ANVIL FOUNDRY ALL-GRAIN BREWING SYSTEM

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Brewed a Belgian Pale Ale today, session went pretty much text book with mash efficiency of 78% which is more what I'd like to see. I do have a mill on the way so wheat will no longer kick my ass.

Doing a big, hazy IPA on Friday with wheat and oats in the grist. Planning for 72% mash efficiency, we'll see how it goes.
 
Thanks for the suggestions on wort clarity, I've used whirlfloc @ 15 and personally haven't seen much a of difference. Anyway, Cheers!

In the wort or in the poured beer? Whirlock, aging and a cold crash result in crystal clear beer for me. In fact I have 4 year old gelatin packs in my gear bin for which I never ended up having a need.
Also my chiller can get wort to pitch temps in 15 minutes so that may help precipitate the proteins and other gunk in the brew kettle.
 
Brewed a Belgian Pale Ale today, session went pretty much text book with mash efficiency of 78% which is more what I'd like to see. I do have a mill on the way so wheat will no longer kick my ass.

Doing a big, hazy IPA on Friday with wheat and oats in the grist. Planning for 72% mash efficiency, we'll see how it goes.

I’m taking the dive Monday into a NEIPA as well. Just sent my list to my LHBS.
 
The hazy IPA went really well today. Total grain bill was 15.25lbs which included a pound of rice hulls. No issues at all, did a one gallon sparge at the end and nailed my gravity and volume targets. So weird boiling for an hour and adding nothing but yeast nutrient. Should finish out just over 7% and hopefully delicious!
 
The hazy IPA went really well today. Total grain bill was 15.25lbs which included a pound of rice hulls. No issues at all, did a one gallon sparge at the end and nailed my gravity and volume targets. So weird boiling for an hour and adding nothing but yeast nutrient. Should finish out just over 7% and hopefully delicious!
Glad to see ya rebound from your previous efficiency disappointments! BTW, with my NEIPAs, I still throw some hops in the boil lol. Agree that it would be weird if I didn't lol. Im sure it will turn out well regardless. If it doesn't live up to your standards, a friend of mine told me a good ol home brew trick. Label that beer on your bottle/keezer/tap/can/whatever you are serving it out of as "experimental". That way you "set the bar low" for peeps drinking your beer and they will all likely say, its good! 😂
 
Glad to see ya rebound from your previous efficiency disappointments! BTW, with my NEIPAs, I still throw some hops in the boil lol. Agree that it would be weird if I didn't lol. Im sure it will turn out well regardless. If it doesn't live up to your standards, a friend of mine told me a good ol home brew trick. Label that beer on your bottle/keezer/tap/can/whatever you are serving it out of as "experimental". That way you "set the bar low" for peeps drinking your beer and they will all likely say, its good! 😂

I've used the "Exbeerimental" label before, definitely helps set expectations. I also like to say "Hey, would you like to try some of my shitty home brew?" That really gets the gears turning.

I've said it before, I'm not torn up about efficiency as much as consistency. But with several batches in now I'm getting a feel for how each beer will likely go. I had wheat on this one again so I ran it in the Vitamix, not quite flour but definitely busted up. Given the size of the grain bill I was pretty happy with how it went.
 
I've used the "Exbeerimental" label before, definitely helps set expectations. I also like to say "Hey, would you like to try some of my shitty home brew?" That really gets the gears turning.

I've said it before, I'm not torn up about efficiency as much as consistency. But with several batches in now I'm getting a feel for how each beer will likely go. I had wheat on this one again so I ran it in the Vitamix, not quite flour but definitely busted up. Given the size of the grain bill I was pretty happy with how it went.
Completely agree about efficiency vs consistency. I was completely happy with 75-76% mash efficiency with the bag in the malt-pipe overall and that was with big grain bills (16-19lbs). I am much calmer and happier on brew day when I know what to expect - consistency is king with me as well.
 
Easy peasy brew this morning (NEIPA). Did my laundry during the mash and the. Took the doggie for a long walk during the boil. Still at boil and enjoying a midday coffee before the hopstand. Hit the pre boil numbers on the mark.

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set up was a lot of little tasks but the print out of the Brewfather report helped with organizing.


This is how I envisioned eBIAB to be when I pulled the trigger on the 6.5 last year. No more hovering over the stove and oven checking temps and a lot less to clean up.

Worth repeating. While I have 240v set up, on the 6.5 and 2.5 gal batches 110v is sufficient power and let’s be brew in the kitchen which is more desirable for me.
 
Easy peasy brew this morning (NEIPA). Did my laundry during the mash and the. Took the doggie for a long walk during the boil. Still at boil and enjoying a midday coffee before the hopstand. Hit the pre boil numbers on the mark.

View attachment 724730set up was a lot of little tasks but the print out of the Brewfather report helped with organizing.


This is how I envisioned eBIAB to be when I pulled the trigger on the 6.5 last year. No more hovering over the stove and oven checking temps and a lot less to clean up.

Worth repeating. While I have 240v set up, on the 6.5 and 2.5 gal batches 110v is sufficient power and let’s be brew in the kitchen which is more desirable for me.

I'm so happy with 120v on the 10.5 that installing the bigger outlet isn't even on the radar right now. The hops just need 212, and it'll do that all day on 120.
 
@NSMikeD, if you are pressure fermenting, I'd like to know as to what pressure you are using. And if that is a standard 7 gallon Fermonster in your picture above.
 
Any one of the forum participants have working links to a Anvil Brewing System representative in EUROPE?
 
Thank you, I went to the site but both the links don't work and the company names don't show up. I will keep trying.
 
Ran my oatmeal coffee stout today, very happy once again.

Broke in the new Hullwrecker grain mill. Set it at 0.030" and it chewed through the grains pretty well. Definitely produced a more powdery crush than I was getting from a double mill at the LHBS. Managed 75.6% mash efficiency with 3lbs of flaked oats in the grist. The real test for the mill will be running one of my recipes I've already done, see what the difference is.

Feeling confident now that I can bump up my BH efficiency in Beersmith.
 
Ran my oatmeal coffee stout today, very happy once again.

Broke in the new Hullwrecker grain mill. Set it at 0.030" and it chewed through the grains pretty well. Definitely produced a more powdery crush than I was getting from a double mill at the LHBS. Managed 75.6% mash efficiency with 3lbs of flaked oats in the grist. The real test for the mill will be running one of my recipes I've already done, see what the difference is.

Feeling confident now that I can bump up my BH efficiency in Beersmith.
Nice update - sounds like you are getting the system/software dialed in. Is your new mill tow or three roller? - Thanks
 
Ran my oatmeal coffee stout today, very happy once again.

Broke in the new Hullwrecker grain mill. Set it at 0.030" and it chewed through the grains pretty well. Definitely produced a more powdery crush than I was getting from a double mill at the LHBS. Managed 75.6% mash efficiency with 3lbs of flaked oats in the grist. The real test for the mill will be running one of my recipes I've already done, see what the difference is.

Feeling confident now that I can bump up my BH efficiency in Beersmith.
Ive always thought that 0.030-0.032ish was the sweet spot for the foundry when using a bag in the malt pipe. Get a great crush but still not too much flour that gets stuck while recirculating to keep temps stabilized and also allows for a good sparge as well.

The hull wrecker looks exactly like my cereal killer just rebranded and not blue lol. same adjustments, base, size etc. Its a solid mill and well priced.
 
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Thinking about getting a Wilser bag for the AF with no malt pipe. Do you think the false bottom is needed, or can I just clip the bag to the AF off the bottom. Also has anyone done small batches with a bag and no pipe? Thanks

I use a false bottom but am rethinking it. I see many are not using one and have no issues with heat affecting the bag. May try this next brew.
 
Yeah, I was thinking the only heat that would be applied is mash maintenance if you get the strike temp good. If you try it post what you think about the process. Thanks :mug:
 
I use a false bottom but am rethinking it. I see many are not using one and have no issues with heat affecting the bag. May try this next brew.

I'm interested in how the thermometer down at the bottom reacts to being covered in a bag of grain. Maybe better, maybe worse?

A thing to monitor would be grain temp, see if it's higher or lower than target and by how much.
 
On my 5th brew with the anvil foundry 10.5. Switched to a 240v and wow, that thing hummed. Got a little scary with a boil over but my brew days are gonna be a lot shorter.

Question (forgive me if this has been asked previously)... Anvil says to stir top 3rd of the grain bed. Which I've been doing, but not understanding why. Is there any harm in completely stirring the grain? Could efficiency be increased?
 
I'm interested in how the thermometer down at the bottom reacts to being covered in a bag of grain. Maybe better, maybe worse?

A thing to monitor would be grain temp, see if it's higher or lower than target and by how much.
I keep forgetting that the temp prob is at the bottom of the kettle, so I'm guessing the bag somehow held above this would be best. I was thinking clamping it to the top where the bottom of the bag sits a couple of inches above the bottom. This and recirculating should keep temps fairly stable.
 
On my 5th brew with the anvil foundry 10.5. Switched to a 240v and wow, that thing hummed. Got a little scary with a boil over but my brew days are gonna be a lot shorter.

Question (forgive me if this has been asked previously)... Anvil says to stir top 3rd of the grain bed. Which I've been doing, but not understanding why. Is there any harm in completely stirring the grain? Could efficiency be increased?

I've got a 6.5 plugged into 240V. I simply can't maintain it beyond 80% LOL.

I'm interested in this as well. I can't see any downside. I'm planning on my next brew to not only stir the top 1/3, but lift the pipe up and down a few times to get that water from the sides, and stir ALL the grain as well. I can see leaving it be for the last 10 minutes or so, combined with some recirculation call it a vorlauf step. But up to that point I am planning to go nuts next time. Expecting to see an efficiency boost with no perceivable downside other than my time and work.
 
On my 5th brew with the anvil foundry 10.5. Switched to a 240v and wow, that thing hummed. Got a little scary with a boil over but my brew days are gonna be a lot shorter.

Question (forgive me if this has been asked previously)... Anvil says to stir top 3rd of the grain bed. Which I've been doing, but not understanding why. Is there any harm in completely stirring the grain? Could efficiency be increased?
I'm thinking the grain bed and you'd get more of the grain particles into the wort. I typically stir it once around 30 mins and don't worry too much about some of the grain matter getting into the kettle.
 
but lift the pipe up and down a few times to get that water from the sides, and stir ALL the grain as well.
I've tried this as well and I don't think both is needed. If you lift the basket and let it drain fairly well you may not need to also stir. Don't know, but makes sense to me. :mug:
 
On my 5th brew with the anvil foundry 10.5. Switched to a 240v and wow, that thing hummed. Got a little scary with a boil over but my brew days are gonna be a lot shorter.

Question (forgive me if this has been asked previously)... Anvil says to stir top 3rd of the grain bed. Which I've been doing, but not understanding why. Is there any harm in completely stirring the grain? Could efficiency be increased?
Remember that stirring the top third of the grain bed is simply a recommendation by Anvil and doesn't have to be a rule. I think though that the appropriate answer depends on several things: 1) composition of grain bill (lot of sticky grains in there like oats?), 2) magnitude of grain bill (16-19lbs?), and 3) recirculation rate.

Since the anvil is tall and narrow, if recirculating at too high a rate, the grain will compact and you will get a stuck mash. IMHO, you don't need to recirc at a high rate just to get good temperature stabilization. Go slow. If you have a LOT of grains and/or its sticky, I have tended to stir the whole grain bed with the exception of the last 20 or so minutes (I use a 90 minute mash schedule). If you sparge, having a nice and well settled grain bed helps for sparging. Also, if you do not have a bag in the malt-pipe I imagine that you would get more grain particles into the boil, but I use a bag so this doesn't concern me as much. So stirring the top third I think is a nice compromise to ensure the top of the grain bed is still loose and doesn't create channeling (again - recirc slowly). Given your grain composition and/or grain bill size, you may want to stir more of the grain bed or less overall. Cheers!
 
Remember that stirring the top third of the grain bed is simply a recommendation by Anvil and doesn't have to be a rule. I think though that the appropriate answer depends on several things: 1) composition of grain bill (lot of sticky grains in there like oats?), 2) magnitude of grain bill (16-19lbs?), and 3) recirculation rate.

Since the anvil is tall and narrow, if recirculating at too high a rate, the grain will compact and you will get a stuck mash. IMHO, you don't need to recirc at a high rate just to get good temperature stabilization. Go slow. If you have a LOT of grains and/or its sticky, I have tended to stir the whole grain bed with the exception of the last 20 or so minutes (I use a 90 minute mash schedule). If you sparge, having a nice and well settled grain bed helps for sparging. Also, if you do not have a bag in the malt-pipe I imagine that you would get more grain particles into the boil, but I use a bag so this doesn't concern me as much. So stirring the top third I think is a nice compromise to ensure the top of the grain bed is still loose and doesn't create channeling (again - recirc slowly). Given your grain composition and/or grain bill size, you may want to stir more of the grain bed or less overall. Cheers!
I def. need to recirc at a slower speed. Love the Anvil, absolutely hate that flow restrictor widget. Makes me want to just throw $200 on a riptide to have a linear flow valve.
 
If you are looking for a way to get around the flow clamp (I eventually got tired of fidgeting with it as well after about 25ish brews), you could certainly get the riptide and be done with it, but if you already have the anvil pump, this works very well for me.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/anvil-foundry-all-grain-brewing-system.666090/post-9053773
Whats the loc line do? Slow it down?
I did order the spincycle whirpool arm, so i added that locline to my order.
How do you attach it to the lid?

(Bear in mind... i am still waiting for my anvil unit lol)
 
Whats the loc line do? Slow it down?
I did order the spincycle whirpool arm, so i added that locline to my order.
How do you attach it to the lid?

(Bear in mind... i am still waiting for my anvil unit lol)
So in that post - Im brewing with a bag sitting on top of a brewzilla false bottom and not using the malt-pipe at all. Thus, the recirculation disc is also not being used. So I elected to use loc-line to discharge the wort back to the kettle and it discharges under the level of the wort. It attaches easily to the lid with a TC fitting. The cover of the foundry unscrews and the hole is a perfect fit for a weldeess TC bulkhead (no drilling needed). Bobby_M sells these loc-line kits at brew hardware.com as a loc-line kit. You then just need a quick disconnect to the lid. Mash Recirculation Return and/or Sparge Kit (locline) TC x BLQD Been working well for me. Of course, if you are still using the malt-pipe and disc, you could still use the disc and discharge the wort back to the kettle with the same SS piece the recirculation kit comes with.
 
So with a new mill in the house I figured a second run of my Bad Neighbors White Ale was in order as it was my lowest mash efficiency by far to date on the AF. The neighbors also destroyed the keg in less than 3 nights so there's that. It originally ran at 69% with the LHBS doing a double mill for me, but this just didn't cut it given that half the bill is white wheat.

Fast forward to today's batch, grains all milled at 0.030" was the only change from the first batch and I hit 80.2% mash efficiency this morning. Crushed it. 😂

As for the restrictor they send with the pump, I can't really understand all the hate. First thing I did was get the flow where I wanted and then marked the clamp so I could find that sweet spot again quickly. I also added an aerator tip to the end of the hose I use inside the AF while circulating. Not only does it disperse the wort better to help prevent tunneling but you get a much better visual of the flow rate. Just crank it up until the wort fully "umbrellas" off the tip and you're good.
 

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