Anvil Foundry 10.5

The Brew Mentor

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Established Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
2,784
Reaction score
4,368
Points
113
After a bit of research, I decided to go with this system for my home brewing.
I just got it yesterday and only unpacked it.

The quality seems very good and as I'd expect from Blichmann. I have 8 of their 1BBL. Fermentors at the shop and they are very well thought out and made of high quality materials.

I went with this system for a number of reasons, hopefully they all work out.

Steam Condenser for inside brewing. After brewing inside for a number of years, I'd prefer to stay inside. There are just too many variables with outside brewing.

External Pump. Easy to disassemble for cleaning, also easy to replace. I can also use the pump for other things if I choose to.

Mash Basket. This comes apart for cleaning. False bottoms in mash tuns notoriously harbor grain debris and can be a PITA to clean. Hopefully this will make cleanup a snap.

Stainless Steel immersion chiller. I won't use this as I have a plate chiller and with the pump listed above, should be able to knock out to the fermentor in 5 minutes or less. I do plan on modifying my fermentor by adding this to it so I can temp control it with a simple aquarium pump and a cold water source. I'll be looking for some help with this, so suggestions are welcome.

I also got the hope spider and swirly arm which I may or may not use.

120/240 convertible plug. I have 240v where I plan on setting this up, so that will be the power source for at home, but with the ability to switch over to 120v and take the system to a different location on a whim is huge! Lots of possibilities here.

This system is also the proper size to fit the Turbo 500 distillation top. I may get that at some point, but there are no immediate plans for it.

As with anything, time will tell.
I plan to get it set up and brew at some point early next week.

Cheers All,
Brian
 
Oops I just noticed this is in the wrong place.
Can someone please move it to general brewing discussion? @Donoroto
 
Oops I just noticed this is in the wrong place.
Can someone please move it to general brewing discussion? @Donoroto
Outside my permissions. @Yooper should be able.

In any case, it really matters little in which subforum it sits, as most just view New Posts.
 
Good purchase. I’ve had the Anvil 6.5 for almost a year and really like it. All the positives you mentioned are pretty much why I purchased it. As you mentioned, it’s a nice feature that the bottom of the basket is removable and makes for easy cleaning of both pieces. The pump as well. The only negative I experienced was the ss chiller. I thought it was a bit cheap. But, I’m comparing it to the Jaded I have so it’s not apples to apples.

One tip, which I keep forgetting to do myself, is to remember to turn down the power level when you mash in. I have it at 100% to heat the strike water and then turn it down to around 80% (still experimenting) for the mash. If you leave it at 100%, the heating element is so powerful, especially at 240v, that the temp can jump pretty high over your mash temp. Although, the recirc pump helps even things out.
 
I'll be curious to see how my efficiency works out on this.
I'll start at a 70% and see what I actually get.
 
I use the 70% setting just have to remember to turn it back up for the boil or it seems to take forever
 
I brewed on this yesterday. Here are some notes;

The unit will be easier to use if it's up on a stand. I'll likely just build something that's about 18×36 that sits about 20" off the ground and then I'll use the box area for storage if all the parts.
I'll need a basket lifting pulley set up maybe with a swing arm as well.
Longer hoses for the chiller and also the steam condenser. Thai way I can run directly to a drain without carrying any water.
The steam condenser will need some modifications. 1st off, you can't use it with the immersion chiller in place, as the lid is cocked.
This won't be a problem when I set up my plate chiller.
Also, the lid has a hole in it for the recirculation and steam obviously escapes there. I'll just modify a stopper for that.
I'll also get a 2 to 1 splitter for the water so I'm not juggling hoses.
An oven mitt is needed as all the top parts are hot!
The combo hop basket and immersion chill don't fit side by side, so it has to be put inside the chiller. This problem will go away with the plate chiller.
I honestly don't think I'll be using the hop basket in the future as I feel it's just too restrictive an I can whirlpool as the pickup is on the side. This and 5 minutes of settling should allow a fairly clean transfer to the fermentor.
 
I brewed on this yesterday. Here are some notes;

The unit will be easier to use if it's up on a stand. I'll likely just build something that's about 18×36 that sits about 20" off the ground and then I'll use the box area for storage if all the parts.
I'll need a basket lifting pulley set up maybe with a swing arm as well.
Longer hoses for the chiller and also the steam condenser. Thai way I can run directly to a drain without carrying any water.
The steam condenser will need some modifications. 1st off, you can't use it with the immersion chiller in place, as the lid is cocked.
This won't be a problem when I set up my plate chiller.
Also, the lid has a hole in it for the recirculation and steam obviously escapes there. I'll just modify a stopper for that.
I'll also get a 2 to 1 splitter for the water so I'm not juggling hoses.
An oven mitt is needed as all the top parts are hot!
The combo hop basket and immersion chill don't fit side by side, so it has to be put inside the chiller. This problem will go away with the plate chiller.
I honestly don't think I'll be using the hop basket in the future as I feel it's just too restrictive an I can whirlpool as the pickup is on the side. This and 5 minutes of settling should allow a fairly clean transfer to the fermentor.
My only issues are the eruption of wort when heating up on 240v 100% mode and the hops clog the valve or pump when brewing a hoppy beer and yes I throw everything in
 
Oh, and efficiency was terrible.
I'll have to modify some processes to improve that
 
All your additions sound great. My Anvil is only about 6 inches off the ground. With low basement celing i need the cleatence to get the basket up , with pullies, and clear a 5 gallon bucket to go under it while removing.
Two important additions were a gage glass and a small pipe added to the pump suction to pull from around the temp probe. I think hop bags or trub was causing false temp readings.
20241209_144636.jpg
20241210_155717.jpg
20241210_155802.jpg
tht big pipe goes off to my steam condencer
 
All your additions sound great. My Anvil is only about 6 inches off the ground. With low basement celing i need the cleatence to get the basket up , with pullies, and clear a 5 gallon bucket to go under it while removing.
Two important additions were a gage glass and a small pipe added to the pump suction to pull from around the temp probe. I think hop bags or trub was causing false temp readings. View attachment 30892View attachment 30893View attachment 30894tht big pipe goes off to my steam condencer
Can you show me the rest of the steam condenser? I think I may return the factory one
 
It is a homemade affair. There pictures here somewhere. I look for them
 
It is a homemade affair. There pictures here somewhere. I look for them
I couldn't figure how to link to the pages but it is in general brewing discussions- boiling indoors
 
Nice tutorial. Some good tips. Didn’t think of going down to 50% power level on the mash. Should help with the temp variance. Also, hitting the power button followed by the “+” button will immediately set the power to 0 to prevent boil over. I don’t remember seeing that in the manual.
 

Back
Top