Grainfather conical fermenter Vs fridge?

[Agentgonzo]

I use a plastic barrel with water and freeze blocks. I thought about the fridge I have one in the shed, but I thought I would try this first.
It works fine. I just pop a couple of freeze blocks in before I go to work. Then watch it on the phone, which I think is ultra cool

A friend of mine does the same. Except he has a thermos cooler instead of a plastic barrel. And uses 2l drinks bottles full of water that have been frozen instead of the ice blocks. Same theory, works well (I think he says he changes the ice bottles after day 1, then every 2-3 days as necessary). Far cheaper than the glycol chiller!

 

[Polcho]

I wish we were

 

[Tombo]

I use a plastic barrel with water and freeze blocks. I thought about the fridge I have one in the shed, but I thought I would try this first.
It works fine. I just pop a couple of freeze blocks in before I go to work. Then watch it on the phone, which I think is ultra cool

Yours is a bit "posher" than the 2x I picked up. These have just the digital controller, maybe the WiFi controllers will be my next upgrade but for now I'm happy with what I have and for what I paid they were a bargain. .

 

[Polcho]

I’m going to try that next time.

 

[Jordang]

I’m considering investing in a couple of these with a glycol chiller but it will end up being in addition to, rather than replacing my fridge setup as I still want to pressure ferment too….

 

[Tombo]

I’m considering investing in a couple of these with a glycol chiller but it will end up being in addition to, rather than replacing my fridge setup as I still want to pressure ferment too….

Me too, the fridge is too handy to get rid of.

 

[Jordang]

Me too, the fridge is too handy to get rid of.

Deffo! Plus I’ve got a big allrounder so need something with height!

 

[Modena]

I have 2 GF conical fermenters + 1 GF Glycol chiller. I don't recommend buying it due to cooling issues.
The way the cooling jacket was built prevents the wort from being cooled to anything below 45 F.
It's my 3rd batch so far and I've had issues everytime during cold crash. The temperature drops very fast, but as soon as the wort stabilizes at around 42F, the temperature starts rising.

 

[gyurmaember]

I have 2 GF conical fermenters + 1 GF Glycol chiller. I don't recommend buying it due to cooling issues.
The way the cooling jacket was built prevents the wort from being cooled to anything below 45 F.
It's my 3rd batch so far and I've had issues everytime during cold crash. The temperature drops very fast, but as soon as the wort stabilizes at around 42F, the temperature starts rising.

It's a bit steep... Do you know how to use it at all?

 

[Modena]

It's a bit steep... Do you know how to use it at all?

I don't think that's the case. I've searched, read and watched everything I could find in the hopes of fixing the problem (including the equipment manual).
Let's say I don't know how to use it... Still this is an equipment design error because it allowed me to operate in the wrong manner.
I'm hoping that other GF users come forward and share their experiences

The chart below shows you what happens after cold crashing

 

[Stu's Brews]

I don't think that's the case. I've searched, read and watched everything I could find in the hopes of fixing the problem (including the equipment manual).
Let's say I don't know how to use it... Still this is an equipment design error because it allowed me to operate in the wrong manner.
I'm hoping that other GF users come forward and share their experiences

The chart below shows you what happens after cold crashing

View attachment 85841

I'm confused and others may feel the same so perhaps you could clarify a few things to make sure we're interpreting things correctly?

The blue line is the target temperature?

The red line is the actual temperature?

Assuming the above two are true, then the actual temperature is following the target temperature in a manner I'd expect so I'm not sure what the actual problem is that you are experiencing.

 

[Modena]

I'm confused and others may feel the same so perhaps you could clarify a few things to make sure we're interpreting things correctly?

The blue line is the target temperature?

The red line is the actual temperature?

Assuming the above two are true, then the actual temperature is following the target temperature in a manner I'd expect so I'm not sure what the actual problem is that you are experiencing.

Correct, the red line is the actual temperature.
It's hard to see in this chart, but note that the actual temperature was already rising before I raised the target temperature in an attempt to stabilize the situation.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Correct, the red line is the actual temperature.
It's hard to see in this chart, but note that the actual temperature was already rising before I raised the target temperature in an attempt to stabilize the situation.

I think you have slightly mis-understood how the Grainfather Conical works. I have one and that behaviour is quite normal.

If you target 6degC then it will cool down to that and then switch off the pump. The temperature may then rise due to the warmer ambient temperature, when it exceeds 6degC + whatever is set as the hysteresis value (0.5degC by default) then it will turn the pump back on to cool the fermenter back down to 6degC.

Mine will oscillate between 6 and 6.5degC quite happily. The only time it doesn't is if the water in the cool box isn't cold enough (I don't have the glycol chiller), but that's only really a summer problem.

 

[Modena]

I think you have slightly mis-understood how the Grainfather Conical works. I have one and that behaviour is quite normal.

If you target 6degC then it will cool down to that and then switch off the pump. The temperature may then rise due to the warmer ambient temperature, when it exceeds 6degC + whatever is set as the hysteresis value (0.5degC by default) then it will turn the pump back on to cool the fermenter back down to 6degC.

Mine will oscillate between 6 and 6.5degC quite happily. The only time it doesn't is if the water in the cool box isn't cold enough (I don't have the glycol chiller), but that's only really a summer problem.

My histeresis is set to 0.3C, that's not the issue.
The system is advertised being capable of cooling the wort to 4-6C and so far I've tried 4 and 5C without luck. Next brew session I will try and set to 6C as the minimum temperature.
My fridge and bucket worked way better for cold crashing than this expensive setup.

 

[Stu's Brews]

My histeresis is set to 0.3C, that's not the issue.
The system is advertised being capable of cooling the wort to 4-6C and so far I've tried 4 and 5C without luck. Next brew session I will try and set to 6C as the minimum temperature.
My fridge and bucket worked way better for cold crashing than this expensive setup.

Is it actually going back up above 6.4degC though? That's when the pump should kick back in to cool it down again. Doesn't look like it from the graph you shared.

The only other reasons why it wouldn't maintain the target temperature is that the coolant temperature (the glycol in your case) is too high or there is a fault.

I can only speak from experience but mine works flawlessly (within the limitations of not having a glycol chiller). In the depths of winter I've had mine down as low as 1degC as once it has cooled down it never rises back up again.

I believe the reason Grainfather don't recommend cooling below 4-6degC is because the cooling jacket only covers a portion of the fermenter so you can end up with uneven temperature distributions.

 

[SMP Brewery]

I’ve just had the same issue never really got below 7C, all I can say is I’m glad I bought a slightly battered (but works fine) one off eBay before the current price rises. I too wouldn’t recommend a full price one as well, it was fine in the middle of winter to 4C but now it’s warmed up… No

 

[Stu's Brews]

I’ve just had the same issue never really got below 7C, all I can say is I’m glad I bought a slightly battered (but works fine) one off eBay before the current price rises. I too wouldn’t recommend a full price one as well, it was fine in the middle of winter to 4C but now it’s warmed up… No

I think this may be a slightly different issue as Modena seems to have no problems hitting the target temperature in the first place.

Are you using a glycol chiller as well?

If so, what temperature have you set the chiller to? Looking at the instructions it should be -4.5degC.

The only other thing to consider is getting either the condensation coat or insulation jacket to help maintain the desired temperatures when it is warmer (I have a jacket for mine).

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/the-grainfather-conical-coat/?v=79cba1185463
https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/grainfather-conical-fermenter-insulation-jacket

 

[SMP Brewery]

Yes I have the chiller and the condensation coat, mainly for keeping heat in the winter, to be fair I’m not sure I’ve had a problem when cold crashing my beers, they just aren’t as cold as GF predict, I just leave them a couple of days longer.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Yes I have the chiller and the condensation coat, mainly for keeping heat in the winter, to be fair I’m not sure I’ve had a problem when cold crashing my beers, they just aren’t as cold as GF predict, I just leave them a couple of days longer.

I'm stumped then.

Unless the glycol chiller itself is the problem then I can't explain why you'd struggle to get down to 6degC, given I can using nothing more then a cool box, some water and a lot of ice packs.

Even in summer I can hold 6degC for a few days by replenishing the ice packs in the morning and evening.

 

[SMP Brewery]

I might investigate emptying the glycol and putting a fresh batch in, see if that helps.