Grainfather Quality Control

[AdeDunn]

Beersmith phone app has a timer function, works a treat as ties in to your recipe and if you have a Beersmith gold sub you can upload your recipes from the desktop software, grab them on the app, et voila your timer is good to go with the recipe all on the app. It's how I used to manage my brew days. If you have to do that though, it kinda makes one of the features of commercial single vessel systems pointless I'd say. Personally I'd rather get one I could trust the timer on....

 

[DiBosco]

I can't understand how anyone can pay £650 for something with design and quality issue,eg look at the threads about seals,false bottoms, lifting grain tubes, etc etc. Buy a boiler and a separate mash tun result happiness.

I don't understand how you can't understand. For every negative review of the seals issue, there's more people saying it doesn't bother them. The overwhleming majority of people are happy with the Grainfather, it gets good reviews and people praise its build quality in general. On top of that it has features that other all-in-ones don't seem to have.

I have a boiler and separate mash tun and it's a right royal PITA. These all-in-one systems keep your mash at a constant temparate and should give you far more consistent results and everyone says it cuts hours off their brew time. It'll massively cut down on transferring for liquids from one vessel to another, sterilising/washing multiple vessels, autosiphons and so on.

Frankly, this one being broken makes it really hard to know what to do. I quite like the idea of the Coobra, but I do not like the sound of the one disty it has. Strikes me as being a big risk.

 

[Clint]

I think the point is you wouldn't expect things to not work as they should given how much it cost.
Though people pays their money and makes their choice...
I agree it's a space saver but you're only saving mash tun space.
My big pots take minutes to clean.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Some people say it doesn't bother them is not a recommendation it's an acceptance of wasting their money.

 

[DiBosco]

Clint, I totally agree with you on the first point. Had GF immediately turned round and said this is unacceptable, we'll get it picked up and repaired quickly I'd've been happy. Things go wrong sometimes with the best will in the world, and it's the after sales services that is important then. In this case it's been ****.

Disagree with your other points mind.

 

[DiBosco]

Some people say it doesn't bother them is not a recommendation it's an acceptance of wasting their money.

Well, respectfully I disagree. If something doesn't bother you, it's by definition not a problem and therefore not a waste of money. ☺

I do understand why it might put some people off. I wouldn't buy a beef and horseraddish sandwich because I thing horseraddish is rank, others are not bothered by it.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Clint, I totally agree with you on the first point. Had GF immediately turned round and saidm this is unacceptable, we'll get it picked up and repaired quickly I'd've been happy. Things go wrong sometimes with the best will in the world, and it's the after sales services that is important then. In this case it's been ****.

Disagree with your other points mind.

After sales service is important but First Time Quality is critical.

 

[xozzx]

I have a GF, done about 60 brews on it and have had very few problems. The seals on the grain basket did my head in for the first few brews then (probably on here) someone said to spray the basket with starsan. Now it just slides in perfectly every time, 90% of the time. Ive not changed the recirc pipe to camlock yet as it isnt really an issue. I admit the GF isnt perfect but I like it.

I am planning to upgrade to BrewTools with a B80 but this is because I want to brew bigger batches and it looks an amazing piece of kit - the only thing holding me back is the wife, she has stopped believing that brewing is saving us money

If you fancy a second hand GF Ill sell you mine for just £2200!!

 

[AdeDunn]

I have a GF, done about 60 brews on it and have had very few problems. The seals on the grain basket did my head in for the first few brews then (probably on here) someone said to spray the basket with starsan. Now it just slides in perfectly every time, 90% of the time. Ive not changed the recirc pipe to camlock yet as it isnt really an issue. I admit the GF isnt perfect but I like it.

I am planning to upgrade to BrewTools with a B80 but this is because I want to brew bigger batches and it looks an amazing piece of kit - the only thing holding me back is the wife, she has stopped believing that brewing is saving us money

If you fancy a second hand GF Ill sell you mine for just £2200!!

Avoiding discussing other brewing systems (been watching Youtube vids of Germans using the Brauheld Pro... Very informative and made me much happier.), you've seen the Grainfather G70 system right? 17 kilo grain capacity, can produce 60 litres of beer at 7.5%ABV.... lmao You said you want bigger batches.....

 

[xozzx]

you've seen the Grainfather G70 system right? 17 kilo grain capacity, can produce 60 litres of beer at 7.5%ABV.... lmao You said you want bigger batches.....

B80 has 20kg grain capacity. The G70 gets some pretty bad reviews, it costs a fair bit less than the B80 but the difference in quality and features (from what Ive seen/read) is more than worth the additional cost.

Im totally happy with my G30 as a great intro to allgrain brewing but from what Ive read I definitely choose the B80 over G70, despite the quite substantial price difference.

 

[trueblue]

All I can say is I am totally happy with my GF. The after sales service will depend where you bought it from. I did compare suppliers prices when I bought mine and managed to fine one in the lowest price bracket from a supplier with great reputation for good customer services.

 

[DiBosco]

Well, I bought mine from the Malt Miller and had an email yesterday that they have refunded me. So, I am happy with the Malt Miller and disappointed with Grainfather customer service. I think it's unlikely I'd get a GF now because of that [lack of] customer service. Would certainly use Malt Miller again though. As soon as I requested the refund, they had DPD pick it up the day after.

 

[trueblue]

I believe within the standard guarantee period all the obligation is with the supplier I.E the Maltmiller not Grainfather.

 

[xozzx]

I have been really impressed with Malt miller recently and have used them exclusively since the lockdown, glad you got your refund.

In terms of GF customer service, what let you down? It is my understanding that the supplier (in this case MM) should sort any issues with damaged or faulty goods under consumer rights laws and not the manufacturer. Whenever Ive had an issue with anything (laptop, phone, etc) within a short time of buying I have always gone directly to the supplier and never tried contacting the manufacturer.

 

[DiBosco]

Yes, but Malt Miller were at the mercy of Grainfather picking up the unit to take it back to swap out the damaged parts. A week after reporting the fault, GF had made zero effort to do anything about it.

 

[AdeDunn]

Just around 12 months ago, Grainfather owners were absolute fan boys, you'd have thought they were awesome machines, so keep in mind that's roughly how long ago my hiatus began. As mentioned, I nearly bought one myself, and was saved by the fact that everywhere is/was out of stock.

Me, I always preferred to shop around, and always had an eye on the Bulldog Master Brewer, despite it's controller idiosyncrasies.... Seems to have fallen by the way side though (found 1 ex-display machine for sale, and for the price they were asking for ex-display, wasn't happening) possibly because of the price point it released at, combined with the controller idiosyncrasies (which still haven't been dealt with even in clone machines...).

Seems to me that Grainfather need to realise that they are no longer in a 2 horse race, with their running mate been a machine costing over £1000 for a 10 litre machine, and pick up their game. You would think they would have noticed the plethora of machines on the market by now.... I guess they reckon their counterflow chiller and bluetooth controller is enough to differentiate their machines?

The customer service thing, well you can probably blame that on Covid 19. It's suffered with most companies, with outsourcing biting them on the ass as many off shore outsourced call centres have 0 staff now, and their own staff are working from home and dealing with massive workloads that were previously outsourced.