ANVIL FOUNDRY ALL-GRAIN BREWING SYSTEM

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Can @wilserbrewer know the required bag size based on the Anvil Foundry 10.5 gallon, or will I still have to measure it? I just order the the Foundry myself and it is expected to ship mid July.

I contacted him last week to ask the same question. He replied back in less than an hour that he had the dimensions and to just list that it was for the 10.5 foundry when I ordered. Bags actually arrived yesterday.
 
Mine is sitting in the garage. I am just waiting to install my receptacle and gfci breaker and I am still waiting on my Fermzilla from MoreBeer that I ordered at the beginning of the month. Hopefully all that stuff will happen in the next couple weeks.

Also, ordered me a @wilserbrewer bag for the Anvil today. This will be my second bag from him so I know it will be essentially nuke proof.
 
To those who upgraded to 220v. Which plug do you recommend? I had an electrician out to quote outlet install and before I go forward I need to decide which plug type.
Thanks!
 
To those who upgraded to 220v. Which plug do you recommend? I had an electrician out to quote outlet install and before I go forward I need to decide which plug type.
Thanks!

I am going to go with a 30 amp RV receptacle as it will give me the ability to plug my camper in to my house when prepping it for a trip. I will be feeding it from a 30 amp gfci breaker.

But any receptacle will work really as long as it’s rated for at least 15 amps.
 
I am going to go with a 30 amp RV receptacle as it will give me the ability to plug my camper in to my house when prepping it for a trip. I will be feeding it from a 30 amp gfci breaker.

But any receptacle will work really as long as it’s rated for at least 15 amps.
I think y'all will love the 240V setup overall. I went with a 20amp outlet despite less than 12amps used for the 2800W on 240V. Heating about ~9.25gallons of mash and sparge water to strike temps is about 45 minutes, going from washout temps (~168) to boil is 20 minutes. Glad I started out with the 240V setup.

I run a nice boil at about 87% power as well.
 
My electrician ended up recommending the 20amp receptacle so looks like that’s what we’re going with. Now to get the work scheduled!
 
My electrician ended up recommending the 20amp receptacle so looks like that’s what we’re going with. Now to get the work scheduled!
Just have him use larger wire so you can change the outlet and breaker later without a re-wire ;) 14-30 is standard for dryers, and 14-50 is standard for charging electric cars. I would use something like 6awg wire so you could upgrade to something much later, like an EV, welder, or dryer.

I wish Anvil made a larger system that holds more gain. Looks nice otherwise :)
 
Remember you can use it in 120V too
While this is certainly true it seems the majority of users get much better ramp times out of going with 240v. I’ve had mine in a box for over a month now. I’ve got an electrician lined up and hope to have it running in a week or so.
 
Can @wilserbrewer know the required bag size based on the Anvil Foundry 10.5 gallon, or will I still have to measure it? I just order the the Foundry myself and it is expected to ship mid July.

Either supplier (wilser or brew bag) will have a custom size for the Foundry, just contact them. I ended up with the Brew Bag for two reasons. The supplier is very local to me and I like the added straps to pull the bag out of the pipe. Look at my post #625 above it's a perfect fit.

If you have a space to hang it I highly recommend purchasing the ratcheting pulley. You can also see it in my post above. Effortlessly pull the heavy malt pipe above the kettle and let it drain.

I've got two brews on my 10.5 and decided to sell my old system.
 
Finally got email notification of shipment. I was about ready to cancel. I’m in the middle of trying to move. Now I have one more thing... oh well, if the house doesn’t sell soon, I’ll still be making beer.
 
I’m itching to get my system up and running. Question on calibration. A page or so back a dip stick was recommended for volume. What about the temperature probe? Was it accurate? What thermometer did you use to compare? Is there a way to adjust the temp display if it’s off?
 
I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on the 10.5 gallon system. Does anyone know if the Hydra immersion chiller is able to fit in it? Because I would kind of like to use that as my chiller instead of the stainless steel coil.
 
I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on the 10.5 gallon system. Does anyone know if the Hydra immersion chiller is able to fit in it? Because I would kind of like to use that as my chiller instead of the stainless steel coil.
I do not know the specs of the Hydra immersion chiller (Jadad), but I have the "All-in-one" tricoil by CuS.S. Brewing. so its essentially identical in function. If ordering with CuS.S. you do need to specify that it is for the anvil foundry 10.5g. it fits flat on the bottom of the foundry perfectly.
https://cussbrewing.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-all-in-one-tricoil
 
Question for the masses: I have the 6.5 gal version and a good number of 1 gallon all grain kits left. I can combine a few of them to make 2 gallon batches, which would seem to be fine, but I was curious if anyone has made 1 gallon no-sparge batches (2 gallon mash, approx 1.1 gallon to fermenter). I could see the temp control might be wonky, but other than this, not sure what else may go wrong? Any thoughts?

cheers!
 
Question for the masses: I have the 6.5 gal version and a good number of 1 gallon all grain kits left. I can combine a few of them to make 2 gallon batches, which would seem to be fine, but I was curious if anyone has made 1 gallon no-sparge batches (2 gallon mash, approx 1.1 gallon to fermenter). I could see the temp control might be wonky, but other than this, not sure what else may go wrong? Any thoughts?

cheers!

From measurement there are 3.29 liters (0.87 gal) of water under the malt pipe. This leaves 1.13 gallons of mash water in contact with your grains (it is actually less due to the water outside the mash pipe, but I am simplifying things). My typical grain bill would be around 0.93 kg (~2 lbs) for a 4 liter batch of 1.047 gravity which would give you a water to grain ratio of around 2.26 qts/lb of grain. So this is theoretically very doable. If you are recirculating, then you should be OK for mash efficiency, though you will probably take a little hit due to the lower grain bed thickness. If you are not recirculating, then expect a hefty drop in mash efficiency.

The lowest I have tried is 5 liters and my mash efficiency took a hit from 84% for my 10 liter batches down to 71.5%. I have since gone back to doing my experimental 4 liter batches on the stove top, not because of the efficiency hit, but mostly because it becomes a much easier process at that size that it is not worth setting up my Anvil for it.
 
Excellent. Thank you!

I have only done one batch in the anvil since I received it... and the clean up was in the highly annoying - moderately infuriating category, mostly to do with the pump hoses, problematic connections and amount of wort i inadvertently got pretty much everywhere.

stovetop BIAB clean up was about 1/2 the time commitment.

I can see why doing a 1 gallon batch might not be worth it - time wise. I might do it just to get more familiar with the system and it’s processes.

I had horrendous efficiency (63-64% mash eff) on the first batch, but I ascribe that to my unfamiliarity with the system, doing no-sparge and pH control. I also wonder if the bag I’m using in the malt pipe is causing channeling. Only more brewing will tell.

cheers!
 
I do a full volume no sparge mash with my Anvil. I have both a Wilser bag and a Brew Bag which I use to line the mash basket, both fit pretty well into the mash basket with only a little folding or overlap. With this unit, I have found that the keys to good consistent mash efficiency are a slightly finer crush and controlling the wort recirculation during the mash. I started in the high 70's for mash efficiency after backing off a bit from my standard crush I used for BIAB. I worked the crush back a little finer over a few brews and got to a good, repeatable zone at around 84% for a 10 liter batch. The bag helps mostly with clean-up, allowing for the finer crush without having more fine grain debris in the kettle, and providing better drainage to lower the amount of wort trapped in the grains.

Between my playing around with the process and crush, it took a good 8 to 10 brews before I settled in and held the process constant. You will get more channeling from trying to recirculate too fast. The grain starts to compact on the bottom and you will have regions where the water will not penetrate to remove the sugars. This reminds me of another tip, once you dough in, let the grains settle for about 10 minutes before trying to recirculate the wort. This way they form a loose, fluid bed and allows for liquid flow around the grains.

Clean up is really not that difficult. First, I normally lift the pump up a bit to allow as much of the wort to drain back into the Anvil as possible during the boil. I use the pump during the cooling to recirculate the wort which speeds the cooling up tremendously and then to transfer to the fermenter. Once I am done, I add some warm water to the anvil and dump it out into a bucket or sink. From there, I just add a gallon or so of warm water, recirculate while cleaning the sides and bottom and pump out twice before adding a couple of gallons of PBW solution, heating to 140F while recirculating, and then pumping it out into a bucket. Another couple of rinses and everything is set. Allow to dry and pack up for next brew day. Every few brews, I take apart the pump and check everything over, but it is usually pretty clean.

I figure I have traded time in cleaning the system for the time I used to spend waiting for the strike water to heat up. Since I brew early in the morning, it is really nice to come out to a system ready to dough in.
 
Have to say, when I got mine, I started brewing using 120 with the idea to upgrade to 240. But I have stuck with 120 so far through 7-8 batches. Boil is fine (partially covered), I add water the night before so it's at mash temps when I wake up. So the only wait time is the time going from one step to another and then to boil...and it's not that bad of a wait and gives me time to do other stuff while waiting. Like while waiting for a boil, I can dump my grain, rinse the bag out and then wash the malt pipe.

Will I still go to 240...maybe. Bought the parts to do the 120 to 240 jumper cable...still will put that together and then have the option.
 
Have to say, when I got mine, I started brewing using 120 with the idea to upgrade to 240. But I have stuck with 120 so far through 7-8 batches. Boil is fine (partially covered), I add water the night before so it's at mash temps when I wake up. So the only wait time is the time going from one step to another and then to boil...and it's not that bad of a wait and gives me time to do other stuff while waiting. Like while waiting for a boil, I can dump my grain, rinse the bag out and then wash the malt pipe.

Will I still go to 240...maybe. Bought the parts to do the 120 to 240 jumper cable...still will put that together and then have the option.

I'm still weeks out from receiving my device but appreciate this insight as it is exactly where my mentality sits right now.
 
Have to say, when I got mine, I started brewing using 120 with the idea to upgrade to 240. But I have stuck with 120 so far through 7-8 batches. Boil is fine (partially covered), I add water the night before so it's at mash temps when I wake up. So the only wait time is the time going from one step to another and then to boil...and it's not that bad of a wait and gives me time to do other stuff while waiting. Like while waiting for a boil, I can dump my grain, rinse the bag out and then wash the malt pipe.

Will I still go to 240...maybe. Bought the parts to do the 120 to 240 jumper cable...still will put that together and then have the option.

So far I agree. Only used it for one brew @120, but it was a full volume boil with 4 gallons - haven’t needed to cover at all. Not a violent boil, but certainly rolling. The boil off was right on as well, almost exactly 2.2 qts/hr.

It did blow my breaker twice, but that’s my fault for having a dehumidifier on the same circuit.
 
I'm still weeks out from receiving my device but appreciate this insight as it is exactly where my mentality sits right now.

You're welcome! I was also only going to use the Foundry for indoor winter brewing and do regular propane BIAB outside in nicer weather...that went right out of the window! So nice having the water ready when you get up. Plus while I have made a lot of great beers using my old system...I am 10 beers in on the Foundry, since getting it in February, of which 7 were or are on tap already...and every single one has been fantastic. So the beers are just as good or better, so no sense going back!
 
When testing out my 10.5 I recorded boil time. I also have times from my old Blichmann system on propane and NG for comparison for 5 gallons of water starting at 65F:

Propane - 30 minutes
NG - 35 minutes
Anvil (10.5/240V) - 50 minutes

The Anvil isn't too bad considering it's output rating is 6x less than my gas burner. Looks like more heat was warming Earth than my wort! Plus with the timer on the Anvil I can easily make up the 15-20 minutes compared to the gas burner.
 
You're welcome! I was also only going to use the Foundry for indoor winter brewing and do regular propane BIAB outside in nicer weather...that went right out of the window! So nice having the water ready when you get up. Plus while I have made a lot of great beers using my old system...I am 10 beers in on the Foundry, since getting it in February, of which 7 were or are on tap already...and every single one has been fantastic. So the beers are just as good or better, so no sense going back!
Are you still practicing LODO with this system? I've followed many of your comments from late 2019 regarding BIAB.
 
I had originally ordered a Mash and Boil as I was just fine with sticking with 120v and I couldn't see spending the extra money for the Foundry if not going 220v. Well, I got a bit of a surprise that my outside receptacles and therefore my back porch receptacles were on the same circuit. I found this out when trying out the M&B and the circuit ended up tripping with the back porch fan and lights on.

So, I got an RMA from AIH and ordered a Foundry 10.5 today during the pre-sale. I should hopefully have it some time in June! I plan to get the small batch ring as well so I can retire my 5.5 gal kettle and brew bag for my small batches.
Hey did you receive yours yet??
 
Ughhh ordered mine may 9th through morebeer I have a feeling it’s gonna be awhile

I saw on the Facebook group that it was reported that third parties consistently over sell the allotment that Anvil gives them. I ordered directly from the source.
 
When testing out my 10.5 I recorded boil time. I also have times from my old Blichmann system on propane and NG for comparison for 5 gallons of water starting at 65F:

Propane - 30 minutes
NG - 35 minutes
Anvil (10.5/240V) - 50 minutes

The Anvil isn't too bad considering it's output rating is 6x less than my gas burner. Looks like more heat was warming Earth than my wort! Plus with the timer on the Anvil I can easily make up the 15-20 minutes compared to the gas burner.

How long does it take to get from 152 degrees to boiling? Did you ever time it?
 
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