New Anvil Bucket Fermentors

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I brewed my first batch today with my new 7.5g Anvil bucket. Everything went together well and seemed solid. My only complaint is the silicone stopper they included, it has already been cut up from the lid hole. I'll be looking for another drilled stopper and a way to smooth the hole. It is razor sharp right now.
 
Kegged my first beer out of the 7.5 bucket and the fermentation and kegging went smoothly. Very happy with it easy clean up ready for the next batch. Would recommend to anyone looking for a SS fermenter, for the price I don't think this can be beat.
 
Regarding the handles, Blichmann/Anvil has them front and back on their brew kettles now. For once, no thermometer or spigot hitting me in the stomach or other sensitive area (or is anyone walking around and picks them up from behind). Putting the handles on big pots over some installations instead of the sides is something so simple and cheap that you wonder how little manufacturers care about their products (as long as they sell).
Speaking of it, I love shiny stainless steel, but without a spunding option, I stick with kegs. I hate plastic and broke too many bottles and glass carboys to continue down that route. However, all of these buckets are not convincing me either: They don't have a conical bottom with a true bottom valve and they don't hold pressure, cost at least double of a used corny, no pressurized transfer and are overall not as versatile.
PS: it looks like a one piece valve and an embossed scale; is this how Anvil buckets come?
 
Can these be used to dump trub and yeast so I can use it as a primary and secondary fermentation vessel (i.e. will it eliminate need to transfer to another secondary fermenter?)?
 
IMG_9382.JPG
Just brewed my first batch into the four gallon bucket. So far, so good.
 
Has anyone checked the accuracy of the volume markings?
I thought about it last night as filling it with wort.

Btw- I’m pretty happy with it. My only nitpicks would be the non collapsible side handles and the I would make the handles on the four clasps easier to grab.
 
plazola86 said:
It’s hard plastic. It looks like it’s glued on, looks easy to remove. I might need to do that to one of mine to be able to fit both in my freezer.
Click to expand...

Unless there is a way to restabilize the fermenter, it might not be a good idea to remove the hard plastic bottom. The bottom of the fermenter is a cone and not flat, so it’s not going to sit Level if the base is removed.
 
The biggest issue I have with these fermenters is the handles. If they were fold down handles like on the Chapmans and some of the conicals, I'd probably splurge for a couple of the 4 gallon to get rid of my 3 gallon BB carboys.
 
thanks to everyone here who shared their experiences, pix, etc. with the Anvil bucket. i'm considering getting a few.

appmy said:
My only complaint is the silicone stopper they included, it has already been cut up from the lid hole. I'll be looking for another drilled stopper and a way to smooth the hole. It is razor sharp right now.
Click to expand...
do you (or anyone else) know what size stopper/bung this thing takes?

i'd like to use a BrewJacket Immersion Pro with this. this device works with Better Bottle-type fermentors, which take a #10 stopper. so as long as the Anvil's opening is a #10 or larger, we're in business.
 
ancientmariner52 said:
I know I'm a little late, but that milk crate looks ready to collapse. You could cut a piece of plywood to distribute the load better, and avoid disaster. Be safe!
Click to expand...

Lol! It’s plenty sturdy but I bought a 2nd 4 gallon fermenter and now I have a dedicated platform for the two fermenters. They work great.
 
sweetcell said:
do you (or anyone else) know what size stopper/bung this thing takes?

i'd like to use a BrewJacket Immersion Pro with this. this device works with Better Bottle-type fermentors, which take a #10 stopper. so as long as the Anvil's opening is a #10 or larger, we're in business.
Click to expand...
answering my own question: i pinged Anvil support, and got the following answer:

ME: what is the bung/stopper size on 7.5 gal fermentor bucket? Size 10? other?

ANVIL: No, it is a #7 stopper with a hole.
​
#7 stopper = 30 (narrow bottom) to 37 mm (wider top), so actual hole is probably around 33 mm, or 1.3"... BrewJacket needs at least 1.5".

so: one cannot use a BrewJacket without increasing the size of the hole. not sure that they make step bits that big... for SS Brewtech buckets, BJ makes a custom lid. maybe if/when these anvil buckets take off, they'll make one for it too.
 
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Is anyone jumping their beer straight into a corny? I’m only on my second batch with the bucket. The first I siphoned into a carboy (it was a cider). The current batch is a pale ale and I want to transfer to a corny.

Ps- I’m bumping an earlier question- has anyone double checked the volume markings? I can but will have to wait until it’s empty.
 
Looking for a fermentor for 2.5g-3g brews. I would like to move to SS.

I am considering the BrewBucket, the Anvil, and the FastFerment.


How do you guys like the 4 gallon version?
 
WBB said:
Isn’t the fast ferment a plastic conical?

I’ve been taking a hard look at the anvil.
Click to expand...

It is. But it is an option other than a BB carboy or a bucket. It's only 3 gal, so that's not great, and I'd rather go SS. But the 3gal FastFerment is only $55, and it's a conical so I am considering it. But the Anvil looks really interesting. Didn't know it was a thing until today.
 
AZBeer said:
Looking for a fermentor for 2.5g-3g brews. I would like to move to SS.

I am considering the BrewBucket, the Anvil, and the FastFerment.


How do you guys like the 4 gallon version?
Click to expand...

I like mine and want a second one but they are on backorder until march
 
PADave said:
I was about to pull the trigger on one, but this kinda concerns me. Already have one SS Brewbucket, looking to add another but thought about trying this Anvil out. I wish Spike brewing would come out with a similar product with welded fittings.
Click to expand...

Great idea, on Spike. Have you contacted them?

I'm looking for a much simpler stainless option for up to 15 gallons of open fermentation. Thinking of actually using my MLT and it wouldn't tie it up too long as it racks to another vessel after 3-4 days. Still, that's 3-4 days I might brew something else, and I'd prefer a fairly inexpensive solution for the purpose. These anvils intrigued me, but for the smaller capacities, and I'm looking for a wider, shallower vessel.
 
AzOr said:
Has anyone checked the accuracy of the volume markings?
I thought about it last night as filling it with wort.

Btw- I’m pretty happy with it. My only nitpicks would be the non collapsible side handles and the I would make the handles on the four clasps easier to grab.
Click to expand...

I have the 4gl fermenter. My 2 and 3gl markings are off, reading about 1/4gl high. The 4gl mark is right on. Looking at the marks themselves there are 3 marks between 2 and 3gl and only 2 marks between 3 and 4gl. Other than that I really like the fermenter.
 
Thanks for checking the markings. I have the larger model. I should transfer my beer this week into a corny and I can check the volume markings on my model.
Btw- another minor annoyance- the 7.5g model’s markings only go down to the 4 gallon mark.
I do plenty of 3gal meads and ciders. It would be nice to have the markings go down to at least 2gal mark.
 
Just ordered a 4gal from Austin Home Brew. They say that they are available to drop ship from Anvil.
 
Lol, Anvil told me the markings are by weight not volume. So I guess we need to weigh out the gallons by 8.34lb per gal and the marks will be correct?
 
How easy is the cleaning process? Looking for something with fewer parts clean and deal with.

I have the Catalyst and overall I like it except the many parts to take apart and clean.
 
wobdee said:
Lol, Anvil told me the markings are by weight not volume. So I guess we need to weigh out the gallons by 8.34lb per gal and the marks will be correct?
Click to expand...

Weight of what? Sounds like a poor excuse for inaccurate markings.
 
Anyone have a solution for some kind of insulation jacket for these yet? Thinking of making something from Reflectix. Not crazy about using a blanket with an electric heating belt, especially after watching the back neighbors spend 9 months recovering from a relatively small fire.
 
Anyone have any guidance on closed transfers with the anvil? I saw it was discussed earlier but no real solution was presented. Has anyone tried it? If so, would love to hear your process.
 
matt_m said:
Anyone have a solution for some kind of insulation jacket for these yet? Thinking of making something from Reflectix. Not crazy about using a blanket with an electric heating belt, especially after watching the back neighbors spend 9 months recovering from a relatively small fire.
Click to expand...
how hot does your brew-belt get? it's been a while but last time i had one, i don't remember it getting that hot - certainly not hot enough to light something. you could do an experiment: put the belt around a bucket/carboy/etc., put it outside somewhere safe, plug in and then wait a few hours...

i'm using reptile heating pads (like this one) with a blanket thrown over it. no issues so far, but maybe these pads do a better job of distributing the heat?

making something with reflectix is probably a good idea anyways, since it'll provide better insulation. i've been planning on putting something together like that myself.

brewstand3.jpg
 
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Not hot, they seem to top out around 75. I don't worry about normal operation and a blanket, I worry about a malfunction and a blanket. The Reflectix is supposed to be self-extinguishing according to their safety info. I'm formulating a plan in my head of maybe 2 layers of Reflectix and stick-on velcro to make a wrap around jacket with maybe a hood for the top but will wait for the fermentors to ship. Hopefully I got in the queue before they became back-ordered today!
 
Regarding closed transfers, I put a stopper in mine and cold crash for a few days. To keg it, I pull the stopper and replace with a piece of sanctities do foil. I'm going right from the valve on the fermenter to the beer line of the keg. The gas line goes in a jar of san star. I've thought about having the gas line go to a one hole stopper in the lid of the fermenter but I've had no issues with O2.
 
If the hole is 1-3/8 ish it should be easy to solder a TC fitting on or even do it weldless with a 1" NPT to 1-1/2" TC adapter from Brew Hardware. Then there's all sort of options for what to put on top.
 
Cevan65 said:
Regarding closed transfers, I put a stopper in mine and cold crash for a few days. To keg it, I pull the stopper and replace with a piece of sanctities do foil. I'm going right from the valve on the fermenter to the beer line of the keg. The gas line goes in a jar of san star. I've thought about having the gas line go to a one hole stopper in the lid of the fermenter but I've had no issues with O2.
Click to expand...

I'm having trouble envisioning what you mean here. What do you mean by gas line goes into a jar of star san? My thought was to use a barb through the stopper that comes with the Anvil and hook up the gas to that at 1 psi then open the valve and transfer that way.
 
Gas line is the gas port on the keg. I feel the keg with star San, and then push it out with CO2 leaving the keg full of just CO2. When the beer goes in through the beer port on the keg, the CO2 is pushed out through the gas port on the keg. My transfer is purely gravity fed.
 
I bought one of the 4 gallon models recently. I haven't used it yet, but I have un-boxed, assembled and cleaned it. I can say that while it doesn't feel "heavy duty", it does feel well made. It appears to be a good alternative to glass, and has been mentioned before, is a little cheaper than other SS fermenters. Will report back after using it.
 
bronzdragon said:
I can say that while it doesn't feel "heavy duty", it does feel well made.
Click to expand...
this is my chief complaint about the anvil bucket - it does feel light. i should have expected this, as this is a low-cost alternative to the heavier-duty offerings out there. still seems plenty strong to put up with a lot of use and abuse, so i'm not worried about durability, but it's a bit of a surprise the first time you pick one up.

the feature that i love the most is the rotating racking arm. however i'll be keeping an eye on its durability. seems to me that over time, the seals could wear down and i'm concerned that it could leak. hopefully this is an unfounded worry.
 
PADave said:
Weight of what? Sounds like a poor excuse for inaccurate markings.
Click to expand...
I mean who knows if that's really why they're off, but isn't that actually an excuse for very accurate markings. Isn't that like the most accurate way you could do it?
 

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