98 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

If I remember correctly, you get sulfur dioxide from breakdown of excess campden. That is considerably more water soluble than chlorine, so heat conditions that cause the sulfites to leave would have caused the chlorine to leave sooner anyway. You're going to have residual sulfites if you use campden. Sulfites are a better residual in your beer then chlorine and I understand some people want them there for hopes of antioxidant properties. If you're heating your water to 160 degrees in topical homebrew times, the chlorine (not chloramine) is going to be gone as chlorine gas before you mash in, with or without campden. I was just worried I created a situation where the chlorine couldn't leave effectively.

 

I believe my water has chloramine as well.

[MakeMeHoppy]

I believe my water has chloramine as well.

check with your water company.    Are you prepared to move if needed?  

[positiveContact]

as of 2008 I see chlorine and monochloramine listed in the report.

 

in any event this is the first I've heard of anyone being able to detect residual flavors/aromas from sulfites left over from the campden tablet.  When I switched from filtering to campden tablets I didn't notice a difference.  I actually remember the exact beer I did it on and it was one of my better batches and I really enjoyed not having to filter all of the water.

Edited by Mando, 25 September 2020 - 12:17 PM.

[porter]

I freely admit did not do any sort of controlled experiment so it could have been that, or something else. At any rate, I don't need to use it, so I won't.

[positiveContact]

I freely admit did not do any sort of controlled experiment so it could have been that, or something else. At any rate, I don't need to use it, so I won't.

Yeah, I'm only doing it because I think my only other option would be to boil all of my water ahead of time and let it settle out. An I wrong about that? If I had hard water I might consider this but that's fortunately not something I have to contend with.

[porter]

Ok, I think I psyched myself out with changing my brew process. After three days carbing in the keg, this is actually pretty good. There is some special B in the recipe I used, which I was hesitant to use because I usually don't care for, but it just needed a bit longer to all blend together.

[positiveContact]

[porter]

Second brew is done today and went well. Having the water preheated when you wake up is amazing! Brew day was 4 hours. That was with a 1 hour mash and boil, both of which I'd cut to 45 minutes on my other setup. I used the recirculation pump this time which seemed to work well. I also used it to transfer to the fermenter. 

 

I'm still using 120 volt, but when I get switched to 240 volt that will save me another 20-25 minutes (it took 55 minutes to reach a boil after mashing; 240 volt should get this down to 35 minutes), not to mention a more vigorous boil (it boils with 120, but not a fast boil). So overall, I could get the brew down to around 3 hours and change. 

 

Loving the system so far. 70% efficiency on a 1.051 OG Helles. 

[positiveContact]

not too bad on the efficiency.  mine has recently dropped a little bit.  could be b/c I'm sparging less or not at all or because I messed with my mill to get it working again or maybe both!

Edited by Mando, 05 October 2020 - 11:30 AM.

[porter]

It's good enough, as long as it's consistent. It's about what I was getting on my old system.

[Patrick C.]

I've pretty much decided to order the 10.5 gallon system, but of course I still have a few questions.

 

Does anyone use a separate mash tun with these?  Have not seen it, but the idea would be to use the Anvil and a pump to replace the HLT and kettle in my old 3 tier system.  I would heat the strike water and pump it up to the mash tun (cooler).  Sparge water would be heated during the mash and pumped to a separate cooler.  I always batch sparged, and would continue with that.  My reasoning for this is that a lot of the complaints/fixes seem to be around handling the grain basket.  I'm sure I would try the basket, but also wanted to do things the 'old' way. 

 

How is their pump?  Some reviews say it is underpowered, but I don't care if it takes a little longer.  The max lift of 7 feet may be a problem for me- I'd need 6+ feet of lift if I pump to a separate cooler to hold the sparge water.

 

How do you think the beer will turn out using 7 year old grain?   

[porter]

I like the system as is, simplicity is kinda the point. I don't miss batch sparging at all. The only issue I've had with the pump setup is the draw tube or pump will clog if hops get into them. I use a mesh bag for any hop additions over an ounce.

[porter]

By doing things the way you've described, you're not using the pump for recirculation or the temperature holding capabilities of the Anvil.

[Patrick C.]

I will definitely try it their way, but handling the 'malt pipe' seems like it could get dodgy.  Do you use a hoist to lift it out of the unit?  

[porter]

No, I don't think it would ever weigh more than 50 lbs. I've never found it an issue. I'm somewhat tall, so don't have any issues lifting it out leverage wise. If you're shorter or have shoulder or other musculoskeletal issues a short step stool might be helpful to get more above it. It seems like a hoist might make things more complicated, given that you have to rotate the malt pipe to get it to rest on the retaining ring. I think you might be pleasantly surprised at how easily it all works. Don't overthink it.

[zymot]

Some people ditch the malt pipe and get a Brew In A Bag style bag. Anvil sells BIAB to fit the Anvil Foundry.

As far as I can see, the advantage of using a BIAB is you can do a more thorough sparge. The sparge method I am most familar with is "dunk sparge".

You have a second vessel with water. you take the bag out of the Foundry, dunk it into vessel #2 and rinse the grains. The rinse water is added to the Foundry wort.

As Porter stated, simplicity is the point of an all in one system. The advantage of a dunk sparge is greater efficiency. I have not been bothered to do it. I am happy to buy a couple extra pounds of grain and make my brew day easier.

[Patrick C.]

Got it ordered, no idea yet how long it will take to get here.  I need to get a utility sink and exhaust fan for the brewery/storage room, so the first run may be on 110v.  The longer heat up will give me more time to get familiar with it

[porter]

It has a delay timer on it: I get my water and grains ready the night before, get up, pour a cup of coffee and go down to the brewery to mash in.

No idea what your plans were for the utility sink, what size you're looking for, but I got this and I think it's good for the price.

https://www.amazon.c...,aps,147&sr=8-4

I would have bought this if it were available when I was looking. I bought the above sink and a stainless shelf/table that accomplishes similar, but a one piece unit is nice

https://www.amazon.c...RhaWwp13NParams

Edited by porter, 23 December 2022 - 08:38 PM.

[positiveContact]

Those are nice. Makes my plastic utility sink look pretty bad but it works!

[Gusso]

A utility sink would be nice. Unfortunately, I don't have room for one. I have to use my outdoor spigot! At least I don't get really cold weather here.