Robobrew and Grainfather false bottom

[Harbey]

Managed to do a brew yesterday and mixed feelings about my bottom! First off, with the pull ring fitted, the bottom of the GF basket hits it and so doesn't sit properly in the grain basket. I considered taking the ring off but then it proved really difficult to get out of the GF even when it was empty. Ended up bending the ring so it no longer interferes (just).

Got the grain in, all seemed good. Then i pulled out the grain basket and started the boil, added hops and thought I'll give them a quick stir. Putting my paddle into the water i could feel the false bottom dancing about. Felt like it was too light to keep itself weighed down with all the water bubbling around.

I was a bit disheartened tbh, but then i threw in my last hops as a hop stand and left the pump going for a while before transferring to the FV. When i did, there was a really good flow from the pump and the wort was nice and clear. By the time we got down to the bottom i could see tons of hops caught on the false bottom so it had obviously done the trick. I'm just a bit unsure as to whether it's just the hopstand debris it caught or the whole lot.

So overall, I'm happy with the result but a bit concerned about how it's managed it.

 

[Peter Scandlyn]

Short piece of stainless chain with a ring either end should sort that particular woe Harbey. Worked for me.

What you REALLY need tho' is one of those shiny copper lid thingies. Really sets the GF off a treat...

 

[Harbey]

The copper hood certainly appeals but I'm a bit cautious still. Good thinking on the stainless chain though.

Are you finding your bottom jiggles about or is yours fairly solid?

 

[Peter Scandlyn]

No, mine moves. Mine is not a Robo piece, it's a knock off from Ali. HBSs where I am were flatly not interested in that piece of gear when it hit the market and the Robo agents in Australia likewise were not interested in export. It is stainless tho', at least. The supports on the underside are a tad short so essentially it sits on the filter housing and the opposite support which gives it movement, although I have never come close to dislodging/tipping it. Simple fix, which I can't be assed to do, is screw two stainless screws under each support, the head thickness of those would then be sufficient to lift it off the filter housing and make it stable. One day.....

 

[Jakeyboi]

I used mine today on my grainfather. It work really well, a pretty good fit, only issue is the ring pull hits the bottom of the grain basket, so had to fit it upside down leaving just the bolt and nuts sticking up to try and pull it out. Can’t have it all

 

[dryyourbeers]

Hi, i have the robobrew false bottom but am unsure about correct installation. When I try and place it on the bottom of the Grainfather the piece of yellowish material that wraps around the circumference at the bottom of the grainfather gets in the way. I think this is just there to support the grain basket. Do I simply remove this wrap around piece/support?

 

[Mungri]

Hi, i have the robobrew false bottom but am unsure about correct installation. When I try and place it on the bottom of the Grainfather the piece of yellowish material that wraps around the circumference at the bottom of the grainfather gets in the way. I think this is just there to support the grain basket. Do I simply remove this wrap around piece/support?

Not sure what the yellowish material is in your Grainfather. This is the bottom of mine,

no material around it and the Robobrew false bottom fits well.
Can you post a pic?

 

[Norfolk79]

I think the yellow wrap at the bottom is packaging material to protect the grain basket during shipping. You can safely dispose of it

 

[Jakeyboi]

Anyone using this on the gf? Have you noticed a problem with the boil, it seems like there is not enough circulation through the false bottom and the water underneath gets super heated and every now and again get a huge bubble up through the wort.

 

[Keruso]

I find that it takes so long to go through the grainbed that the water level just rises at the top, which ends up going down the overflow anyway, never been able to brew with the grainfather without at least 95% of the water going straight down the overflow, I’m interested in how u manage to to do it?

I think i've discovered the main reason causing wort to flow over the overflow, yes there are stickier grains like wheat that usually call for rice hulls to help stop the mash sticking, and of course the finer the crush the stickier the mash will be causing the flow to go over the overflow. However the more flour in the grain the more the wort overflows. With clear bags of grain you can see the flour. If there is a lot of flour I use a medium sieve to remove some, say 350g. I then add 350g dextrose as a late edition. I once sieved out 1kg of flour from a 6kg bag of grain. When you reduce flour the wort flows through far better, you can even have the tap wide open and still nothing over the overflow. Also there's far less burnt material on the bottom. Obviously removing flour will lower efficiency which can be compensated with dextrose but it's better to remove less rather than more. If my grain doesnt have excess flour I just use 100g rice hulls and that seems to keep the flow circulating without going over the overflow.

 

[Harbey]

I'm assuming your GF is new @dryyourbeers ? As been said, that yellow stuff is packaging. @Jakeyboi I've used mine three times now and, with some minor modifications it's working well. I've not had the issue with big bubble release but then the most I've hopped has been about 150g so maybe you were really throwing them in, this may have caused the block? I'm really happy with mine now.

 

[Peter Scandlyn]

That yellow stuff is shipping packing only. Take it out and toss....

 

[Poochops]

I did my second brew using the FB at the weekend, I too find that the ring pushes up the bottom grid of the malt pipe, I’m going to try bending it over 45 degrees before my next brew. I had 200g of Saaz in there by the end of the boil, I gave it a little whirlpool before transfer and was left with a lovely mound of hops on top by the time it drained. One think I found following my first run, was to tilt the gf towards the pump for the last few minutes to get the last two litres out, hey presto got all the wort and was able to just lift out the hop cake to clean up. I do get some hops going under the FB, the gf filter I find is just as compacted with hop material but it’s so much easier to clean up afterwards there’s not too much hops in the gf at all to rinse out. I think my wort was clearer too. I found the boil was a bit slow to get vigorous but only for three or four minutes, no big bubble release though.

 

[Harbey]

, I’m going to try bending it over 45 degrees before my next brew.

You'll end bending or to 90 degrees to stop hitting. As someone has said, some SS chain is probably the best option.

 

[pottsworth]

Does this do a good job of filtering out the hot break material too?

I’ve ended up with a huge amount of trub in the bottom of my fermenter a few times unless I leave it to settle out for half an hour or so, so being able to drain straight out would be a big bonus.

 

[Litmus]

I find that it takes so long to go through the grain bed that the water level just rises at the top, which ends up going down the overflow anyway, never been able to brew with the grainfather without at least 95% of the water going straight down the overflow, I’m interested in how u manage to do it?

I find a site glass really help, you can see if the liquid is rising or falling in the bottom on the unit and thus you know if you should slow down or speed up recirculation.

 

[Keruso]

All, I ordered the false bottom from brewkegtap on 23-12-19, it arrived today 6-1-20 so there must be stock if you are still looking to get one.

 

[Graham Simpson]

Ikea sell a 13” stainless steel sieve for £3, that works great in my Peco boiler as a false bottom. Tried it in my Brew Monk and while it collected the trub and hops, because it sat on the floor of the boiler it interfered with the boil. Might try it again with stainless steel bolts.

 

[Keruso]

Did my first brew this weekend with the grainfather false bottom. Worked very well, 200g pellet hops in the boil, no hop spider, no issue with the boil or the recirculation or pumping out into the FV. A little hop matter does get through so I left the grainsfather filter attached. Less burnt on material and overall it was far easier to clean. Very happy with it.

 

[coling]

Hi everyone, I just did my first brew with one of these and it did not go very smoothly to say the least. Like others on here the hook ring on the top was too big and it caused my bottom GF perf plate to keep moving around when i was mixing the mash. It got so bad the plate must have lifted up because at the end of the brew there was a lot of grain at the bottom and the seal had come off.
I also had the problem of it being so light and loose that it kept lifting when I was whirlpooling. It actually almost flipped over. This was really annoying and because of this there ended up being lots of trub underneath the plate anyways.

I'm going to try to find a smaller ring for problem 1. If i can't find one, I'll bend it or not use the hook ring at all (i've got some small metal hooks I can use instead).
For problem number 2, does anyone have any suggestions? I tried to fit the GF gasket around the plate but the plate is a lot bigger than the GF plates and the gasket doesn't stay on very well. If i can't fix this issue, I might not just use it again which would be a waste of $25