Grainfather

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Anybody any opinions or comments about the "grainfather"?
I spotted it on Get'er Brewed earlier and it has more than caught my attention.  It's expensive but if it's as good as it says it is I would defo look into buying one.

Grainfather.co.uk

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Pic

[Andrew]

I have to say, I'm quite interested too. It's a mash tun, combined with a kettle with a built in heat exchanger. Or am I missing something?

[armedcor]

It seems a tad underpowered. I've seen a few videos and it takes quite a bit to get up to mash temp and boiling.

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

I have to say, I'm quite interested too. It's a mash tun, combined with a kettle with a built in heat exchanger. Or am I missing something?

It looks to basically have everything in the one box.
Will look into it more tonight on the laptop, there's lots of videos and reviews on YouTube.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

It's basically a cheaper braumeister?

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

If the pump &/ element fail do you then have to buy a proprietary replacement from grainfather? Can you replace said components yourself?

That's something I will ask them.

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

http://nationalhomebrew.com.au/brewers-blog/grainfather-review

This is a pretty complete review which pretty much has me sold, worth a read.

[DEMPSEY]

What about the hops after boiling. Do you use a hop bag with this.

[beanstalk]

In a video I saw you get a strainer discdisc with to sit the hops onon and stop them falling to bottom while boiling?

The fact you need another vessel to heat sparge water puts me off a little but looks great! I guess you can't have everything for that price!

[dcalnan]

It only has a 2000w kettle element, I say you'd be waiting ages to reach temperatures. I love the look of the brewbot, shame its so expensive.

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

Cheers for the replys so far Lads.

I emailed grainfather directly earlier re: repairs and they said its covered under a 12 month guarantee. Of course I mailed them straight back asking what happens outside of the 12 month guarantee period - Is there an Irish Repair Service? Can parts be bought directly from them?
I expect a quick reply as they got back to me quick enough after the first mail.

So, I need to think about the 2kw element and the amount of power it'll supply.
And hops post boil too.  Now for some more research. . . .

[Covey]

whos this he sounds irish and has one

https://www.youtube.com/user/okjhayes

[fishjam45 (Colin)]

whos this he sounds irish and has one

https://www.youtube.com/user/okjhayes

Videos posted 5 months ago, so he got his recently enough.  Thats a cork accent if I'm not mistaken?

Grainfather have promptly replied to my email again. They will be supplying get'erbrewed with spares and they will have a list of them available shortly.
They also assured me they have "a team ready to answer any questions / give technical advice when needed" - very reassuring and I'm delighted with their prompt replies to my questions. So far so good.

I have a 20ltr Burco at my disposal so that answers my sparge water issue.
Hops after boil issue? The pump filter prevents hops entering the counter flow chiller.

I see they have a cleaner http://www.grainfather.co.uk/#!online-store/c8k/!/Grainfather-High-Performance-Cleaner-500g/p/47629811/category=12389142 too.  I presume normal w5 or VWP wouldnt be suitable as its a SS vessel? Anybody any ideas for a cheaper, more easily accesible cleaner?

[molc]

The thing is, could someone build something like that for a good deal cheaper. It's a burco with an insert and an attached pump with an arm back to the top. The braumeister is very well engineered whereas this just looks - hacky