GrainfatherConnect Complete All In One Home Beer Brewing System, 8 gallons

Love it! I bought this because I moved into an apartment on the top floor. Can’t use a propane burner on the patio above someone else’s patio for sure. And no hose or any space for a mash tun. Or hot liquor tank for that matter. So for that reason alone this thing is amazing. I can brew right in the kitchen.This little electric brew system is very well made. I’ve had no problems with it at all. No leaks no stuck pump or stopped up filter. Made 5 beers on it now and the improvement in clarity from the recirculating mash is fantastic. I’ll be adding that to my big brew setup if I ever go back for sure. It’s easy to use (aside from the occasional battle with the gaskets when trying to put the mash tun back together every brew day. Sometimes it goes in like a charm sometimes it takes 10-20 tries and beer break.) Heats water efficiently enough for me. Brew day with 2-3 mash steps and room temp water start takes me about 4 hours start to finish which ain’t bad at all. (60 min boil.) the counter flow chiller works great. No leaks, quick and efficient. And comes with the adapter to use your sink faucet which is a huge bonus. Apartment brewer remember? I had to make one last time I was in an apartment.Cleaning is the only hassle. It’s a little difficult to lift this thing into the sink to wash because of the way it’s built and weighted. The bottom is a lot heavier than the walls of the kettle so holding it by the handle to tip into the sink doesn’t work very well. But it’s doable and worth the trouble for the rest of it.I can’t say I’ll never switch back to using a kettle and mash tun setup but if I do it won’t be because of anything my grainfather did.

Easy transition from extract brews to all grain with the Grainfather! I never owned the orginial GF but having used the connect, it is a worthwhile upgrade. Being able to sit in another room or tend to the kids while the GF slowly heats up and seeing the temperature on the phone is invaluable. Multistep mash? No problem, just key it in the app and the GF does the rest. I do use a 1500W "Hotrod" on a separate circuit to speed heatup to mash temp and progression to boil. A hop spider helps a lot too with pellet hops. Transfer to a fermenter took over an hour the one time i decided to skip it as the filter clogged with hops.

If this batch of beer doesn't poison me I will be absolutely astonished. I purchased this as an all-in-one all grain setup. That is a lie. You need to heat sparge water separately. Not a big deal, but still...The real problem is with the pump. It is not designed for brewing. It clogs even with the screen provided. I couldn't even get the counterflow chiller to work. This is something that normally works fine just by siphoning it, but this pump couldn't handle it.I looked online and people suggested removing a ball lock from a safety feature and since it was that or ruin my $80 kit of beer I did it. That worked great for about 1 gallon. Then it clogged again. There is another hack that removes even more unnecessary hardware, but I was in the middle of brewing so I couldn't run to the hardware store and rig it up right then. (Crazy, I expected it to work as intended!)I eventually just got a measuring cup and scooped it all into a funnel Into the fermentation vessel.The only thing this does well is the mashing, and the boiling. If you want a real all-in-one setup it appears you're going to have to look elsewhere. I'm going to try to return it. If the beer brewed with this kills me hopefully my wife can sue so the kids have college money at least.

I have been homebrewing for the last eight years (mini-mash) with a simple set up on the stove and utilizing an ice bath. My husband convinced me to step up my game and purchase the Grainfather, to achieve consistent temperature regulation and control, easier transition between steps, and I could not be happier. Assembly was incredibly easy and the directions provided well written. Using the app wasn't as intuitive, but once I figured out how to program my recipe for the first batch the rest have been simple. I recommend op-checking the system with water prior to your first brew to work out any logistics problems (i.e., where you are going to pre-position your grain paddle, ingredients, buckets, etc). There are also plenty of YouTube channels (love David Heath) and Facebook groups (North American Grainfather Users Group!!!) to reference or share your experience with. Use those tools before and after your purchase!

I love my Grainfather, but I had to upgrade it. I changed the recirculation arm connection to a camlock (conversion kit from Williams brewing), got a false bottom to solve the clogging issue (Robobrew false bottom from Williams Brewing), got a lid with handles (also from the Robobrew. Slightly too tight of a fit, but priceless to have actual handles), purchased the brew jacked for heat retention, and got rid of the counterflow chiller and went back to using an immersion chiller (Jaded Brewing Hydra chiller. Absolutely worth every penny. Chills a 5 gallon batch to pitching temp in under five minutes! Seriously an incredible product.)With all those changes I love the Grainfather. Its easy to use, easy to clean, and takes up very little space unlike my old brewing system. I brew way more than I use to because its so easy. I enjoy brewing more than I ever have thanks to the Grainfather. But, I completely recognize it comes with built in flaws and very little support now that the company is no longer owned or run by the original creators. Hopefully they'll address the flaws eventually, but I think right now, the owner is tasked with doing it themselves.I'm happy with my purchase, but it wasn't the magical all in one system that I had hoped for.