Considering an Anvil Foundry Brewing System

[DarrellQ]

I would appreciate your thoughts on the 10.5 version versus the 6.5 gallon version? I realize the 10.5 will allow me to brew 5 gallon batches, but will the height of 33" of the 10.5 versus 25" on the 6.5 make it harder to manage when sitting on a table, etc? Also, it seems that the all grain kits are for 5 gallon batches. I do hope to get away from the kits once I get more experience.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I don't have one (but I want one!). My understanding is that they're designed to be used from the floor. Once your mash is complete, you lift the grain basket up and set it on top to let it drain (like BIAB). That makes it ~5 ft tall. At 5 ft 7 in, I'm too short to make that work on a table.

 

[Coastalbrew]

What types of beer do you like to brew? You can still brew 5G batches in a smaller system, but you will be limited in the size of the grain bill because you will only be able to fit so much in the mash pipe. So bigger beers will be trickier in the small system. A work around for bigger beers is to reduce the batch size or divide the mash into 2 parts.

I personally like a smaller system because it's easier to deal with and I like brewing smaller 2.5-3G batches because it's just me drinking and it means I get to brew more often. (Variety is the spice of life.) But it also works fine for the odd times when I want to do a 5G batch. A lot of the online shops publish the recipes for their kits, so it's easy to scale the recipes for smaller batch sizes using brewing software, and then just buy the ingredients you need.

 

[rburrelli]

I built a 15 inch high table with a tiled top on it. That puts the display at a reasonable level.

 

[Alex4mula]

In the 6.5 you will be able to brew a lot of beers up to around 15lbs of grain if you are comfortable or about 7% abv. If you like big beers then get the bigger one. I have my Mash & Boil which is similar on a 19” custom table. I use a step to lift the basket. These systems are great and very easy to use. Get it ;-)

 

[Nokie]

In the 6.5 you will be able to brew a lot of beers up to around 15lbs of grain if you are comfortable or about 7% abv. If you like big beers then get the bigger one. I have my Mash & Boil which is similar on a 19” custom table. I use a step to lift the basket. These systems are great and very easy to use. Get it ;-)

Now that has peaked my interest. I don’t do big beers so the most I do is 13-14#. I would love the 6.5 to do 5 gals or 2.3-3 gal batches

 

[McKnuckle]

Five gallons is a lot of beer for a person without easy access to mooching friends and relatives. Five gallons is also a lot of beer when you're learning or experimenting with recipes, having no guarantee of a product you'll want that much of.

Definitely consider 2.5 gallon batches. My whole system is set up for that, with fermenters and kegs in the right sizes. Easier to store, move, reach mash/boil temps, clean, and generally manage. I would get the 6.5 Anvil if that is something you can relate to. Otherwise, the bigger one.

 

[Alex4mula]

I go through a 5gal keg in 2 weeks unless it is a high ABV Stout. I have done 62 brews since I started 2 years ago and none has come out bad. You could do the same. A 5gal keg with few friends could go very quickly. Like in a day.

 

[Coastalbrew]

Five gallons is a lot of beer for a person without easy access to mooching friends and relatives. Five gallons is also a lot of beer when you're learning or experimenting with recipes, having no guarantee of a product you'll want that much of.

Definitely consider 2.5 gallon batches. My whole system is set up for that, with fermenters and kegs in the right sizes. Easier to store, move, reach mash/boil temps, clean, and generally manage. I would get the 6.5 Anvil if that is something you can relate to. Otherwise, the bigger one.

+1 this

 

[Knightshade]

I was torn w/this same decision and ended up with a 10.5. I am the only beer drinker in the house, although my wife will take the occasional sips of my beer and 5G isn't so large that it is unmanageable...yet. I have a 4 tap kegerator and it isn't like the beer goes bad.

I ordered my Foundry earlier this year and for some reason the small ring adapter never shipped with the unit. After waiting for 2 months, and putting in a couple of brew days, I started to question whether I would ever actually use it. My reasoning was that having that...would provide me the best of both. But it is the same amount of work whether I would have been doing a small batch, or a regular one and the cost of materials isn't that significant.

 

[DarrellQ]

+1 this

The immediate problem I see with buying the 6.5 Anvil is that I see no all-grain "kits" available in 2.5 gallon sizes and I don't know enough yet about what I'm doing to spec-out my own ingredients and recipe.

 

[Coastalbrew]

A lot of the online shops publish the recipes for their kits, so it's easy to scale the recipes for smaller batch sizes using brewing software, and then just buy the ingredients you need.

Kits are a fine place to start, but you don't have to always buy the kit to make the kit beer. If you are buying from a LHBS, you can ask them if they can scale the recipe down for you. If you're buying online look for recipes that are published and you can scale the recipe using brewing software like brewer's friend. Most of the software out there have a scale feature built in. You type in the original recipe as published, hit the scale button and tell it what the new batch size is, and the software does all the leg work for you. Makes it super easy. I get all my ingredients at atlanticbrewsupply.com. They sell all their grains and hops by the ounce, and with the smaller batch size, a single pack of yeast is perfect, no starter required. Atlantic publishes their kit recipes on their website and they have a free recipe calculator right on the website which is what I use to scale my recipes. Also kegconnection.com and homebrewsupply.com both publish their kit recipes as well. It sounds a lot harder than it is. Once you've done it you'll get comfortable with it and it will open up a whole world of brewing opportunities to you.

Cheers!

 

[McKnuckle]

Don't let the limitations of your early brewing days dictate equipment choices that will quickly out-live those limitations.

There are a jillion published recipes on the internet and in well-reputed books. Anyone capable of learning how to brew all grain can learn how to create a recipe and purchase the ingredients a la carte. You'll save money, and be free to indulge your curiosity as a brewer. Kits are fine but are ultimately self-limiting.

 

[Jim R]

Five gallons is a lot of beer for a person without easy access to mooching friends and relatives. Five gallons is also a lot of beer when you're learning or experimenting with recipes, having no guarantee of a product you'll want that much of.

Definitely consider 2.5 gallon batches. My whole system is set up for that, with fermenters and kegs in the right sizes. Easier to store, move, reach mash/boil temps, clean, and generally manage. I would get the 6.5 Anvil if that is something you can relate to. Otherwise, the bigger one.

Disagree for me. Five gallons is 2 cases of beer for the effort of a half day (at least) of my time brewing. That works out to about 1 beer per day to make it last 6 weeks which is my typical schedule. I would hate to spend the time, effort and money and only end up with half that.

If I were buying an expensive, brand new brewing system I would even have to consider the possibility that I may want to increase this some day to more than 5 gallons (not necessarily to drink more beer but just to make it last longer to save me time).

 

[Elric]

Disagree for me. Five gallons is 2 cases of beer for the effort of a half day (at least) of my time brewing. That works out to about 1 beer per day to make it last 6 weeks which is my typical schedule. I would hate to spend the time, effort and money and only end up with half that.

If I were buying an expensive, brand new brewing system I would even have to consider the possibility that I may want to increase this some day to more than 5 gallons (not necessarily to drink more beer but just to make it last longer to save me time).

Whereas I like variety far too much to think of drinking the same beer every night for 6 weeks, and trying to keep four or five varieties of beer going just for me at 5 gallons each? so much would probably end up getting dumped. This is a classic example of ymmv depending on a person's drinking and brewing desires.

 

[Ogilthorpe2]

Whereas I like variety far too much to think of drinking the same beer every night for 6 weeks, and trying to keep four or five varieties of beer going just for me at 5 gallons each? so much would probably end up getting dumped. This is a classic example of ymmv depending on a person's drinking and brewing desires.

Agreed. Plus, I enjoy brewing as much as drinking. 2.5 gal batches is way more fun to me.

 

[NSMikeD]

i brew 2.5 gal batches on the 6.5 Anvil. I keg.

I get 5 gal kits as gifts and just divide them in half - very easy to do.

I have gotten the kit specs and ordered the ingredients in half the quantities for 2.5 gal.

I use Beer Smith and a number of sources - LHBS, online recopies, a Clone Beer book etc to design brews - the research and design process makes the hobby more fun and interesting for me.

2.5 gals works out to 20 pints. I can brew more often letting me experiment with new styles more frequently and I can tweak a recipe sooner

The 6.5 sits on a table and i can easily lift the mash pipe and set it on top top to drain .

 

[Brewer_Dad]

I built a 15 inch high table with a tiled top on it. That puts the display at a reasonable level.

Noice. I just bought a 10.5 AF (haven't received it yet) and I'm trying to design a table setup to accommodate the sparge / ice water kettle, two pumps and the counterflow chiller.

 

[Beenym88]

I have the mash and boil because it was cheap and it’s so awesome so much more convenient then setting up outside with gas burners. I personally wouldn’t go smaller than 5 gallons because it’s just not that much beer and beer takes a while to make. I just sit mine on the floor during the brew day and when it’s finally time to drain into the fermenter I just pick it up and put it on my counter top. It doesn’t get a very vigorous boil so I’m usually lifting it up with 6 to 6.5 gallons in it. I prefer to have that much with loss from hydrometer testing and transfers.

 

[MikeCo]

A small batch adapter ring is available for the larger system to allow smaller batches. Assuming it works ok, I would think the 10.5 gallon model offers the the most flexibility.

 

[Oginme]

The argument of 5 gal vs 2.5 gal batches is really one of personal preference. If you value your time versus production more and the brewing process just a little less then 5 gal may be a better fit for you. If you like the brewing process more and value your time versus production a little less, then 2.5 gal batches may be a more appropriate choice.

I have the 6.5 gal Anvil and brew mostly 10 liter batches (2.6 gal) with the end of the boil volume being 11 liters. Getting a beer with an OG of 1.080 or a little higher is not much of a challenge depending upon your process and efficiency. I have pushed the capacity and can handle a 4.75 gal (18 liters) of a 1.060 wort with a bit more fussing around and use of a second kettle for batch sparging.

Much like others mentioned above, I prefer brewing more often, having a variety of styles, and being able to tweak recipes from one batch to the next. So for me, the 6.5 gal Anvil unit really fit my style of brewing and preferences. Make a decision based upon your goals and preferences.

 

[McKnuckle]

Yes, it's 100% personal preference, and neither more nor less beer is inherently better.

When a couple of my family members are not home for dinner on a given night and we order take-out, I don't get food for the missing folks just because I'm already looking at the menu and ordering and picking up. That would be unnecessarily costly and wasteful.

I don't boil two pounds of pasta even though I have a big enough pot for it, only to put a pile of leftovers in the fridge and be stuck eating it for days.

But I'm funny that way. I clean and re-use tin foil and Zip-Loc bags.

 

[slogger]

Is it possible to do 2.5 gallon brews in the 10.5 Gallon Anvil Foundry? I’ve always done 5 Gallon batches. The 2.5 is intriguing to me but I’d like the option to do either.

 

[DarrellQ]

Gre

Kits are a fine place to start, but you don't have to always buy the kit to make the kit beer. If you are buying from a LHBS, you can ask them if they can scale the recipe down for you. If you're buying online look for recipes that are published and you can scale the recipe using brewing software like brewer's friend. Most of the software out there have a scale feature built in. You type in the original recipe as published, hit the scale button and tell it what the new batch size is, and the software does all the leg work for you. Makes it super easy. I get all my ingredients at atlanticbrewsupply.com. They sell all their grains and hops by the ounce, and with the smaller batch size, a single pack of yeast is perfect, no starter required. Atlantic publishes their kit recipes on their website and they have a free recipe calculator right on the website which is what I use to scale my recipes. Also kegconnection.com and homebrewsupply.com both publish their kit recipes as well. It sounds a lot harder than it is. Once you've done it you'll get comfortable with it and it will open up a whole world of brewing opportunities to you.

Cheers!

Great info! Much appreciate it!

 

[Oginme]

Is it possible to do 2.5 gallon brews in the 10.5 Gallon Anvil Foundry? I’ve always done 5 Gallon batches. The 2.5 is intriguing to me but I’d like the option to do either.

One of the main reasons I went with the 6.5 gal was the side perforations in the basket of the 10.5 gal unit. I calculated out the grain depth and decided that the top of the bed for most recipes would be just above the perforations and that might lead to more flow bypassing the bulk of the grain bed. I toyed with the idea of making a ring to slide down to block the side ports off, kind of like the small batch ring they have released as an add-on. In the end, the process engineer in me rationalized that it would be easier to push the limits of a system which was designed towards the 90% of my brewing preferences rather than try to make 90% of my brews at the bottom end of the capabilities of the larger system. I spent quite some time emailing and talking to the Anvil engineers at Homebrewcon before making a final decision.

Using the ring may help with the smaller batch size in the larger Anvil, but I have no direct experience in how well it handles the lower grain bed or the efficiency you might expect from it.

 

[myndflyte]

I got the 10.5 version and also bought a bag that fits in the malt pipe so I can grind my grain really fine. I do really like the system but after 4 or 5 brews in it, I'm still trying to up my mash efficiency from 60%. I did buy the pump kit and do recirculate with the mash. I've noticed I get better efficiency if I sparge and I think I'm going to squeeze the bag like I did with my old BIAB setup.

I would recommend going with the 10.5 gallon setup and getting the malt pipe ring if you want to do smaller batches. Always leave room to scale up. That being said, I think the best feature is being able to switch to 240v if you have that available. Plus it finally allow me to make my basement brewery.