Anvil foundry vs Robobrew?

[Sajjeev]

Hello guys,
I am planning to get a all grain electric brewing system and I am debating between these two. I would appreciate any insights on these.

TIA

 

[Knightshade]

Not to be a prick, but you've got a lot of reading/listening/watching to do dude. Somebody's likes/dislikes about their specific system is going to resonate with you more than others for only reasons you can answer. Part of that discovery is perusing the vast amount of information available to you either on this site, or on others. Good luck.

 

[myndflyte]

I'm sure someone on YouTube has done a comparison as I doubt not many have both systems. You may just get a lot of one sided comparisons.

 

[Squidmanoo7]

There is a lot of YouTube pros and cons for each system I personally ordered a foundry cause the price and the total package seems to be better watched a lot of YouTube to compare them first like knight shade said it’s all personal preference tho

 

[rjhoff]

I own a robobrew 3.0 35L w/ pump and am reasonably satisfied with it. I've never seen an Anvil system let alone brewed on it, so its tough to provide a valid comparison. I understand Anvil has dual voltage, which is cool. Most of my negatives with Robobrew are related to big beers, 16 lb grain bill or larger, but thats just a capacity issue, easily comparable to Anvil. Check out here for decent reviews: Short Circuited Brewers

EDIT: I did replace the included immersion chiller (it works, just not too fast) with a Jaded Scylla chiller.

 

[Oldpaddy]

Dont forget you might not be able to get what you want. I tried buying an anvil foundry. After two months I gave up and bought a robobrew 35L. So many sellers have items listed as in stock, but they're lying. It took me about 3 months to get everything I needed to brew.

 

[GMO3]

EDIT: I did replace the included immersion chiller (it works, just not too fast) with a Jaded Scylla chiller.

rjhoff How much quicker is the Scylla chiller? I'm in the same situation with the included chiller taking way to long to drop temp. I've been looking at the Scylla, just haven't pulled trigger yet.

 

[bleme]

rjhoff How much quicker is the Scylla chiller? I'm in the same situation with the included chiller taking way to long to drop temp. I've been looking at the Scylla, just haven't pulled trigger yet.

Check out Cuss, founded by one of the Jaded founders. Their version is $20 cheaper plus they offer free shipping. I had originally ordered from Jaded but hadn't heard a peep from them for 3 weeks so I cancelled my order and ordered from Cuss. Cuss shipped in 2 days.
https://cussbrewing.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-all-in-one-tricoil

 

[rjhoff]

rjhoff How much quicker is the Scylla chiller? I'm in the same situation with the included chiller taking way to long to drop temp. I've been looking at the Scylla, just haven't pulled trigger yet.

I never measured it but I'd say my time was cut about in half: say 40 mins down to 20. Plus a lot better construction.

 

[GMO3]

Check out Cuss, founded by one of the Jaded founders. Their version is $20 cheaper plus they offer free shipping. I had originally ordered from Jaded but hadn't heard a peep from them for 3 weeks so I cancelled my order and ordered from Cuss. Cuss shipped in 2 days.
https://cussbrewing.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-all-in-one-tricoil

Thanks, I'll check Cuss out.

 

[GMO3]

I never measured it but I'd say my time was cut about in half: say 40 mins down to 20. Plus a lot better construction.

Yes, the 45 minutes cooling times suck. I'm in the North East and are water temperature has come up quite a bit the last couple weeks.

Thanks for response.

 

[rjhoff]

Check out Cuss, founded by one of the Jaded founders. Their version is $20 cheaper plus they offer free shipping. I had originally ordered from Jaded but hadn't heard a peep from them for 3 weeks so I cancelled my order and ordered from Cuss. Cuss shipped in 2 days.
https://cussbrewing.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-all-in-one-tricoil

Looks like Jaded forgot to patent their products!

 

[GMO3]

Looks like Jaded forgot to patent their products!

Does it look to be same quality as the Jaded? Cleaning copper not a bad as some have told me?

 

[bleme]

Looks like Jaded forgot to patent their products!

As a Jaded founder, the founder of Cuss also owns the patents.

CuS.S. Brewing Equipment was started by Jeremy McGranahan after his 6 year partnership at JaDeD Brewing ended. During his time at JaDeD Brewing, Jeremy was one of the main designers in all 12 of the chillers that were sold by that company, in addition, there were many more custom designs that were done to accommodate specific needs of customers. As negotiated during the process of selling his stake in JaDeD, Jeremy retained his patent rights and the right to manufacture homebrewing equipment.

 

[bleme]

Does it look to be same quality as the Jaded? Cleaning copper not a bad as some have told me?

Same quality and cleaning is just hosing it off and hanging it upside down after use.

 

[rjhoff]

Does it look to be same quality as the Jaded? Cleaning copper not a bad as some have told me?

Hard to tell from the website pics - they look the same. I'm not beholden to Jaded - they're not good at connecting, the transaction was impersonal with minimal communication / update. I like the product though (Jaded Scilla), been using it for 1 1/2 years. Very durable. I always have 5 gallons of PBW and 5 gallons od star-san on hand during brew day, so I soak in sanitizer before using, hose it off afterward, soak in PBW solution, hose it, then shelve it

 

[GMO3]

Thank you both for the info (bleme & rjhoff)

 

[Knightshade]

Do they charge extra for the foundry modified version?

On another note, I placed a pre-order for the Foundry (direct) when they last opened them up on the 22nd of June and it shipped yesterday.

 

[Zeno]

I just ordered the Foundry on 7/2 and it shipped 7/8. Due to arrive 7/14.

Foundry seemed like the absolute best bang for the buck... as long as you are okay to cap at a 17lb grain bill and okay with 120v heat up time.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Hard to tell from the website pics - they look the same. I'm not beholden to Jaded - they're not good at connecting, the transaction was impersonal with minimal communication / update. I like the product though (Jaded Scilla), been using it for 1 1/2 years. Very durable. I always have 5 gallons of PBW and 5 gallons od star-san on hand during brew day, so I soak in sanitizer before using, hose it off afterward, soak in PBW solution, hose it, then shelve it

I can't say enough good things about Jeremy at CuS.S. brewing. Ordered the "all in one" in january for my 10.5g foundry, used it a bunch but it actually didn't fit flat in the foundry because of the dip tube was literally about a half inch too long. I chalked this up to my poor measurements on my part and continued to use it as is. About a couple weeks ago a friend asked me about the chiller and when I went to the website, I noticed a new "modification" for the anvil foundry. So I emailed Jeremy about it asking if the modification was to make it able to sit flat. He emailed me back in about 24hrs and said he was going to make and then send me a new one in a couple of days to "make it right with me" with the modification and provided paid postage for me to send him back the old one. I was blown away as I didn't even ask for this. I got it about a week after that email. Awesome! So Ive now brewed with the new all-in-one try coil twice and it sits flat and Im no longer worried about the snag on the dip tube or unseating the dip tube etc.

I will say this. Both chillers from CuS.S. were very well made quality wise. Today I chilled to 90 degrees (pitch temps for the kviek I was using) in about 5 minutes with 83 degree ground water (north carolina). Its great and highly recommend.

Lastly - given the moto for CuS.S. is "equipment you can swear by", I never paid attention to the period between the S's in the company name. But after my experience with Jeremy - I noticed his cleverness: CuStomer Service.

kudos to CuS.S brewing and glad to help out a great company.

EDIT: I did use a spin cycle overboard whirlpool arm (18") from brew hardware.com to assist with chilling and both the whirlpool arm and chiller make chilling a breeze with no effort on my part.

 

[RePete]

My solution was to add my old copper immersion cooler inline in an ice bath in front of the Robobrew immersion cooler.

 

[Knightshade]

EDIT: I did use a spin cycle overboard whirlpool arm (18") from brew hardware.com to assist with chilling and both the whirlpool arm and chiller make chilling a breeze with no effort on my part.

This is music to my ears. I ordered the no drill version with the intent of using it with the 10.5 foundry or my 7.5 kettle should the desire hit me to use it after owning the foundry at some point.

Was wondering/hoping it would work okay with either the Cuss or Jaded all in one coolers if (yeah right...when) I decide to upgrade.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

This is music to my ears. I ordered the no drill version with the intent of using it with the 10.5 foundry or my 7.5 kettle should the desire hit me to use it after owning the foundry at some point.

Was wondering/hoping it would work okay with either the Cuss or Jaded all in one coolers if (yeah right...when) I decide to upgrade.

I put the no drill overboard spin cycle right over the dip tube. The whirlpool arm points towards 3 o'clock and had the dip tube pointed in the same 3 o'clock direction. Worked great today for whirl pooling and chilling. With the CusS all in one tricoil, the coils have just enough space between the coils that the whirlpool isn't obstructed much either. the "current" passes through the chiller just what you want. Before I had the spin cycle arm, I manually moved the chiller vertically to help with chilling, but today I just let the whirlpool arm do the wort moving work. Was certainly nice.

 

[Pete S]

I own a robobrew 3.0 35L w/ pump and am reasonably satisfied with it. I've never seen an Anvil system let alone brewed on it, so its tough to provide a valid comparison. I understand Anvil has dual voltage, which is cool. Most of my negatives with Robobrew are related to big beers, 16 lb grain bill or larger, but thats just a capacity issue, easily comparable to Anvil. Check out here for decent reviews: Short Circuited Brewers

EDIT: I did replace the included immersion chiller (it works, just not too fast) with a Jaded Scylla chiller.

I'll second Short Circuited Brewers as fairly comparing the pros and cons of different models. Another that I would recommend are these guys Genus Brewing who have reviewed both, and can be entertaining to watch at times.

I chose to go with the 6.5 gallon Anvil Foundry, but from all of my research, the Robobrew is a good unit as well. I wasn't thrilled about the extra perforations on the sides of the mash pipe on the 10.5 gallon Foundry, which don't exist in the mash pipe for the smaller unit. I know it's to prevent stuck sparges, but it also means that water/wort isn't flowing through the grain bed uniformly. There are other things that can be done to help that, like adding rice hulls, doing a beta-glucanase rest, or not recirculating too fast. I didn't order the full recirculation kit with the Foundry. From their replacement parts section, I ordered the boiler lid tube and the perforated disc, for an additional $31. I'm supplying my own pump and valve.

I ordered my 6.5 gallon Foundry on July 4th, directly from Anvil. It was showing mid-July availability. It shipped yesterday and is due to be delivered on Monday, July 13th.

 

[rjhoff]

My gut feel is that most of these systems are similar, with minor quirky differences. At the time I bought my Robobrew, only the Grainfather was available at more than 2x the cost (I couldn’t justify it). I bought mine through Williams Brewing and they've provided excellent support. If I eventually decide to buy a new system I’d consider everything out there.

 

[rjhoff]

I'll second Short Circuited Brewers as fairly comparing the pros and cons of different models. Another that I would recommend are these guys Genus Brewing who have reviewed both, and can be entertaining to watch at times.

I chose to go with the 6.5 gallon Anvil Foundry, but from all of my research, the Robobrew is a good unit as well. I wasn't thrilled about the extra perforations on the sides of the mash pipe on the 10.5 gallon Foundry, which don't exist in the mash pipe for the smaller unit. I know it's to prevent stuck sparges, but it also means that water/wort isn't flowing through the grain bed uniformly. There are other things that can be done to help that, like adding rice hulls, doing a beta-glucanase rest, or not recirculating too fast. I didn't order the full recirculation kit with the Foundry. From their replacement parts section, I ordered the boiler lid tube and the perforated disc, for an additional $31. I'm supplying my own pump and valve.

I ordered my 6.5 gallon Foundry on July 4th, directly from Anvil. It was showing mid-July availability. It shipped yesterday and is due to be delivered on Monday, July 13th.

I subscribed to genus brewing. I struggle to find good YouTube channels that are both entertains and informative. I’ll check em out!

 

[RePete]

I have the Robobrew, but I think the Anvil Foundry looks awfully good. It wasn't available when I bought mine. The ability to switch to 220V, and the slightly larger capacity, would both be nice. I have thought of adding 220v to my garage to be able to charge my car faster, and will probably do that soon. At which point I'll really want the 220v version. The Robobrew has been great, and I'm happy that I bought it. These units do really need a recirculation pump. Having one built in is very convenient. Would hate to give that feature up.

 

[RePete]

My gut feel is that most of these systems are similar, with minor quirky differences. At the time I bought my Robobrew, only the Grainfather was available at more than 2x the cost (I couldn’t justify it). I bought mine through Williams Brewing and they've provided excellent support. If I eventually decide to buy a new system I’d consider everything out there.

Same here on all counts.

 

[Sajjeev]

Thank you for all your input guys, I ordered Anvil Foundry 10.5 G last night from NY brew supply and it has already been shipped.
so excited to brew my mango IPA

 

[Karpool]

Not to be a prick, but you've got a lot of reading/listening/watching to do dude. Somebody's likes/dislikes about their specific system is going to resonate with you more than others for only reasons you can answer. Part of that discovery is perusing the vast amount of information available to you either on this site, or on others. Good luck.

I love these comments. “Not to be a prick, but...”. Oh no no. Please go on. Don’t let being a prick stop you.