Anvil Foundry - Is the recirculation kit add on something I should buy with it?

[sixstring]

ok, I'm planning to get a pre order for the 10.5, however, there are some add ons that I'm not sure about. The most expensive one happens to be the recirculation kit.
I understand that this should help to improve my wort, allowing for more sugars to be extracted from the grain and helping to manage the temperature of the wort better.
However, is it something I could potentially just buy later or should I 100% just get it when I do the preorder?

Hoping some of the Anvil Foundry owners here can put their oars in here so I can make a more informed decision.

I'm leaning towards just buying it later, once I've gotten used to using the Foundry. But if the consensus is "buy it now" then I'll just shell out the extra on it and not worry about it.

 

[sourlovestory]

Meh, I would buy a RipTide or Spike pump, and put together your own recirculation system if you feel you need one.

 

[doug293cz]

Recirculation will not enable you to get more sugar from the grain. It will allow you to better control the temperature and temperature distribution throughout the mash. And, it might allow you to shorten the mash time a little bit without sacrificing conversion efficiency.

Brew on

 

[Witherby]

If you don’t get a pump are you going to brew on a table/stand and then transfer to the fermenter with gravity? And if so will you stand on a ladder to pull the hot and heavy grain basket up and out when you are done mashing? You see where I am going with this? In my opinion the pump is essential even ignoring the temperature regulation (which is extremely important in my book).

 

[Bramling Cross]

A couple of my friends have Anvil Foundries, so I've had the pleasure of contributing to a few brew days on those rigs. They're really nice!

I've also had the chance to see the recirculation kit in action and it's a nice kit that seems to work well, but at one hundred bucks, it's a little dear for what it is. Personally, I'm not fond of the return mechanism, it's a hot side aeration factory. But AIO rigs sorta disregard HSA, it's in their nature, so I'm not sure if that's a valid criticism.

I think doug293cz's remark is important to consider. On a conventional rig, recirculation will help a bit with efficiency, but AIO rigs tend to struggle with efficiency out of the box and the recirculation rig doesn't seem to help much, if at all, in my limited experience. My buddies with the recirculation rigs all seem to struggle with efficiency on the Foundry. The core of the problem is the design of the grain basket and the dead space surrounding it. It's not a Foundry problem, it's an AIO problem. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a compromise that is baked into the design. Others know more about how to fix the issue, so it's best that I leave that to them. But I can say with confidence that the recirculation kit alone will not boost your efficiency in a meaningful way.

A pump is a useful thing to have, here's a cheaper option. Frankly, I prefer these over the more expensive options that I've had in the past. They last for years, they have a stainless head, and the impeller is stronger than the motor, so it never strips if it clogs, and they're really easy to service--there's less than nothing going on in the motor housing.

 

[Witherby]

A couple of my friends have Anvil Foundries, so I've had the pleasure of contributing to a few brew days on those rigs. They're really nice!

I've also had the chance to see the recirculation kit in action and it's a nice kit that seems to work well, but at one hundred bucks, it's a little dear for what it is. Personally, I'm not fond of the return mechanism, it's a hot side aeration factory. But AIO rigs sorta disregard HSA, it's in their nature, so I'm not sure if that's a valid criticism.

I think doug293cz's remark is important to consider. On a conventional rig, recirculation will help a bit with efficiency, but AIO rigs tend to struggle with efficiency out of the box and the recirculation rig doesn't seem to help much, if at all, in my limited experience. My buddies with the recirculation rigs all seem to struggle with efficiency on the Foundry. The core of the problem is the design of the grain basket and the dead space surrounding it. It's not a Foundry problem, it's an AIO problem. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a compromise that is baked into the design. Others know more about how to fix the issue, so it's best that I leave that to them. But I can say with confidence that the recirculation kit alone will not boost your efficiency in a meaningful way.

A pump is a useful thing to have, here's a cheaper option. Frankly, I prefer these over the more expensive options that I've had in the past. They last for years, they have a stainless head, and the impeller is stronger than the motor, so it never strips if it clogs, and they're really easy to service--there's less than nothing going on in the motor housing.

I brew HiDO like many traditional German brewers so it doesn’t bother me but your point is well taken with the HSA.

And I should have clarified that I don’t think you need the foundry pump but rather a pump. That looks like a good option.

 

[Bobby_M]

If you don't mind stirring the grain every 10 minutes to distribute the heat, the pump wouldn't be as beneficial. You can definitely do without it and if you want to play around later, it's a simple upgrade.

 

[sixstring]

If you don’t get a pump are you going to brew on a table/stand and then transfer to the fermenter with gravity? And if so will you stand on a ladder to pull the hot and heavy grain basket up and out when you are done mashing? You see where I am going with this? In my opinion the pump is essential even ignoring the temperature regulation (which is extremely important in my book).

That's the sort of thing I'm looking for.

A couple of my friends have Anvil Foundries, so I've had the pleasure of contributing to a few brew days on those rigs. They're really nice!

I've also had the chance to see the recirculation kit in action and it's a nice kit that seems to work well, but at one hundred bucks, it's a little dear for what it is. Personally, I'm not fond of the return mechanism, it's a hot side aeration factory. But AIO rigs sorta disregard HSA, it's in their nature, so I'm not sure if that's a valid criticism.

I think doug293cz's remark is important to consider. On a conventional rig, recirculation will help a bit with efficiency, but AIO rigs tend to struggle with efficiency out of the box and the recirculation rig doesn't seem to help much, if at all, in my limited experience. My buddies with the recirculation rigs all seem to struggle with efficiency on the Foundry. The core of the problem is the design of the grain basket and the dead space surrounding it. It's not a Foundry problem, it's an AIO problem. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a compromise that is baked into the design. Others know more about how to fix the issue, so it's best that I leave that to them. But I can say with confidence that the recirculation kit alone will not boost your efficiency in a meaningful way.

A pump is a useful thing to have, here's a cheaper option. Frankly, I prefer these over the more expensive options that I've had in the past. They last for years, they have a stainless head, and the impeller is stronger than the motor, so it never strips if it clogs, and they're really easy to service--there's less than nothing going on in the motor housing.

And this.

So it looks like I could get a better pump and just buy the tubing or an aftermarket stainless tube bit to use with the foundry that'd be better in the long run.

If you don't mind stirring the grain every 10 minutes to distribute the heat, the pump wouldn't be as beneficial. You can definitely do without it and if you want to play around later, it's a simple upgrade.

I'm not averse to this, since I tend to sit with my brew on the stove anyway and stir on and off. So it wouldn't be much different. But it looks like the pump is a good idea, just not the overpriced one that the Foundry offers as an add on.
Do you have anything that I could use on brewhardware for recirculation, with say that pump that Bramling linked to?

 

[Bobby_M]

This is what I offer for the foundry recirc...

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

 

[bwible]

AIO rigs tend to struggle with efficiency out of the box and the recirculation rig doesn't seem to help much, if at all, in my limited experience. My buddies with the recirculation rigs all seem to struggle with efficiency on the Foundry.

I have the little Foundry 6.5. The biggest thing I found that really really helps efficiency is adjusting your mash ph with either acid malt or lactic acid. Get your water tested and get one of the water programs. Before I was adjusting ph, I was hitting 72 or 73% on whatever system I was using - Cooler, Foundry, etc. Just by adjusting mash ph that went to a pretty consistent 82% by my software. It really made a huge difference.

 

[Bobby_M]

I have the little Foundry 6.5. The biggest thing I found that really really helps efficiency is adjusting your mash ph with either acid malt or lactic acid. Get your water tested and get one of the water programs. Before I was adjusting ph, I was hitting 72 or 73% on whatever system I was using - Cooler, Foundry, etc. Just by adjusting mash ph that went to a pretty consistent 82% by my software. It really made a huge difference.

Not to mention lowering the astringency of every pale beer you make.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I have the little Foundry 6.5. The biggest thing I found that really really helps efficiency is adjusting your mash ph with either acid malt or lactic acid. Get your water tested and get one of the water programs. Before I was adjusting ph, I was hitting 72 or 73% on whatever system I was using - Cooler, Foundry, etc. Just by adjusting mash ph that went to a pretty consistent 82% by my software. It really made a huge difference.

Ugh! I've been trying to get that guy to take his water seriously for years, it's a losing proposition. He's one of those, "Yeah, but I just want to make an outstanding IPA, I don't want it to be complicated. Hey, my hops died in my latest batch, any ideas why?"

Ugh!!!!!

 

[Bassman2003]

I would get the Anvil (or a) pump. It is how the Foundry was designed to operate. The branded pump has the advantage of being lower flow than some of the testosterone pump choices. A recirculation pump needs to have a quite low flow rate. I have a PWM voltage controller and turn the pump way down for recirc. So no need to be able to shoot wort across the street only to have to find a way to decrease that power by 92% for your recirculation.