The Grainfather Stainless Steel All in One Brewing System - User Friendly System is Great for All Grain Brewers

I've been home brewing for 5 years and this is by far the coolest system I've ever seen. It's awesome! I was hesitant to buy such an expensive piece of equipment but I can honestly say, after brewing 6 batches, I have no buyers remorse. There are some reviews that say the North American version (110v) isn't powerful enough. Those folks must have received a defective unit or aren't plugging it into a 20 amp circuit. Yes, it takes a little while to heat up 5 gallons of water. However, it takes time to heat water with a 100,000 BTU propane burner too and don't forget to fill up that tank before you start. The thing I like most about this unit is how easy it is to use. There is no guess work hitting mash temps, no screwing around with gas burners, no standing outside sweating, no giant tiered beer sculpture and no waisting time because your equipment failed. It just works. The recirculating mash is very efficient, the pump works well, the counter flow chiller cools the wort to whatever your tap water temp might be and cleanup is easy with some PBW. I've been experimenting with step mashing. Why not if you can? Brewed an export stout with a medium/fine grist and BeerSmith says I got over 86% efficiency. Never thought I'd say that as a home brewer.

Don't plan a brew day to coincide with delivery and inspect it well. My unit came damaged, but my yeast starter was already going and I had taken the day off work to brew. But for the price, this gives unit gives you (almost - see accessories) everything you need in a much smaller space than a typical three pot burner/brew sculpture setup would. The unit is well made, and when paired with the free app, makes brewing a breeze without taking the hands on art out of the picture like a picobrew or other fully automated unit would. I have made two brews in a week already. One I did in my backyard, and the second in my kitchen on a rainy day. This gives you an idea of the portability of this system as well. Something you just can't do with a huge brew sculpture. Packaging Terrible. I guess it could have been worse, the unit could have arrived non functional. Even though the packaging did not appear damaged, the unit came with several dings and dents. I have attached a photo of the worst. It does not effect usability, it just made me very sad. The counter-flow wort chiller on the other hand was not so lucky. The unit comes packaged inside the GrainFather with a plastic ring to prevent it from damaging the stainless brew kettle (great!). But something punched a hole in the outflow hose of the wort chiller (photo attached). I have made it work by setting the unit upside down until I can repair the hose. In this orientation it sucks air and aerates rather than spraying wort all over. Because I feel I could repair the hose, I did not request a return. It seemed wasteful. Quality The unit is well made. It seems the stainless is a bit thin as you can see in the attached photo. There were several dings that were already in the GrainFather when it arrived on my doorstep, and I do feel that I have to be careful not to bang it up even more. Time will tell with the pump. Assembly This is nitpicking, but the temp control unit has a supporting bracked bolted to the grainfather. It blocks access to the screws used to permanently mount the temp control unit. I had to remove it to do this. Other than that, its a breeze. Pump The pump seems to be perfectly paired to the unit and the shutoff flow valve makes it very easy to control the flow of the wort during mash. Having the pump right on the boil kettle makes everything so much easier. Nuff said. The only issue is that if you are adding your hops directly to the boil, you will find that your flow becomes quickly restricted during cooling. This can cause a much slower chill period than you are expecting. I hate hop socks. I like my hops to flow free. Accessories A hop spider would be a great accessory to include with this unit (see Pump). Heck, include that shiny mash paddle I see in all the videos and you really up the ante with this unit. Taking the lid off during a boil can be a challenge as well. Wear gloves and get one of these Lunarland Lil Devil Oven Pull - Joie Hot Bakeware Rack Heat Resistant Safety Puller . Works pretty good for lifting the lid through the hole in the middle. You are still going to need a second pot to boil or the companion Sparge Water Heater GrainFather also sells. Overall I love this unit. I probably will sell off my other gear!

I tried several times to add insulation and help the grain father retain heat. Sadly, without the lid, the temperature dropped lower than boiling within 3 minutes. I was brewing inside. It might work inside at Colorado/Wyoming elevation. If you need to hold a boil over 208F, I would not recommend the grain father. The manufacturer did not admit any fault and suggested that I buy another of their products to add insulation. Building a machine meant to run at 220V and then reducing the power for 110V outlets doesn't make sense to me.

I learned home brewing via extract method 15 years ago and it was a blast, but always a lot of work. Living in Colorado, we are surrounded by hundreds of very good, craft beers. And it became easier to just buy instead of making it due to the amount of effort with the stove top-extract method. My belief was that all-grain was more work, and harder. Buying the Grainfather proved that belief wrong. Prior to GF brewing, I would spend a few hours cleaning and sanitizing everything. In some cases scrubbing pots and pans, bottles, and kegs. With the GF, I fill up with warm water, turn it on, add cleaner, and clean everything in one shot. I run cleaner and sanitizer through the chiller, fermenters, while putting all the small equipment such as bubblers, stirrers, paddles, etc into the GF and heat it up to 180F. Cleaning everything now only takes about 45 minutes to an hour. Brewing with the Grainfather is also a lot easier, I need less equipment and brewing goes faster as it's all in one container, and the upside is that now I'm brewing all grain as opposed to expensive extract brewing. Small batch brewing is a lot easier as well. I'll brew 1, 1.5, and 2G small batches quickly so I can sample and play with a recipe as desired, and the Grainfather makes it fun again.

Awesome product! I've been home brewing for about 7 years and have been looking for an updated brewing system for some time. The grain father is perfect for me. It takes up little space and makes brewing all grain super easy. I almost feel like I'm cheating. I would familiarize yourself with this prior to being your first batch. Watch the YouTube videos and run some cleaner and then water through it. There are slot of complaints about this thing not coming to temp or holding temp very well. I live in a colder climate and has no issues. I will be getting the jacket meerly so I don't get burned on the sides and so it will maintain a more accurate temperature. I was super excited to see that on my first batch with this, I got a crazy 90℅ efficiency! The worry that came out was super clear also. If you are using more than 3 ounces of hops I would recommend using a hop spider, otherwise the pump strainer will plug up. If it does, all you have to do is pop the lid of and just lightly run your mash paddle over the strainer to free it up a bit. This is well worth the price tag seeing how you can spend thousands building a custom brew system.

Pretty good brew system. The pump filter seems to get clogged easily, but that's really my biggest issue.

Product works as advertised. Customer service from the vendor was second to none. The gentleman from the homebrew shop who was selling the product called me to thank me for my purchase and to let me know he was about to ship the product to me. Packaging was great and the shipping was fast.

I went from a three vessel system to the grainfather, and my only regret is that I didn't buy the grainfather to begin with. The system is very easy to use, takes up very little space, and makes good beer. The only real issues I've had are a stuck mash due to a very high percentage of flaked grains and one plugged ball valve due to hop material. If you're on the fence just buy it, you won't regret it!