AG Set up help

[Nick Horton]

Hi Guys, 

I have been brewing BIAB for a couple of years, and have had some good success. 

Have just had 18 months off of brewing as we had a baby.... I am Looking to get back into brewing in a big way.

I am looking for a system to help me control my brewing and fermentation, as well as a kegging option.

I have been looking at the Grainfather Complete Brewing set up - add to this a fridge to temperature control the fermentation and I won't be getting much change out of $2,500.

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the Grainfather?

I am happy to spend the money, but was just wondering if there are better options to spend the $2,500 on?

I am not very practical, so building something from scratch isn't a great option - that is unless it is far better than the Grainfather, in which case I can get some help with the building. 

I have no preference for Gas or Electric, and likewise happy with Gravity or pumping. 

Any help appreciated! 

Cheers

[Peter Smith]

grainfather is a good option if you are not a hands on engineer type, or buy a 50L keg type setup off trademe

or this

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=837477165

or even this    http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/lifestyle/home-brewing/brewing...

[Crusader-Rob]

Screw the williams Warn. (this is just my opinion, and has absolutely nothing to do with the system itself, I just don't liketheir marketing etc.)

The most cost effective option if your not much of a builder is to get the grainfather, I know several people who have it, and boy it works well, the V2.0 is much better and is just a breeze to work with. nice and compect etc.

Do you still have you BIAB setup? You could use that to get yourself running again, and setup your 2 fridges for fermentation and kegging respectively, and see whats left $$ wise, then add a mash tun and HLT where appropriate, and where money allows. I run BIAB and am slowing upgrading to a slightly more easy method/less dirty method (I've made some pretty good beers BIAB) 

some good options at allgrain.co.nz for pot and mash tuns etc. E mail or chat to Karl or Kerry. they're knowledgable there.

[David R]

I just ordered a GF after shagging about with variations on BIAB for a couple of years. I also picked up a fridge for $65 off TradeMe, which I was going to use for kegs but may use for temp control of the fermentation as I've tested it and it gets plenty cold enough to cold-crash beers (and for $65 it's probably not the most electricity-efficient thing, so better not to have it running all the time). I chose not to go for the complete GF package you listed as I don't need the SS fermenter (already have glass carboys) and for the cost of their kegerator I could easily set up my own system with a second hand fridge and gear from brewshop.co.nz that will cost less and run four kegs instead of two. I may have gone for their unit if I had space in my kitchen for it, but TBH I felt it was a bit pricey and limiting considering it only has two taps.

[Crusader-Rob]

Yeah, the kegorator from MJ is good, but limited by space.

I've got 3 fridges.

1 for fermentation. (bigt all one)fits 2 fermenters if needed. ($Free)
1 for kegging, can fit 3 kegs inside (its smaller than I thought) ($40)
and 1 for cold conditioning bottles. ($10)

none of which are overly efficient, but my power bill only went up by $10-20 per months with all going at once.

If you use picnic taps you can get away with running cheaper. the main costs are the co2 andthe regulator.

still BIAB but moving away from it. Only because I don't need to save the time. that BIAB gives me.

[David R]

I hadn't even thought about a fridge for bottle conditioning, good idea! Wifey will be thrilled... :D

[Crusader-Rob]

Haha, I originally bought it as a cold crashing/laering fridge, but its justthat litte bit too small. for that. 
(My mrs. has no idea I have that fridge also turned on. lol)

[Peter Smith]

we are on a new smart meter in AKL, wife gets txt if power jumps on a daily basis.....

[Crusader-Rob]

Not an issue if you leave it on all the time.....

[Andrew]

i bought that system last year, the complete package. Only had plastic fermenters, so the stainless was a bonus. Also I used it to store the heated sparge water for the Grainfather (have since bought the water heater off them as once the fermenter was in use, it couldn't be used for sparging} The package saved around $300 from buying separately, and the kegerator is a nice tidy looking unit, so sits well in the kitchen. Buying the package and you're all set to go. Sure, there are always cheaper ways of doing things, ( I bought a fridge off Trademe for $5 and fitted it with a $29 STC1000 for a temp controlled fridge, but it's an ugly thing, and is relegated to a back room. If your kegerator is going to be front of house, it might need to look the part. 

[Peter Smith]

We just got the complete package for a retirement gift for a bloke at work......    what a great gift to get...

IMHO the options are

Grainfather or  Braumeister / Farra or Blichmann          plus a kegerater...

all depending on your budget and space you have available...  sure there are cheaper options and they all make beer, including home builds, but the thread started off around being not hands on build you own weldstainless type of bloke...    cant go past the packages, buy today brew tomorrow....   its real easy to underestimate the effort to build your own,  I am only half way to my full 50L keg 3 vessel system,  have the hlt and mash tun sorted, still got to find time to finish the BK and the herms coil.....   and I got sidetracked by picking up a braumeister along the way for a play....

[Nick Horton]

Thanks all for your feedback.

Would love to get a Farra or Brauwmeister but they are way out of my price range.

The Blichmann looks really nice and might be achievable within the budget, I like the option of being able to do a 50L brew.

I think that I will concentrate on getting the Kegging and Temp Controlled ferment side of things going, and get back into the BIAB. 

I have a few engineering friends, so I might bribe them to help me build a 3 tier system. Might use www.allgrain.co.nz as they look to provide pretty sensibly priced hardware.

Cheers again for your advice. 

[Nicholas Jones]

Hey Nick, good to hear you are venturing back into it. I would have to concur with others, the GF is probably a sound bet, or upgrading the the BAIB with a chilly bin/HLT and some good fermentation/control. You would probably get pretty good resale on a GF too if you decided you wanted to go bigger/better etc in the future (surely you would only need the GF+HLT? - you must have fermenters?), and shit as you and I well know, sparing anything more than 4-5 hours for a brew is hard with a little one, I think the GF probably makes the job pretty quick and easy too..others would probably be well placed to comment there? Come catch up next time you are back in Auckland, we had number two 4 weeks ago...busy!