[Wilbur]

I have an Anvil foundry 10.5. The Anvil is 3 gallons bigger, so you can no sparge. Cleaning is pretty easy, and it uses 3x low density elements. The ability to switch between 120V and 240V is nice. Mash>boil time is about 45 minutes on 120 and about 20ish minutes on 240. The delay feature is great for preheating your water for your brew day. The malt pipe is a bit harder to clean then my old BIAB bag, and the chiller is just OK.

The price is great. I've never felt the need to adjust the temperature on my phone, so it didn't make sense to me to shell out an extra $700 for the grainfather. I don't do complicated step mashes, so manually setting the temperature isn't a big deal. I don't have any experience with the Grainfather, but I'm sure it has a nicer feel to it. I think the quality of the Anvil is good, but it's a "value" product by design.



Have you looked at the comparison chart on the Anvil website? It's pretty nice summary.

[SeanFawcett]

So...  I pulled the trigger and bought an Anvil Foundry from my local brewing supply store...  first brew with it tomorrow.   

I have a couple questions:

If anyone knows...  The instructions say to install the dip tube "in the same direction as the closed valve handle so you know the position".   What direction should the dip tube be pointing when you are recirculating?  What about when draining the wort to the fermenter?

Also:  I notice someone mentioned starting the strike water before going to bed the night before brewing.  Why is that beneficial?

Any other tips before I dive in tomorrow.

Thanks

[tommymorris]

I don’t have a foundry. I wonder if you watch Youtube videos about the system if you will see the valve you are asking about. Good luck.

[Oiscout]

If your looking at the foundry from the front I always have the Dip tube pointing to the right, I no chill brew so I drain everything into my container, the rest is up to you

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[SeanFawcett]

Also, I am brewing an "America Brown Ale" which has 11 lbs. grain.  In my old brew-in-a-bag setup, I would mash with 3-1/2 gallons of water and sparge with 4 gallons.  My rationale was that I wanted to get every last sugar out of the mash with a thorough sparge.  Most of what I see for the Anvil Foundry suggests suggest 6.2 gal. strike water and 7.2 total, i.e. 1 gallon sparge. 

Does that seem right?  Was I way off base with my previous thinking?  (Of course using a recirculating pump changes things)

I might be more inclined to mash with 5.5 gal and sparge with 2...

Thoughts?

[Oiscout]

I would follow the guide they gave you, I have on two sparge brews and done one no sparge and everything has been dead on.

As a heads up don't use a BIAB mesh bag inside of the mash tube on it if you do no sparge. My efficiency was garbage trying that

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[Oiscout]

Be sure to follow their strike water temp calculation as well. I didn't first time and wayyyy over shot

I have gotten into the habit of keeping the power at 50 percent when mashing if your using 240 volts

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[Wilbur]

So...  I pulled the trigger and bought an Anvil Foundry from my local brewing supply store...  first brew with it tomorrow.   

I have a couple questions:

If anyone knows...  The instructions say to install the dip tube "in the same direction as the closed valve handle so you know the position".   What direction should the dip tube be pointing when you are recirculating?  What about when draining the wort to the fermenter?

Also:  I notice someone mentioned starting the strike water before going to bed the night before brewing.  Why is that beneficial?

Any other tips before I dive in tomorrow.

Thanks

If you're running the system on 120V, it  takes about 1.5 hours to heat water from 55 F to 150F. It's about half that on 240. I like to get things ready before brewday (weighing grain, mineral additions, etc.) so brew day all I need to do is mash in. If you do all your prep while your water is heating up, then that might not be such a big deal for you. Keep in mind that the delay feature counts down to when the system will start heating, so if it's 9:30 PM and want to brew at 8 AM the next day you need to set the delay to 9 hours (start heating water at 6:30 AM @ 120V for 1.5 hours).

[erockrph]

So...  I pulled the trigger and bought an Anvil Foundry from my local brewing supply store...  first brew with it tomorrow.   

I have a couple questions:

If anyone knows...  The instructions say to install the dip tube "in the same direction as the closed valve handle so you know the position".   What direction should the dip tube be pointing when you are recirculating?  What about when draining the wort to the fermenter?

Also:  I notice someone mentioned starting the strike water before going to bed the night before brewing.  Why is that beneficial?

Any other tips before I dive in tomorrow.

Thanks

If you're running the system on 120V, it  takes about 1.5 hours to heat water from 55 F to 150F. It's about half that on 240. I like to get things ready before brewday (weighing grain, mineral additions, etc.) so brew day all I need to do is mash in. If you do all your prep while your water is heating up, then that might not be such a big deal for you. Keep in mind that the delay feature counts down to when the system will start heating, so if it's 9:30 PM and want to brew at 8 AM the next day you need to set the delay to 9 hours (start heating water at 6:30 AM @ 120V for 1.5 hours).

This feature alone is worth the price of admission on the Anvil. I can prep my water the night before, set the timer, and be ready to mash in before I start making my son's breakfast. That extra hour of sleep is priceless

[Oiscout]

So...  I pulled the trigger and bought an Anvil Foundry from my local brewing supply store...  first brew with it tomorrow.   

I have a couple questions:

If anyone knows...  The instructions say to install the dip tube "in the same direction as the closed valve handle so you know the position".   What direction should the dip tube be pointing when you are recirculating?  What about when draining the wort to the fermenter?

Also:  I notice someone mentioned starting the strike water before going to bed the night before brewing.  Why is that beneficial?

Any other tips before I dive in tomorrow.

Thanks

If you're running the system on 120V, it  takes about 1.5 hours to heat water from 55 F to 150F. It's about half that on 240. I like to get things ready before brewday (weighing grain, mineral additions, etc.) so brew day all I need to do is mash in. If you do all your prep while your water is heating up, then that might not be such a big deal for you. Keep in mind that the delay feature counts down to when the system will start heating, so if it's 9:30 PM and want to brew at 8 AM the next day you need to set the delay to 9 hours (start heating water at 6:30 AM @ 120V for 1.5 hours).

This feature alone is worth the price of admission on the Anvil. I can prep my water the night before, set the timer, and be ready to mash in before I start making my son's breakfast. That extra hour of sleep is priceless

The anvil foundry coupled with no chill brewing has made my brew days such a breeze and even more enjoyable, and I didn't think I could get more enjoyment out of making my own beer!!!

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[SeanFawcett]

The anvil foundry coupled with no chill brewing has made my brew days such a breeze and even more enjoyable, and I didn't think I could get more enjoyment out of making my own beer!!!

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Im not fmiliar with "No Chill Brewing".  I can look up the details but generally, how does that work?  Is there a noticeable difference in the taste or quality of the beer?

[Kevin]

The anvil foundry coupled with no chill brewing has made my brew days such a breeze and even more enjoyable, and I didn't think I could get more enjoyment out of making my own beer!!!

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Im not fmiliar with "No Chill Brewing".  I can look up the details but generally, how does that work?  Is there a noticeable difference in the taste or quality of the beer?

The no chill method is often credited to Australian homebrewers and is simply letting the wort cool naturally. You transfer from the BK to another vessel... usually something that can be sealed and let it sit overnight. The guys at Basic Brewing Video have done many no chill  brews on their YouTube channel and claim no loss of quality in the beers made.

[Oiscout]

I will also claim no loss of quality in my beer as well

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[denny]

The anvil foundry coupled with no chill brewing has made my brew days such a breeze and even more enjoyable, and I didn't think I could get more enjoyment out of making my own beer!!!

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Im not fmiliar with "No Chill Brewing".  I can look up the details but generally, how does that work?  Is there a noticeable difference in the taste or quality of the beer?

https://www.experimentalbrew.com/podcast/brew-files-episode-80-chill-out-or-dont

[denny]

The anvil foundry coupled with no chill brewing has made my brew days such a breeze and even more enjoyable, and I didn't think I could get more enjoyment out of making my own beer!!!

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Im not fmiliar with "No Chill Brewing".  I can look up the details but generally, how does that work?  Is there a noticeable difference in the taste or quality of the beer?

The no chill method is often credited to Australian homebrewers and is simply letting the wort cool naturally. You transfer from the BK to another vessel... usually something that can be sealed and let it sit overnight. The guys at Basic Brewing Video have done many no chill  brews on their YouTube channel and claim no loss of quality in the beers made.

When Drew and I were in Australia it was rare to find a homebrewer who didn't do no chill.  The usual vessel is an HDPE jerry can.  Tne beers were uniformly excellent and if you hadn't been told you'd never know they were no chill.  Even major homebrew stores produce ready to pitch wort which is hot packed.  Certainly turned our heads around.