Grainfather shock

[Chippy_Tea]

LHB advertising the MK2 @ £589 SPECIAL PRICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY! (is this the new one :-?) - http://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/the-grainfather-mk-2-1841-p.asp

 

[Chrissparky]

The new £700 one has a different control box that costs £110 on its own

 

[Leon103]

LHB advertising the MK2 @ £589 SPECIAL PRICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY! (is this the new one :-?) - http://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/the-grainfather-mk-2-1841-p.asp

No it's not.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Thanks leon, how does the MK2 differ from the original?

 

[chewie]

Mk2 had some small changes made, slightly different safety valve and pre assembled pipework, filter etc iirc, . New control box type could probably be called mk 3 now i guess.

 

[KC]

It's a considerable amount of money but it seems there are plenty of people selling up their equally pricey SS setups to buy one. I don't think they are bad value for money. Any hobby you look at will have cheap kit and expensive fancy stuff, have seen plenty of folk spending four times as much on a fishing pole.

 

[Slid]

LHB advertising the MK2 @ �£589 SPECIAL PRICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY! (is this the new one :-?) - http://www.leyland-home-brew.co.uk/the-grainfather-mk-2-1841-p.asp

This looks like the one I have and cost me £605 that I do not begrudge.

Small footprint - can be done in a domestic kitchen. Easy to use (also easy to **** up -5 out of the first 7) but delivers a great end product. If you use it 50 times it adds £12 to the cost of a batch. At 100 brews, it is £6 a pop.

It is marketed as fully supported in the UK, for spares.

 

[Hoppyland]

It's a considerable amount of money but it seems there are plenty of people selling up their equally pricey SS setups to buy one. I don't think they are bad value for money. Any hobby you look at will have cheap kit and expensive fancy stuff, have seen plenty of folk spending four times as much on a fishing pole.

An interesting comparison! I've never been tempted by anything like this - the earlier quote "shiny, shiny" seems to sum it up for me. Or, to put it another way, the law of diminishing returns. I make pretty damned good AG beer with the very cheap kit I've got. In my lucid moments I wouldn't even think about it.
But I did spend £750 on an astronomical telescope that I hardly ever use. And £1500 on a fine 800cc motorbike that I was forced to leave behind when I moved in horrible haste.
Crap, still miss the bike.......... :cry:
Maybe should have bought a Grainfather instead? No, it was fantastic whilst I had it :) I doubt that my beer would be much better, but the memories of the bike won't easily die. And, at 65, I might be a bit old for another one - or at least to persuade the wife!
Having said that, she might be more easily swayed by a fast pillion ride than by an expensive, albeit shiny, brewing system!! :)

 

[Gerryjo]

An interesting comparison! I've never been tempted by anything like this - the earlier quote "shiny, shiny" seems to sum it up for me. Or, to put it another way, the law of diminishing returns. I make pretty damned good AG beer with the very cheap kit I've got. In my lucid moments I wouldn't even think about it.
But I did spend £750 on an astronomical telescope that I hardly ever use. And £1500 on a fine 800cc motorbike that I was forced to leave behind when I moved in horrible haste.
Crap, still miss the bike.......... :cry:
Maybe should have bought a Grainfather instead? No, it was fantastic whilst I had it :) I doubt that my beer would be much better, but the memories of the bike won't easily die. And, at 65, I might be a bit old for another one - or at least to persuade the wife!
Having said that, she might be more easily swayed by a fast pillion ride than by an expensive, albeit shiny, brewing system!! :)

Definitely bike,sidecar or trike.Thats what I will be aiming for when I get to retirement age.....👌🍺

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[JFB]

I bought a 30L pot off the bay for 35 quid a 7.5k gas boiler ring for 20 quid a mesh bag for about a tenner.
No need for a chiller and ive made a few good beers recently..

 

[Gerryjo]

To be totally honest I'm all for progression but never forget your roots🎥

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[Brett74]

As an owners of a GF, I have done 13 Brews on it so far. I have only done kits before this. I get 25 liters into the fermentor at pitching temps after a 5 hour brewday. It's quite relaxing not having to manually control temps, you set it and forget it, gives you time to clean as you go, prepare your FV, weigh out your Hops, make tea, drink beer, eat, put a load on in the laundry etc. You just supervise, I have just fitted the new control box but I can see it being very useful being in another room and being able to see whats going on. I like the timer too, if you want to make an early start, get out of bed and it is already at mash temp, just dough in, and by the time you have eaten breakfast and made coffee it is ready to sparge. Could easily do 2 brews in a day and be finished before 1700 in the afternoon!
I am thinking of scaling up and the 50 liter Braumeister caught my eye, but then I realised its grain limitations, I think its 12kg whereas in GF you do 9kg which equates to 18kg if you do double batches, this limits your volume for higher ABV brews on the Braumeister, which I like, I think I will just get the bare GF, called a Grainbrother and to 2 brews on the same day with say an hours difference in start time. This also means I can get away with just my 19l sparge water heater. I think, all in all, it is good value for money, but AG brews can be done way cheaper. I would definitely buy again if I could go back.

 

[mattellis70]

I have both traditional and GF systems. I'll temper this with the comment that I've been home brewing for over 20 years and I'm 46 years old. Having said that I'm using the GF more for these reasons:
1. Able to easily do a step mash
2. Can brew indoor or outside depending on the weather
3. CIP using a bit of PBW and hot water is effortless
4. Chilling wort in a single pass through the included counter flow chiller is a breeze
5. Customer service has been responsive when I've had an equipment issue.
I've done about 30 brews on this kit and it's just easier all around.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Toredan]

I keep flitting between the idea of getting a GF or not. My kit needs heavily updating as I'm still using a plastic pico bucket. The only thing that doesn't sell it for me is that most of my brewing is done in small batches. I almost never brew big 21L batches anymore. Takes me too long to go through the beer since I keg almost everything now. :lol:

 

[DoctorMick]

I think you all missing an important point and that is the grainfather takes out all the fun.I mind my mother having a twintub washing machine,my granny having a mangle and we have an automatic washing machine which we load clothes,powder,conditioner then push a button.
Using a grainfather at which I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at takes all the fundamental processes out of the equation.
No more second guessing,sweating,panicking etc as again load it up and push a button.There is not much to learn about that so you're up and running and hadn't even walked..🍺

Sent from my ALE-L21

That's obviously not true, other than transferring liquid from a mash tun to a boil kettle what steps does it remove?

 

[DoctorMick]

This looks like the one I have and cost me �£605 that I do not begrudge.

Small footprint - can be done in a domestic kitchen. Easy to use (also easy to **** up -5 out of the first 7) but delivers a great end product. If you use it 50 times it adds �£12 to the cost of a batch. At 100 brews, it is �£6 a pop.

It is marketed as fully supported in the UK, for spares.

I may have mentioned this before but I love mine, it's the best £600 I've spent on brewing gear. If it lasts 100 batches I'll be a very happy man.

 

[Clint]

Good point.....how long will it last? I think the steel body should last for ever and the wear points would be the element and the pump. .are these parts readily available and what is the replacement cost?

Cheers

Clint

 

[Gerryjo]

That's obviously not true, other than transferring liquid from a mash tun to a boil kettle what steps does it remove?

It's a personal thing to be honest as anyone wanting to homebrew can buy a GF and produce beer at the end of the day.
For me personally it's great to start at basic steps with beginner kits whether AG,partial or Tin kits.
What it does show is your appreciation for equipment like this which takes a lot of the hard work out of the equation....

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[wfr42]

Having only watched the videos I'm not sure that there is actually any less work than a biab - it is maybe a bit easier as the grain bin is designed to sit up for sparging. This was partly why I went with my biab starter kit as it didn't appear that different just less shiny and less than a quarter of the price.

 

[Linalmeemow]

Having only watched the videos I'm not sure that there is actually any less work than a biab - it is maybe a bit easier as the grain bin is designed to sit up for sparging. This was partly why I went with my biab starter kit as it didn't appear that different just less shiny and less than a quarter of the price.

Being able to precisely control the temperature and recirculate the wort means you can just leave the mash and get on with something else for an hour. The grain basket makes sparging a lot more straightforward too, I guess. All the steps are there though, just a lot less cleaning at the end of the day.