The Grainfather Sparge Water Heater heats up to 4.35 gallons of sparge water, and is a perfect companion to the Grainfather, because the one thing the Grainfather does not do is heat the needed sparge water. This is not intended to be a mash water heater, as it only has a capacity of 4.35 gallons. However, it is the perfect size for the Grainfather or a Robobrew or Mash & Boil, which typically needs 2.5 gallons to 3.75 gallons of sparge water per 5 gallon batch. This is for heating sparge water water only, as the sight glass would be very difficult to clean if filled with a mash or malt solution.
Features a sight glass calibrated in liters, and a temperature adjustment knob calibrated in centigrade. This is easy to translate to gallons and degrees F. (for example, suggested sparge water temperature is 167° F., which is 75° C.). It also features a stay warm feature - after the target water temperature is hit, it will keep it at the desired temperature as long as it is on. You will know this because the 'Keep Warm' light will be on. One thing to keep in mind when using this with a Grainfather, it that it draws 1500 watts, so you cannot plug your Grainfather and this Sparge Water Heater into the same 15 amp circuit without tripping a circuit breaker.
Although the plastic valve does not have a hose barb, you can put ½" thermoplastic or silicone hose on the end of the valve with a D43 hose clamp. Do not overtighten the hose clamp, as you will crush the plastic spigot. See the thumbnail picture above which shows this done with our item J52 Thermoplastic Tubing.
All 304 stainless construction, with a robust 1500 watt heating element, which heats 4 gallons in around 30 minutes. 22" tall, 12" wide.
Jul 29, 2020 by morgan
Q: has anyone tried replacing the plastic spigot with something that is threaded?
A: We have not found a threaded spigot that fits.
Aug 02, 2018 by David
Q: I notice the dial appears to go up to 90 Celsius which would translate to around 194 Fahrenheit. Am I interpreting this correctly?
A: Yes, 90 Celsius equals 194 Fahrenheit. Keep in mind the thermostat on the Grainfather Sparge Heater is not very precise, so this is a plus or minus 8 degree figure.
Aug 09, 2017 by Charles
Q: Does this require a GFCI outlet?
A: We highly recommend one.
Aug 01, 2017 by Charles
Q: What ID size hose would one need to attach to the valve?
A: The valve is a coffee urn type valve, without barbs. We find that our 1/2" inner diameter silicone tubing can be pressed onto the end for a fairly secure fit. This is item number J58.
Mar 02, 2017 by Don Palmer
Q: Does the spicket lock open? How long is the power cord?
A: yes, the valve does lock open. The cord is 5 feet long.
Great
Perfectly great, I have zero complaints. It does exactly what I need, heats and holds sparge water and is easy to fill a pitcher and pour over grainfather. Beats the heck out of chasing temps of two pots on the stove, hoping it would work out
The missing link
This was the final addition to my Grainfather system. It worked fine and eased the process. It pulls more power than I had expected as I brew in the garage and needed to reset circuits 4 or 5 times while the boil was also in progress.
Poor man's Brew-in-a-basket
This is my second Grainfather sparge water heater. I accidentally killed the other one (after about 100 batches of beer). I bypassed the "overtemperature" button, so it didn't trip when heat built up under the basket. It is a total Frankenstein project. I make 2 1/2 gallon batches (starting with 4.25 gallons of water). The other "robot" brewing systems wouldn't brew smaller batches. I can't lift 5 gallons. When I foolishly killed it, I was so amazed at the response by Williams. I was brewing within 5 days...
Grainfather Sparge Water Heater
This unit does what it's suppose to do, heat water. However, the 110 volt system is slow. It takes almost an hour to heat 4 gallons of room temperature water. Also the"Keep Warm" function doesn't keep the water at the critical sparge temperature of 167 F. I attached my Sous Vide system to the unit and this reduced the heating time to 35 minutes and it keeps the sparge water at the correct temperature until I'm ready to sparge. The temperature control is not accurate but fortunately after you go through the set up process and find the correct dial setting you just mark it and leave it there. My unit is set to 65 C (149 F) to get to167 F. Thankfully you only need one temp setting for sparging. For the price of this unit you should expect more in regards to quality and heating element control. All of this being said, it is nice addition to my all-grain brewing set up. I no longer need propane now that I have this water heater and my Grainfather Connect.
A good addition to my brewing system
I bought this at the same time I purchased my Mash&Boil and have it higher on a shelf and can gravity the sparge water in. It's a very high quality unit and doesn't take long to heat and holds the temp well. The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 is because all the units are in metric, I put marks on the sight tube in Gallons now.