Used Grainfather on craigslist

Get used grainfather


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Chaos home brewing

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There is a grainfather on my local craigslist that I'm interested in.

I'm usually a 5 gallon brewer so that part SHOULD work. I do make some heavy brews so maybe the grain bill would be to much?

The price (used) is almost 1/2 price of what i see on line for a new one, even though I see some less expensive clones which may work just as good.

It is 110, I wish it was 220 as i have it already in my garage. But still should be OK.

The controller was upgraded to the bluetooth one, which I THINK is the latest. He says it is now like the grainfather connect.

I can go see it Saturday morning.

I'm wondering what you folks think about it. Good deal, Bad deal? Go get it or run away.
 
There is a grainfather on my local craigslist that I'm interested in.

I'm usually a 5 gallon brewer so that part SHOULD work. I do make some heavy brews so maybe the grain bill would be to much?

The price (used) is almost 1/2 price of what i see on line for a new one, even though I see some less expensive clones which may work just as good.

It is 110, I wish it was 220 as i have it already in my garage. But still should be OK.

The controller was upgraded to the bluetooth one, which I THINK is the latest. He says it is now like the grainfather connect.

I can go see it Saturday morning.

I'm wondering what you folks think about it. Good deal, Bad deal? Go get it or run away.

My .02 for whatever that's worth...it is an older unit and for half the price or so you would be better off getting something like the Anvil Foundry 10.5. It can run 110 or 220 with the flip of a switch. Some of the older GF models have some meltdown issues. In fact, we had someone here fairly recently with that issue. Those issues as far as I know have been resolved in the newer models. Don't get me wrong, I love my Grainfather, but had I not been under the influence that night, I'd have the Anvil Foundry myself lol. The Grainfather has some bells and whistles, but over priced still. Even with a pump, the Foundry is about 1/2 the cost.
There are also others on here that are happy with other products.

Grainfathers are great units, but in your case, I'd take a pass.
 
I said yes- but it would have limitations. You'd probably only be able to do a 3 gallon batch of an imperial (fine for me, but maybe not for you), and it is an older model. I'd probably still try to talk him/her down a little.
 
If it's older, you could be inheriting some issues that the owner doesn't know are about to creep up. Buy a clone that is new and has a warranty. They are farily inexpensive and like thunderwagn said, some can switch to 220!
 
Thank you all for your great insights. After pondering all the responses I agree it is rather old and I have to make some sacrifices such as smaller batch sizes of imperials.
Also I've been thinking about 10 Gal batches recently (ok so its been 6 months) and this is going in the wrong direction. All I need is a bigger kettle and have one in mind.
 
If you do end up with a 5 gallon system like the RoboBrew (I'm pretty keen on mine) you could do a Reiterated Mash. I did an 18 lb grain bill brew Sunday and it was...rough, but I got it done. It wasn't until *after* that learned about Reiteration...
 

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