So as you may be able to tell from some of the photos I use an Anvil foundry 10.5 gallon all in one system. I had received this as a gift on Christmas and have been enjoying brewing on this system since than. I wanted to give everyone my impression of this system. I have only used this and a cooler system prior.
The Cleaning – Coming from a cooler brew system this system is like going into the future. Those who have or had a cooler brew system, probably remember the cleaning of all that equipment, Beer brewing is 20% brewing and 80% cleaning. So the first item Ill review is the cleaning. Since everything is in one system cleaning is so easy. I usually clean as I brew, After the mash in, I can clean the malt tube and that just leaves me the vessel itself and some misc items to clean up after i’m done.
The Boil – The boil unlike the propane setup does take some time to get up to temp. The great thing about this machine is it has the 220 volt option built in. All you need is an adapter to your dryer plug and your good to go. I do highly recommend that if you go this route you insure you have a ground fault Interceptor outlet/breaker installed as when your dealing with water and electrical its a life saver if something were to happen. Ill do some recording and update you all on how long on average it takes to get to temp. Once it hits the bill it gives a good rolling boiler on the 110v side. Haven’t tried the 220 v side with this.
The efficiency – Well I have ranged from 60%-78% mash efficiency. I have noticed the lighter beers ill have better efficiency on vs the darker beer. I do highly recommend you confirm all the measurements inside the Anvil system. I had taken a 4 cup measuring cup and found out my lines for water were off on the inside of my Anvil, which is probably why I was getting low mash efficiency numbers in the beginning. In addition to checking the measuring lines, use software to help you calculate out where you need to be and this will also help with figuring out what your efficiency is and help you figure out where your efficiency issues maybe. I use brewersfriend.com.
Overall impression – So far my best investment. I have been hamming out beer almost every weekend and enjoy every minute of it. The simplicity of the system and the ability to use the different voltages give this a thumbs on with me. There are a lot of all in ones out there, some have more features, some have less. The reason I choose the Anvil Foundry was the ability to switch to 220 volts in the future if I wanted to. Well worth it if your looking into the All-In-Ones systems.
I highly recommend purchasing through a place like Kegconnection.com. This isn’t an affiliated link but well worth going this route.
https://www.kegconnection.com/10-5-gallon-anvil-foundry-brewing-system/