ANVIL FOUNDRY ALL-GRAIN BREWING SYSTEM

[user 298779]

If you want to run a still possibly anytime in the future you may want to get a 2" This is what I got and it fits perfectly.

Are you distilling with your Foundry cmac? I agree…Bobby’s TC fitting in lid is excellent.

 

[cmac62]

Are you distilling with your Foundry cmac? I agree…Bobby’s TC fitting in lid is excellent.

I use it for a boiler. works great. The 2" TC weldless bulkhead fits perfect. I have a disk to close it when making beer, but I haven't used it.

 

[user 298779]

I use it for a boiler. works great. The 2" TC weldless bulkhead fits perfect. I have a disk to close it when making beer, but I haven't used it.

Gonna send you a message since it’s RE: Distilling.
Cheers

 

[Williamsbrewing]

I have a Series 2 Mash & Boil and is has a plus or minus 1 degree thermostat. Very pleased with it, especially since the basket is elevated so I can see the gallon markers when I sparge. This eliminates calculating sparge water which I am too lazy to do!

 

[Dancy]

I have a Series 2 Mash & Boil and is has a plus or minus 1 degree thermostat. Very pleased with it, especially since the basket is elevated so I can see the gallon markers when I sparge. This eliminates calculating sparge water which I am too lazy to do!

Glad to hear that you like it. I bought the first M&B a year before the Series 2 so I’m kind of bummed. The Series 2 doesn’t seem to get much attention and that seems a shame at its price point. Maybe I’m wrong about that but I sure don’t see it mentioned on HBT much at all. The Anvil Foundry came along at the right time with its quality and performance so the Series 2 M&B perhaps came a bit late to capitalize with the improvements it has over the first one.

 

[secretlevel]

I've been eyeballing this and like the upgrades listed here



I'm holding out for rea$on$ but should be purchasing this by next Summer if life allows. The Clawhammer upgrade seems neat but not too sure I'd go that route. Now what really sticks out was the Brew Bag. I can see where using a bag, in the malt pipe, that's larger than the malt pipe could be extremely beneficial in keeping grains in the malt pipe. Also it would allow for a more normal mash/sparge setup. By that I mean mash in around 1.5 to 1.8 lbs per gallon then use a hlt for a fake fly sparge. Even though the grains aren't submerged in the water at that point I'd have to think that would make a difference. Also the most recent pictures on the Foundry site looks like they may have removed the holes on the side bottom of the malt pipe so a small batch adapter may no longer be needed for better efficiency?

Digging this up from the archives, got a few questions for y'all, especially if you are using a brew bag:

1. Do you constantly recirculate throughout the mash? I want to say that not recirculating for most of the mash has given me better numbers. Then again, a stream of wort strain down probably isn't a good recirculation system, thinking about a spray valve.

2. Spray valve worth it?

3. Do you double mill your grains? I used to do this with BIAB kettle, but just stopped with the Foundry basket, but I have a bag now so I should probably get back to a double mill setting.

 

[tracer bullet]

Digging this up from the archives, got a few questions for y'all, especially if you are using a brew bag:

1. Do you constantly recirculate throughout the mash? I want to say that not recirculating for most of the mash has given me better numbers. Then again, a stream of wort strain down probably isn't a good recirculation system, thinking about a spray valve.

2. Spray valve worth it?

3. Do you double mill your grains? I used to do this with BIAB kettle, but just stopped with the Foundry basket, but I have a bag now so I should probably get back to a double mill setting.

I do recirculate. I do it to help keep the temperatures even. But will be honest I haven't done a test to check how much it helps, and you probably already know that mash temps aren't exactly hyper critical to start with.

I don't have a spray valve. I didn't figure I needed to go quite that far. Also if one is even slightly concerned about introducing oxygen at this point it'd be a deal breaker. That seems to still be a contentious thing of course but may be a consideration.

I crush at a feeler-gauge-measured 0.028" gap, with pre-misting the grains through a squeeze bottle at a rate of about 1 oz / 4lbs. Not sure it helps crush but it certainly keeps dust down. On a typical kind of beer i.e. a Pale Ale at ~ 5.5% ABV I can get a touch over 70% efficiency no-sparge and knock on the door of 80% with a dunk sparge.

 

[user 298779]

Digging this up from the archives, got a few questions for y'all, especially if you are using a brew bag:

1. Do you constantly recirculate throughout the mash? I want to say that not recirculating for most of the mash has given me better numbers. Then again, a stream of wort strain down probably isn't a good recirculation system, thinking about a spray valve.

2. Spray valve worth it?

3. Do you double mill your grains? I used to do this with BIAB kettle, but just stopped with the Foundry basket, but I have a bag now so I should probably get back to a double mill setting.

I’ve tried several different ways of recirculation, and honestly I have to say personally I can’t say it makes much of a difference. I agree with everything Tracer said above.

I have the spray nozzle and have used it on my Spike Solo-Commander. I keeps recirculation even when you get it dialed in, but it’s a PITA. Bobby M provided some good insight on using spray valve and he makes a good point (against using one). FWIW I‘m now using the Locline for recirculating when I choose to do it.

If you’re not using a grain bag I wouldn’t mill below 0.028” gap. If you’re using a bag you can try milling finer than that for increased efficiency. Last brew on my Foundry I used a bag and hit the right numbers with a finer crush.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Digging this up from the archives, got a few questions for y'all, especially if you are using a brew bag:

1. Do you constantly recirculate throughout the mash? I want to say that not recirculating for most of the mash has given me better numbers. Then again, a stream of wort strain down probably isn't a good recirculation system, thinking about a spray valve.

2. Spray valve worth it?

3. Do you double mill your grains? I used to do this with BIAB kettle, but just stopped with the Foundry basket, but I have a bag now so I should probably get back to a double mill setting.

Im against the spray valve personally. I switched from the recirculation disc long ago in favor of putting Locline through the lid and the wort exists below the wort line to avoid splashing. I have a TC connection on top of my lid to accommodate this. As far as recirculating goes, I start recirculating until about 12minutes after doughing in to let the grains settle. Seems to work well overall. For crush, given you are using a bag, I've been going with 1.030" using a cereal killer. Definitely get some flour but it converts very well. I honestly don't understand double crushing. If the mill setting doesn't change, what are you gaining with the second pass?

Cheers!

 

[tracer bullet]

For crush, given you are using a bag, I've been going with 1.030" using a cereal killer. Definitely get some flour but it converts very well. I honestly don't understand double crushing. If the mill setting doesn't change, what are you gaining with the second pass?

Cheers!

That's a huge gap! I'm kidding, pretty sure you meant .030 but are used to gravity units

I think the 2nd pass maybe gets more accomplished if say the kernels run through 90 degrees or something vs. the first pass? But, yeah, I'd also rather have it correct the first time.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

lol yeah I was thinking 0.030 but obviously put in a "gravity" reading instead. Brain and hand-typing not in sync on that one.

 

[DarrellQ]

Digging this up from the archives, got a few questions for y'all, especially if you are using a brew bag:

1. Do you constantly recirculate throughout the mash? I want to say that not recirculating for most of the mash has given me better numbers. Then again, a stream of wort strain down probably isn't a good recirculation system, thinking about a spray valve.

2. Spray valve worth it?

3. Do you double mill your grains? I used to do this with BIAB kettle, but just stopped with the Foundry basket, but I have a bag now so I should probably get back to a double mill setting.

I mill once at .035, don't use a brew bag, I recirculate and have excellent efficiency since I started lifting the basket out two times during the mash. I also use a very accurate temperature probe to check the actual mash bed temp after stirring the top third of the grain bed. I have found that if I want the mash bed temp to be 152, I have to set the Anvil at about 157.

 

[secretlevel]

Very nice, appreciate the responses, everyone!

Im against the spray valve personally. I switched from the recirculation disc long ago in favor of putting Locline through the lid and the wort exists below the wort line to avoid splashing. I have a TC connection on top of my lid to accommodate this. As far as recirculating goes, I start recirculating until about 12minutes after doughing in to let the grains settle. Seems to work well overall. For crush, given you are using a bag, I've been going with 1.030" using a cereal killer. Definitely get some flour but it converts very well. I honestly don't understand double crushing. If the mill setting doesn't change, what are you gaining with the second pass?

Cheers!

Can I bug you to PM me your Locline setup pics? Do you perforate it for additional sparge water exit points?
This one looks pretty sweet. Loc-Line - 51837 Coolant Hose Circle Flow Nozzle Kit, 16 Piece, 1/2" Hose ID: Cutting Tool Coolants: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

 

[cmac62]

Very nice, appreciate the responses, everyone!



Can I bug you to PM me your Locline setup pics? Do you perforate it for additional sparge water exit points?
This one looks pretty sweet. Loc-Line - 51837 Coolant Hose Circle Flow Nozzle Kit, 16 Piece, 1/2" Hose ID: Cutting Tool Coolants: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

SL, most of the folks using the lockline are using the regular stuff for the wart return below the wart level in order to reduce the splashing, ie. oxi ingress. I have used a short piece of 1/2 inch tubing attached to the hook think that comes with the recirc setup, it works. Recently I have stopped recircing and haven't noticed any real change. I will usually do a dunk sparge and get 75-85% efficiency.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Very nice, appreciate the responses, everyone!



Can I bug you to PM me your Locline setup pics? Do you perforate it for additional sparge water exit points?
This one looks pretty sweet. Loc-Line - 51837 Coolant Hose Circle Flow Nozzle Kit, 16 Piece, 1/2" Hose ID: Cutting Tool Coolants: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

I use this in my lid Mash Recirculation Return and/or Sparge Kit (locline) TC x BLQD with a TC bulkhead that I also got from Bobby_M.

This post here shows how I ran it within the system:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/anvil-foundry-all-grain-brewing-system.666090/post-9053773
EDIT: since the Locline discharges below the wort line, I never thought that a multiple point exit from the Locline was necessary. Although when I sample wort throughout the mash I rotate the Locline simply by turning the lid so that the discharge point changes throughout the mash. I really don't even think thats necessary but Im fidgety and makes me feel like Im doing something useful lol.

 

[aceluby]

3 brews under my belt and I’m really liking this thing. First brew was rough, but I bottled it this weekend and first tastes are right where I’m going for. Bought a grain mill for my second brew, just because I knew I wanted a finer grain and wanted to start getting grain in bulk.

Second brew was a 2.5 gallon DIPA that went amazingly smooth, but still a bit short of my OG. Have that fermenting in a couple 1 gallon fermenters and so far so good.

Third brew was last night and was a take on fest bier with two row, German Pilsner, and light Munich. Did a finer crush and added a pound of grain and overshot my OG by over 5 points. So think I’m starting to get what I need out of it.

Takes about 5 hours from mash-in to everything cleaned up. Not the worst, but makes for some long nights since I have to mash at 7 after the kids go to bed. Quite a difference from the 3 hours it takes to do a one gallon batch on the stove though. Hopefully I’ll be getting a keg setup next week off Facebook so I can stop worrying so much about bottles.

 

[tracer bullet]

@aceluby - Stating the obvious here, use the timer to get the water heated up so as soon as the kids are in bed you can get started. Or do what I do (I time mine with my kid getting out of the house on the bus since I tend to brew in the AM) and actually mash in about an hour before the time you are truly "free". They can get a kick out of helping (mine's 6 years old) pour in the grain and stirring. After that you can still do stuff with them while the grain sits there converting in the hot water. You might still get a chance or two to come back and stir / lift and lower the basket to get it all merged in. Once they are in bed / out of the house is when you can remove the grain and start boiling.

Also of course get stuff set up the night before. Equipment out, water in the Anvil, minerals added, grain milled, and so on. So that the next night you are just going right to it.

 

[aceluby]

@aceluby - Stating the obvious here, use the timer to get the water heated up so as soon as the kids are in bed you can get started. Or do what I do (I time mine with my kid getting out of the house on the bus since I tend to brew in the AM) and actually mash in about an hour before the time you are truly "free". They can get a kick out of helping (mine's 6 years old) pour in the grain and stirring. After that you can still do stuff with them while the grain sits there converting in the hot water. You might still get a chance or two to come back and stir / lift and lower the basket to get it all merged in. Once they are in bed / out of the house is when you can remove the grain and start boiling.

Also of course get stuff set up the night before. Equipment out, water in the Anvil, minerals added, grain milled, and so on. So that the next night you are just going right to it.

Yeah… tried that and my youngest just won’t let it happen (he’s almost two). Just getting the water started while they were around I had to fish a toy out of it, clean up about a gallon of water because he turned the spigot on, had grain thrown in my face as I milled it (twice), and nearly knocked the entire thing over trying to look inside. He’s a tornado and my wife has basically said I can’t do that again.

I may see if it’ll fit on the counter, but I think my ceiling is too short to pull the sleeve out. Hmmm…. I should check that today

 

[tracer bullet]

For those with a 10.5, being used on 240V, what % power are you using to hit approximately 1 gallon of boil off per hour? Assuming you're doing a roughly 5 gallon batch.

I'm determined to get 240V installed in my garage (vs. the current 120V) and am just getting ahead here. I'll do my own dry run with just water but would appreciate a target to start off with.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

For those with a 10.5, being used on 240V, what % power are you using to hit approximately 1 gallon of boil off per hour? Assuming you're doing a roughly 5 gallon batch.

I'm determined to get 240V installed in my garage (vs. the current 120V) and am just getting ahead here. I'll do my own dry run with just water but would appreciate a target to start off with.

Im on 240V with the 10.5gal. I boil at 87% and get about 0.75gal of boil off. mid-high 80s is a solid boil with minimal issues with boil overs/foaming. I've never gotten 1 gallon boil off in 60min boil but then again, I haven't boiled at 100% throughout the boil either.

 

[DarrellQ]

For those with a 10.5, being used on 240V, what % power are you using to hit approximately 1 gallon of boil off per hour? Assuming you're doing a roughly 5 gallon batch.

I'm determined to get 240V installed in my garage (vs. the current 120V) and am just getting ahead here. I'll do my own dry run with just water but would appreciate a target to start off with.

I'm on 240V with the 10.5 gal. I boil at 90% and get about 1.0 gal of boil off with a solid boil and no issues with boil overs/foaming.

 

[renstyle]

These questions regarding calibrating boil-off expectations got me wondering....

What target pre-boil volume are you folks aiming for? and...
What post-boil volume is going into the fermenter? 6.5gal/24.6L?

I cannot answer the question asked specifically as I run a 6.5, and generally run 23-24L pre-boil in the kettle.

76-80% gets me approx 2L boil off in a full hour. 21-22L goes into the ferm-keg, so I finish with ~19L in the serving keg.

 

[tracer bullet]

My 6.5, set at 70%, and with a "steam slayer" inspired setup on top, will evaporate 0.55 to 0.60 gallons in an hour. On it, I typically end the mash / start the boil with 3.55 - 3.60 gallons target, get it down to 3 over an hour, and then a touch under that ends up in the fermenter (fermonster 3 gallon).

For bigger batches it's always been propane in the garage, for decades now, but I've got a recently purchased 10.5 to probably take over. At a minimum it'll be a great temp controlled mash tun and ideally I'll have 240 out there soon and use the Anvil the whole time.

 

[tracer bullet]

Some time back, someone here made a hook for lifting the basket. It fit the flat section of the basket handle nicely, and had a hole where it oculd be attached to a hoist.

Bad description but maybe made sense.

Does anyone recall who made it or any other information? I'd really like to get one (I think they were for sale).

 

[Noob_Brewer]

After conversing with @tracer bullet in another thread related to conversion efficiency on these AIO systems, I thought it would be good to post this here.

Well, I think Ive reached my limit for what I can do with the 10.5g foundry lol. Today I did my 3rd imperial stout on this system. For those of you who haven't seen, I ditched the malt pipe long ago for all my beers but it is necessary for these big beers. I use a brewzilla false bottom with a bag from wilserbrewer that was fitted to the kettle itself, not the malt-pipe. For beers that I need to sparge, like these imperial stouts, I drain the wort to a second vessel and "manually fly sparge" one quart at a time so that there is some liquid on top of the grain bed throughout the sparge. Not perfect, but it works. Nevertheless, I think I've reached the point of diminishing returns by pushing this system to its max.

1st Stout: 21.75 pounds (20.75lbs grain and 1lb rice hulls), and got 97% conversion efficiency and 80% mash lauter efficiency after mashing for 90minutes with a 2.5gal sparge. OG was 1.092.
2nd Stout: 25 pounds (24 lbs grain + 1lb rice hulls), and got 94% conversion efficiency and ~73% mash lauter efficiency. Same mashing and sparging as above. OG was 1.100.
3rd Stout (today): 25.75pounts (24.75lbs grain + 1lb rice hulls), and got 94% conversion efficiency and 71.7% mash lauter efficiency. Same mashing and sparge as above. OG was 1.102.

Hindsight is 20/20 lol: Today, I should have stirred the mash once more about 1hr into the mash to maximize conversion efficiency but didn't. Also, today I used a new pump which has more suction than the anvil pump. Combined that with this big grain bill, I didn't get a good lauter as I noticed the pump run dry but with sparge water still on top of the grain bed. Essentially I created a lil vaccuum and the sparge got stuck. Yes, I ran the pump VERY slowly but this didn't matter. SO not all the water ran through the grain bed (which is tall and narrow on this system) and I had to raise the bag a little earlier than I wanted. You can also see that my "vacuum comment" was likely right as the false bottom was starting to collapse.

So with all of these beers, I used a 2hr boil as well to help reach these gravities and I haven't used DME or any boil sugars/syrups in any of them. In the end, Im still happy with the outcome despite not hitting my numbers today like I was expecting due to the issues explained above. This system, with some modifications, can handle large grain bills and TBH anything 1.100+ is a big feat for a 10.5gallon foundry.

 

[tracer bullet]

Nice, thanks for the info. I typically do a dunk sparge, lifting the very well squeezed (over the Anvil) grain bag into another pot of water and letting it sit there for a while. Repeat the squeezing and dump that pot into the Anvil. I find it to be pretty easy, but it's a variation on a theme and of course not everyone will want to bother.

Extended boils are definitely required. Perhaps a willingness to have less beer in the end as well - 4.5 gallons say instead of 5.0 or more. I may resign myself to a few pounds of DME for the higher gravity beers to get to 5 gallons. But to be honest that's like 1 - 2 times a year, and the beers will be so intense I really doubt there's a taste difference between 3lbs of light DME for example vs. 5lbs of 2-row.

Pretty nuts to see 25lbs in there!

 

[capt_yo55arian]

After conversing with @tracer bullet in another thread related to conversion efficiency on these AIO systems, I thought it would be good to post this here.

Well, I think Ive reached my limit for what I can do with the 10.5g foundry lol. Today I did my 3rd imperial stout on this system. For those of you who haven't seen, I ditched the malt pipe long ago for all my beers but it is necessary for these big beers. I use a brewzilla false bottom with a bag from wilserbrewer that was fitted to the kettle itself, not the malt-pipe. For beers that I need to sparge, like these imperial stouts, I drain the wort to a second vessel and "manually fly sparge" one quart at a time so that there is some liquid on top of the grain bed throughout the sparge. Not perfect, but it works. Nevertheless, I think I've reached the point of diminishing returns by pushing this system to its max.

1st Stout: 21.75 pounds (20.75lbs grain and 1lb rice hulls), and got 97% conversion efficiency and 80% mash lauter efficiency after mashing for 90minutes with a 2.5gal sparge. OG was 1.092.
2nd Stout: 25 pounds (24 lbs grain + 1lb rice hulls), and got 94% conversion efficiency and ~73% mash lauter efficiency. Same mashing and sparging as above. OG was 1.100.
3rd Stout (today): 25.75pounts (24.75lbs grain + 1lb rice hulls), and got 94% conversion efficiency and 71.7% mash lauter efficiency. Same mashing and sparge as above. OG was 1.102.

Hindsight is 20/20 lol: Today, I should have stirred the mash once more about 1hr into the mash to maximize conversion efficiency but didn't. Also, today I used a new pump which has more suction than the anvil pump. Combined that with this big grain bill, I didn't get a good lauter as I noticed the pump run dry but with sparge water still on top of the grain bed. Essentially I created a lil vaccuum and the sparge got stuck. Yes, I ran the pump VERY slowly but this didn't matter. SO not all the water ran through the grain bed (which is tall and narrow on this system) and I had to raise the bag a little earlier than I wanted. You can also see that my "vacuum comment" was likely right as the false bottom was starting to collapse.

So with all of these beers, I used a 2hr boil as well to help reach these gravities and I haven't used DME or any boil sugars/syrups in any of them. In the end, Im still happy with the outcome despite not hitting my numbers today like I was expecting due to the issues explained above. This system, with some modifications, can handle large grain bills and TBH anything 1.100+ is a big feat for a 10.5gallon foundry.

View attachment 781916View attachment 781917View attachment 781918

hah, this is pretty awesome to see. same exact set up as mine, but I haven't done anything over 14#.

you mentioned that the malt pipe is necessary for those beers... looks like youre not using it though in the pics? I could be mistaken though.

 

[capt_yo55arian]

Just brewed an Irish Stout today, BIAB on the anvil 10.5 (wilser bag, full volume, no malt pipe). This was a pretty light brew, about 9# of grain. This is about the 3rd brew in a row that I've been short on efficiency, and I'm not really hung up on it, but just kinda annoyed.

Love the bag, never had a stuck sparge after ditching the malt pipe. The one area I think might make the most difference is the crush, and I always forget to tell the LHBS to turn it to cornmeal. Aside from that (which might make all the difference).. does anyone have any tips on w/ BIAB on the anvil. Thinking of utilizing the malt pipe w a sparge. cheers!

 

[tracer bullet]

I like the false bottom, I'm not really worried about the bag burning or anything but I think (without evidence) that it probably helps w/ the recirculation through the bag, not having totally dead spots in the corners. Mill gaps are a big deal, I have my own cheap mill and set it to .030" gap with a feeler gage. I don't know if there's a perfect setting but it works well for me. pH is a thing but a small factor. Mash temps and time can affect gravity but Id' say crush is #1. With a bag anyhow, with a pipe it's mostly that dead space around the pipe.

 

[kartracer]

I'm doing this as well, and it works great!

So I bought a standard true weldless TC bulkhead from Bobby a long while ago so that I could recirculate through the lid with Locline on the inside allowing me to skip the Recirculation disc all together. Works great. Just remove the anvil lid handle and the bulkhead fits perfectly with no drilling needed. I imagine if @youngdh wanted to fabricate a lid handle that has a TC connection it would work....although it might go down as the most expensive lid handle in history lol.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc15wlf.htm