All-In-One Brewhouse Help thread

[Bigbre04]

I should have elaborated on this a bit more based on feedback from Blichmann/Anvil.
Particularly for the 220v Anvil kettles, you do not need, or want 100% power throughout the mash. When you're mashing up through ~ 158F, you can throttle the 'power' setting back to well under 50%. Anvil suggested 35-40, I use 45%. I've found that 35 creates a lot of up and down swings bigger than I like to see. at 45%, I may lose 2 or 3 degrees lifting the malt pipe to drain & stir, but it recovers in only a few minutes tops.

With high amounts of wheat or rye, you see quite a bit of scorching on the burner element at full power throughout the mash. This 'cakes' on to the element area and apparently retains heat, and when you roll into your mash out and boil, you'll end up with one or more e3 over temperature faults. The cleanup after a brewday like this is about twice as long.

Here is what has worked for me on the Anvil 18, likely the Anvil 10.5 is close and other electrics with adjustable power settings you would need to experiment with.

I pre-heat the Anvil with the built in timer function so I am ready to roll the next morning with mash in at pretty close to "strike temp". Stir, get rid of the 'dough balls' if any, install the diffuser, and start the recirculation. Set the flow and monitor, it usually has to be increased. Once it's stable, reduce the kettle power from 100% to about 45%. Leave the power alone until mash out. I find the Anvil cannot maintain temperature above about 160-165 at 45% power. I've experimented with lower than 100% but still get some fluxuation so for mash out at 170F, I set it to 100%.

I leave it set at 100% for sparging, and boiling. This is been successful for me, even brewing hefeweizen & roggenbier.

very interesting, my heating elements dont actually touch the mash. i also do not have control over the actual output of my elements. they are on or off. My system is 3 phase 400v which helps.

with burned on sugar, hot water/caustic helps alot. but you also need flow. you can "whirlpool" hot caustic which will make cleaning that stuff off much easier. PBW is good, but not as strong as sodium hydroxide.

 

[Hman1962]

I plan to purchase an all-in-one (AIO) brewing system this weekend and am currently considering the Brewzilla 65L, the Grainfather G40, or the Anvil Foundry 18G. I am seeking feedback and recommendations from the community, particularly from individuals who have firsthand experience with one or more of these systems.
My primary requirements are a larger vessel capacity and 240V capability. If you have used multiple units from this list, I would greatly appreciate your insights and comparisons.
At this time, I am leaning toward the Brewzilla; however, I am open to reconsidering based on user experiences and recommendations.
Thank you in advance for your time and input.

 

[Limey]

I plan to purchase an all-in-one (AIO) brewing system this weekend and am currently considering the Brewzilla 65L, the Grainfather G40, or the Anvil Foundry 18G. I am seeking feedback and recommendations from the community, particularly from individuals who have firsthand experience with one or more of these systems.
My primary requirements are a larger vessel capacity and 240V capability. If you have used multiple units from this list, I would greatly appreciate your insights and comparisons.
At this time, I am leaning toward the Brewzilla; however, I am open to reconsidering based on user experiences and recommendations.
Thank you in advance for your time and input.

I have the Anvil Foundry 10.5 and LOVE it! However, I suspect the other options you mention work just as well - the only recommendation I would make is to go for the 220v versions (the Anvil is both 110 and 220) as it makes a HUGE difference when heating the strike water or bringing the wort to a boil! People complain about the small pump that comes with the recirc kit on the Anvil - and it does require a little attention from time-to-time, but it does the job just fine!

 

[Brew Cat]

well I don't have any of those but I do have a digiboil 35L which is basically the same kettle as the bewzilla with basic features
if I where to get another AIO I would consider a shorter and wider model
the grain father looks like the widest but also the most expensive

 

[Brew Cat]

I have the Anvil Foundry 10.5 and LOVE it! However, I suspect the other options you mention work just as well - the only recommendation I would make is to go for the 220v versions (the Anvil is both 110 and 220) as it makes a HUGE difference when heating the strike water or bringing the wort to a boil! People complain about the small pump that comes with the recirc kit on the Anvil - and it does require a little attention from time-to-time, but it does the job just fine!

I think that is important about the pump
something to compare
the anvil is a nice product maybe they have a pump upgrade
another thing I don't like about mine and granted it is cheap unit is that the temperature offset is like 3 degrees which is stupid and I need to bypass it

I actually bought the cheapest thing I could get and learn what I like and dislike

 

[Dave Y]

I have the Anvil 18, and you can see my progression early on in this thread. One thing I really like about Anvil/Blichmann - you can actually talk to someone at the company who uses it (Jared). I also have(had) an Anvil 10.5 in 110v. This kettle gave me some trouble; I inadvertently plugged into an extension -about 6', so not enough voltage drop to be a concern. Excepting the neutral wire with almost infinite resistance. It fried the main switch and the power cable along the way. So I replaced both, not terribly expensive but of course, it always happened when least expected. I went through 3 switches, after the 2nd one I started in with the multi-meter. That didn't end it, I apparently fried the voltage selector switch, not a part they stock for replacement... and that was not the problem, it was a victim. So for now I'm done troubleshooting the 10.5 and using my $99 Digiboil as a sparge kettle / backup brew kettle if needed.

I did have to replace the circuit board on my Anvil 18 about 2 months back. It's about 3 years old and has, probably 75-90 brews on it.

I just used it today on a Czech lager, 77% efficiency.

Blichman sometimes has a summer / fall sale, in addition to Black Friday sales. That's the time to buy one of their kettles if you can arrange it. I got the 18 at 20% off IIRC.

There are some youtube videos out there showing some attempted hacks - not using the malt pipe, rigging up some sprayer for recirculation, or sparging. The pump and diffuser Blichmann provides work just like you need if you use them correctly. I still use the plate diffuser, but I did upgrade to their Riptide pump, mainly so I could use a CIP ball for fermetner cleanup. But I was able to get efficiency into the mid 70's with the 10.5 and I've been able to do high 70's to low 80s efficiency with the 18.

I'd buy it again, knowing what I know now.

 

[Brew Cat]

I have the Anvil 18, and you can see my progression early on in this thread. One thing I really like about Anvil/Blichmann - you can actually talk to someone at the company who uses it (Jared). I also have(had) an Anvil 10.5 in 110v. This kettle gave me some trouble; I inadvertently plugged into an extension -about 6', so not enough voltage drop to be a concern. Excepting the neutral wire with almost infinite resistance. It fried the main switch and the power cable along the way. So I replaced both, not terribly expensive but of course, it always happened when least expected. I went through 3 switches, after the 2nd one I started in with the multi-meter. That didn't end it, I apparently fried the voltage selector switch, not a part they stock for replacement... and that was not the problem, it was a victim. So for now I'm done troubleshooting the 10.5 and using my $99 Digiboil as a sparge kettle / backup brew kettle if needed.

I did have to replace the circuit board on my Anvil 18 about 2 months back. It's about 3 years old and has, probably 75-90 brews on it.

I just used it today on a Czech lager, 77% efficiency.

Blichman sometimes has a summer / fall sale, in addition to Black Friday sales. That's the time to buy one of their kettles if you can arrange it. I got the 18 at 20% off IIRC.

There are some youtube videos out there showing some attempted hacks - not using the malt pipe, rigging up some sprayer for recirculation, or sparging. The pump and diffuser Blichmann provides work just like you need if you use them correctly. I still use the plate diffuser, but I did upgrade to their Riptide pump, mainly so I could use a CIP ball for fermetner cleanup. But I was able to get efficiency into the mid 70's with the 10.5 and I've been able to do high 70's to low 80s efficiency with the 18.

I'd buy it again, knowing what I know now.

seems like a lot
your on a first name basis withe the rep ?

that's a red flag

 

[Sundaz]

I am starting AIO brewing and I bought the Vevor 9.2gal system. I’ve only made one batch so far. The machine did really well as far as I can tell. The big plus is the low cost of the system. You can get one for $250 brand new. It is built pretty sturdy and has most of the controls that the higher end systems do. I think it’s a great starter system for AIO brewing.

 

[Donoroto]

I plan to purchase an all-in-one (AIO) brewing system this weekend and am currently considering the Brewzilla 65L, the Grainfather G40, or the Anvil Foundry 18G. I am seeking feedback and recommendations from the community, particularly from individuals who have firsthand experience with one or more of these systems.
My primary requirements are a larger vessel capacity and 240V capability. If you have used multiple units from this list, I would greatly appreciate your insights and comparisons.
At this time, I am leaning toward the Brewzilla; however, I am open to reconsidering based on user experiences and recommendations.
Thank you in advance for your time and input.

I have a 35 liter Brewzilla (220v) and like it, mostly. Downsides are the control panel being at the bottom, and an inability to modulate the heaters during mash other than on/off.

A buddy has an Anvil and it can vary the heat from 0 to 100%. Downside is it needs an external pump.

The BZ’s programnability is useful when I make a recipe that uses a step mash: I can walk away for an hour or two and still have it go well.

 

[Brew Cat]

The new Brezilla has the controls on the top I see
Why don't you like the bottom?
I heard some people just bypass the built in controls with an inkbird temperature control
My Digiboil doesn't do steps but my inkbird control does
As far as an internal pump I think an external would be preferred
Not only if it craps out but with the external can upgrade or dual use

 

[Donoroto]

The new Brezilla has the controls on the top I see
Why don't you like the bottom?
I heard some people just bypass the built in controls with an inkbird temperature control
My Digiboil doesn't do steps but my inkbird control does
As far as an internal pump I think an external would be preferred
Not only if it craps out but with the external can upgrade or dual use

As I age, I find these damned kids keep moving the floor further down, and now it takes me a lot of effort to get up from down there.

 

[Bryozoans]

Just bought an Anvil 10.5. Should be arriving later this month. I'll keep this thread in mind in case I have issues or need advice.
As of now I just need to decided what to make with it first

 

[Dave Y]

Just bought an Anvil 10.5. Should be arriving later this month. I'll keep this thread in mind in case I have issues or need advice.
As of now I just need to decided what to make with it first

I hope you took advantage of the 20% off sale that just landed.

 

[west1m]

I hope you took advantage of the 20% off sale that just landed.

Know how to hurt a guy don't ya!

 

[Dave Y]

Know how to hurt a guy don't ya!

If not, just call on Monday, I’d bet they’ll give credit