The Grain Father

[Peter Smith]

http://www.grainfather.com/

Mangrove Jacks new all grain unit - its nice

[Dene McDonald]

I just would have expected that if an immersion chiller can cool it in 20 mins then a counterflow on recirc could do the same. Might be a better option to buy it without the GF branded chiller and get one from somewhere else. From Karl's youtube clip looks like the pump is more than powerful enough to get a good flow going. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bArGrH_RbYU

[John H]

Nah - I was in a hurry at the end so I did a 10 minute sanitise circ then straight from the counterflow into the fermeter. 

I'd be keen to try a whirlpool next time.

At the end of the day after I've dry hopped with another 100g hops there will be truck-loads of hops in the fermenter anyway so I'm not too hung up about it really - it'll settle out and I use finings into the keg anyway.

[Chris]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0rIV0wCokE

[John H]

Btw, what is the active ingredient in the cleaner?

[Mark Weusten]

There are two active ingredients and they are on the back of the bottle that came with the grainfather. At first I thought this would be way too expensive but if you buy the 1 litre for 30 bucks, its one dollar a clean so no biggie if it does the job.

[John H]

Cleaner was not available in the HBS so was curious what chem they are using. As a matter of interest which are the 2 that are in the GF cleaner?

I've got heaps of Caustic or Napisan (Sodium Percarbonate) that I usually use for a deep clean after a brew.

[Taubin]

Sodium metasilicate and terasodium EDTA are the two listed

[Mark Thomas]

I've got some Powdered Brewery Wash lying around the place, so I might see how that works. I think it's chemically very similar and is also suitable for both stainless and copper

[Peter Smith]

like Christmas with toddlers....  

[Dene McDonald]

I'll be interested to know what the efficiency of the Grain Father is. Was looking on their website and there's a recipe listed as based on 65% mash efficiency. Which is pretty awful as it's a 5% beer so not even a big beer.  

[John H]

Me too. The example calculation in the manual indicated an efficiency of 82% - which is not the same as saying it is their actual figure.

I emailed their support line yesterday for an eff figure - haven't had the answer yet.

I found the manual pretty light on detail for setting up Beersmith Equipment/Mash profiles

[Mark Weusten]

Mine turned up this morning ,you beauty. I think 65 is awfully low, would guess more towards the 80% with the grain running through during the mash. Will be able to tell you shortly.