Homebrew Scale: Pumping Beer Long Distances

[Stouterson]

I'm looking for some advice on building a pump/line transfer setup. I brew outdoors and have to transfer my beer over 50 feet inside to the my conical fermenters. I typically brew 1/2 BBL batches and have been emptying the brew kettle into 4-5 buckets, then walking those buckets inside to my chonical fermenters. It is a major pain...

I'm thinking I want to upgrade to pump and line transfer setup. I have an existing March 815PL pump that I use for my RIMS setup. I am not sure on a couple of things:

1. What pump should I be looking at to tranfer beer 50 level feet?
2. What type of hosing should I be using so I am not risking rupture during transfer?
3. Is there a way for me to calculate how much PSI I would need to push the beer 50 feet?
4. How can I ensure that all of the beer in the hose is pushed out and travels the full distance?

I was thinking of aiming for approximately 2 GPM from brew kettle to fermenter.

 

[atoughram]

Here's a start...

http://frictionlosscalculator.com/

Looks like about a quarter psi.

 

[maazak]

Curious how you would get the last 50 feet of beer our of the tube? Pump air behind the beer ? O2 From an oxygen tank? Or dirty air from an air compressor and just stop the last foot?

 

[day_trippr]

How about calculating the total volume of the tubing involved and follow the wort with that volume of sanitized water?

A few years ago there was an HBTer that ran a wort line from a fitting mounted outside his house to his fermenters to do what the OP intends.
But as I recall the destination was a basement so he pulled the whole thing off using gravity...

Cheers!

 

[Stouterson]

This is very helpful. Does anyone have any recommendations on a tubing or pump?

 

[Arminius757]

You could probably look for some kinda of food safe PVC... It might be kinda pricy but it would be able to take some pressure as well as being resistant to kinking... Im not sure if you where looking to making this some kind of permanent fixture or if you want to break it down along the way? Otherwise, you might be able to just get a very long roll of food safe silicon tubing. That should also be able to take pressure as well as higher temperatures. To figure out what kind of pump you would need, you would need to do a little research in figuring out what kind of head pressure you will be dealing with to pump the wort that far. Here is a website that will tell you what you should be looking for in a pump:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/understanding-and-calculating-head-pressure-article

 

[boscobeans]

50 Level feet will not require that much pressure so most any food safe hose is fine.

You are dealing with sweet cooled wort and a 50 foot run will require very careful sanitation even more than a 50 foot keg to tap run would. Look into beer line cleaning equipment.

OMO

bosco

 

[maazak]

I would use standard household Pex tubing. It's easy to use and since it is made for indoor plumbing it is food grade and at Home Depot. It is rated at 80 psi at 200F and can handle more pressure at lower temps. Far surpassing your requirements.

 

[Chanoc]

Can't you use a cart and a keg with shorter hose and small transfer pump?
That should be easier to sanitize...
HTH

 

[stevehaun]

I brew 30 gallon batches in my garage and pump to conical in my basement which is about 30 feet away. I use a standard march pump and 3/8" ID high temp hose (northern brewer).
http://www.northernbrewer.com/3-8-id-thermoplastic-tubing

I use a plate chiller and recirculate thru the chiller and hose for 5 minutes to sanitize both the chiller and hose before turning on the chilling water.