ANVIL FOUNDRY ALL-GRAIN BREWING SYSTEM

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VVbrewery said:
I know the Foundry hasn't been out for that long but has anyone had any problems with it? I really like the idea of these but the one thing that bothers me is if something breaks it's scrap unless you can get parts. Since they're made in China I doubt there are any available. At least if something breaks on my current system I know I can fix it.
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Anvil is pretty good with fixing things. I had a damaged and out of place seal in a ball valve for one of my fermentors. I sent them an email with a photo. They overnighted me the valve. I found out later I was able to bust the valve apart and fix/relocate the seal, so I'm able to use it on my sanitizing bucket to clean hoses. It's got a big dent in it so if it leaks it'll only be a sanitizer drip.

I'm happy with their customer service.

A few problems I read about with the Anvil Foundry has been with the grain basket and the welds being under sized or insufficient to hold together. So legs have been busted off and the bottom of the basket has fallen out due to shoddy welds.

This was reported on the Anvil Group in Facebook. Not sure how Anvil resolved it for the people. My guess is they sent them new parts. Anvil is a Entry-Level Blichman Product.

I love my fermentors. But I want something that I will never have to replace. Been brewing for 13 years and want something more professional grade for mashing. I love the idea though with the PID Loop and RIMS. If I was new to brewing I'd buy it and I'd recommend this for people wanting to start out brewing.

That said... I'm still using a turkey fryer kettle and igloo mash tun.

I just pulled the trigger on a Stout System. 9 gal HERMS HLT and 9 gal MLT. Both come with Thermometers in thermowells and tangential recirculating ports and all the connections are 1.5" tri-clover and 3/8" diameter lines.

Haven't got them yet. Should receive them next week.

Ironically the day I ordered these, Anvil contacted me saying they now have them in stock.
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VVbrewery said:
I know the Foundry hasn't been out for that long but has anyone had any problems with it? I really like the idea of these but the one thing that bothers me is if something breaks it's scrap unless you can get parts. Since they're made in China I doubt there are any available. At least if something breaks on my current system I know I can fix it.
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The first generation Anvil product has/had three issues which were fairly significant. The first was with incorrect wiring, which Blichmann/Anvil fixed with a jumper cable on all products which identified the issue and recalled any unsold units to provide the fix on them before sending them back out for sale. The second issue with with the fuse holder not being secured properly. Again, anyone who reported the issue to Anvil was provided with a replacement part and any units which were damaged as a result of the issue were replaced, to the best of my knowledge. The third issue was the quality of the welds on the feet of the malt basket. Two of mine came off with a slight bump against the edge of the base unit. They promptly shipped me a new basket which has held up fine so far.

There may be a few other isolated issues out there, but those that were reported, I am pretty sure were dealt with promptly and efficiently.

Most of the above comes from other users as well as the Anvil Foundry facebook group.

While being made in China, the design is all Blichmann/Anvil and service has also followed Blichmann's traditional quality response aimed at fixing any problems reported. Honestly, I had no issue ordering a unit knowing that it was backed fully by Blichmann Engineering.
 
Oginme said:
I have seen several systems customized with camlock connections, so I would say no issues with making that change.
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They use the garden hose thread. My Anvil fermentors have the Blichman adapter to change it to 1/4 flare that I use for closed keg transfers. Fits nicely with ball lock quick disconnects.
whovous said:
Any problem replacing the barb fittings with cam-locks?
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You can convert to any common method. Here's 3-4 connection options.


Cam Lock - https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/camgha.htm

Tri-Clover - https://www.brewershardware.com/1-5...male-garden-hose-adapter.html?category_id=384

Blichman Quick Connect. - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=blichman...10218901&tag=hydsma-20&ref=pd_sl_7j0c1pqyvv_e
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Not sure if this has been asked before. I couldn't seem to find it but what are you guys using to raise your system off the ground?
 
So I was just looking in my electric panel and wanted to know if I decided to convert my system to 240v if this breaker would be sufficient besides not being a gfci. It says on it type MH-t and I also see it has 120/240 written on it. If that's the case then I would assume I could convert the outlet to a NEMA 6-15 or 6-20 and then get an inline gfci adapter as pictured. Thanks.
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View attachment 649201
 
I am a brewer who is deep in to small batch brewing (1.25 gal) but I am trying to move out of the kitchen and in to the garage. Realistically I could just move my set up I have now, but I really want to get in to kegging.

The steep up front cost of kegging means I do not want to fool with it unless I am going to be kegging at least 2.5 gallons. I have been looking real hard at the 6.5 gallon foundry. My main question is about the recirculation. I have seen that some of these all in one machines have it built in and some don’t have it at all. Is it really necessary, or just a nice thing to have?
 
CaddyWampus said:
I am a brewer who is deep in to small batch brewing (1.25 gal) but I am trying to move out of the kitchen and in to the garage. Realistically I could just move my set up I have now, but I really want to get in to kegging.

The steep up front cost of kegging means I do not want to fool with it unless I am going to be kegging at least 2.5 gallons. I have been looking real hard at the 6.5 gallon foundry. My main question is about the recirculation. I have seen that some of these all in one machines have it built in and some don’t have it at all. Is it really necessary, or just a nice thing to have?
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The Anvil system has an optional recirculation kit (pump, screen, tubing, clamps) which you can order with the unit. It is a separate unit and is not specific to the Anvil system. You can always purchase any suitable pump to go with the Anvil.

Recirculation is not critical to the operation, but it does (1) improve the efficiency of the system and (2) improve the predictability of your results from the system.
 
CaddyWampus said:
...deep in to small batch brewing (1.25 gal)... up front cost of kegging means I do not want to fool with it unless I am going to be kegging at least 2.5 gallons...
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I agree with you, with small batches there's a point at which bottling makes equal or more sense than kegging. At the 2.5-3gal size I'd say kegging makes sense, in terms of convenience and time saved.

I have a couple of 3gal kegs in addition to my 5gal kegs. The small kegs are handy to have. They're great for experimenting with a small batch of a new recipe, and they're a great size for carrying to a party, campout, etc..

...I have been looking real hard at the 6.5 gallon foundry. My main question is about the recirculation....Is it really necessary, or just a nice thing to have?
Click to expand...

Recirculation is definitely not a necessity. I BIAB, and I've never recirculated and I hardly ever sparge (only for high ABV beers, which I rarely brew). I can consistently hit or exceed recipe targets without recirculation or sparging.

Since you're honed in on small batches, I would say you have an expanded set of good options available to you. It's easier to heat a smaller volume of water in a reasonable amount of time. Look into all your options.

For example, the core of a good small batch BIAB kit could be as simple as a kettle, an Avantco induction cooker, a Wilser bag, and a ChefAlarm thermometer. The ChefAlarm will beep you when you reach your target temps, and beep you when your times are reached. It's all the automation you really need.

The cooker and the thermometer will get lots of secondary use for cooking, so in that sense they make better use of your funds than a dedicated single purpose device like the Anvil.

To get control of your mash efficiency, make getting your own grain mill a priority if you don't already have one.

To remove the hassles from handling a hot wet bag/basket of grain, set up an overhead hoist point in your garage. Use a simple rope & pulley system to lift the grain out of the kettle. Tie it off and leave it there, draining into the kettle, during the entire boil. There will be no need to squeeze it, and when you go to dispose of the grains they will be cool and lightweight.

That's the procedure I use for my 5gal batches (except I use a big propane burner). It is so simple, effective, and enjoyable that I would consider any additional complexity to be a downgrade.
 
LittleRiver said:
I agree with you, with small batches there's a point at which bottling makes equal or more sense than kegging. At the 2.5-3gal size I'd say kegging makes sense, in terms of convenience and time saved.

I have a couple of 3gal kegs in addition to my 5gal kegs. The small kegs are handy to have. They're great for experimenting with a small batch of a new recipe, and they're a great size for carrying to a party, campout, etc..



Recirculation is definitely not a necessity. I BIAB, and I've never recirculated and I hardly ever sparge (only for high ABV beers, which I rarely brew). I can consistently hit or exceed recipe targets without recirculation or sparging.

Since you're honed in on small batches, I would say you have an expanded set of good options available to you. It's easier to heat a smaller volume of water in a reasonable amount of time. Look into all your options.

For example, the core of a good small batch BIAB kit could be as simple as a kettle, an Avantco induction cooker, a Wilser bag, and a ChefAlarm thermometer. The ChefAlarm will beep you when you reach your target temps, and beep you when your times are reached. It's all the automation you really need.

The cooker and the thermometer will get lots of secondary use for cooking, so in that sense they make better use of your funds than a dedicated single purpose device like the Anvil.

To get control of your mash efficiency, make getting your own grain mill a priority if you don't already have one.

To remove the hassles from handling a hot wet bag/basket of grain, set up an overhead hoist point in your garage. Use a simple rope & pulley system to lift the grain out of the kettle. Tie it off and leave it there, draining into the kettle, during the entire boil. There will be no need to squeeze it, and when you go to dispose of the grains they will be cool and lightweight.

That's the procedure I use for my 5gal batches (except I use a big propane burner). It is so simple, effective, and enjoyable that I would consider any additional complexity to be a downgrade.
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Thanks for the reply! I should have provided a bit more information in my OP. I am in deep enough that I have all that except for the thermometer. Which, by the way, is a great idea!

Sometimes I just start dreaming about the joys and even heartaches of kegging and I can't justify it with just doing a little over a gallon each batch. I could easily get a 7-8 gallon kettle, a wilser bag, and a couple fermenters and be in business for 2.5 gallon batches but of course these fancy all-in-ones always catch my eye. I like the Foundry as you can get it sized just for 2.5 gallon batches.

As always, on to more research and reading.
 
CaddyWampus said:
Thanks for the reply! I should have provided a bit more information in my OP. I am in deep enough that I have all that except for the thermometer. Which, by the way, is a great idea!

Sometimes I just start dreaming about the joys and even heartaches of kegging and I can't justify it with just doing a little over a gallon each batch. I could easily get a 7-8 gallon kettle, a wilser bag, and a couple fermenters and be in business for 2.5 gallon batches but of course these fancy all-in-ones always catch my eye. I like the Foundry as you can get it sized just for 2.5 gallon batches.

As always, on to more research and reading.
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There are 1.75 cannon ball keg and 1.5 gal torpedo keg. If you are setup for 1gal batches just do two 1gal batches and put it in one keg.

There are also 1/2 gal and 1gal mini kegs.
 
I have been giving this system a lot of thought. Really held back by the expense of adding a 220v line.

My kitchen stove is electric on 2 50 amp breakers and the biggest burner is rated at 3000 watts. I can get a 10 gallon pot drilled for under 100 bucks.

Am I missing something? Thinking 3000 watts will make for a shorter brew day on my stove than 1600 in the anvil. Really just thinking about winter brewing (which is about half the year here). I could grab a propane burner and move everything outside the rest of the year.

Anyone else done 5 gallon batches on a 3000 watt stove top?
 
Mayday99 said:
I have been giving this system a lot of thought. Really held back by the expense of adding a 220v line.

My kitchen stove is electric on 2 50 amp breakers and the biggest burner is rated at 3000 watts. I can get a 10 gallon pot drilled for under 100 bucks.

Am I missing something? Thinking 3000 watts will make for a shorter brew day on my stove than 1600 in the anvil. Really just thinking about winter brewing (which is about half the year here). I could grab a propane burner and move everything outside the rest of the year.

Anyone else done 5 gallon batches on a 3000 watt stove top?
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The only issue I see is the transference of heat. With the anvil the bottom of the kettle is thinner than the pots on the market (without factoring in cladding) Not saying the 3000 watt burner won't get the job done. You did not mention what type of burner. Is it a glass surface cook top, or is a exposed coil type?)
 
did my first brew on my new 10.5 yesterday. Easy Peasy brew day. Terrible efficiency that I need to sort out. Used grain that might have been 6 years old (not going to add up how much MO I used in the past 6 years to figure out when I bought it, though it was in a gamma sealed bucket), used Anvil's recommended mash in/sparge, inconsistent gap on my barley crusher (measured after taking preboil readings), shot from the hip on water chemistry based off grain bill.

But I always taste my spent grains, and I could taste sweetness in the top couple inches of my grain, making me believe that reduced sparge volume compared to my igloo cooler setup left a fair bit of sugars I could have extracted. Any thoughts on how to slow down a sparge with this sort of setup?

I read through this thread to see if anybody had come up with any sort of formula for the mash profile. Something that considers the deadspace below and around the malt tube, so that you can have a reasonably thick mash inside the malt tube and maximize sparge water. I did some rough measurements and calculations this morning but have no idea how to account for water absorption and water displacement with the side volume deadspace.

I'm very happy with the purchase, just need to dial in a mash profile and I'm not sure beersmith [2] can handle the number of variables I'd need to enter.

To actually add something, I saw a mention of smaller particles scorching the bottom of the kettle, and of larger particles clogging the holes in the malt tube. Would it be detrimental to intentionally stratify your mash? With recirc my instinct is it should be fine. Hefe, first layer of mash is all barley or barley + rice hulls, 2nd layer is wheat + some of barley + some rice hulls. Since you're recirculating enzymes and mixing malt characters shouldn't be a problem, smaller particles can't get through bottom layer that provides a better filter.
 
What was the sparge like? maybe there is a process to get better efficiency w/o overshooting the pre-boil volume. I'd expect pantry-sweep beers to come out a little low though.
 
I have been doing full volume in my 6.5 gal Anvil (10 liter batches) and initially was getting 80.6% mash/lauter efficiency for the first three batches. I made a slight tweak on my grain mill and the next two batches were 88.7% and 88.2% respectively. I use my BIAB bag to line the inside of the malt pipe and slowed down the recirculation of the wort to about 1/3 to 1/2 flow from full open so as not to compact the grain bed.
 
I know that the Foundry is subject to Blichmann setting the price. Do you guys think there's any chance we see a Black Friday sale?
 
TexasSpartan said:
I know that the Foundry is subject to Blichmann setting the price. Do you guys think there's any chance we see a Black Friday sale?
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Given the backlog of orders waiting for the last production run, I would doubt it. The current price point is already very competitive with competing type of systems.
 
Would anybody be so kind as to critique my plan on getting my anvil on a 240v circuit? Still a couple weeks off of brewing again so I have some time and haven't checked everything out yet. Planning on the laundry room, using the washing machine water line for chilling water and running the used water back into it's basin.

Dryer is on a 3 prong/10-30, the outlet has a ground run to it as well as the hots and neutral. Looking in the breaker box the ground is pulled into the box, but it's in the back and I can't follow it to the grounding block. I don't see any disconnected wires at all.

-First concern I have. I haven't tested connectivity between outlet side ground and inbound (house) ground. When I do get to it, assuming I have connectivity, is there something that would cause a false positive, or can I be very very confident ground is attached at the circuit breaker if I do have connectivity? As in confident enough to proceed. Otherwise I abort and start a new plan.

Replace 10-30R with 14-30R, replace dryer cord.

-Second concern. I didn't pull the wiring cover from my dryer, just looked at back. It has a wiring diagram for a 3 wire cord, but not a 4. I did some googling because I wasn't sure if the dryer was only designed for 3 wire or because it's more modern and 4 wire is the norm and 3 wire might need some directions. One result I saw was a home depot video where they attached ground to a ground screw in the dryer, but also attached that neutral to ground jumper wire to that cable. This just seems wrong to me, like you're bonding ground and neutral when you're explicitly changing to 4 wire to avoid bonding them. Bonding might be the wrong word. Every other diagram image I see only has ground on that ground screw.

Wire a 14-30P plug head to a cord with an inline 120/240 GFCI and a receptacle end, plug foundry into that mini GFCI extension cord.

-Third, would it be bad to use a 14-30P without the neutral prong, or with nothing attached to the neutral prong? I can go the spa box route and wire in a H-H-G receptacle, but I already have the inline GFCI and the spa box seems a bit more bulky.

apologies if this should be posted elsewhere or I should start a new thread, don't really like starting new ones
 
fnord said:
Replace 10-30R with 14-30R, replace dryer cord.
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Why? Why not just make a GFCI extension cord that fits your existing outlet? Pretty sure GFCI still works on 3 prong lines.
I did some googling because I wasn't sure if the dryer was only designed for 3 wire or because it's more modern and 4 wire is the norm and 3 wire might need some directions.
Click to expand...
Or more likely that there was no 4 wire when your dryer was made?
 
Bwood1377 said:
So I was just looking in my electric panel and wanted to know if I decided to convert my system to 240v if this breaker would be sufficient besides not being a gfci. It says on it type MH-t and I also see it has 120/240 written on it. If that's the case then I would assume I could convert the outlet to a NEMA 6-15 or 6-20 and then get an inline gfci adapter as pictured. Thanks.View attachment 649202View attachment 649201
Click to expand...

I have been looking into this too, as I just purchased the Foundry. I have not found an in-line GFCI adapter for 240v circuits. You would have to add a double pole GFCI Breaker. For my panel, it looks like they run about $100 USD.
 
Oginme said:
Given the backlog of orders waiting for the last production run, I would doubt it. The current price point is already very competitive with competing type of systems.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not holding my breath but you never know. I agree the price point is very good for what you get. But hey, if I can save a few extra bucks I'll wait until black friday and see.
 
DouglasCleary said:
Anyone using one of these (https://www.anvilbrewing.com/product-p/anv-kettle-strainer.htm) with the foundry?
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I don't have Anvil equipment, but I tried to use a 12" long 1/2" diameter SS braid in my kettle to keep hops from going into the pump/plate chiller loop. Even with relatively small hop charges it clogged up quickly, starving/cavitating the pump, even at low/heavily restricted outflow.

I've been bagging my hops since, and use a fairly coarse filter (like a Bazooka tube) over the exit port to keep the sacks from sucking into it, and any accidental or stray larger matter inside the kettle.

That "Bazooka" filter doesn't hold back much or any break matter, most ends up being pumped. If I don't let the kettle sit for an hour after chilling, or I chill straight into the fermenter, most break ends up in the fermenter.
 
DouglasCleary said:
Anyone using one of these (https://www.anvilbrewing.com/product-p/anv-kettle-strainer.htm) with the foundry?
Click to expand...

I tried a smaller screen for one brew only and it did not work well. Clogged up way to fast. Since then I've put a hop strainer basket https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077H6D6Y...&colid=AOB2IJQGQJW&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it on my wish list but I may not wait that long.

I was adding hops freely when I did BIAB and have been doing it so far with my Anvil, but I need to pull the pump apart every brew and am finding hop debris in the intake of the pump. I don't want to have it clog up on a heavily hopped brew and risk ruining the pump, so I am following the advice of other users on the Anvil Foundry facebook group and looking towards at hop basket.
 
That's what I use, works great. If I have a lot of late additions I hang it on the chiller coil to get in lower in the kettle.
 
Can anyone take some dimensions for me of this system? I am building a custom basket for my Robobrew and want to see if i can make to also be compatible with the Foundry i plan to purchase in the future.

1) Min inside width of the ring to rest the malt pipe when straining
2) Max inside diameter of kettle
3) Overall height of malt pipe including legs, Someone posted earlier on leg height being 2 inches
4) Height of perforations run up the side of malt pipe

Thank you
 
My (Gen 3)6.5 AF Just arrived this past weekend
Anvil ran a Black Friday sale on just accessories so I built the re-circulation add-on at the Sale Price

Impressed so far with the Unit. (Its going to be my winter WI indoor system / Gas Fired 20Gal Blick/Spike Top Tier RIMMS is my outdoor system) Will be using this for my NEIPAs and Milkshakes ;) and DIPAs

Will be running at 120vac since its just 3 gallons to boil
Running this as a BIAB #400 mesh / with Recirc
Trub Trapper (mini) for the boil + Hop Spider for IPAs if needed

#1 Change
On the Coil Immersion Chiller the vinyl hoses they shipped it with reek and are flimsy
Went to Menards (Like Lowes/HD) - Picked up 3/4 ID 10 feet of Re-enforced hose for ~$7 each length

#2 Put Vinyl Screw protectors on the basket handle ends (in the mash pipe) - Users are complaining about the handle ends ripping their bags

#3 using 1/2" Clear Silicon to the pump from the Foundry. Pump to mash pipe will be 1/2" ID Thermoplastic Tubing

Future : possible replacement the valve with a cleanable 1/2 butterfly with a Camlock fitting
 

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