The Anvil line of products, is… “a premier line of brewing equipment, designed and built by the geniuses at Blichmann Engineering, with help and inspiration from John Palmer! The entire suite of products work in unison to provide a perfect brewing experience from day one, and at a great value to you the homebrewer. You can rest comfortably knowing that Anvil equipment is backed by two of the biggest names in the homebrew industry. Anvil Brewing Equipment: Inspired by Palmer, Built by Blichmann, and Made for You!”

The lineup includes kettles, propane burners, false bottoms, scales, thermometers and more.

Hands on Review Anvil Brewing Equipment Kettle

A very heavy duty (and cool) nameplate is a part of the handle and is on both the front and back of the kettle.  These are solid cast steel handles.  There are no rivets to leak or hold contaminants.

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Compare Models, Prices and Availability, Review Continues Below:

• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at MoreBeer
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Adventures in Homebrewing
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Great Fermentations
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Beer & Wine Hobby
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Keg Connection
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at homebrewsupply.com
• Search “Anvil Brewing Kettle” on Amazon, Offerings Vary

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A look at the included thermometer and ball valve.  Note that the thermometer is dual scale. Anvil kettles feature Induction capable tri-ply clad bottoms.A look at the inside, including the temperature probe and pickup tube.  The pickup tube can be oriented at whatever angle you’d like (or left out completely).  If you’re expecting a lot of hop trub you could adjust it as to leave more in the kettle.  I’ve found that the dip tube can be both installed and removed without the use of tools.Anvil Kettles include etched level graduations in gal and liters.  That’s great for nailing your volumes.This handle is designed so the lid can rest on it.  That’s… handy. 🙂My lid came with a hole in it and a rubber stopper.  My initial assumptions were that is for easily running a thermometer probe through the kettle lid as I couldn’t find that feature on any product descriptions,The hole.  I asked Blichmann Engineering about this and was told… “The hole with the stopper on the lid is to accommodate some features and options which are still in development.”   Update: This hole is for Anvil’s Ferment in Kettle Add On.  Ferment in a Kettle Add on Converts Anvil Kettles to UniVessel boil kettles/fermenters!:Here’s a look at the o-ring at the back of the thermometer.  It features a silicone o-ring with a grooved channel to hold it in place along with a quality nut to tighten it up.  That groove is an important piece designed to hold the o-ring in place and makes this a solid weldless setup.Same situation on the purpose made ball valve, although this time it appears to be a clear silicone o-ring.  The description says “Purpose built stainless steel ball valve with integral bulkhead seal is rock solid, easy to install and disassemble, and will never leak.”  It’s a solid setup and easy to install.A look at the dip tube.  The dip tube drains to within 3/8 in. of the bottom of the kettle.A look inside the dip tube.  Another silicone o-ring.A look at the assembled kettle.  The kettle features heavy 18 gauge 304 stainless steel with reinforced lip for durability and easy cleaning.  It also features an optimal 1.2 height to diameter ratio.  Note that this is the 5.5 gallon version.  7.5, 10, 15 and 20 gallon sizes are also available.

I decided to brew Great Fermentations “Piney the Welder” (think Pliney the Elder) using this kettle.  I split the kit in half for two separate 2.5 gallon batches.  This is me weighing the grain using my Anvil Grain Scale.

My calculations called for 4.22 gallons of strike water for a brew in the bag (BIAB) style brew.  The volume markers make this an easy task.

The 5.5 gallon Anvil heating up on my stove top

I used the small (20 – 24 quart) sized Brew Bag.  That size fits this kettle perfectly.

The built in thermometer is great for keeping tabs on temperature.  This is me hitting my mash temperature spot on.  I have my BIAB spreadsheet set so that I come in one degree low.  I aim a degree low so that I can heat up to temp, rather than having to try and cool down any amount of temperature.  This time [not always the case], I happened to come in right on target.  Technically, I came in a degree high, you get what I’m saying, right?Piney the Welder gets one charge of Lupulin Injection Hop Extract Shot for bittering and that’s it for the boil.  Lots of hops go in at 0 minutes.  This is just after the 0 minute addition.Transferring to a fermenter.

I had the opportunity to chat with John Blichmann about this kettle and the Anvil Brand.  I thought I’d share with you a little about his reasoning for developing this new brand…

 John Blichmann: “One big reason we developed the brand is the widely varying quality we were seeing in this segment of the market. I wanted to create a brand that brewers could trust that they were getting great quality and nice features at a lower price point.

Conclusions

This is a great kettle.  Both John Blichmann’s and John Palmer’s thoughtful design ideas along with Blichmann quality shine through.  The kettle is versatile, designed for homegbrewers from the ground up and packed with features.  Update: After years of using this kettle, I can fully recommend Anvil Brewing Equipment kettles to you.

Compare Models, Prices and Availability:

• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at MoreBeer
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Adventures in Homebrewing
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Great Fermentations
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Beer & Wine Hobby
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at Keg Connection
• Anvil Foundry Systems and Accessories at homebrewsupply.com
• Search “Anvil Brewing Kettle” on Amazon, Offerings Vary

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Thanks to Great Fermentations – Complete Anvil Lineup at Great Fermentations – and Blichmann Engineering for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review.

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