Brewers Edge Mash and Boil with Anvil Pump

[sleev-les]

Hopefully Im not repeating an existing thread somewhere, but I am using the Brewers Edge M&B. It didn't have the built in pump so I added the anvil pump just to recirc my mash. First think I noticed is that the pump doesn't seem to keep consistency well. Once I throttle the valve on the M&B you can see the water pressure from the output change at lower circulation volumes. The bigger thing I notice is that the mash temp drops significantly faster with the pump, engaging the heating element a lot more. Has anyone used a setup like this and if so what have you done to keep temps from varying so much? Im thinking an insulation sleeve to start and to shorten the silicone line. Kit came with 4' and Im' using it all, but could drop it back significantly. At the end of everything my OG was 1.064 on an IPA so it looks like I got good results, but I'm more of a stickler to maintain as much precision as possible. Open to any feedback from your experiences.

 

[lump42]

First, you should throttle the pump on the outlet side of the pump, not the inlet of the pump. So, the valve on the M&B should be wide open. Either use the anvil flow control clamp (here's a replacement) or use a tubing clamp (like this one) to limit the flow back to the top of the mash.

The temps are going to drop when the pump is turned on initially because the temp sensor is at the bottom near the element. As the pump draws wort down, cooler wort is flowing across the sensor. I've never used an all-in-one, but I'd expect that it should even out within a few minutes if the flow is appropriate.

 

[sleev-les]

First, you should throttle the pump on the outlet side of the pump, not the inlet of the pump. So, the valve on the M&B should be wide open. Either use the anvil flow control clamp (here's a replacement) or use a tubing clamp (like this one) to limit the flow back to the top of the mash.

The temps are going to drop when the pump is turned on initially because the temp sensor is at the bottom near the element. As the pump draws wort down, cooler wort is flowing across the sensor. I've never used an all-in-one, but I'd expect that it should even out within a few minutes if the flow is appropriate.

You are probably right about temps. The reason I took the anvil control off is I didn't let the grain settle and had a stuck mash that started filling the internal basket so for some reason I was temped to just use the MB valve. Next time I will not kick the pump on until the grain bed is mixed in well and settled. The temps at the top were about 4 degrees lower using the main valve (but stayed consistent throughout) so I will have to monitor and adjust the MB if needed, but next time I'll adapt to the exit side and be sure to monitor there. I'm stilll going to look for an insulation jacket as well. I brew in the garage and with cooler temps not far around the corner I'm going to minimize risk.