Anvil Foundry sparge + whirlpool SS tube

[RyPA]

I'm looking to pick up a 10.5 g Foundry soon and would like to upgrade to a better pump right out of the gate and not buy Anvil's $99 recirc kit.

Has anyone found a SS tube that can be used for recirc & whirlpool on the foundry?

Planning to get this pump

Stainless Steel Wort Pump

The Northern Brewer Wort Pump is the perfect addition to up your brewery to make your brew day even easier! Perfect for recirculating, whirlpooling, or simply moving wort from one vessel to another. This pump is suited to meet all of your needs.

www.northernbrewer.com

Thanks

 

[RyPA]

Found this, exactly what I was looking for

Mash Recirculation Return For Anvil Foundry System - Your choice of input fitting

Brewhardware.com has built a solid reputation for offering the best retrofit sight glass kits available to the homebrew market with a consistent high level of customer support both pre and post sale. We feel a great sense of pride reading through all the positive reviews of our products and...

www.brewhardware.com

Mods can you please move to electric brewing?

 

[NSMikeD]

I use Anvils whirlpool arm for the 6.5 foundry. works well. I also got the stainless steel plate (replaces the plastic one that come standard on the pump and looks identical to the one listed in the OP). not worried about high temps anymore plus I was able to fit it with quick disconnects and a ball valve. go the the accessory page on their site.

 

[RyPA]

Gotcha, yeah I ideally want to permanently mount a QD to the lid that I can connect when I need to recirc. I can then use the swirly for WP and cooling. My problem is I don't want to buy anvils recirc kit just for the metal tube

Do you have a pic of your setup? I'm trying to figure out this stuff before ordering

 

[NSMikeD]

Gotcha, yeah I ideally want to permanently mount a QD to the lid that I can connect when I need to recirc. I can then use the swirly for WP and cooling.

Do you have a pic of your setup? I'm trying to figure out this stuff before ordering

no pics of the current set up. I put the ball valve on the pump plate followed by the QD. I left the return arm as is and fit it through the lid hole I swap that out with the whirlpool arm which fits along the foundry wall snug. you can't totally close the lid with he whirlpool arm.

While I do have a QD on the intake side of the pump I am on the fence about putting on on the spigot.

 

[franknbeans]

So I went down this path and got Blichmanns nice pump. Come to find out, the spout out of the Foundry's ID is too small to supply what these more powerful pumps need for intake. My pump cavitates and I'm constantly having to mess with it to keep the whirlpool going. The little pump Anvil sells works just fine for a whirlpool arm honestly. Save your money on a bigger pump for when you go to a bigger setup.

 

[RyPA]

So I went down this path and got Blichmanns nice pump. Come to find out, the spout out of the Foundry's ID is too small to supply what these more powerful pumps need for intake. My pump cavitates and I'm constantly having to mess with it to keep the whirlpool going. The little pump Anvil sells works just fine for a whirlpool arm honestly. Save your money on a bigger pump for when you go to a bigger setup.

Am I able to connect fittings to the Anvil pump/do SS heads bolt on? I was hoping to do camlock

 

[Bobby_M]

The Anvil pump just has molded hose barbs on it.

 

[RyPA]

The Anvil pump just has molded hose barbs on it.

Can a SS head be swapped on to the Anvil pump? Or are there pumps that allow you to control flow electronically?

 

[Bobby_M]

I am not aware of an SS head that bolts up to an Anvil pump. The Topsflo TD5 can be controlled via PWM because it's a DC pump, but there really isn't any compelling reason to speed control it when it deals well with manual valve throttling on the output.

 

[BQ&W]

Stainless Steel Pump Head for the Anvil Brewing Pump

Replacement 1/2" NPT Stainless Steel Pump Head for the Anvil Brewing PumpPump not included.

www.anvilbrewing.com

 

[RyPA]

Thank you both for the feedback. Is there any reason to avoid the anvil recirc kit (is the pump a POS)? I may just get the kit from them with SS head

 

[Red over White]

I am not aware of an SS head that bolts up to an Anvil pump. The Topsflo TD5 can be controlled via PWM because it's a DC pump, but there really isn't any compelling reason to speed control it when it deals well with manual valve throttling on the output.

Do you know if this motor is compatible with the pump you sell?

 

[Noob_Brewer]

This is more $$$ than what you were probably wanting to spend but here is my setup. When I go to chill, I use Bobby's overboard spin cycle and its great. I have a third hose, not pictured in the setup below with a QD on one end and open hose on the other. Works fantastic. Also not pictured is the locline I have on the inside when mashing. Overall Im happy with my setup because I brew in a bag on a brewzilla false bottom so the locline is adjusted to exit just below the mash water line. Also spent overkill $$$ to build in a sample port on the output of the pump, but in the winter when its cold out not opening the lid for sampling is nice. Out of this setup though, the pinch clips are da bomb! Anytime I want to do any hose movement, minimal mess and loss of wort from the hoses. Bobby also sells these.

Mash Recirculation Return and/or Sparge Kit (locline) TC x BLQD
Spincycle Overboard, No-Drill Kettle Whirlpool Return

 

[BQ&W]

I can also attest for the Spincycle - especially for chilling. But now I have to get some of those clamps!

 

[RyPA]

This is exactly what I'm trying to find. I'm going from a multi component setup to an all in one and trying to find the stuff to make it work best.

So those 2 parts, plus hoses/fittings, are all I need for better sparging and a better whirlpool?

I dread the cooling process in my current setup. Stirring an immersion chiller or spoon constantly...with kveik it's not so bad, but cooler yeasts are brutal once you get below 90.. slowest process in the world. If I can just turn on a whirlpool I'll be in heaven

 

[BQ&W]

My set-up is with the 6.5
I use a small pump in a cooler full of ice along with the spincycle. Last brew I was down to 60 f in about 20 minutes. Then I put the Spincycle into the fermenter to fill.

ETA: Credit to BEER-N-BBQ by Larry - YouTube for the pump idea.

 

[RyPA]

Nice, yeah I follow him on youtube

@Noob_Brewer What do you mean by pinch clips, are these the ones that come with the foundry for controlling flow?

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Sorry I meant to say pinch clamps, not clips. BrewHardware.com - High end, practical homebrewing hardware, accessories and ingredients for making beer, wine, mead, and cider.

 

[RyPA]

@Noob_Brewer which pump is that? What was your experience with the anvil foundry pump (if that's not it)?

 

[Noob_Brewer]

This is exactly what I'm trying to find. I'm going from a multi component setup to an all in one and trying to find the stuff to make it work best.

If you are looking to go down that rabbit hole of pimping out the system, I guess I'm that person too lol.

This is exactly what I'm trying to find. I'm going from a multi component setup to an all in one and trying to find the stuff to make it work best.

So those 2 parts, plus hoses/fittings, are all I need for better sparging and a better whirlpool?

I dread the cooling process in my current setup. Stirring an immersion chiller or spoon constantly...with kveik it's not so bad, but cooler yeasts are brutal once you get below 90.. slowest process in the world. If I can just turn on a whirlpool I'll be in heaven

So, when I sparge, since I don't have the malt-pipe and putting the grain bill in another vessel to batch sparge never appealed to me personally (although many do this), when I sparge, I drain the wort to a second vessel and dump the sparge water on top of the grain bed one quart at a time and sparge with the bag in place. This is essentially a poor mans fly sparge lol. It works very well though and when I collect around 6 gallons in the second vessel, I lift my bag using a hoist and while its draining, I pull my false bottom out and switch my hoses on the pump and move the wort back to the anvil kettle. Sounds busy but its really easy with my setup. This is my standard protocol now and like it.

As far as chilling goes, I splurged when I got the system and got the CUSS AIO tri coil. The All-in-one TriCoil. it is worth its weight in gold! Together with Bobby's. overboard spin cycle, in the winter I can cool the wort down to the 50s in less than 10 minutes easily. In the summer, when my ground water is in the low 80s, I use tap water to get it down to high 80s/low 90s and then switch water source to an ice bucket with water and use a submersible pump to get it down quickly to pitching temps. No moving the chiller around needed.

CHeers!

 

[Noob_Brewer]

@Noob_Brewer which pump is that? What was your experience with the anvil foundry pump (if that's not it)?

I did initially purchase the anvil recirc kit separate from the kettle and got the recirc kit on a black friday sale for $79.00. The anvil pump is actually a solid pump for this system. The only reason why I switched to my current pump (~$69-89 on amazon depending on the vendor and time of year) is I wanted to easily switch hoses with QDs. Switching hoses on the anvil pump was a PITA because after 60minute mash and recir the hoses kinda bond to the plastic pump head and it was a PITA lol. ALso, I like to let my hops roam free and after about 50 brews, I had a stuck anvil pump about 3-4 times and they were the beers that I didn't even use a lot of hops but the hop pellets were big (yes, I'm looking at you Saaz!). So with those two things in mind, I changed my pump.

 

[RyPA]

Copy, thanks for the info! I wish I knew an Anvil brewer/modder that lived near me so I could check it out and order all of the parts at once. Ive never seen one in person let alone brewed with one so I'm trying to guess what I'd need.

Regarding your sparge process, why don't you just recirculate for 10 minutes with a sprayer on the lid?

I brew IPAs 90% of the time so hops will be in the mix, and I also always hop commando. So if the anvil pump is prone to clogging, I may upgrade out of the gate. A guy above said he had issues with the anvil not being able to feed his pump enough wort, is @Bobby_M 's sparge arm more high flowing?

 

[Noob_Brewer]

@Noob_Brewer which pump is that? What was your experience with the anvil foundry pump (if that's not it)?

If you look on amazon, you will see tons of these types of pumps, some without in-line switches, some without SS heads. I bought this one. Its ~$75 now but I actually paid $63 for it in july.

Amazon.com: GILE HOUSE BREW SUPPLY Stainless Steel Head Magnetic Drive Wort & Beer Pump - 120V Food Grade Water Circulation Pump With In-line Switch.

Like @franknbeans said earlier, bigger pumps are really not needed for the anvil foundry. The pump I bought is all you would ever need unless you WANT the riptide or new fancy spike pump. However, if you go the route I have with false bottom and bag, even the pump I have now can create enough suction when sparging to cause the FB to deform or even worse, completely collapse! This was NEVER a problem with the anvil pump. With my current pump, I don't get any cavitation at all and have no issues priming it either and its a little more expensive than the anvil pump but not nearly as expensive as the riptide/spike class of pumps.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

@RyPA - most all of my mods I have put into the anvil foundry thread. If you go to that thread and search my name and "this thread" you will see lots of my posts there and lots have my mods on it. Heres a direct link to one of them: ANVIL FOUNDRY ALL-GRAIN BREWING SYSTEM

 

[RyPA]

@Noob_Brewer thanks again I'll take a look at that thread.

I don't really want a different pump to just have a bigger pump, I want something that will be reliable, ss head for fittings, not clog, and transfer at a decent rate. If you guys think the anvil pump with SS head will work then I can go that route. I just would like to avoid spending $100 on that to only want to replace it after 6 months if I can get a better/clog-free/faster setup for $20-$50 more. It's not breaking the bank for me to spend whatever on this setup, I'd rather buy right than buy twice, though.

Can you weigh in on why you sparge the way you do opposed to just recirculating with the lid?

 

[Noob_Brewer]

@Noob_Brewer thanks again I'll take a look at that thread.

I don't really want a different pump to just have a bigger pump, I want something that will be reliable, ss head for fittings, not clog, and transfer at a decent rate. If you guys think the anvil pump with SS head will work then I can go that route. I just would like to avoid spending $100 on that to only want to replace it after 6 months if I can get a better/clog-free/faster setup for $20-$50 more. It's not breaking the bank for me to spend whatever on this setup, I'd rather buy right than buy twice, though.

Can you weigh in on why you sparge the way you do opposed to just recirculating with the lid?

Recirulcating is done during the mash, when you sparge, you put in sparge water that hasnt been in the mash to try to get more sugars out of the grains. For brews that are BIG grain bills ie ~20-25lbs, you cannot do full volume mashes where sparging isn't needed. So with the link I posted, I did an imperial stout with over 25lbs of grain and you couldn't fit all the water you needed, so I mashed and it was THICK. Then I sparged over 2 gallons as the wort drained to another vessel. Once sparging is done, lift the bag and pump the wort back to kettle to boil. If you use the malt-pipe instead of my approach, you would simply lift the malt-pipe and hang it on the edge of the kettle to sparge which is pretty easy too. With the malt-pipe you really don't need to pump the wort to another vessel. With the foundry, you can run this system however you like and honestly its flexibility compared to other AIOs is what I like most about it.

Cheers

 

[RyPA]

@Noob_Brewer ok yeah I was referring to standard grain bill (~15 lbs/7g water) -- for that, you can just recirc I'm assuming with no sparge.

Or do you typically always sparge with new water to get more volume once you lift the basket out

 

[Noob_Brewer]

@Noob_Brewer ok yeah I was referring to standard grain bill (~15 lbs/7g water) -- for that, you can just recirc I'm assuming with no sparge.

Or do you typically always sparge with new water to get more volume once you lift the basket out

Honestly with most all my beers I sparge because I just like having one process for everything. Also if you like brewing IPAs and have hops commando, you WILL take more losses in the end as well. I typically leave 1gallon in the kettle going to the fermenter to leave as much trub and hops as possible behind. SO for my IPAs where most are in the 6.8-7.5% ABV range, I have 6.5-6.75gallons in the kettle POST boil and cooling in order to get ~5.75 clean gallons in the fermenter knowing that I will take more losses after dry hopping in order to get a full 5gallon keg.

 

[youngdh]

Can a SS head be swapped on to the Anvil pump? Or are there pumps that allow you to control flow electronically?

Anvil sells a SS head for their pump.

 

[RyPA]

Is the pump going to be prone to clogs on hoppy beers?

 

[franknbeans]

I've brewed some hoppy IPAs with my Anvil using their pump and never clogged it. Make sure you either use a brew bag or the malt pipe so you aren't pumping all the stuff through, or minimize it as much as you can. I have a brew bag inside the malt pipe and never had a stuck sparge or clog.

 

[Grizwold1]

going to be prone to clogs on hoppy beers?

This is my question too. I tried pellet hops free swimming but the original plastic head immediately clogged up, so never tried it again. Have since switched to the SS pump head--I wonder if it will handle loose hops better?

 

[franknbeans]

Couldn't hurt to try it. It's threaded so that'll be nice for fittings

 

[RyPA]

I found this pump on Amazon, combined with the sparge arm from brewhardware and some hose/fittings, it should come out to just a little over $100

Home Brew Pump MP-15RM, 304 stainless steel pump head Food Grade High temperature Magnetic drive pump beer bewery 110volt 1/2"BSP/NPT thread … (1/2"NPT) Amazon.com: Home Brew Pump MP-15RM, 304 stainless steel pump head Food Grade High temperature Magnetic drive pump beer bewery 110volt 1/2"BSP/NPT thread … (1/2"NPT): Home & Kitchen

 

[Noob_Brewer]

I found this pump on Amazon, combined with the sparge arm from brewhardware and some hose/fittings, it should come out to just a little over $100

Home Brew Pump MP-15RM, 304 stainless steel pump head Food Grade High temperature Magnetic drive pump beer bewery 110volt 1/2"BSP/NPT thread … (1/2"NPT) Amazon.com: Home Brew Pump MP-15RM, 304 stainless steel pump head Food Grade High temperature Magnetic drive pump beer bewery 110volt 1/2"BSP/NPT thread … (1/2"NPT): Home & Kitchen

Thats the same pump I have, different vendor/sticker...same pump. Will work well for ya

 

[RyPA]

Has anyone else gone from traditional equipment to a Foundry? I feel like my current equipment works perfectly and am just trying to simplify my brew day. Anyone else on the same page with going electric?

@Noob_Brewer can you clarify your sparge process for larger grain bills? When you pull your grain bag out, do you then drain your anvil wort to a separate vessel and then sparge in the anvil? If so then I think I got it.

 

[Bobby_M]

If you're trying to sparge in an Anvil, it's just a matter of lifting the basket to the upper position and pouring water into the malt pipe/basket. Any more effort/equipement than that and you're negating the simplicity of an AIO system.

 

[RyPA]

@Bobby_M , copy, but wouldn't the sparge be a little more efficient by having the grains soak in the sparge water for 10 mins versus the sparge water just flowing through/rinsing the grains?

Your last comment is kind of where I'm stuck. All of my equipment is relatively new, I'm on the fence with changing to an AIO if it only makes my brew day 25% easier. My main knock on my current setup is brewing on a gas stove from the 90's.

 

[Bobby_M]

@Bobby_M , copy, but wouldn't the sparge be a little more efficient by having the grains soak in the sparge water for 10 mins versus the sparge water just flowing through/rinsing the grains?

Your last comment is kind of where I'm stuck. All of my equipment is relatively new, I'm on the fence with changing to an AIO if it only makes my brew day 25% easier. My main knock on my current setup is brewing on a gas stove from the 90's.

The efficiency difference would be negligible, if at all. Pouring over the top would be like a lazy fly sparge assuming you added it immediately after lifting the basket. I personally don't think the few percentage points you gain by sparging is worth having to heat up separate water and would rather add the extra 5% grain to just do a full volume no sparge. That is the added simplification that most enjoy about single vessel brewing.