ANVIL FOUNDRY ALL-GRAIN BREWING SYSTEM

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I too wonder how accurate the probe reads if it's covered with the bag/grain.

Probably not very well being outside the bulk of the mass and also right next to the heating element if one is using it.

based on @myndflyte's experience, i wonder if keg land got a little miffed that people were using their FB for the anvil and changed the design just enough for this not to work lol.

You would hope they'd be happy to make sales and tag along onto someone else's business a bit.

 

[Coldies]

Thanks for the update. I too got that email today (seemed generic- a mail chimp email).
I am still holding out (slim) hope i'll get one shipped soon... i mean, you would think they would have a basic inventory count on their website. Who knows...

You ordered a 10.5 correct?

Yeah I ordered the 10.5 I got a confirmation this AM from customer support (actual person) that my order shipped but the pump is out until April, which is no biggie as I have my chugger pump from my old 3 vessel RIMS system.

 

[WortIsBond]

I wasn’t using an extension. It was plugged directly into an exterior outlet.

Sorry, quote doesn't give a lot of context, but long story short, I can't get to a boil at all...

I have the same issue with mine... I have the 6.5 gal version. If I leave the lid half way on, it reads 212F, but there's no sign of boiling. If I leave the lid off, it'll max out at around 200F. Wondering if you resolved your issue. I'm at sea level...

 

[Coldies]

So the one thing I can’t seem to wrap my head around with the Anvil is: on my old 3 vessel single tier RIMS system , once i mashed in I waited 10 min for the grain to settle (no bag, copper tube manifold with slits) and then slowly started my pump and had a recirculating arm that went under the wort. Once I learned my system I never got stuck mash’s. Is Anvil recommending stirring the mash for better efficiency?? Seems like a hassle to keep stirring your mash every 15 minutes and then waiting another 10 for the grain bed to settle and repeat... anyhow, my system is suppose to be in tomorrow and I’ll build a quick temp stand with my Chugger pump and old control panel with my PID setup to double check temps. Will post pics of the temp setup

 

[Noob_Brewer]

So the one thing I can’t seem to wrap my head around with the Anvil is: on my old 3 vessel single tier RIMS system , once i mashed in I waited 10 min for the grain to settle (no bag, copper tube manifold with slits) and then slowly started my pump and had a recirculating arm that went under the wort. Once I learned my system I never got stuck mash’s. Is Anvil recommending stirring the mash for better efficiency?? Seems like a hassle to keep stirring your mash every 15 minutes and then waiting another 10 for the grain bed to settle and repeat... anyhow, my system is suppose to be in tomorrow and I’ll build a quick temp stand with my Chugger pump and old control panel with my PID setup to double check temps. Will post pics of the temp setup

Im betting your previous mash tun was a larger diameter too. With the 10.5gal foundry it is narrow and the malt-pipe makes it even more so. So if you are bringing a lot of grains (15-18lbs) in the malt-pipe its a tall column of grains that will tend to compact if you recirc too fast. So "raking" the top third of the bed like the foundry manual suggests helps prevent this. Obviously the grain crush and grain bill (lots of wheat/oats?) will also play a factor here. When I was using the malt-pipe with 18+lbs of grain and rice hulls for an NEIPA (~30% oats/wheat), I was definitely stirring the grains frequently to prevent the stuck mash even with a slower recirc rate. So given your experience though, you will find what works best for ya. But the tall/narrow design can predispose to a stuck mash in the right conditions. Rule of thumb - don't try to recirc too fast with lots of grains. If a lower amount of grains, you could speed it up a little more. rice hulls do help in my experience too.

Cheers!

 

[Iowa Home Brewer]

I did get the Anvil delivered today thanks to a suggestion here.
I would suggest downloading the manual from Anvil. They've changed the design a bit. Particularly, the way you hang the malt tube. I'm not so sure I like it or not. They eliminated the malt tube support ring, which some complained got in the way when lifting the malt tube out. Now it actually hangs on the outside lip with two hooks per se. Its seems awfully close to the perforations on the side of the malt tube. Could be tricky to lift and hang without spillage. And, I would think in time it would show wear on the outer wall. And since its not centered, I'm leary of it possibly being side heavy, and unstable, possibly a tipping hazard. I'll keep you posted. I Plan on a trial run in a couple days. If I see its an issue I'll report back. Most likely will be fine.

 

[Coldies]

Im betting your previous mash tun was a larger diameter too. With the 10.5gal foundry it is narrow and the malt-pipe makes it even more so. So if you are bringing a lot of grains (15-18lbs) in the malt-pipe its a tall column of grains that will tend to compact if you recirc too fast. So "raking" the top third of the bed like the foundry manual suggests helps prevent this. Obviously the grain crush and grain bill (lots of wheat/oats?) will also play a factor here. When I was using the malt-pipe with 18+lbs of grain and rice hulls for an NEIPA (~30% oats/wheat), I was definitely stirring the grains frequently to prevent the stuck mash even with a slower recirc rate. So given your experience though, you will find what works best for ya. But the tall/narrow design can predispose to a stuck mash in the right conditions. Rule of thumb - don't try to recirc too fast with lots of grains. If a lower amount of grains, you could speed it up a little more. rice hulls do help in my experience too.

Cheers!

Yeah I’ve been brewing on my old RIMS system for a while and learned the pump a while ago. Hopefully it transfers over somewhat to this system. Excited to brew this weekend, feels like my first run all over again

 

[trogdor447]

And, I would think in time it would show wear on the outer wall. And since its not centered, I'm leary of it possibly being side heavy, and unstable, possibly a tipping hazard. I'll keep you posted. I Plan on a trial run in a couple days. If I see its an issue I'll report back. Most likely will be fine.

From experience.. you're going to hold it up and let some of the liquid drain out or it makes one hell of a mess if there is enough pressure. That being said, there is no top heavy issues you're going to run into with this. Make sure its on a stable surface though. I wish the legs were up a half inch or so for the hanging basket(would prevent a bit of a stream coming out the side on the floor with a lot of water volume in it). This really is only an issue for the 1/2 second your lifting it above the rim to hook on. My only complaint overall with this beast. I've got 2 batches now under it. Also After you hang the basket on the side feel free to kick it into boil. The basket will stop dripping before it hits boil on 110.

Also PLEASE anyone who has this double check your valve on it, mine was fine for the first batch, the second batch I had some water leaking. I must have wiggled it loose just enough. This goes down under into the electronics and has a tiny pin hole under it to drain with. Make sure its good and snug before you fill it up. Wet fit it with a gallon or so of water that will get it above the valve.

Yesterday's porter.

 

[jdauria]

So the one thing I can’t seem to wrap my head around with the Anvil is: on my old 3 vessel single tier RIMS system , once i mashed in I waited 10 min for the grain to settle (no bag, copper tube manifold with slits) and then slowly started my pump and had a recirculating arm that went under the wort. Once I learned my system I never got stuck mash’s. Is Anvil recommending stirring the mash for better efficiency?? Seems like a hassle to keep stirring your mash every 15 minutes and then waiting another 10 for the grain bed to settle and repeat... anyhow, my system is suppose to be in tomorrow and I’ll build a quick temp stand with my Chugger pump and old control panel with my PID setup to double check temps. Will post pics of the temp setup

I only stir during mash in and recirculate from 20 mins on, a slow trickle and have no problems getting mash efficiencies in the 80's. I have though, a few times gotten a stuck mash and have had to stir. You can tell the grain bed has compressed when the liquid level of the mash all of a sudden drops drastically (instead of being at almost the top of the malt pipe, it drops way down).

 

[Bishop9.5]

So much great info in this thread and I just wanted to chime in and say thanks to all that have shared!

I just recently started brewing again after a few years off with a 10.5 AF (two batches) and decided on it for several reasons, so far it's delivered. I'm coming from a serious overkill basement setup, and although it was awesome it was a ton of work. My expectations for efficiency with the AF were low and I'm already at or exceeding them so pretty happy with it, I can only expect improvements as I get it dialed in. I will be adding a Spincycle for faster cooling and I'm on the fence about a valve to regulate flow during recirculation. And thanks to reading on this forum I bought a Brew Bag right out of the gate. Other than that, don't see any immediate needs.

Besides the AF itself my biggest investment was a dual fermentation stand. I'll be brewing in the garage here in SC so temp control was critical especially during the summer months. Thanks again for all the info here!

 

[cmac62]

So much great info in this thread and I just wanted to chime in and say thanks to all that have shared!

I just recently started brewing again after a few years off with a 10.5 AF (two batches) and decided on it for several reasons, so far it's delivered. I'm coming from a serious overkill basement setup, and although it was awesome it was a ton of work. My expectations for efficiency with the AF were low and I'm already at or exceeding them so pretty happy with it, I can only expect improvements as I get it dialed in. I will be adding a Spincycle for faster cooling and I'm on the fence about a valve to regulate flow during recirculation. And thanks to reading on this forum I bought a Brew Bag right out of the gate. Other than that, don't see any immediate needs.

Besides the AF itself my biggest investment was a dual fermentation stand. I'll be brewing in the garage here in SC so temp control was critical especially during the summer months. Thanks again for all the info here!View attachment 718952

Bishop, did you get the wilser bag with or without the pipe, or the brew bag? I'm considering the bag without the pipe and the Brewzilla false bottom. Of course there are some recent posts indicating the BZ FB no longer fits the 10.5. I was thinking I could do small batches with the bag without needing the insert. Also, what is a "spincycle". I understand Brew Hardware makes a whirlpool attachment. Thanks

 

[Bishop9.5]

Bishop, did you get the wilser bag with or without the pipe, or the brew bag? I'm considering the bag without the pipe and the Brewzilla false bottom. Of course there are some recent posts indicating the BZ FB no longer fits the 10.5. I was thinking I could do small batches with the bag without needing the insert. Also, what is a "spincycle". I understand Brew Hardware makes a whirlpool attachment. Thanks

Hey Mac! I got The Brew Bag made specifically to fit the grain pipe on the AF. Fits very well and I use four binder clips to keep it in place. I don't use the perforated plate they send with it, just a piece of hose to extend the recirc down below wort level during the mash. So far so good.

The Spincycle is the clamp on whirlpool arm that Brew Hardware sells (out of stock right now). I really only want it for faster cooling times, I've never felt like there are any real benefits to whirlpooling at the homebrew level. Plan to combine this with a pre-chiller made from a jockey box kit to help with wort chilling here in the summertime.

 

[Bishop9.5]

So I've searched through this thread and others I've found on the net, has nobody put a sight glass on the AF yet? My only real disappointment with it so far is discovering that the markings on the inside of the kettle are a full half gallon off! Although that's pretty easy math, volumes are one of the things I tend to get pretty anal about and I'd like a little more precision.

I emailed AF about this (no response yet), with the double wall of the kettle I'm wondering if a stainless T to run a sight glass will even fit into the recess where the stock valve is?

 

[cmac62]

Hey Mac! I got The Brew Bag made specifically to fit the grain pipe on the AF. Fits very well and I use four binder clips to keep it in place. I don't use the perforated plate they send with it, just a piece of hose to extend the recirc down below wort level during the mash. So far so good.

The Spincycle is the clamp on whirlpool arm that Brew Hardware sells (out of stock right now). I really only want it for faster cooling times, I've never felt like there are any real benefits to whirlpooling at the homebrew level. Plan to combine this with a pre-chiller made from a jockey box kit to help with wort chilling here in the summertime. View attachment 719003

Yeah, I have used a prechiller in the past because our water in so cal is pretty warm in the summer. I have a 50' copper IC that I would put in a cooler full of ice to get the water going into my other IC down into the 60s at least. I have found that just running the pump during chilling speeds it up significantly, so not sure the spincycle would make it that much quicker.

I'm wondering whether either the Wilser or Brew Bag sized for the kettle, if the wort is above the grain bed if I could just clamp the bag above where it sits off the bottom. Then the only weight it would need to hold up was the weight of the bag. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[Bishop9.5]

...our water in so cal is pretty warm in the summer.

I'm wondering whether either the Wilser or Brew Bag sized for the kettle, if the wort is above the grain bed if I could just clamp the bag above where it sits off the bottom. Then the only weight it would need to hold up was the weight of the bag. Any thoughts? Thanks

Our ground water here in the Upstate area can hit mid 70's in the summer. I have used whirlpooling previously for faster cooling and it does make a very noticeable difference. Thermal dynamic nerd ****, it works.

As for the bag I'll let someone else chime in. My previous system produced amazing numbers and nearly two hours worth of cleaning. I'm over it. Bought the AF for the simplicity, I'll use it close to as is and spend a few extra bucks on grains to get my alcohol. So far, with only two batches in admittedly, it's looking like mid 70's for mash efficiency should be pretty easy. Works for me! I also don't really care too much about super clear beer (big BIAB complaint), the 400 micron bag, whirlfloc and cold crashing at the end of fermentation will get me close enough. It's not about competition quality anymore, I just want my homebrew on tap.

 

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I love my sorta whirpooler. I can tell trub tends to settle towards the middle of the anvil afterwards making it a little easier to get into the fermenter. I'm sure it helps cool faster. And when I do a hop addition after flame out I have to imagine it helps get it into solution a little more uniformly. None of these is a game changer but I will always use it.

I measured mine w/ room temp water weighed out to the 8.34 pounds per gallon thing and was pleasantly surprised it was super close to on. Maybe read a little low but by a half quart or less which I'd call negligible.

 

[Bishop9.5]

I measured mine w/ room temp water weighed out to the 8.34 pounds per gallon thing and was pleasantly surprised it was super close to on. Maybe read a little low but by a half quart or less which I'd call negligible.

Did the same thing with a verified quart measuring bowl and was so surprised at the amount it was off I did it twice to verify. The readings are exactly a half gallon low which lead to low gravity readings and high volume post boil the first two batches. Yes, shame on me for not verifying the markings out of the box. Excited for batch #3 in a couple weeks, with the volumes figured out and grain absorption dialed I'm expecting good results.

By the way, we just moved from Maple Grove last July!

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Did the same thing with a verified quart measuring bowl and was so surprised at the amount it was off I did it twice to verify. The readings are exactly a half gallon low which lead to low gravity readings and high volume post boil the first two batches. Yes, shame on me for not verifying the markings out of the box. Excited for batch #3 in a couple weeks, with the volumes figured out and grain absorption dialed I'm expecting good results.

By the way, we just moved from Maple Grove last July!

Wow a full half gallon off? Ive had my 10.5gal foundry and have been brewing on it for over a year and my marks are actually quite accurate. At first when I did my volume markings I thought they were actually a little low but this was when I used a pyrex quart dish to be the "gold standard" lol that was a mistake, after weight it out quart by quart by water weight, my markings are pretty darn close. Anyways, most of my brews have used a wilser bag in the malt-pipe and was consistently hitting 75-76% mash/lauter efficiencies even with big grain bills (over 18lbs), so mid-70s and the occasional 77-78% should definitely be achievable for ya. Cheers!

 

[Noob_Brewer]

I will be adding a Spincycle for faster cooling and I'm on the fence about a valve to regulate flow during recirculation.

I have the over the top spin cycle from brew hardware.com and its great for chilling for sure. I bought it with no fittings and the tubing and white clamp fits on it easily. I have the 18" extended one. Worth every penny especially in NC summers for quicker chilling. I also just recently installed a ball valve. At first I didn't mind the clamp on the hose, but after ~25-30 brews I got a little tired of the hose bulging out of the clamp and me fiddling with it to get the recirc flow I wanted. So the ball valve is fantastic and makes modifying the flow a breeze and just makes everything easier for me. Its definitely not a necessity with this system though. I also dig the dual fermentation systems you got in the garage. I have similar setup in my garage.

 

[Coldies]

Just got mine in the mail today!! No dents and everything was there. Did a mock up of the system on a temporary stand (moving cart haha) and cleaned it and let the pump run for a while. My control panel from my old RIMS system was spot on with the AF temps, so that a great start. Everything did what it was supposed to and can’t wait to brew on it this Friday!! Did a few little quick mods to it right off the bat to make brewing for me a little easier.

 

[Bishop9.5]

Wow a full half gallon off? Ive had my 10.5gal foundry and have been brewing on it for over a year and my marks are actually quite accurate. At first when I did my volume markings I thought they were actually a little low but this was when I used a pyrex quart dish to be the "gold standard" lol that was a mistake....

Your success with the AF was noted when I made my purchase decision so thanks for sharing everything you've done so far. This statement above stuck with me last night though. I did use a pyrex quart dish, but weighed out the first quart exactly to verify the line then just used the line. And did it twice. But I could still be wrong. Got home last night and did a rough measurement with a tape of the volume and low and behold, the marks came out perfect. So, today I'm going to measure out every half gallon I add. I either miscounted or seriously shorted each quart as I added it. Which leaves me scratching my head on a few things from my first brews, but that's part of getting a new system dialed in.

I have the over the top spin cycle from brew hardware.com and its great for chilling for sure. I bought it with no fittings and the tubing and white clamp fits on it easily. I have the 18" extended one. Worth every penny especially in NC summers for quicker chilling. I also just recently installed a ball valve. At first I didn't mind the clamp on the hose, but after ~25-30 brews I got a little tired of the hose bulging out of the clamp and me fiddling with it to get the recirc flow I wanted. So the ball valve is fantastic and makes modifying the flow a breeze and just makes everything easier for me. Its definitely not a necessity with this system though. I also dig the dual fermentation systems you got in the garage. I have similar setup in my garage.

That's the same Spincycle from Brewhardware I'm looking at. I've got a section of bent copper I plan to just hang from the recirc arm next batch to get the wort moving until the Spincycle is back in stock. Like you I'm getting the one without a coupling and will just transfer the hose over. When I added a whirlpool to my previous keggle I did a two batch experiment. Exact same beer back to back to look at the difference in flavor/aroma, clarity and chill times. The beer had a 3 ounce addition at flame out. I used my usual methods, a steel mesh hop spider with 400 micron screen and a tablet of whirlfloc. Both beers were nearly impossible to identify blind, both had great flavor, aroma and clarity. The only measurable difference was chilling time, if I remember the whirlpooled batch was 40ish% faster. To not have to bounce the IC around alone it was worth it.

 

[Bishop9.5]

Just got mine in the mail today!! No dents and everything was there. Did a mock up of the system on a temporary stand (moving cart haha) and cleaned it and let the pump run for a while. My control panel from my old RIMS system was spot on with the AF temps, so that a great start. Everything did what it was supposed to and can’t wait to brew on it this Friday!! Did a few little quick mods to it right off the bat to make brewing for me a little easier.

I had the same success with the temps, definitely seems close enough for government work. And I need to pick up a moving cart, looks too damn perfect to justify building something from scratch.

 

[Coldies]

I had the same success with the temps, definitely seems close enough for government work. And I need to pick up a moving cart, looks too damn perfect to justify building something from scratch.

for under $20 it makes to much sense. I’ll eventually fabricate something that fits the needs exactly, but this will do for now. I need to raise my pump a tad though. That being said I need to raise both, the AF more as well. Even with my burp valve it was super hard to get my pump primed

 

[Bishop9.5]

for under $20 it makes to much sense. I’ll eventually fabricate something that fits the needs exactly, but this will do for now. I need to raise my pump a tad though. That being said I need to raise both, the AF more as well. Even with my burp valve it was super hard to get my pump primed

With both on the same level I haven't really had any issues with priming the pump yet. I'm using the included pump so it's easy to just pick up and move around to burp out any pockets of air. What I am concerned about though is lifting the grain pipe out of the kettle and maintaining good ergonomics. The higher the kettle, the harder that becomes. I also don't have a need to move the system once it's full, everything is close by in the garage. I've got a long way to go before I feel it's all dialed so we'll see what happens.

 

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I use a fairly decent scale to weigh out my gallons of water. You could consider tarign the whole Anvil and adding 5 or whatever gallons to it as well. Keep temps in mind (cold, room, hot). If you have the means it might be more accurate than physical measurements for checking the anvil lines?

 

[Bishop9.5]

I just used a tape to question my volume measurements, and they don't line up. Don't have a scale that's physically large enough for the whole Foundry but I can weight out a half gallon at a time. Probably do that today but I now have a hunch the lines are going to be pretty close.

I've made some adjustments the first two batches but I've also clearly missed a few details or made some mistakes. I'll figure it out, likely thanks to help here. Don't brew again until the first week of March so until then it'll drive me nuts.

 

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Could do a quick volumetric calculation? A = pi R squared, times height, convert cubic inches to gallons kind of a thing.

 

[Bishop9.5]

That's what I did last night because after Noob's post something just didn't seem right. That showed the marks were pretty much perfect. Apparently having my 7 year old tally up the quarts as I filled it the other day wasn't a great idea. I should be impressed though, the two of us got it wrong twice in a row.

 

[Nate R]

That's what I did last night because after Noob's post something just didn't seem right. That showed the marks were pretty much perfect. Apparently having my 7 year old tally up the quarts as I filled it the other day wasn't a great idea. I should be impressed though, the two of us got it wrong twice in a row.

Sure... blame the kid, lol. We have heard a lot about the container, and quarts.... but you have yet to report how many pints were involved!

 

[Bishop9.5]

Sure... blame the kid, lol. We have heard a lot about the container, and quarts.... but you have yet to report how many pints were involved!

I thought on a home brew forum that went without saying.

 

[Bishop9.5]

Ha, I'm a moron. Twice! Weighed the water to the gram, the marks are so close I'll call it perfect. This thing better not **** the bed on me, I never want to dial in a new system again.

 

[Knightshade]

Yeah, I have used a prechiller in the past because our water in so cal is pretty warm in the summer. I have a 50' copper IC that I would put in a cooler full of ice to get the water going into my other IC down into the 60s at least. I have found that just running the pump during chilling speeds it up significantly, so not sure the spincycle would make it that much quicker.

I'm wondering whether either the Wilser or Brew Bag sized for the kettle, if the wort is above the grain bed if I could just clamp the bag above where it sits off the bottom. Then the only weight it would need to hold up was the weight of the bag. Any thoughts? Thanks

I've got a Wilser bag and use the pipe. It has a..cinch rope kind of closure...like a sleeping bag. I tighten it down over the lip of the malt pipe and unless I'm really futzing with it, the bag doesn't move. This is with removing/replacing that damn perforated disc every 15 to stir too...

I've got the brew hardware whirlpool arm and just make sure I'm pumping in the water from my IC in the opposite direction for chilling. It does make a difference in reducing chill times. I'll run the first 10 gallons off into buckets for cleaning, unplug the aquarium pump that I've got in an old Igloo MT. Refill w/fresh water, throw the outlet house into the cooler, fill it with a bunch of solid chunks of ice, frozen water bottles, whatever. When the warm water melts a good portion of that away, then I'll dump whatever I've got in the ice maker into it. Then I'll just let it run while I'm doing whatever cleaning I want to get done w/the hot water. I've gotten distracted a little too much and chilled the wort down to 60 before.

For the record, I'm in SoCal too, so...water temps are fairly similar.

 

[NSMikeD]

Enjoying the Chimay Red clone while brewing the Guinees clone for next month’s festivities.

 

[Bishop9.5]

the bag doesn't move. This is with removing/replacing that damn perforated disc every 15 to stir too...

I did a ton of reading before pulling the trigger on the AF. The main reason I bought it with the recirc kit was the pump, knowing from previous experience what a pump adds to a brew day. I don't even use the perforated disc it came with, just keep the recirc low and slow and use a piece of hose to get it below the wort line. To clarify, this is with a bag in the grain pipe. Two batches in I'm averaging 72% mash efficiency and expect improvements from there. I've been raking the grain bed every 15 minutes but I'm going to start reducing that once I hit 75% consistently to see if that's even necessary. Less work, more beer is the goal.

 

[mattman91]

I lost my thrust washer for my recirc pump 2 brew days ago. Still works just fine

 

[DarrellQ]

I lost my thrust washer for my recirc pump 2 brew days ago. Still works just fine

I once reassembled mine with it in back of the propeller instead of the front. It didn't work fine and the pump kept stopping throughout brew day. Was cursing the pump and later was curing myself!

 

[Bishop9.5]

Anyone successfully brew a kettle sour in the AF? I've wanted to do one for a while now and searching through this thread I see mention of others planning to try it, but couldn't find anything on success or the process used?

I would think this would be perfect for it, right? Boil the wort 5-10 min, chill and add lactobacillus, plastic wrap the top, clamp down the lid and set it to your preferred temp for a few days. Thinking the element wouldn't need a ton of power, maybe 10-15%. Could it really be this easy with the AF?

 

[mbg]

Anyone successfully brew a kettle sour in the AF? I've wanted to do one for a while now and searching through this thread I see mention of others planning to try it, but couldn't find anything on success or the process used?

I would think this would be perfect for it, right? Boil the wort 5-10 min, chill and add lactobacillus, plastic wrap the top, clamp down the lid and set it to your preferred temp for a few days. Thinking the element wouldn't need a ton of power, maybe 10-15%. Could it really be this easy with the AF?

I have never done a sour but there is an AF FaceBook group that I visit ( ha- only thing I joined FB for) and found this (by GC):


Mash as you normally would, bring wort to a boil, and acidify the wort to a pH of 4.2-4.6 with some lactic acid (this is a step I've skipped in the past and had no problems, but it does help to ensure the lactobacillus takes hold and has a good start on souring, while preventing other bugs from infecting the wort). Also remember no hops in the boil at all before the lactobacillus is added.
Keep the Foundry sealed and warm (100°F) for two days. Then bring it to a boil and continue as with any other beer. Of course during the souring period you can periodically test pH but eh, I don't bother. And for fruit I add it all at the tail end of the yeast fermentation.
Also I use Lallemand Sour Pitch for my lactobacillus.

more info - After I quick boil, just for sanitation purposes, I chill it down to 100 with a coil chiller. Then set temp to 100 and power to 50%. Maintains well enough!


Hope this helps.

 

[mbg]

I have sealed my AF around the display to housing and housing to kettle. I have seen many have issues with the valve leaking at the wall if they don't properly tighten the valve. This happened to me with just water in the kettle.

I see if you remove the valve looks like there is space to silicone between the two walls around where the valve seats. This way the leak would be 100% external. Has anyone done this?

 

[Bishop9.5]

I have never done a sour but there is an AF FaceBook group that I visit ( ha- only thing I joined FB for) and found this (by GC):


Mash as you normally would, bring wort to a boil, and acidify the wort to a pH of 4.2-4.6 with some lactic acid (this is a step I've skipped in the past and had no problems, but it does help to ensure the lactobacillus takes hold and has a good start on souring, while preventing other bugs from infecting the wort). Also remember no hops in the boil at all before the lactobacillus is added.
Keep the Foundry sealed and warm (100°F) for two days. Then bring it to a boil and continue as with any other beer. Of course during the souring period you can periodically test pH but eh, I don't bother. And for fruit I add it all at the tail end of the yeast fermentation.
Also I use Lallemand Sour Pitch for my lactobacillus.

more info - After I quick boil, just for sanitation purposes, I chill it down to 100 with a coil chiller. Then set temp to 100 and power to 50%. Maintains well enough!


Hope this helps.

Awesome find! I don't do social media and never would have found that so thank you. So as I suspected, it really would be that easy. Sweet!