Grainfather Beer Quality

[MrC]

There is plenty of information on the web about the brewing experience with the Grainfather and to honest it looks very appealing and I'm tempted to get my credit card out right now and buy one.  Before I do, I want to ask about the quality of the beer being brewed in the Grainfather. 

How would you rate the quality of your Grainfather brewed beers compared to your previous setups?

[Stevo]

Hi, I had half a dozen brew experiences on a mates home made system which is an awesome system but I am not tech minded enough to make one so I bought a grain father and have never looked back! I'm doin my 13th brew this wknd and to be honest the beer I make , is better or as good as you can buy. If you know the basics about brewing , the grain father is awesome. You won't make a medal winner first time but once you have sussed it , you will be drinking fine craft beer that you have brewed yourself . Cheers , Steve

[Stevo]

I would also recommend purchasing the grain father sparge water heater . And no, I'm not a salesperson for them , ha !

[Dene McDonald]

In relation to previous beers.... Consistent, clear and very good.

[Karl Summerfield]

Quality is great. I came from a BIAB setup, and my wort has definitely improved.

Beer quality however, is pretty much related to how skilled you are as a brewer. The Grainfather produces fantastic wort, but it doesn't make the beer per se.

Fresh ingredients, yeast selection, fermentation temperature, sanitisation, oxygenation - all of these have as big an impact on beer quality as the quality of the wort.

If you're keen on a GF, go for it. It's hard to find a cleaner, easier way of brewing and your beers will be as good as anything produced on any other home brew rig. If not, then it won't be the GFs fault :)

[Crusader-Rob]

I've been brewing for about 4 years now.. I bought a GF about 6 months ago.
I've done many different types of brewing from kits to partial mash, to All Grain in a cooler, back to partial mash (Shoulder operation), then i went to BIAB, and finally prior to the GF a Re-circ BIAB with second BK.

the simplicity of the GF iswhat strikes me, its mostly automated, has a small footprint, i get 10% better efficiency than previously.

I don't know if im making better beer as such, but its more consistent, clearer, and as a BIAB'er i regularly missed my FG by 1-2-3 points, due to it being more malty generally.

i'm hitting my scores 99% of the time, and now that i play around with water etc. im making good beer, my skills are getting better, and im honing a solid process that works well.

theres still the odd fermentation issue, but that very much separate to this.

If your thinking about it, and have no plans to go to double batches, then pull the trigger, you wont regret it.

if you are, you can do double batches, but dos take some time.

[Damian McCaul]

I have now done 6 brews on my Grainfather. My last one was a Panhead Supercharger Clone. I had two mates do a blind tasting test with the real thing. Both picked mine as the Supercharger. Couldn't ask for better feedback than that. If you can. GET IT

[MrC]

Just to follow up on this. 

I purchased a Grainfather and have been happily brewing beers as good as any of my previous ones.  The biggest difference I've noticed is in the brew times, my brew days are now faster, cleanup is easier and not so many bit's and pieces to put away.  Getting control over mash temp also gives piece of mind and one less thing to worry about.  

I summary my brew days are faster and less stressful.

I did have an issue with the recirculation ball valve getting clogged with hops but a MJ hop spider seems to have fixed it.

I'd recommend a Grainfather to anyone considering it.

[Chris Carter]

Hey MrC - meet MRC

[MrC]

That's awesome!!!  I'm jealous.