(aiming for 6+ gal over 1.1 in fermenter) If someone has a better idea for hitting high OG on the Foundry I'm all ears, my grain bill is between 25 and 30lbs. That way the specialty grains are all sparged well to get maximum flavor from them, and I can hit my OG without resorting to a bunch of DME or sugar. After mash I will first sparge the Foundry with the 2-row wort from the cooler, and then add sparge water to meet pre boil volume target. Then mash the rest of the grain bill in the Foundry. My current plan is to heat mash water in the Foundry and mash about 10 lbs of 2-row in a cooler BIAB style. I like to brew big beers, and brewing 1.1 beers and barleywine is going to be tricky in the Foundry. I ordered equipment to plug it into my dryer outlet and am sure that will improve the boil and times.īut if I'm having to use 220, I wonder if over time I won't miss the larger volume of the robobrew 65L. I have no doubt it will provide good beer with that, I don't believe a huge boil is needed, but it did fail to meet expectations. But the raise from 154 to 168 was slow, and the raise to boil was slow, and the boil vigor was very very low. I don't mind the heat up time for mash, can set a timer for that. Having said that, using it off 120 the other day was not a great experience. I want to use 220v, and this is a cheaper way to get into 220 rather than the robobrew 65L. I like the idea of using it as a fermenter, though I don't know that I will. I prefer the grain basket with holes on the side. I prefer the heater control being set by percentage. On the one hand, I prefer many parts of the Anvil. I am trying to decide if I made the right decision. I purchased this after looking at robobrew 65L for months. I also found a flaw in my plan of using a grommet and airlock in the lid It makes me wonder how much of the 2-3 degree temperature variation I observed during the mash was due to stratification and how much was due to measurement differences. My one complaint about the system is it stubbornly displayed 203-205 degrees F during the boil, despite my thermapen confirming a boiling temperature closer to 211. I plan to use only barley for my next batch to explore this variable. My efficiency was a lousy 62% but this was a no sparge with 23% red wheat malt, and I'm starting to suspect the red wheat malt is too small to be milled well at my LHBS. I did not recirculate at any point but will look into this for future batches- I was noticed some significant (2-3 degree) temperature stratification during the mash (despite stirring), I had one moment of significant temperature overshoot during the mash (the display read 4 degrees above the set point, which resolved with a hasty stirring), and I suspect chilling will be much faster once I keep the wort moving. I mashed for an hour, it took almost exactly an hour to bring approximately 6.5 gallons (volume measured at 178F) from 153F to boiling, I boiled for an hour, and then it took about an hour to cool to ~70F. My nine month old wanted to start the day even earlier than I had the delay timer set to be ready, but I'm going to go ahead and call that not the Foundry's fault From mash in to pitching the yeast my trial brew day was almost exactly 4 hours. And my Foundry has now proven its place with a successful brew day while I was solo parenting my two year old and nine month old. With that said, I am happy that I also have all my *stuff* and both brewing options have their place. If I had known I could have a 10.5 gallon brew kettle, insulated stainless mash tun, electric heat and a stainless immersion chiller for less than $400 I hope I could have talked my past self into purchasing it.
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