Pump - Is it really worthwhile?

[Darwin18]

I have an abundance of giftcards from last year to northern brewer that I need to start using. I had considered getting a pump and plate chiller to add to my brewery, but I'm not really sure if I want to make that kind of commitment. Would it really improve my brew day and make the process easier, or is it just another piece of equipment to store and clean?

My set up is pretty basic but it works great for me:

I mash in 10-gallon cooler, vorlauf and drain to a 5-gallon bucket. Transfer the sparge water in a 1-gallon pitcher to the cooler. Once I have all my sparge water in the cooler, I drain the remaining water from my brew kettle and transfer the collected mash runnings to start the boil. I then vorlauf and drain the sparge runnings to that same bucket and combine in the brew kettle when finished.

I'm not really that thrilled with my immersion chiller, but I don't really know if that's justifiable enough to purchase a pump, plate chiller, and all the tubing and fittings that I'd want.

I have pretty much all the other toys that I'd want.

Fermentation freezer. Check.
Stir Plate. Check.
Nice brew kettle. Check.
Kegging setup. Check.
Grain mill. Check.

I was hoping to hear from people who have a pump in their set up and are pleased or even not pleased with it.

 

[rgauthier20420]

I have a pump and plate chiller in my setup and I couldn't be happier. My goal was the take away the need for me lifting hot liquid and such, which the pump fixes. My goal was the chill faster, which the pump and chiller fix. You could gravity drain through the chiller to the fermenter even, but you'd need a good plate chiller.

There's tons of ways of doing this. You'll need to think down the road to make a good decision on what you want now. Think about where you want your setup to be when you "finished" (almost never possible) messing with it. Then go buy something.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Short answer: yes. Long answer: yeeeeeeeeeees.

There are a number of ways to chill wort, and several great products to make that part of the process go quicker and smoother. I've made a couple of my own counterflow chillers with great results, especially for the money. A pump can be used for more than just chilling the wort, so you could incorporate that into other parts of your process down the road if you wish, too. If you're looking to save money, check out some of the DIY CFC chiller threads here.

Cleaning is pretty simple for pumps if you recirculate some hot PBW solution through it and chase that with more hot water. March pumps for homebrewing have a head that easily disassembles for further cleaning, too.

Is it necessary? No. Does it help? Yes. Is it worth it? I think so, but that is up to you and how you want to approach your process in the future.

TB

 

[krenshaw]

i like having a pump and a plate chiller since it greatly speeds up my brew day.. i usually do 3 or 4 batches in a day (don't have much time so i take a day off work and do it in one shot) and w/o those i would be at it until it got dark out

 

[dyqik]

A pump by itself (well, with a whirlpool return pipe, or an elbow fitting on the end of a hose) will make your immersion chiller work better, no need to go as far as an plate chiller. Even the cheap tan or topsflo pumps help speed up immersion chilling, or at least make it less effort, by using them to recirculate while chilling. I've been doing that over the winter when brewing in my kitchen, and I use the pump in the summer to recirculate through my CFC.

A pump will also help you sparge, without using the pitcher. There's no need to go to disconnects either, simple hose barbs are fine with silicone hose, which will easily connect and disconnect, without wearing too much. The pump is also the first thing you would need if you decide to go down the RIMS or HERMS route in the future (personally I'd be adding a HLT to your setup next - to allow draining direct to the kettle).

 

[Spartan1979]

I bought a pump since I'm planning on building a HERMS system. I rarely use it. The main thing I was using it for was to recirc while chilling. It certainly helped, but it was just another thing I have to clean when I'm done brewing. I'll use it again when I actually build my HERMS system.

 

[augiedoggy]

all depends on how advanced your brew process is.... I could not use mine without pumps. to me they make things much easier... the only cleaning they require it to run some hot water through them left over in my hlt after brewing.... with cam fittings and hoses this takes all what 10 seconds to setup and disconnect when done?
the 12v pumps I use are more than adequate for transfers, my herms and plate chiller. (I would not go back to an immersion chiller in a million years after seeing the improvents of my plate chiller.

 

[CastleHollow]

I have a system similar to yours (gravity feed my HLT to MT, and MT to BK) but I purchased a pump and plate chiller two years ago and it has greatly enhanced my brew day. I only use it to transfer wort from BK to fermenter. It speeds up cooling, avoids me lifting heavy pots, and allows me to cool 10g batches, if I want, very efficiently. Some silicone tubing, QDs, and SS valves and you're ready to go. Cleaning is not difficult, I just dump everything into a bucket of PBW at the end of brewday and let it soak.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

I have a chugger pump I got for Christmas and it really does make life simpler. 6 gal of wort is roughly 60# plus whatever the vessel is. If I get to chose lifting 70ish pounds vs 0... It's no contest.

It also eliminates most of the gravity feeding and needing to elevate things so high. I can keep all my vessels the same height and use the pump. I definitely love having one.


- ISM NRP

 

[Schreiner]

I have a chugger pump I got for Christmas and it really does make life simpler. 6 gal of wort is roughly 60# plus whatever the vessel is. If I get to chose lifting 70ish pounds vs 0... It's no contest.

It also eliminates most of the gravity feeding and needing to elevate things so high. I can keep all my vessels the same height and use the pump. I definitely love having one.


- ISM NRP

I second what Ivan said! Before I had a pump I was either brewing from a step ladder or lifting my brew kettle up on an elevated table to gravity feed my cfc (dumb). Since I bought my chugger my back has thanked me.

 

[smack2000]

I would probably add a 10 gal Igloo cooler for a HLT first, then a pump. Certainly not a must-have, but I'm very happy with how the pump has made the brew day go a little faster, and safer. Then down the line, you can add a plate chiller. Cam lock fittings tie it all together. They you are pretty much set.

 

[atoughram]

I had two pumps before purchasing a grain mill... Pumps have made my life so much easier with 10+ gallon batches.

 

[augiedoggy]

I decided to go right from stovetop with a 5 gallon pot to all grain with a 10 gallon igloo mt (i did use a 5gallon iglo0 for 2 batches before running out of room on the big batches) and I cut up an old keg for a 15g HLT and took my old immersion chiller and made a herms coil out of it and mounted it in my hlt I bought the cheapest 13 gallon stainless pot I could find then bought a few cheap 12v pumps and pwm speed controllers... cheap stainless valves and about $250 in stainless hardware on top of that including site gauges and silicone lines and camlocks...I bought a stainless hop cup I also put two 4500w electric elements in (one in BK and one in the HLT) and I spent about $220 on a control panel for 3 pid controller with timer and alarms and the pump speed controllers.... I bought a duda b23a-20 plate chiller and a cereal killer grain mill and I had 4 carboys/better bottles. and I made a homemade stirplate and bought all kinds of gizmos and doodads including a locline sparge arm with float switch to control sparge flow for fly sparging...

all together I believe I spend about 900-1,000 (optimistically) including everything but the 13 kegs and co2 kegging stuff and flip top bottles...

The reason I mention all of this is so you understand how much you may/might be looking to spend if you really get into the hobby... I ended up buying stuff that I used for a short time and them wanted better... This really increased costs a bit but I was lucky enough that I could use most of it for other things or give it to my brother inlaw.

You certainlY dont need all this stuff but it really makes brewing more enjoyable and more consistent from batch to batch for me.

if anything a single cheap pump on an old dc power adapter and a good chiller would be my first suggestion along with ballvalves were some of the best investments I made.

 

[samuryan]

Can you easily lift a keg with hot wort in it? . . . no, get a pump . .. . yes, get a pump it's way easier. I understand that lifting is not necessary if proper preparation is applied, but I always found myself lifting hot, heavy kettles. Now I let the tool do the work.

 

[jbaysurfer]

A pump by itself (well, with a whirlpool return pipe, or an elbow fitting on the end of a hose) will make your immersion chiller work better, no need to go as far as an plate chiller. Even the cheap tan or topsflo pumps help speed up immersion chilling, or at least make it less effort, by using them to recirculate while chilling. I've been doing that over the winter when brewing in my kitchen, and I use the pump in the summer to recirculate through my CFC.

A pump will also help you sparge, without using the pitcher. There's no need to go to disconnects either, simple hose barbs are fine with silicone hose, which will easily connect and disconnect, without wearing too much. The pump is also the first thing you would need if you decide to go down the RIMS or HERMS route in the future (personally I'd be adding a HLT to your setup next - to allow draining direct to the kettle).

This ^

 

[insanim8er]

yes... yes yes yes yes... oh did I mention yes

combined with quick disconnects, plate chiller and inline oxygenation system. life can't get any better.

when I got a pump, I said to myself, "how did I ever brew with out this." Same thing with the thermapen.