|
Post by Seven on Jun 22, 2020 11:22:14 GMT -6
I have 220 in the laundry room but it's not an easily accessible outlet. I'll be Ok only going 120 for now out in the garage. My 10G brew pot (and brew bag) needed to be replaced so this wasn't a huge incremental spend above a replacement pot. The size of the Anvil should be enough to handle 90%+ of my brewing needs. I still have my cooler tun, HLT, multiple smaller brew pots, etc. if I need more fleibility.
I'd be too scared to rig up my own electric system...
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jun 22, 2020 11:39:09 GMT -6
So this is it? For $369 this just seems too easy. I consider that cheap. Based on my labor-intensive, ghetto system I have now, this seems like a huge upgrade. What would be the major difference between using this device as opposed to my cooler mash tun, propane burner, etc? What could I do better? What would I not be able to do? Most of my batches only have 10-11 pounds of grain so I would have room to spare. Would I use this thing in the garage? Would I carve out some space in my basement and try to vent it? Would my boil be wimpy (or long) because it's electric and not propane? Honestly... I would totally get on the waiting list for this thing.
|
|
|
Post by Seven on Jun 22, 2020 12:03:23 GMT -6
I opted for the recirc kit, so an additional $100. There are cheaper (and more expensive) all-in-ones out there but Anvil is made by Blichman so I'm pretty confident that it will be a nice piece of equipment. I've heard that the boil on 120 can take a while and not be incredibly vigorous but I don't boil hard anyway. I like the fact that it's 120 or 220 so it provides some future-proofing for me if I decide to outfit a brewing area with 220. LODO steps are probably going to be different since you won't be underletting but I didn't do that anyway.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jun 22, 2020 12:16:33 GMT -6
I'm really green on this. So the tower on the right is filled with milled grain, correct? That tower is then inserted into the main piece on the left? Is the water already in there or no? I assume I could add water to the main tower any way I wanted and it could also be deox'd ahead of time. When the mash is over there is a recirc? What does that look like? Then the tower holding the grain is just lifted out of the main assembly and allowed to drain? Then you boil and then add the chiller to the main tower to chill and then drain into the fermenter? Do I have that right? Seems simple.
|
|
|
Post by drez on Jun 22, 2020 12:25:37 GMT -6
I'd be too scared to rig up my own electric system... It is not that hard. Just have to pay attention to what you are doing.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jun 22, 2020 12:36:16 GMT -6
I'd be too scared to rig up my own electric system... It is not that hard. Just have to pay attention to what you are doing.
|
|
|
Post by zymot on Jun 22, 2020 14:11:00 GMT -6
So this is it? For $369 this just seems too easy. I consider that cheap. Based on my labor-intensive, ghetto system I have now, this seems like a huge upgrade. What would be the major difference between using this device as opposed to my cooler mash tun, propane burner, etc? What could I do better? What would I not be able to do? Most of my batches only have 10-11 pounds of grain so I would have room to spare. Would I use this thing in the garage? Would I carve out some space in my basement and try to vent it? Would my boil be wimpy (or long) because it's electric and not propane? Honestly... I would totally get on the waiting list for this thing. It is too easy. If you spring for $100 for the re-circulation pump option. Really it is a BIAB system, but the "bag" is the stainles steel kettle on the right side of picture. It fits inside the kettle on the left. Grains go in the inner kettle. It heats the water and recirculates the wort from bottom to top. When you want to sparge/drain, lift the bag/inner kettle and let it drain into the wort. (there is a ring to hold it into place.) Remove the inner kettle and then fire up kettle to boil. It is pretty slick. Anvil puts teh operating instruction on their web site for details.
|
|
|
Post by zymot on Jun 22, 2020 14:17:03 GMT -6
I'd be too scared to rig up my own electric system... It is not that hard. Just have to pay attention to what you are doing.
I know how to do my wiring, I understand what needs to be done. I do not know how to ensure that is done correctly.
I found an electrician to come out and take my mechanical install, do the connections and verify it is all up to code. He also verified the correct model number of breaker for my box. At >$100, I want to buy just one.
It will be easy money for him and I have the peace of mind that it is how it should be.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jun 22, 2020 14:17:21 GMT -6
So this is it? For $369 this just seems too easy. I consider that cheap. Based on my labor-intensive, ghetto system I have now, this seems like a huge upgrade. What would be the major difference between using this device as opposed to my cooler mash tun, propane burner, etc? What could I do better? What would I not be able to do? Most of my batches only have 10-11 pounds of grain so I would have room to spare. Would I use this thing in the garage? Would I carve out some space in my basement and try to vent it? Would my boil be wimpy (or long) because it's electric and not propane? Honestly... I would totally get on the waiting list for this thing. It is too easy. If you spring for $100 for the re-circulation pump option. Really it is a BIAB system, but the "bag" is the stainles steel kettle on the right side of picture. It fits inside the kettle on the left. Grains go in the inner kettle. It heats the water and recirculates the wort from bottom to top. When you want to sparge/drain, lift the bag/inner kettle and let it drain into the wort. (there is a ring to hold it into place.) Remove the inner kettle and then fire up kettle to boil. It is pretty slick. Anvil puts teh operating instruction on their web site for details. I would spring for the recirc kit and then take my cooler MT, my brew kettle, my 25' SS chiller (and whatever else I wouldn't need) and put it all in the attic. Sincerely. This might be something I could get behind. No more propane, etc. I would probably set up a table in my garage and brew out there instead of venting from the basement. Does the recirc happen only at the end of the mash or is it a constant thing? If it were constant, I could see efficiency going up.
|
|
|
Post by Ken on Jun 22, 2020 14:29:19 GMT -6
I'm adding this video. I watched a few minutes of it and adding the grains looks a little non-low-oxygen so I may be looking for a better way to do that. I'm going to place some notes down here: 1. Around the 5:00 mark he fires up the pump. It runs through the pump, thru some silicone tubing, into some SS tubing/cane and through a predilled hole and back into the mash where I assume it will splash for 60 minutes. I'm not trying to be a low-O2 downer but that cannot be low-O2. No sir. 2. Then they splashed the shizzle out of the sparge water and then ran the sparge water over the grain where it showered over the grain and back into the kettle. I'm not criticizing, I'm observing. 3. The rest of it seems okay but I still would connect some tubing to the spigot when I drain the kettle into the fermenter and then add some pure O2 at the end of it. The guy does mention O2 and keeping it out of the beer but he did not consider that when he doughed in, splashed the sparge water or let the sparge water shower over the grains.
|
|
|
Post by Seven on Jun 22, 2020 14:30:17 GMT -6
I'm really green on this. So the tower on the right is filled with milled grain, correct? That tower is then inserted into the main piece on the left? Is the water already in there or no? I assume I could add water to the main tower any way I wanted and it could also be deox'd ahead of time. When the mash is over there is a recirc? What does that look like? Then the tower holding the grain is just lifted out of the main assembly and allowed to drain? Then you boil and then add the chiller to the main tower to chill and then drain into the fermenter? Do I have that right? Seems simple. Yep, milled grain is put in the perforated "malt pipe" and lowered into the already-heated water. A lot of people recirc the entire mash in order to gain some efficiency and ensure even temps throughout. The recirc kit is a small external pump, some misc parts and a plate to more evenly disperse the wort. When the mash is done, you can pull the basket and sparge with water heated elsewhere or even cold sparge. I plan on doing a no sparge/full volume mash since that's mainly what I've been doing lately and like the results. Just the dial to boil and proceed as normal, chill with included SS chiller and drain off the bottom or siphon/pump into the fermenter. All this said, I've never used one or paid much attention when I saw a Grainfather being used. One issue some people have with the Anvil unit is that you can't program a step mash...you'd have to manually adjust the temp.
|
|
|
Post by zymot on Jun 22, 2020 16:47:05 GMT -6
You have a display in front of you with the currrent temp. You have to take notes look at the clock to enter some numbers to tell it, "OK, now go up to 152 degrees."
The fact that you can enter a number and it reaches the set point automatically is an outstandjng feature at that price point. Where is there room to be a cry baby.
Having said that, I am pribably gokng to go conventional kettle & BIAB so i can get s Brewcommander. It will do the timed auto stepping. Too cool of a toy for me to pass up.
|
|
|
Post by Leftympfrmde on Jun 22, 2020 17:03:44 GMT -6
I'd be too scared to rig up my own electric system... It is not that hard. Just have to pay attention to what you are doing. What he said. 😁
|
|
|
Post by jkor on Jun 23, 2020 6:37:37 GMT -6
Really impressive how cheap the auto systems have become. I could've saved a fortune if I had started brewing now instead of 20 years ago!
ETA: I'm fairly certain that when I was working at the LHBS ~2000 we were selling AG startup kits for ~$225, which was just and 10g igloo cooler, plastic false bottom (which worked like shit) connected to a plastic bucket valve and a rotating sparge arm. You couldn't pay someone to brew AG with that nowadays!
|
|
|
Post by zymot on Jun 23, 2020 8:04:13 GMT -6
Some pictures show the control panel at the base (dumb), some show it higher near the top of the unit. Ken's video shows it at the base.
|
|