Water volume in a Grainfather. Help!

[Wardy]

Can anyone give me some advice please?
The AG kit instructions say to use 16 litres of water for the mash at 67c then after 1 hour add 5 litres of water at 80c and leave for 15 minutes.
Because I'm using a Grainfather I'm sure this needs to be done by using 21 litres of water at 67c for 1 hour then increasing the temperature to ?
Does anyone know what this temperature should be and it's significance?
Am I right in thinking the sparge water should be less or should the mash volume be less because with the Grainfather having a lid I doubt there will be a huge reduction in volume during the boil. Instructions say 19 litres for the sparge.

 

[cheapbrew]

Some mash water and sparge water amounts in these threads

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52346&highlight=grainfather+water+level

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56156&highlight=grainfather+water+level

 

[glynb]

I always use this http://www.grainfather.co.uk/#!brewing-calculator/cljs when using my grainy

I'd still mash at 67c and sparge at whatever the recipe says.

 

[Dads_Ale]

Is this a HBC AG kit? The instructions look very similar to the ones for the Apollo AG kit I used for the GF trial.
If so the instruction are geared for a batch sparge and you have to add an extra amount after draining the mash bed.

I went with the GF instructions/method. For a grain bill of 6140g I used 20 lts mash water and 12.8 lts sparge water. mashed for 1hr 10 mins at 67c then increased temp to 75c for 15 mins. Sparge water at 75c.

 

[Wardy]

Is this a HBC AG kit? The instructions look very similar to the ones for the Apollo AG kit I used for the GF trial.
If so the instruction are geared for a batch sparge and you have to add an extra amount after draining the mash bed.

I went with the GF instructions/method. For a grain bill of 6140g I used 20 lts mash water and 12.8 lts sparge water. mashed for 1hr 10 mins at 67c then increased temp to 75c for 15 mins. Sparge water at 75c.

Yes it is a HBC kit and the volumes and temperature sounds exactly what I think would be right.
Thanks for that.

 

[Wardy]

Some mash water and sparge water amounts in these threads

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52346&highlight=grainfather+water+level

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56156&highlight=grainfather+water+level

Took a while to read the thread but I picked up some good tips.

 

[Wardy]

I always use this http://www.grainfather.co.uk/#!brewing-calculator/cljs when using my grainy

I'd still mash at 67c and sparge at whatever the recipe says.

Thanks for the link. I hadn't thought about checking the GF site.

 

[Dads_Ale]

Am I right in thinking the sparge water should be less or should the mash volume be less because with the Grainfather having a lid I doubt there will be a huge reduction in volume during the boil. Instructions say 19 litres for the sparge.

The boil is completed without the lid on.
Also you may need to scrape the bottom to get it to come up to the boil as some nutrients/proteins may collect there, I had to.

 

[Wardy]

The boil is completed without the lid on.
Also you may need to scrape the bottom to get it to come up to the boil as some nutrients/proteins may collect there, I had to.

I see, thanks for that. Just put the order in for the water heater and a metal paddle. I had overlooked the need for stirring hot wort and only have a plastic one.

 

[Kinleycat]

Moving house (downsizing) so I'm looking into investing in either a grainfather or a braumeister.
Not used either before.
Anyone any preferences or advise before I cough up the readies?

 

[ManseMasher]

Moving house (downsizing) so I'm looking into investing in either a grainfather or a braumeister.
Not used either before.
Anyone any preferences or advise before I cough up the readies?

Have a look through this.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=54878

 

[Wardy]

I had a long and difficult 2 months deciding. Money was no object because family said that would add to whatever savings I had to be able to buy a BrauMeister. I was well up for that and had it set in my mind that a BrauMeister was the way to go because you just programme it and leave it to do its stuff and only need to have something to time hop addition. someone then posted a link to YouTube where someone had done a side by side identical brew to compare the BrauMeister and Grainfather side by side. The Grainfather came out top on reaching temperatures quickly, a better and more vigorous boil and higher efficiency so I had a total switch to the Grainfather at the last minute. I'm very impressed with it and so pleased that I didn't get a BrauMeister. The Grainfather comes with a counterflow chiller that neatly stores inside the unit saving space but the BrauMeister doesn't come with anything so you would need a separate chiller.
I saved £700 in total and as far as I can see the only thing sacrificed is the programmable times but looking at the controls of the GF I think it would be a simple job to use something like a Raspberry Pi zero to run software to be able to adjust times and store profiles. It could easily be possible to connect to wifi so you could upload profiles too as well as monitoring the progress of the mash and boil with text alerts at the time of hop addition.
I plan on working on this after the holidays are over and things are back to normal.
Back to the original point, with the money I saved and the extras I was able to get I would certainly recommend a Grainfather and with the Home Brew Company offering 5% discount to forum members it's only around £615

 

[Fil]

Can anyone give me some advice please?
The AG kit instructions say to use 16 litres of water for the mash at 67c then after 1 hour add 5 litres of water at 80c and leave for 15 minutes.
Because I'm using a Grainfather I'm sure this needs to be done by using 21 litres of water at 67c for 1 hour then increasing the temperature to ?
Does anyone know what this temperature should be and it's significance?
Am I right in thinking the sparge water should be less or should the mash volume be less because with the Grainfather having a lid I doubt there will be a huge reduction in volume during the boil. Instructions say 19 litres for the sparge.

dont boil with the lid on use the g/f formula for the volumes of strike/sparge based on the mass of the grainbill, the lid is for the mash and chill stahes of the brew during the chill its the stand for the cfc

Hope the brewday goes well..

 

[Kinleycat]

Thanks mansemasher and wardy.
Lots to think about.

 

[Fletch]

The comparison between the two machines on YouTube was done in three parts by the late, great Paul Wicksteed on his 'Time 4 Another 1' channel. He does a fantastic, impartial job of reviewing the two vessels; his death last year is a sad loss to the brewing community.

I based my own choice on his comments; I chose the Grainfather because I couldn't justify paying another £700+ just to automate the temperature changes. I haven't regretted it; the Grainy is an awesome piece of kit.

 

[Wardy]

The comparison between the two machines on YouTube was done in three parts by the late, great Paul Wicksteed on his 'Time 4 Another 1' channel. He does a fantastic, impartial job of reviewing the two vessels; his death last year is a sad loss to the brewing community.

I based my own choice on his comments; I chose the Grainfather because I couldn't justify paying another £700+ just to automate the temperature changes. I haven't regretted it; the Grainy is an awesome piece of kit.

That's the one. I didn't know that he had passed away. A great shame. He certainly gained my trust and respect and was the reason I bought the Grainfather.