Anova Immersion Water Heater and Kettle Souring

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Gustatorian

Gustatorian

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Has anyone used an Anova water heater in an all-grain batch? I don't have the ability to BIAB and I'm worried the impeller will get jammed with grains (based on how the Anova works). Has anyone amended that issue by putting anything around the Anova? I want to make sure I have the proper set up before I decide to purchase one.

TIA
 
If you are looking to kettle sour you don't have grains in the kettle at that point so the above should work although I would be interested to see what time of oxygen uptake issues you run into.

I have read about people filling a small bucket with water and placing it in their mash tun suspended and putting the sous vide thing in the bucket and using it as a heat exchanger.
 
I have the anova sous vide and have used it for mashing biab beers. The impeller is not in contact with the grains. I have not attempted a kettle sour yet.

I'm thinking that when I do try kettle sours, I'll have the wort in a large 2.5 gallon ziplock bag that I will close and squeeze out the air. The bag will be in a water bath that the anovo will keep warm.
 
NTexBrewer said:
I have the anova sous vide and have used it for mashing biab beers. The impeller is not in contact with the grains. I have not attempted a kettle sour yet.

I'm thinking that when I do try kettle sours, I'll have the wort in a large 2.5 gallon ziplock bag that I will close and squeeze out the air. The bag will be in a water bath that the anovo will keep warm.
Click to expand...

How efficient is it with large amounts of water. I brew 7 gallon batches and boil for 90 minutes. So my pre-boil volume is about 9 gallons. Can it maintain a good temp with that high of volume?
 
Gustatorian said:
How efficient is it with large amounts of water. I brew 7 gallon batches and boil for 90 minutes. So my pre-boil volume is about 9 gallons. Can it maintain a good temp with that high of volume?
Click to expand...

I have no idea. I usually do small batches ranging from 3 to 5 gallons. I do a dunk sparge with my BIAB setup so the anova is usually maintaining the mash temp for 4 to 5 gallons.
 
If kettle souring I would proceed as follows as it does not require a souis vide or any heat source while souring as long as you use L. Planterium

1. Mash
2. Lauter and sparge as normal
3. Bring wort to boil
4. chill to 90
5. Pre acidify and Pitch L. Planterium such as good belly probiotic shots available at most grocery stores.
6. purge with co2 and seal
7. Insulate with blanket
8. in 24-36 hours your wort should be plenty sour. Boil and proceed as normal. :mug:
 
Gustatorian said:
Has anyone used an Anova water heater in an all-grain batch? I don't have the ability to BIAB and I'm worried the impeller will get jammed with grains (based on how the Anova works). Has anyone amended that issue by putting anything around the Anova? I want to make sure I have the proper set up before I decide to purchase one.

TIA
Click to expand...
I have an Anova Bluetooth, which is rated at 800W. I do not use it to mash, however I do both eBIAB and Grainfather, so I can offer some observations that may be helpful. As you guessed, the Anova would probably not work well in direct contact with the mash due to plugging issues with the grain, and inability to keep the wort circulating. As noted in a post above, you could consider keeping it in it's own container and transfer heat as an exchanger, but at 800 watts, I think it would struggle to manage a stable temperature in a fairly large mash/grain bill. Finally, no matter what you decide to do, your mash tun / container will need to be well insulated to prevent a significant loss of heat through the sides. Hope this helps. Ed
:mug:

BTW, I use the Anova BT for sous vide, and it works great! So if it doesn't work for mashing, it'll sure work for doing a great job cooking.
 
Last edited:
zgja2 said:
If kettle souring I would proceed as follows as it does not require a souis vide or any heat source while souring as long as you use L. Planterium

1. Mash
2. Lauter and sparge as normal
3. Bring wort to boil
4. chill to 90
5. Pre acidify and Pitch L. Planterium such as good belly probiotic shots available at most grocery stores.
6. purge with co2 and seal
7. Insulate with blanket
8. in 24-36 hours your wort should be plenty sour. Boil and proceed as normal. :mug:
Click to expand...

A couple questions

1) Can you pre-acidify the mash or would you need to do so after the boil.
2) I understand chilling to 90 degrees, but how do you maintain the temp for 24-36 hours? Surely an insulating blanket will not maintain 90 degrees for that long.
3) What are you purging with CO2? The wort would be in a large 20G Boil Kettle. Also, how would I seal? I have a lid for the kettle, but that doesn't create a strong seal.
 
Gustatorian said:
A couple questions

1) Can you pre-acidify the mash or would you need to do so after the boil.
2) I understand chilling to 90 degrees, but how do you maintain the temp for 24-36 hours? Surely an insulating blanket will not maintain 90 degrees for that long.
3) What are you purging with CO2? The wort would be in a large 20G Boil Kettle. Also, how would I seal? I have a lid for the kettle, but that doesn't create a strong seal.
Click to expand...

1. No because you want your mash to be in the 5.1-5.4 range and you want to pre acidify your wort to 4-4.4. This step is not necessary but does help prevent other bugs from taking hold and foam degradation. I Use 88% Lactic acid.
2. No need to maintain. L. Plantarium has a wider temp range so let it free fall and it will sour just fine. This method will not necessarily work with other strains.
3. I have a tank of co2 in my brewery that i use for transfers and purging. Just purge the head space of the kettle before sealing. Sealing is easy as putting on the lid and sealing the lid with electrical tape around the edge. Does not have to be perfect but do your best. Remember any stray yeast getting in pre or during souring will produce alcohol that will be lost during the boil.

A great group on FB for sour beer is Milk The Funk. They also maintain a thorough Wiki on the subject. Make sure to check there before asking questions in the group.


http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Table_of_Contents

:mug:
 
zgja2 said:
1. No because you want your mash to be in the 5.1-5.4 range and you want to pre acidify your wort to 4-4.4. This step is not necessary but does help prevent other bugs from taking hold and foam degradation. I Use 88% Lactic acid.
2. No need to maintain. L. Plantarium has a wider temp range so let it free fall and it will sour just fine. This method will not necessarily work with other strains.
3. I have a tank of co2 in my brewery that i use for transfers and purging. Just purge the head space of the kettle before sealing. Sealing is easy as putting on the lid and sealing the lid with electrical tape around the edge. Does not have to be perfect but do your best. Remember any stray yeast getting in pre or during souring will produce alcohol that will be lost during the boil.

A great group on FB for sour beer is Milk The Funk. They also maintain a thorough Wiki on the subject. Make sure to check there before asking questions in the group.


http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Table_of_Contents

:mug:
Click to expand...

This is great! Thanks! Will this work with any Lacto strain I can buy at my LHBS?
 
Each strain of lacto likes there own temp range but the process would be the same. Limit the O2 via C02 purging and keep them at their happy temp.

Also I recently got a Anova and used it on a 10 gallon batch with success. I suggest still using a heating source for getting near the mash temp and up to boil but its great at keep the temp stable throughout the mash. I just wrap a SS screen around it, just used one of the ones from a keg dry hopper and tore the top off.
 
Gustatorian said:
This is great! Thanks! Will this work with any Lacto strain I can buy at my LHBS?
Click to expand...

Nope. Each strain has its own temp range. L Plantarium is particularity wide range. I can not recommend good belly probiotic shots enough. Its like $3 for 4 shots. It only takes 2 for a 5 gal batch. No need to make a starter, just warm up to ambient and pitch. Cant get much cheaper or easier.

PS Make sure they are fresh.
 
jamaral141989 said:
Each strain of lacto likes there own temp range but the process would be the same. Limit the O2 via C02 purging and keep them at their happy temp.

Also I recently got a Anova and used it on a 10 gallon batch with success. I suggest still using a heating source for getting near the mash temp and up to boil but its great at keep the temp stable throughout the mash. I just wrap a SS screen around it, just used one of the ones from a keg dry hopper and tore the top off.
Click to expand...

Good idea with the SS screen. How much water is the anova heater maintaining in the mash?
 
I am currently using it to hold my sour wort at 110 for the next three days. I went a different route. Did all of my mash and day 1 boil. Moved to my keggle. I have the anova pumping water from a cooler through my immersion coil in my wort. I use this for cooking all the time so I don't want it in contact with my wort. Have tested this previously and temps held for 24 hours no problem.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1481241565.863160.jpg
 
spank13 said:
I am currently using it to hold my sour wort at 110 for the next three days. I went a different route. Did all of my mash and day 1 boil. Moved to my keggle. I have the anova pumping water from a cooler through my immersion coil in my wort. I use this for cooking all the time so I don't want it in contact with my wort. Have tested this previously and temps held for 24 hours no problem.View attachment 379839
Click to expand...

I'm thinking about getting an Anova for BIAB, but using it directly in the wort. Have a question, maybe you can help since you own one... just wondering why you're concerned with it touching the wort if its all just stainless steel in contact with the wort?

Also, regarding using it for cooking as a reason for avoiding contact with the wort, when you cook I'm assuming you're always putting your food in a (vacuum) sealed plastic bag anyway... so it really doesn't matter if the water bath is clean or not, right?

One issue I could see is if the wort has a really high gravity, and then the Anova having issues since the liquid is considerably more viscous than water. So maybe just avoid massive grain bills if it's gonna be used directly in the wort.
 
After using it a few times I found that using it in the mash its actually easier to remove the metal sheath around the heating element and spinning mechanism. You can put a screen around it as well but grains end up clogging up the areas where the water goes in and back out of the sheath. If you take off the sheath it'll just keep the grains actively moving so you only have a stir a few times to just get any grain that settled down the bottom(depending on you size batch). I used it on a very high OG DIPA and it had no issues. Just make sure to give it a clean like anything and get a tooth pick or something as grains will get caught up in the hose clamp and between the metal in the heating element. Besides that its great for batches up to 12 gallons, maybe can squeeze by with 15.
 

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