Sparge Boilers Grainfather versus Bulldog

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Bertie Doe
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Location: East Cornwall. UK.

Sparge Boilers Grainfather versus Bulldog

Post by Bertie Doe » Tue Feb 23, 2021 11:51 am

Both sparge boilers sport a tap, thermostat/temp dial and have a similar capacity. However the Master Brewer has a flexible pipe which connects to the Bulldog Sparger and allows you to transfer sparge water via the Master Brewer's pump. Dead handy if you want to use the top tap to control flow rate or even fit one of those fancy spray bars.

With the Grainfather you can only jug across from the sparge heater to the brewer. Have GF missed a trick? Any techies out there explain why their main brewer pump can't be utilized to transfer?

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Cobnut
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Re: Sparge Boilers Grainfather versus Bulldog

Post by Cobnut » Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:53 pm

What are the relative costs?

Before I went GF, I did a number of BIAB brews in a £65 tea urn off flea-bay upgraded with a bazooka filter and an improved tap, both from MM. This has been subsequently re-purposed as a sparge water heater.

OK, no in-built thermometer, but certainly does the job!

It did get a run out as a boiler again at the weekend when I took on a parti-gyle brew needing 2 boilers.
Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

Bertie Doe
Steady Drinker
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 2:41 pm
Location: East Cornwall. UK.

Re: Sparge Boilers Grainfather versus Bulldog

Post by Bertie Doe » Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:42 pm

Prices are fairly similar but I've just spotted that the capacities are quite different. The Grainfather Sparger (40 litres) at £140 and the Bulldog Sparger (only 18 litres) at £130. So a bit of a trade-off. You can go for the smaller capacity with the ability to pump across sparge water or go for larger volume and jug across.

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Cobnut
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Re: Sparge Boilers Grainfather versus Bulldog

Post by Cobnut » Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:31 pm

Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

Bertie Doe
Steady Drinker
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 2:41 pm
Location: East Cornwall. UK.

Re: Sparge Boilers Grainfather versus Bulldog

Post by Bertie Doe » Tue Feb 23, 2021 11:46 pm

Looks like you're a dyed-in-the-wool "Jugger" :mrgreen:

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