Grainfather upgrade worth it ?

[hamster]

Ok so I've searched for this but so many threads out there almost impossible to find relevant ones...

I have a simple ACE boiler bag for brewing, boil sparge water on my hob, copper chiller for my wort and a fermentation fridge with an Inkbird...

I can make beer with that all day long to a good level. Happy drinking those bad boys which then brings me to my question... Is it worth upgrading to a grainfather given the cost ?

I get it's an all in one, wort temp stays more linear throughout the wort, nice and easy to clean and generally more simple to use but really is it worth the extra bucks to upgrade ?

Whats everyone else's thoughts ? Who has upgraded ? Happy ? Wish you hadn't ?

 

[Pawlo7671]

I got a GF because for people like me it seemed a good all in one option that takes up little space and it was my gateway to all grain brewing having just done kits and a few extracts previous. So for me not having invested in any all grain kit the GF was the way to go.
Id say that if you already have an all grain set up that works then your not going to get the same level of satisfaction in terms of money spent that I did and so upgrading should be down to personal preference, could you do with freeing up some space ? does Bluetooth connectivity appeal to you ? could you use the ace as your sparge heater and free up the hob ? are you going to have to take take a week of work to explain it to the missus and then take her some where nice ? everyone is going to have different circumstances when it comes to all grain brewing as to weather buying new equipment is going to be an upgrade or a costly side ways step.

 

[Zephyr259]

I'm essentially the same as Pawlo, I did 4 stove top all grain batches to get my feet with with the process then when I wanted to go full scale I decided that an "all-in-one" system was best due to storage space and an nice balance of hands on and automation (steady temps). I've never done a full 5 gallon AG batch in anything other than the grainfather but if I had a working system then I probably wouldn't change. I'm not sure the grainfather is really an upgrade, it's just a different way of doing things, there are some processes which I'd like to do but are difficult in the grainfather like partigyle batches or altering mash thickness. The variable efficiency based on grain bill due to reduced sparge volumes can be annoying when planning a recipe.

But then I fully expect that a traditional 3-tier system has it's own pros and cons. I really like my GF and with some more experience and data on my brews I'll be able to work out most of the kinks.

 

[hamster]

does Bluetooth connectivity appeal to you ? could you use the ace as your sparge heater and free up the hob ? are you going to have to take take a week of work to explain it to the missus and then take her some where nice ?

The whole thing appeals to me hence I wanted some convincing as close to £700 is a fair outlay. Current system probably cost me £180 maybe so it's a fair amount more and not sure the space saving is worth the outlay.

The wife side of it I was thinking of just hiding it ? Although she'll never know how much it costs really haha. Plus my brewing area is in my garage which could do with some space saving...

 

[hamster]

I've never done a full 5 gallon AG batch in anything other than the grainfather but if I had a working system then I probably wouldn't change

The full ACE system with boiling some sparge water on a stove etc is a pain. Lifting the grains out I balance the grain sack out and balance over a pair of chairs with a bucket underneath to sparge through. It is a faff but works... I'd want to build myself something better rather than continue using chairs.

My only upgrade on that would be to buy another water heater for sparging rather than a hob which is a £100 outlay.

 

[wfr42]

Having the element on my peco burn the wheat beer I did yesterday, and the element is tarnished despite scrubbing all the black crud off it, I am debating whether to buy a new element (after 12months of use, but not sure why yesterdays brew got burnt) or upgrade my peco boiler (which I have been very happy with to date, and hit my estimated* numbers perfectly yesterday *using a mix of pre and self crushed grain).

I have a couple of weeks to decide while my smoky fruit salad (was hoping for lots of banana and had used summit and moteuka hops) wheat beer ferments out :-?

 

[hamster]

The ACE boiler heats water in the same way as the Grainfather. Heating elements in the bottom, false plate and then the grains so keeps them off the real hot stuff... I also tie the grain sack more on the top to lift it a little

I think the peco works in a similar fashion so not sure what they burnt !

Again though is the Grainfather an upgrade to those ?

There are currently 2 items I like... The recycling of the wort to clear it and the space saving

 

[rank_frank]

I deliberated about buying a Grainfather just like you're doing. I had a functional system using a boiler and picnic cooler box that worked very well for years but I ended up balancing things on other things. It was never a completely satisfactory set up.

I've been very pleased with my purchase, especially now that the Grainfather Connect box works with Android devices properly. I don't even need a separate sparge boiler. I just heat the sparge water using the Grainfather before the brew and put it in a fermentation vessel for later use. I work from home a day a week and the app allows me to put a brew on and monitor it from my desk whilst I get on with my 'work'.

The whole lot goes in the cupboard under the stairs when not in use and takes up a lot less room than the previous kit.

Your drivers may be different to mine but It's been worth it to me. One thing to note if you do decide to get one, my first few brews all came out sweet and not that great. I solved this by reducing the mash temperature to 64C. I suspect that even with my picnic box there were cold spots in the mash and the temperature probably dropped a bit during the mash period. The Grainfather doesn't have this issue and 66C is probably producing too many long chain sugars for my liking. Reducing the mash temperature to 64C has restored the balance I like.

 

[hamster]

Well I've already accidentally bought one and completed my first brew on it.. :whistle:

First impressions are it's very easy to use, compact and it gives you some extra options to try when brewing. Brewing becomes quicker...

As you said I got to the point of balancing x, y & z and it was all working for me but this is a neat machine. Main points I like are:

• delayed water warming is nice
• recycling of the wort which clarifies it
• better temperature throughout wort because of recycling
• I like the fact the sparge is slow and the water builds on top, you can’t just chuck it through
• easier storage afterwards and cleaning is a doddle

All round it makes brewing easier. One thing I used to do is sparge with my wort, which you can no longer do really... Having said that it was mainly to clarify it which has become a little redundant

Is it worth 'upgrading' from my ACE ? Jury is still out I think...

My ACE cost me £250 in terms of set up I think, £675 on the grainfather. I think if I'd bought it outright I would say yes but I do like it...