewing machine not a hi tech piece of equipment it heats water, mashes, boils and re-circulates and that is generally all you need.
It will not make you a better brewer by buying non essential tech it is the person that is the brewer

 

[mitch]

Its certainly made my brewdays so much more streamlined and allows me to do lots. Cleaning and setting up is a breeze. I will add, that photo isn't great, I am usually a lot tidier than that! ha!

you should have seen my kitchen.....

 

[mitch]

I have a Brewzilla 35l - it is excellent and very good value for money. To be honest they are all much of a muchness I believe, it seems hard to get a Brewzilla in the UK these days so you would be good with one of the other brands from Angel homebrew or Geterbrewed.

Unless you need the bells and whistles of app connectivity I don't see the point in shelling out so much more for a grainfather, just my opinion!

Just watched the review from geterbrewed. Really worthwhile 16mins. Grainfathers a waste of time...no handle, rubber seal that comes off. And double the price. No point atall in blutooth controls for me imho. So now i know the prices. Max budget £350. for all the other brands.

Also found this which might suit my needs/budget better.

Klarstein Fullhorn mash kettle £150

 

[Horners]

I did my fist 20 or so brews on a Klarstein Maischfest and I had a really good streamlined process and made good beer with not much effort.

I then upgraded to a Grainfather which I have probably used for 15 brews or so. The main difference for me is the counterflow chiller and obviously the recirculation. Is the GF better than the Maischfest? - yes. Is it around £450 better? - the answer is no.

 

[mitch]

I did my fist 20 or so brews on a Klarstein Maischfest and I had a really good streamlined process and made good beer with not much effort.

I then upgraded to a Grainfather which I have probably used for 15 brews or so. The main difference for me is the counterflow chiller and obviously the recirculation. Is the GF better than the Maischfest? - yes. Is it around £450 better? - the answer is no.

Id kind of arrived at the same conclusion. For the capacity i actually make ie small and tiny AG brews one of these Klarsteins is on my radar. I've seen the mash fest one as well. The 30L is £219 and I found a full Horn Brand thru Klarsteins for £149 which includes a filter plate thingy. Im not sure whether at my level i should worry on re circulation at this point. For me yesterday was a killer. Literally all day over the stove trying to control heat. Again for around 10ltr brews i think i can stand a pot in the sink and walk away for the time being.

 

[colm89]

I’ve literally just finished hacking the below together, based on a 30 litre buffalo.

I haven‘t worked out the total cost yet, but I know it was cheaper than a grainfather, but not as cheap as a brewmonk.

I suppose the upside to this exercise is that I know now how a pid works, and when I want a nicer vessel it can all be swapped over, but if I were to do it all again I’d probably just buy a grainfather and get stuck into brewing.

 

[AdeDunn]

Just a reminder regarding Klarstein, the company themselves are no longer shipping to the UK as their couriers will longer ship here, so buying direct, and possibly sourcing parts down the line, is not going to happen for now. I have a Klarstein Brauheld Pro myself, bought direct, and believe me this is a concern to me. Any you see now are likely been sold by 3rd parties from held stock. You can see this for yourself if you visit the Klarstein uk website, a banner comes up.

As to the Grainfather, yeah looked into these when I was getting a machine, it was cheaper to get all the bits for a plate chiller, hop spider etc along with my machine, than it would have been to get a Grainfather. You can also buy counterflow chillers, but they're even more expensive, and seem to sell out fast.

I also tried the DIY route in the past, it cost more than my Brauheld Pro in the end, with more grief along the way.... Not worth it IMHO.

 

[Horners]

Id kind of arrived at the same conclusion. For the capacity i actually make ie small and tiny AG brews one of these Klarsteins is on my radar. I've seen the mash fest one as well. The 30L is £219 and I found a full Horn Brand thru Klarsteins for £149 which includes a filter plate thingy. Im not sure whether at my level i should worry on re circulation at this point. For me yesterday was a killer. Literally all day over the stove trying to control heat. Again for around 10ltr brews i think i can stand a pot in the sink and walk away for the time being.

Think Ive seen the 30L Klarstein MF as low as £179. There is a thread on here somewhere I did ages ago where I wrote up my process - in lieu of recirculation I would just jug a few litres through at the start to stabilise temperature and then at the end by way of vorlaeuf. The wort I get from the GF is no clearer.

 

[mitch]

I’ve literally just finished hacking the below together, based on a 30 litre buffalo.

I haven‘t worked out the total cost yet, but I know it was cheaper than a grainfather, but not as cheap as a brewmonk.

I suppose the upside to this exercise is that I know now how a pid works, and when I want a nicer vessel it can all be swapped over, but if I were to do it all again I’d probably just buy a grainfather and get stuck into brewing.

Great work. So you have put in re-circulation and a pump into a BV/urn? I don't have the know-how at this stage to do that.

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

After a whole day in the kitchen monitoring mixing checking until 11pm last night Ive been looking at these systems all day! Must say the grainfather looks great actually. Even the vids make it look easy to use and help me with a better use of my time.

I am sorry. There is no better use of your time than brewing beer.

 

[colm89]

Great work. So you have put in re-circulation and a pump into a BV/urn? I don't have the know-how at this stage to do that.

I bought the urn a few months ago, replaced the tap with a ball valve, and just used it to heat mash water up to temp, and stirred and checked temperature across the duration of the mash, carefully heating if needed.

since then I have added a few quick disconnects, a dc pump, a pt100 temperature probe and an inkbird pid to keep mash temps accurate for the mash duration.

it’s relatively simple, just a more piecemeal version of an all in one system.