I only brew 5 gallon batches because of a few different reasons. Any reasons why not to consider using a March pump to transfer liquids between sparge tank, mash tun to boil kettle? I do a gravity brew so I think that alleviates the priming issue.
I don't use a March pump at all, never ever.
I use a Chugger pump. One of the better investments I have made in my brewing extravaganza.
The usual reason given for avoiding pumps is that they shear proteins.
I would be completely flabbergasted if that was true. Can you please cite a source of some sort?
As a general question: How is a pump hard to clean? Capture hot water in a HLT, add PBW and pump to your empty kettle. Clean kettle and dump PBW. If you want to rinse, fill your kettle with water and recirculate through the pump.
Clean.
Every couple of brews you can take apart the pump head with four screws. There's way more gunk lurking in your ball valves then there is in a pump head.
My original thought was it would help suck additional liquid out of the mash grains and faster.
I also have a little giant and have never had a priming issue. You can also run them dry for quite a long time before there is any damage, unlike the march or chugger which can't be run dry
...with Midwest 20% for veterans...But I am just thinking that with 5 gallons it is just not worth it.
Pretty sure you should not run any centrifugal pump dry, where are you getting that info from?
http://www.franklin-electric.com/media/documents/995783.pdf
run dry time 8 hours
The usual reason given for avoiding pumps is that they shear proteins. As do so many of us I use pumps all the time (including for recirculation in the mash tun). The beer still comes out pretty good and as there really isn't any alternative I guess I'll never know what 'unsheared' beer tastes like.
Sorry, this makes me chuckle. Where in the world did you come up with this conclusion? I mean ok sure it's going to destroy hot trub - great that's insoluble protein and we don't want it anyway. But I've never heard of a pump impacting soluble protein.
Sorry, this makes me chuckle. Where in the world did you come up with this conclusion? I mean ok sure it's going to destroy hot trub - great that's insoluble protein and we don't want it anyway. But I've never heard of a pump impacting soluble protein.
"The shear forces produced when pumping wort are also a concern to the RIMS brewer. Proteins (like enzymes) may be denatured more rapidly when subjected to shear forces. When shear forces are excessive, beta-glucans can form a gel that can inhibit filtration of the finished beer."
--SNIP--
So these are some of the places in the world from which I drew this conclusion. The fact that you have never heard of a phenomenon WRT brewing does not mean that it is not relevant to brewing. Brewing is such a complex process that one takes a big risk when expressing doubt about an unfamiliar proposition because brewing always has a surprise in store for him. That's one of the neat things about it.
Note that it is not only pumps that produce sheer. Anyplace where a fluid is exposed to a velocity gradient there will be shear. Pumps are an obvious place but remember that velocity is a vector. A fluid running through a pipe at constant flow rate (gallons per minute) is subject to shear at every bend in the pipe. Mash being stirred is subject to shear forces.
So my problem with this being added the conversation about pumps is that it isn't factually specific data that may be actually relevant to the homebrewer. I'm not suggesting that it can't be true, just that without homebrew specific data, it's just theoretical effluvia that may just cloud the conversation.
"Pumps may be denatured more rapidly" and "When shear forces are excessive" doesn't tell the homebrewer anything.
When exactly are shear forces excessive for the homebrewer? Should we never stir so as to eliminate shear forces from our mash paddles? Should we design our systems so that there is a straight sloping pipe from one vessel to the other and eliminate anywhere there could be a bend? What is the data that shows actual cause-and-effect results of shearing on a homebrew scale?
I'm not questioning that this is a fact of science, I'm questioning that it is something the home brewer would ever really need to worry about. Much like all the hubbub over autolysis, some things that are applicable in a large commercial manufacturing operation shouldn't be a real concern for the homebrewer.
I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying that I'd love to learn more of how this is applicable on the homebrew scale.
I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying that I'd love to learn more of how this is applicable on the homebrew scale.
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