new on the market Grainfather g40

[ozdevil]

Hey guys

Seen my 1st review  on this by Gash of the homebrewnetwork

I am very impressed on how grainfather has set this up and really looks like a great brewing system

The G40  is not cheap as you we seen with the gf 30 which is around $1080
the GF40 starts at $1495.

the good thing with this system you get a choice you can use 10 amp or 15amp depending on ya situation
so if your outside brewing  and boil is not quite there you may want to look at 15amp ... however you have to purchase the 15amp cord seperately

The good thing is there is no overflow pipe like the G30, basicly when i am brewing in the brewzilla i have already ditched the  overflow pipe
as it is really not needed... however  there is little holes that run up the inside of the mash tun that basicly acts as the overflow pipe
but i dont think it is a hindernce at all.

the control panel is great  it can be removed for cleaning the outside of the unit just incase of boil overs or those times we make boo boo mistake

the recircarm is no loger there and comes through  the lid any more in which is a great idea   however you need to pull the hose off so that you can remove the mash tun for sparging

overall looks like a great little  package    that offers alot
 

 

[Aussiekraut]

On 9/27/2021 at 12:11 PM, ozdevil said:

Hey guys

Seen my 1st review  on this by Gash of the homebrewnetwork

I am very impressed on how grainfather has set this up and really looks like a great brewing system

The G40  is not cheap as you we seen with the gf 30 which is around $1080
the GF40 starts at $1495.

the good thing with this system you get a choice you can use 10 amp or 15amp depending on ya situation
so if your outside brewing  and boil is not quite there you may want to look at 15amp ... however you have to purchase the 15amp cord seperately

The good thing is there is no overflow pipe like the G30, basicly when i am brewing in the brewzilla i have already ditched the  overflow pipe
as it is really not needed... however  there is little holes that run up the inside of the mash tun that basicly acts as the overflow pipe
but i dont think it is a hindernce at all.

the control panel is great  it can be removed for cleaning the outside of the unit just incase of boil overs or those times we make boo boo mistake

the recircarm is no loger there and comes through  the lid any more in which is a great idea   however you need to pull the hose off so that you can remove the mash tun for sparging

overall looks like a great little  package    that offers alot
 

 

So I finally finished watching the video. It only took me 3 days to do so  

It's a nice looking machine and and all but is it worth the money? Gash mentioned a few things, which I experience at times, like it taking forever to reach a  certain temperature. In my case, it seems to take forever to reach mash out temp. It heats up to 77.8, then turns off the element and drops to 77.4 or so, it heats up again and three or four times, just before reaching the right temperature, it turns the element off. I accept that on a system that cost me $400 but a $1400 machine? Not really. I also find it a little sad that in this price range, the sight glass doesn't give you the correct levels. Seriously? Some things are really nifty like the holes along the side of the malt tube or being able to get vital stats via software but all in all, I don't think it would be something I'd pay the asked bucks for. 

 

[ozdevil]

21 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

So I finally finished watching the video. It only took me 3 days to do so  

It's a nice looking machine and and all but is it worth the money? Gash mentioned a few things, which I experience at times, like it taking forever to reach a  certain temperature. In my case, it seems to take forever to reach mash out temp. It heats up to 77.8, then turns off the element and drops to 77.4 or so, it heats up again and three or four times, just before reaching the right temperature, it turns the element off. I accept that on a system that cost me $400 but a $1400 machine? Not really. I also find it a little sad that in this price range, the sight glass doesn't give you the correct levels. Seriously? Some things are really nifty like the holes along the side of the malt tube or being able to get vital stats via software but all in all, I don't think it would be something I'd pay the asked bucks for. 

 

when your talking about reaching mash out etc it will shut off so that it doesnt over shoots thats why it is dropping  and then heating back up,  this can be manually overided

Gashes issues was more with the boil of getting up to boil, becuase he was using only 10 amp it just got to a boil and which i seen another guy Stass who reviewd his g40 had the same issue with the boil   
15amp is what is needed to really work the full potential i think  as this system is spose to do both 10amp and 15amp.

The PId system they have used is really good  for what io have seen and this pid system is the same on the g70

the video i  implemented in this  was only his 1st brew in G40   

i also watched his 2nd  on this which was a live youtube and it was like a 7-8 hour brew day from start to end

i like the setup but i wouldnt be rushing out either to get one

[Aussiekraut]

1 hour ago, ozdevil said:

when your talking about reaching mash out etc it will shut off so that it doesnt over shoots thats why it is dropping  and then heating back up,  this can be manually overided

Gashes issues was more with the boil of getting up to boil, becuase he was using only 10 amp it just got to a boil and which i seen another guy Stass who reviewd his g40 had the same issue with the boil   
15amp is what is needed to really work the full potential i think  as this system is spose to do both 10amp and 15amp.

The PId system they have used is really good  for what io have seen and this pid system is the same on the g70

the video i  implemented in this  was only his 1st brew in G40   

i also watched his 2nd  on this which was a live youtube and it was like a 7-8 hour brew day from start to end

i like the setup but i wouldnt be rushing out either to get one

Yes, the boil was another one that got me. 100C is 100C and when mine boils, I get the nicest rolling boils. The boil he had was a little underwhelming. I did like the results of the whirlpool. No matter how hard I try, the break at the bottom of the kettle never builds up a nice cone like that. Not even when I use the whirlpool arm.

I hd a 15A socket installed because the Guten has a 2500W element and 10A is only good for 2400W before the breaker trips. But I use it with the original 10A plug with no issues, so I don't know why Gash didn't just plug it in the 15A socket he said he had. They are upward compatible. 10A plug fits into 15A socket, just not the other way round. 

 

[Pale Man]

Watched the video, i dont like the machine. Mainly the way the pump arm is set up, but overall much prefer the Brewzilla. Fraction of the cost too. Thumbs down for me.

[ozdevil]

47 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

I hd a 15A socket installed because the Guten has a 2500W element and 10A is only good for 2400W before the breaker trips. But I use it with the original 10A plug with no issues, so I don't know why Gash didn't just plug it in the 15A socket he said he had. They are upward compatible. 10A plug fits into 15A socket, just not the other way round. 

The reason why gash didnt run it on 15amps   is  the g40 only comes prepackaged with the 10amp power cord  and you have to purchase the 15amp power cord seperately

so running 15amp down a 10 amp cord would have fried the the thing i think (well you would hope there is a fuse or breaker to prevent that)

I would dare say things would have been much different if he had the 15amp  and the boiuld would have been much greater and quicker i think.

 

 

51 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

did like the results of the whirlpool.

yes i did as well, but that was due to the G40 pump  which is bigger then the grainfather30 /brewzilla's 35 and 65l/gutens

pretty impressed with that side of things

 

[ozdevil]

2 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Watched the video, i dont like the machine. Mainly the way the pump arm is set up, but overall much prefer the Brewzilla. Fraction of the cost too. Thumbs down for me.

yeah but i dont think thats a real deal breaker for me, but i get what ya getting at

I am very keen to see how the gen 4  brewzillas are when they come out

[Pickles Jones]

The only difference between 10 Amp and 15 Amp outlet is that the 15Amp outlet is wired directly back to the switch board without any other power points attached to it.  And its switch board fuse is nominally rated at 15 Amps instead of 10 Amps.  This gives the appliance plugged in the full access to a 15Amp supply and not being reduced by other appliances that may be plugged into the circuit

It is not uncommon for the earth pin, which is larger on a 15 Amp plug to prevent access to a 10 Amp outlet, to be filed down or the plug changed to a 10 Amp one to enable the plug to be inserted into a 10 Amp outlet. 

 

[Aussiekraut]

9 hours ago, ozdevil said:

The reason why gash didnt run it on 15amps   is  the g40 only comes prepackaged with the 10amp power cord  and you have to purchase the 15amp power cord seperately

so running 15amp down a 10 amp cord would have fried the the thing i think (well you would hope there is a fuse or breaker to prevent that)

I would dare say things would have been much different if he had the 15amp  and the boiuld would have been much greater and quicker i think.
 

I don't know the max power of the G40 but I suppose it is somewhere in the vicinity of 3kW, which would mean about 12.5A at 240V. I wouldn't think you'd need an extra thick cable to deal with this. A bog standard cord will fit into the 15A socket and should be enough to handle this. I'm no sparky though, so I may be missing something. Mine runs max 2500W, so it would trip a 10A circuit breaker (max 2400W), which is why I run it on a 15A circuit but with the standard cord.

[ozdevil]

40 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

I don't know the max power of the G40 but I suppose it is somewhere in the vicinity of 3kW, which would mean about 12.5A at 240V. I wouldn't think you'd need an extra thick cable to deal with this. A bog standard cord will fit into the 15A socket and should be enough to handle this. I'm no sparky though, so I may be missing something. Mine runs max 2500W, so it would trip a 10A circuit breaker (max 2400W), which is why I run it on a 15A circuit but with the standard cord.

g40 is rated to 3300 watts  i think    

i think it should still be able to run @10amp easy enough  

but at 10 amp  its a shocking boil rate