3 vessel system or Grainfather?

[Dave S]

For 23L to 25L and less brews for me the Grainfather won out while i was researching and can be had for under 600 quid now if you search around. Its seriously efficient also which helps you get the best from your brewing and everything you need is right there in the box.

I even brew kit beers in mine, partial mash, oats steeped etc, really good for Cooper stout tweaks etc.

Only issue...25L brews are a real push sometimes, very close on overflowing,a 3 pot system could brew more in one go.

Also if space is an issue as it is for me...everything packs up into the GF for storage.

I do 27L brews with mine. I keep back about 5L Sparge water and use that to liquor back towards the end of the boil

[bigtoe]

For 23L to 25L and less brews for me the Grainfather won out while i was researching and can be had for under 600 quid now if you search around. Its seriously efficient also which helps you get the best from your brewing and everything you need is right there in the box.

I even brew kit beers in mine, partial mash, oats steeped etc, really good for Cooper stout tweaks etc.

Only issue...25L brews are a real push sometimes, very close on overflowing,a 3 pot system could brew more in one go.

Also if space is an issue as it is for me...everything packs up into the GF for storage.

I do 27L brews with mine. I keep back about 5L Sparge water and use that to liquor back towards the end of the boil

interesting...so essentially pissing down the brew to increase volume, any issues hitting targets?

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Not if you factor in the extra volume into your brewing software

[Dave S]

That's right, I build the recipe for a 27L brew. I just hold some of the Sparge liquor back until it's been boiling for an hour. Then I start adding a litre or so at a time until about 15 mins before the end. My targets are almost always bang on, sometimes even a bit higher.

[MDE]

I have a 3V system, but not all stainless steel. 2 of the vessels (HWT and MT) are old copper hot water cylinders which I cut. The ready-insulated ones are really useful and if you cut the bottom off and turn it upside down on a home-made stand, you get an outlet at the bottom of a sort of "conical" plus an immersion heater at the bottom for the HWT. I did have one as the boiler as well but it started leaking and I replaced it with a SS boiler on a gas burner. The whole thing is on a home-made wooden stand (tiled under the burner) and originally cost very little as the cylinders were second hand. I also added a pump a few years ago - better than heaving buckets of scalding liquor! I also wondered about a cylinder with an indirect heating coil being a possible HERMS unit but never got round to trying it.
This set-up has lasted me about 25 years and has made some fine beer but the stand is now literally on its last legs. Now I am in somewhat the same position as the OP in that I would like either to upgrade to a SS 3V system or go the Grainfather/Braumeister route. This thread has provided some excellent food for thought.
One thing I would particularly like is to make the whole system slightly easier to clean - there seemed to be some suggestion that the Braumeister was quite good here. Any further thoughts on ease of cleaning and/or ways of making it easier?
Also, with the GF/BM systems, do people put them on the ground or on a stand? Obviously the 3V system needs a stand - any pointers to a SS would be good too.

[ches501]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Going to give it a bit more thought before laying out my 'hard earned' but will take into account all the thoughts & suggestions.
Cheers

[sladeywadey]

I previously built my own 3V herms based system and used it for about a year, and then bought the grainfather (GF). I have brewed more with the GF over the last year than i ever did with my 3V. Certainly a lot less hassle and repeatable when using the GF.

[Matt in Birdham]

I previously built my own 3V herms based system and used it for about a year, and then bought the grainfather (GF). I have brewed more with the GF over the last year than i ever did with my 3V. Certainly a lot less hassle and repeatable when using the GF.

Less hassle I can understand, but more repeatable? Why do you think that is?

[sladeywadey]

I previously built my own 3V herms based system and used it for about a year, and then bought the grainfather (GF). I have brewed more with the GF over the last year than i ever did with my 3V. Certainly a lot less hassle and repeatable when using the GF.

Less hassle I can understand, but more repeatable? Why do you think that is?

Every time I brewed with my 3v setuo, something changed, needed fixing, altering etc and generally needed closer monitoring. My GF just always does its thing with my small collection of recipes i brew on a regular basis.

[barneey]

Started with a 3V system, built various other 3V systems, owned a 20l BM, made several BM clones.

BM brewing is easy & not a lot can go wrong on brewday, if anything. I expect the same is true of the GF.

However I find that there is something missing maybe for nostalgia reasons, I will be firing up the 3V system again, that and even with my extended BM (80 to 85l brew length) the 3V will make 100l + easily.

If I were to start again, I think the GF route would be chosen.

[MDE]

I've done very quick and cheap conversion to a Grainfather-type set up, by getting a 60L plastic bucket and drilling 2mm holes in the bottom. This fits nicely inside my 100L ss boiler and brews 10 gal easily. My pump recirculates from the outer vessel to the top of the inner one. Only trouble is that the efficiency is less than I was getting with the 3v system. This may be down to the lack of sparging. The way I have constructed it, there is quite a gap between the bottoms of the vessels, so all the water needs to be used in the mash. I will try and reduce this gap (without melting the plastic!) and save a bit of water for sparging. If this all works well, then replacing the plastic bin with a ss one is on the cards.

[Cam]

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=78022

[Goulders]

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=78022

Even less at my local brew store with free shipping
http://getbrewing.uk/equipment/314-grai ... 12179.html

[Kev888]

...Only trouble is that the efficiency is less than I was getting with the 3v system. This may be down to the lack of sparging...

Not sparging means that the wort retained by the grain is all full-gravity stuff, so it does reduce efficiency compared to decent sparging - especially with higher gravity brews.

However, the lack of sparging saves a lot of time too, and completely avoids reductions in quality and consistency that sub-standard or rushed sparging can bring. Personally if the sparge isn't a good one, I don't want to do it. A one-pot/pot-in-pot system is convenient and compact, and so IMO is a perfect partner to full-volume mashing, though people do sparge in them too.

WRT the OP: I have a pot-in-pot system now, but that is only for reasons of space; I would actually prefer a good permanently set up 3v-system myself. They take a bit more getting to grips with and aren't as convenient or compact, but wrt results I feel they are hard to beat. However both can make excellent beer, so its very much a question of personal preference and priorities.

[Cam]

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=78022

Even less at my local brew store with free shipping
http://getbrewing.uk/equipment/314-grai ... 12179.html

That doesnt include the new controller which is another £100.