Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

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jubby
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Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by jubby » Sat Apr 15, 2017 6:13 pm

So far I've managed to stick to my brewing remit which is to keep things as simple as possible and I've got away with using mains water pressure and gravity to brew beer. This works well for me but I'm now changing my set up which means I won't be able to run wort from the boiler into the FV as the boiler will be too low and the FV will live in it's temp controlled fridge so I don't have to lift it.
So, I need to pump the cooled wort from the boiler up about 1 metre to the FV. I've had a search through posts and have come up with this:

Using one of these TD5 pumps, recirculate boiling wort through the pump and pipework back into the boiler for the last 5 minutes of the boil then cool as normal and pump into the FV.

My question to you brewers who pump stuff about is this. Will the re-circulation of boiling wort be ok to sterilize the pump and pipes and is there a different pump which might suit me better??

Any advice is appreciated.

Nick.
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

Ulsterman

Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by Ulsterman » Sat Apr 15, 2017 8:20 pm

Nick if you use hose and pumps they will need cleaned so why not just use a clean fermenting bucket and move the wort and then clean the bucket. Much cheaper than at £129 pump (mine cost about £20 on ebay and is still in the box since 2014). Need plenty of oxygen to help the yeast work so there is no issue with multiple buckets as long as they are clean and sanitised.

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by guypettigrew » Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:40 am

One of these pumps from The Malt Miller should do you.

It costs less than the one you linked to and it also has a very handy central inlet.

My system is to run the cooled wort into a calibrated old sanitised fermentation bucket which allows me to accurately see the final volume of the brew. Then I pump the wort up into the FV which is about head height.

Before using the pump it gets water at about 85C pumped through it. The remnants from the HLT serve well here. Then Starsan is sprayed into the pump, shaken about and then drained. Alternatively, after the 85C rinse, I recirculate Starsan from a 5 litre bucket through the pump for a couple of minutes before draining it. Both methods work for me.

Hope this helps.

Guy

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jubby
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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by jubby » Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:58 am

Thanks for the reply Ulsterman.

I see what you're getting at but I'm trying to avoid lifting wort around and make the brewing process quicker & easier. Another problem is that my FV is a bit of a tight fit in the fridge so it wouldn't be possible to pour wort into it. Here's a photo:

Image
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by Hogarth » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:04 am

What you're proposing sounds fine, Jubby. You'll need a decent hop filter in the boiler, and maybe recirculate the boiling wort for longer.

If you're using an immersion chiller then keep the pump running -- it speeds up the cooling tremendously.

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by jubby » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:09 am

One of these pumps from The Malt Miller should do you.
I like the look of that pump Guy, thanks for that. Sounds like you're doing something similar to what I'm thinking of except that I only want to transfer the wort once and not have to bother with the Starsan.
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

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jubby
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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by jubby » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:14 am

If you're using an immersion chiller then keep the pump running -- it speeds up the cooling tremendously.
Thanks Hogarth, I was hoping that would be be the case.

I've got a decent hop filter so I think that I will go with the pump in Guy's post, start the recirc when the immersion chiller goes in at 10 mins and leave it on during the cool.
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by Hogarth » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:23 am

If you return the wort to the boiler at a certain angle you can also get a whirlpool going with it. Google 'Jamil's whirlpool chiller' if you're interested.

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by jubby » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:46 am

If you return the wort to the boiler at a certain angle you can also get a whirlpool going with it. Google 'Jamil's whirlpool chiller' if you're interested.
The Mr Malty website just about sums it all up for me, thanks for the info Hogarth.

Looks like i'll be re-working my chiller!
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by guypettigrew » Sun Apr 16, 2017 12:48 pm

jubby wrote:
One of these pumps from The Malt Miller should do you.
I like the look of that pump Guy, thanks for that. Sounds like you're doing something similar to what I'm thinking of except that I only want to transfer the wort once and not have to bother with the Starsan.
Pumping direct from the boiler to the FV would indeed remove one step. I only run it into the plastic bucket to get the final volume to calculate brewhouse efficiency.

Guy

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by Bunglebrewsbeer » Sun Apr 16, 2017 1:33 pm

I just circulate my wort for last ten mins of boil through pump and tubing and plate chiller. Then after boil turn on water through chiller and off into the FV it goes. I got a small pump from brewbuilder with cam locks and the pump clips directly onto tap. Simples. And works a treat!


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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by Kev888 » Sun Apr 16, 2017 5:08 pm

Yes, I also use boiling wort for about 20mins to disinfect my pump and tubing prior to transfer. Depending on your tubing, it can take the edge off the boil for a few minutes though, so I either switch in the second element whilst it happens or do the recirculation earlier to avoid affecting consistency of late hop schedules.

I use a march may pump (equivalent to the chuggers) which is excellent but very costly and probably overkill just for pumping to the FV. However there are more alternatives around these days - IMO go for a proper magnetically coupled one, in which just the impeller and housing is flooded and there are no back-waters to trap wort or particles. Make sure it has enough head for your required lift height - keeping in mind the maximum head quoted with pumps is at virtually zero flow rate (and the flow rates quoted are at zero head).

BTW, I had a problem with a previous setup, in that the hop filter wasn't suitable - it blocked during the recirculation. The filter was completely fine for running off 'after' hops had settled over it (as they form a filter bed), but when pumping during the boil they weren't doing that, hence break could reach the filter and clogged it every time.
Kev

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by jubby » Sun Apr 16, 2017 8:25 pm

Bungle, that's just what I intend, thanks for the info.

Kev, thanks for that. Im going to go with the pump recommended by Guy above which seems to tick all the boxes as I'm only going to pump up around 1 metre. The hop filter blockage is an interesting insight. I've just bought one of the large Brewbuilder circular filtersas I use pellet hops. I've also got a hop spider (not used it yet) for higher hop rates so hopefully, should be OK
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by beer taster » Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:43 pm

I use a small 12V solar pump to pump from boiler to FV, recirculating for about 20 mins before the end of the boil, then a further 30 mins while steeping the hops. The pump works OK but can take a little while to pump 40L to FV

Mark

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Re: Bit of help with pumping wort into an FV please

Post by jubby » Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:33 pm

Thanks Mark. I considered the solar pumps initially but decided to go with higher flow rate pumps. I've changed my mind on the pump choice after looking at THIS and gone back to the stainless steel TD5........very quiet.
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

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