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Pehlman17

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I’m curious to know if anyone else has experienced this… I’ve been brewing for about the last three years on an Anvil Foundry. I’ve got the pump so I can both recirculate the mash as well as recirculate to whirlpool or while chilling. But for some reason lately I’ve been feeling less inclined to brew on it, and have been strangely feeling nostalgic about the old days of mashing in a 10 gallon Home Depot cooler with a manifold I built myself based out of John Palmer’s ‘How to Brew’. Vorlaufing with a large pitcher, and heating sparge water on the stove. That sort of stuff. Even though it’s more time and labor intensive in some ways, I’m sort of missing the hands-on “lo-fi” brew days of old.

Is there anyone else who’s gone away from the high tech gear and back to the old school basic setup? Just curious.

Cheers!
 
Can’t say I have and maybe that’s apartment life and age that are the determining factor.

I like taking out my Anvil 10.5 AIO plugging it in and dumping in my 8 gallons of water and then crushing my grains.

I guess I just feel less stressed. I do have a pump and whirlpool arm and all the rest of the fixings, but I find my brew days are less stressful and my beer tastes just as good.

Maybe I’m an outlier but this is just my opinion.
 
I've avoided those "Cadillac Systems"(TM) for that reason. Dialing in my process and recipes is half the fun, and the other half is making additions and tweaks to my system. The added bonus to this is that when I die years from now from liver failure, my kids will be scratching their heads at the Rube Goldberg machine I spent a lifetime building.
 
Bobby_M said:
I converted my cold side to three unitanks and a glycol chiller and the cleaning/upkeep was a drag for me. I went back to Fermonsters. I love precise control on the hot side so I don't relate to the exact scenario you bring up.
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I didn’t wanna be too long winded, but I’ve also changed up a bit on the cold side. I missed being able to see fermentation happening, but didn’t want to go back to carboys. So I got a couple Fermenter King Jr’s. I can still easily pressure transfer and purge, but I’m glad that I can get back to monitoring fermentation visually.

I’ve considered even getting back to bottle conditioning again. I don’t know why, but it’s just been bugging me. Maybe I’m just romanticizing the past lately.
 
To each their own. Some brewers just don't have the space (or the time) to invest in a three-vessel system that could take up 5-7 hours of a day and a lot of space in their home; and they have the means to buy an all-in-one system (they're getting cheaper by the day) that takes up less space, less time, and produces beer just as good as the brewers using more 'traditional' systems. It wasn't that long ago that full-volume BIAB was considered 'cheating' by stalwarts of the traditional brewing method, who also scoffed at long-time brewers who still went with partial mash (or "GASP" full-on extract) recipes.

Not so much on HBT, but I've seen on other forums a lot of d*ck-waving about how 'my spensive AIO system is SO much better than your outdated/outmoded/ghetto system' that I just want to reach out and smack them with my $9 wooden brew paddle. I can do three-vessel or full-volume BIAB, or if I choose to, partial mash or full-on extract, as the mood strikes me; and I usually make some pretty good beers. Granted, for the most part I do full-volume BIAB because 1) it's easy, and 2) takes less time and water. But I also know guys who are making award-winning beers with partial mash or extract, some of which beat the cr*p out of my all-grain recipes.

So you have an Anvil Foundry, and also the means to brew on a three-vessel system; do what you want! And don't care what others think!!!
 
seatazzz said:
Not so much on HBT, but I've seen on other forums a lot of d*ck-waving about how 'my spensive AIO system is SO much better than your outdated/outmoded/ghetto system' that I just want to reach out and smack them with my $9 wooden brew paddle.
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Imagine how disgusted they would be if they found out that I still make beers using hot stones like a caveman every year with my homebrew club.
 
Hmmmm, Im a big fan of old school methods, that being said,kind of hard for me to be nostalgic about dragging several coolers , tables and a propane fired burner outside while dodging fallen debris falling from the sky all the while praying it doesn't rain..I like the control my in one system, along with the convenience it provides give me.. I have Fridays off all summer, its rained every Friday all summer, if I brewed "old school" I'd be drinking Budweiser (NOT)
 
Pehlman17 said:
I’m curious to know if anyone else has experienced this… I’ve been brewing for about the last three years on an Anvil Foundry. I’ve got the pump so I can both recirculate the mash as well as recirculate to whirlpool or while chilling. But for some reason lately I’ve been feeling less inclined to brew on it, and have been strangely feeling nostalgic about the old days of mashing in a 10 gallon Home Depot cooler with a manifold I built myself based out of John Palmer’s ‘How to Brew’. Vorlaufing with a large pitcher, and heating sparge water on the stove. That sort of stuff. Even though it’s more time and labor intensive in some ways, I’m sort of missing the hands-on “lo-fi” brew days of old.

Is there anyone else who’s gone away from the high tech gear and back to the old school basic setup? Just curious.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
With you all the way, brother. I have a Mash'n'Boil I've been using for 3 years, and I find myself drawn back more and more to my propane 3 keggle system. Hands-on is an art. Auto-systems might just as well buy it.
 
I'm on the fence. I'm smitten by a 20G Boilermaker Surface e-kettle as the centerpiece of a e-BIAB setup. On the other hand, I still love my Top Tier stand and my DIY mash tun too. The heat of this summer has been more brutal than I'd care for.

The old school 3 vessel propane setup is to home brewers what vinyl and turntables are to music nerds.
 
I sometimes get nostalgic about the dennybrew Coleman cooler mash tun and boil kettle on a propane burner but the longer I think about it the more I appreciate the higher level of control and ease of operation I get with my electric systems. As I get older I find myself chasing simple processes, fewer steps and a quicker brewday.
 
I've got an electric brewery in the basement that has induction burners and 1,2,3 or 4 vessels depending on the recipe(all 15 gal). I also have a 10 gal pot and propane burner to do full volume BIAB anywhere,I call it my gypsy brew rig. Basic, nothing fancy,most brew days are 4-6 hrs.
 
When I went to electric, I just wanted to replicate what I was doing before. I did add an HLT and pumps so I wouldn't have to collect wort in a bucket any longer. No RIMS, no herms. The only thing different from what I was doing before is better temperature control when I'm heating mash/sparge water and bringing my wort to boil.
 
BeerNsteadofH2O said:
...kind of hard for me to be nostalgic about dragging several coolers , tables and a propane fired burner outside while dodging fallen debris falling from the sky all the while praying it doesn't rain..
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I still brew outside, but I'm with you on the rest. Rigging up three tiers was a pain.
IMG_20210101_115626004.jpg

(The truck bed was an upgrade. Before I was balancing the HLT on six foot ladder).
 
On caveat I should make is that I’ve downsized my batches since the old days. I mostly make 3 gallon batches now. This allows me to brew on the stovetop. The cooler mash tun I use is now only 5 gallons instead of 10. I enjoy the more hands on approach, but that only goes so far. I definitely don’t miss trying to lift a full 10gal cooler mid mash. So where I’ve minimized the work in terms of sheer volume of hot liquids to move around and deal with, I’ve also moved away from automating the process completely, like had previously been the goal.
 
kevin58 said:
I sometimes get nostalgic about the dennybrew Coleman cooler mash tun and boil kettle on a propane burner but the longer I think about it the more I appreciate the higher level of control and ease of operation I get with my electric systems. As I get older I find myself chasing simple processes, fewer steps and a quicker brewday.
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Don Osborne still does old school, Denny Conn style. He still has that Coleman cooler like Denny's (the one with the palm trees on it) and that Tupperware looking gold spoon. I think it's cool he has not changed.

I've got a Wilserbag I bought from Bobby M. I'm going to try the next few batches the BIAB route and see how that goes. I want to see if it's a shorter brew day.
 
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I do a little bit of lo-fi from time to time, and maintain a travel-able batch sparge system that I brew with occaisionally, especially if my family is hanging outside and I don't want to spend the whole day away from them in the basement brewery. I like them both.
 
Pehlman17 said:
I don’t know why, but it’s just been bugging me. Maybe I’m just romanticizing the past lately.
Click to expand...

I love the term "rose-colored nostalgia". There are a few other ways to describe it but it's the phenomena of remembering things in a more positive light than you would if you could actually go back and experience it. It's like the people that say they would rather be living in the 70's because the cars and music were so much better. Funny, we still have the cars and music available to us right now, but also the conveniences of 50 years of technological progress.
 
Bobby_M said:
It's like the people that say they would rather be living in the 70's because the cars and music were so much better.
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I experienced the '70s. Problem with the cars is that I couldn't afford any of the ones that were so much better and the ones I could afford really really sucked. Like you said, the music didn't go anywhere. And now I've got about nineteen different ways to listen to it.
 
I'm going in the opposite direction. I just got a used Foundry after doing stovetop since the beginning. I like that I can set the strike temp and don't have to watch it so I don't overshoot my temp. Immersion chiller is much faster than water bath.
The only downside is I can't do mash one day and boil the next since I'm now brewing outside.
 
I am all for a "Back To Basics" approach. For me, that was when I ditched my 3 vessel fly sparge setup for a single vessel BIAB approach. Personally, I would put the electric all-in-one systems into the Back To Basics category. The basic ones are really just an electric kettle with a controller to make BIAB even easier. When I moved to BIAB, I already had the core equipment (propane burner, 10 gallon kettle, immersion chiller, etc.). If I was starting from scratch, I would look closely at something like the Foundry. I have very little desire to go back to the complexity, effort and time of 3 vessel systems.

The cars in the 70's were better? As somebody whose first 3 cars were 1970's era cars, I longed for the real muscle cars of the 1960's.
 
I've been homebrewing since 1985ish and I consider where I'm at now an upgrade and advanced brewing. I guess I'm in the three vessel group; converted cooler as a mashtun, electric water heater converted to HLT, brew kettle using a natural gas burner, pump/hoses to the plate chiller. I brew 10 gallon batches down from fifteen and I'm happy with how everything works. Sure, it takes up some room, but I have a dedicated spot in the basement with a large commercial sink for cleanup. I also have a large exhaust system piped outside. It's clunky at times but it works fine for me.
 
CascadesBrewer said:
The cars in the 70's were better? As somebody whose first 3 cars were 1970's era cars, I longed for the real muscle cars of the 1960's.
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What I meant was pick a decade and there's a generation of people opining of how much better it was than any other. If we're nit picking though, I like exactly 1970 for the Hemi Cuda, Olds 442 W-30, and Chevelle LS6, but CERTAINLY NOT the Camaro. Wow, what a terrible direction shift between 69 and 70.
 
CascadesBrewer said:
I am all for a "Back To Basics" approach. For me, that was when I ditched my 3 vessel fly sparge setup for a single vessel BIAB approach.
Click to expand...
Probably a distinction between nostalgia (perhaps how we started) vs. basics/simplicity. If I were being nostalgic, I'd brew on a 3-vessel converted Sanke system all gas fired and I would hate life. If I went back to basics, I'd be doing exactly what I already do now. Spend 3.75 hours brewing on a very powerful eBIAB.
 
My spine and CNS are messed up, so lifting a basket or using a pulley are pretty much out for me. I'm slowly building my 3V system with the assumption that the tilting platform for the mash tun will give me the accessibilty I need for clean up. Also, I'm brewing to have better beer than I can afford, so working to a price-point means having at least one more temp-controlled vessel on hand for sparging just for efficiency. I have been wondering though if I'm being too naive in my planning...?
 
I love my Anvil Foundry. It is somewhat back to basics for me. Waking up to heated mash water, set and forget mash temp control, predictable boil-off volumes.

Maybe that's not back to basics but it's so much more simple. I'm certainly converted. I still propane brew a few times a year and it's far more work.
 
Broken Crow said:
My spine and CNS are messed up, so lifting a basket or using a pulley are pretty much out for me. I'm slowly building my 3V system with the assumption that the tilting platform for the mash tun will give me the accessibilty I need for clean up. Also, I'm brewing to have better beer than I can afford, so working to a price-point means having at least one more temp-controlled vessel on hand for sparging just for efficiency. I have been wondering though if I'm being too naive in my planning...?
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I think your plan is spot on. Many brewers including myself are older and not able to handle heavy loads as easy anymore. Using pumps makes some tasks easier but dealing with spent grain is a challenge.

I've been experimenting with ways to make easier for me but I still find scooping it out of the cooler mash tun and into a muck tub the best way. Afterwards I haul it outside to dump in the woods. For Broken Crow I know that wouldn't work so not much help.
 
OakIslandBrewery said:
I think your plan is spot on. Many brewers including myself are older and not able to handle heavy loads as easy anymore. Using pumps makes some tasks easier but dealing with spent grain is a challenge.

I've been experimenting with ways to make easier for me but I still find scooping it out of the cooler mash tun and into a muck tub the best way. Afterwards I haul it outside to dump in the woods. For Broken Crow I know that wouldn't work so not much help.
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That is a lot of help actually, Thanks for the re-affirmation! My biggest issues are with reaching up or bending down..I figure with the tippy-tun I can sit on a low stool and scoop the cooler mash tun out to a bucket to wait for a friend of mine to come pick up for her chickens. (minus what I use to make cookies..which; yes..do leave husks stuck in my teeth but hey; they're delicious!)
:mug:
 
Broken Crow said:
That is a lot of help actually, Thanks for the re-affirmation! My biggest issues are with reaching up or bending down..I figure with the tippy-tun I can sit on a low stool and scoop the cooler mash tun out to a bucket to wait for a friend of mine to come pick up for her chickens. (minus what I use to make cookies..which; yes..do leave husks stuck in my teeth but hey; they're delicious!)
:mug:
Click to expand...
Here's an idea I was toying with. My cooler is large and is placed on a movable rack. The bottom of the rack has storage. I thought of mounting the cooler on a plate that's hinged on one end so I can tip it into the the muck tub. You could probably do the same. Right now I tip it but sometimes its a balancing act trying to scoop out the grain and hold the other end.
 
The hinge or pivot has to be placed about 1/3 or more to the center of gravity to lessen the load while tipping. I was planning for a support that it could rest horizantally on while scooping.
Thanks again! :)
 
I agree with what @OakIslandBrewery is saying about tipping the MT to scoop into a muck bucket. For many brews I was hauling my MT down to the compost bin at the back of my yard. A keggle for usually 6 gallon brews, occasionally 10 gallons. Freakin' heavy! Now I position a bucket on the floor and scoop with a rectangular mash paddle. A bit of a balancing act with one hand on the rim and one hand scooping. Keggles are a bit messy to pour out of due to the typical rim. My heaviest vessel is actually my keggle with HERMS coil. I would recommend against keggles in general as far as weight considerations. If you can build a tipping method, that would alleviate a lot strain. A wheeled table could get you over to the sink in some situations. You can reduce the height of a SS table by correctly cutting the proper end of the table legs, meaning not the part the wheel attaches to unless the wheel attachment piece is movable.

As far as the OP, I immediately disliked using a cooler for all grain due to not having a way to regulate temperature well. I started all grain brewing on a stove and mashed on the stove. I don't exactly long for a 3 vessel gas setup, although I have considered building one for funsies. I also have no interest in having a rig that needs to be physically arranged prior to initiating the brew. Even wheeling my electric system on its table outside prior to ventilation was a chore as the garage isn't always neat. I do miss the occasional outside brew on a pretty day but hated dealing with rain! Cold winter days weren't horrible but cleanup could be more challenging.
 

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