StillSmart

Hello any body got there grainfather delivered,also what are your thoughts.

I've looked at it in the past but feel it's a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none, I wouldn't buy one, it's too much of a compromise from having a 3 vessel setup, they've tried to make one bit of kit do everything, plus at £595 it's too expensive.

For that sort of money you could build a nice 100lt HLT, a 50lt mash tun and a 60-70lt boiler, with counter flow cooler, pumps and a rims system.

Ditto.
I guess you get what you pay for. They are trying to do everything and that leads to compromise.

There also seemed to me to be some poor design in parts as well.
This does not compare to a braumeister.

Might be worth looking at the 'brew in a bag' process.

I have to say,I would love to play with a Braumeister.
Sadly costing more than I wish to spend.
My 2014 single malt was accomplished by the simple expedient of re-connecting the thermostat of my urn boiler,and using it as a crude mash tun.
This was labour intensive,and involved much work,especially the straining,sparging etc.
The result was pretty damned good,and I intend to produce more in 2015.
I have a self imposed finite time with the current distilling,and may not get to return to it,and so wish to invest no more than I must.
The balance between time and money is a tricky one.
Time IS money.

Robert

Got mine delivered thursday havent had a chance to use it yet. Llike you say alot of money £595 i will give it a go next week.

Are you tempted to use it as a still as well?

Hi Seddo

Let us know how you get on with it please, it'll be interesting to hear first hand from someone who's used one, how it performs :-)

I completely misread your post.. or to be more exact missed the word "delivered".
You were not asking for my opinion on what I thought of it. I can understand if it offended and for that I apologise.

Thanks for the replies i will let you know how i get on with it, the wife wouldnt let me spend that much money on a breaumeister. I will also be trying the alembic on the top and also no offence taken but thanks for your honest opinions. Cheers seddo

I will add.. With the alembic on the top this does cover a lot of bases. Plenty of bang for your buck.

I have know peeps ferment in them too.....

Whiskey first run then ?

Hi i am inerested how you go on with the grainfather,i really fancy one they look a great piece of kit and the initial problems have now been amended. at the top of the recirc pipe they have fitted a valve and better connection thread on the connecting pipe.

Cheers

Hello i have now used the grainfather a couple of times for mashing and sparging and to be truthfull its a complete doddle to use. As you mentioned about the circulation pipe having a valve fitted seems to have sorted the previous problem out. Up till now everything seems so easy to use. I spent my money and i am pleased with it. Cheers Seddo.

With any equipment in our hobbysphere you'll get a range of opinions about the latest great thing but, at the end of the day, your own opinion, about what you've bought, is the only one that really counts

If you feel you've got value for your money and you're happy with the results you're getting then that's all that matters

Nice one

AM

I am quite interested in one of these, as i have a t500 and a pot head so it would allow me to run a second still as well as try mashing some grain, i fancy some nice ales too. i love the Braumeister but way out of budget now. i can see how you could mod this up a bit and do more with the kit with some thoughts i have. at some point i will get around to design and make my own eqp. i like the ideas you lot have here, and i think this bit of all in one is good for small spaces too.