Grainfather. Worth the price?

[Pheeel]

Has anyone created a ventilation system for the GF? Thinking in line duct fan. Shouldn't be too hard but it'd need a lid that could be attached to a duct too...

[BrewDorg]

I've been thinking of doing the same thing. I was thinking of getting a large stainless mixing bowl to use for the hood. Was also wondering if a large plastic bowl would work as it'd be pretty cheap and easy to cut out.

[Pheeel]

I think plastic wouldn't work with boiling wort. Yeh, forgot about a metal bowl....

[pob]

Good aul AliExpress

~€ 20 | Distillation Lid for Turbo Boiler or Robobrew (47mm Hole)   

Need quite a strong fan, I tried a new bathroom type fan, wasn't enough on a keggle, not enough draw & a bit of condensation forming too. Might be handier to build/buy cheap shelter/gazebo contraption. I have the GF just outside shed door now.

Will also have to account for different boil off values if you're increasing air being drawn off.

Also, make sure fan is specced to handle both high temp & waterproofing from wort steam.

_{(Edited: Updated url link)}

[pob]

Above Ali link fixed

[colm89]

Hi all, sorry to drag this up, but I'm curious to know if the grainfather is still the daddy in terms of all in one brewing systems?

I've been quietly doing my homework on the various options (brew monk, robobrew, GF, etc.) and I'm still none the wiser admittedly, aside from the fact that the GF name consistently comes up.

I'm quite hands on and investigated making my own (tea urn, pump, arduino), but when all is said and done, it would probably exceed the cost of just buying the brew monk, and be plagued with the quirks of a homemade system.

Has anyone had experience with all of the options (excluding the braumeister on a cost basis) and can definitively say which one is the best buy?

I've been brewing in a bag on an induction hob until now with reasonable results but would like to liberate the kitchen from brew days. The GF is appealing because of the small batch pipe work. I'd like to keep initial brew volume to about 10L til I get comfortable with a few recipes.

[mick02]

Hey Colm,

I've been brewing on the GF for a few years now and can't fault it. The extras that you can buy for it plus the amount of people that use it means that almost any issue or question you have for the unit will almost certainly be answered somewhere online.

I've the older version and there are a few small things that annoy me, I could change them up but just haven't for whatever reason. I know that there are a few others on the market now that can do similar to the grainfather but they probably don't have all the tech that comes along with the GF (bluetooth/WiFi controller etc)

Maybe someone else that has moved from a different AIO to the GF can give you their experience but I can't really complain about it at all.