Help selecting the right pump

[Jason879]

Hello all, so I brew in my garage and it's too hot to leave my fermenter in there. What I am trying to figure out is how to pump from my boil kettle to my fermenter approximately 60 ft away. I would be going through my house, around a few corners, and total upward distance would probably be about 5'-6'.

Can anyone tell me what kind of pump would work for this type of application? I'm sure someone out there has had this thought/idea before. Thanks all!! Cheers!


Best Regards,
Jason

 

[mattd2]

Hello all, so I brew in my garage and it's too hot to leave my fermenter in there. What I am trying to figure out is how to pump from my boil kettle to my fermenter approximately 60 ft away. I would be going through my house, around a few corners, and total upward distance would probably be about 5'-6'.

Can anyone tell me what kind of pump would work for this type of application? I'm sure someone out there has had this thought/idea before. Thanks all!! Cheers!


Best Regards,
Jason

If you need 60' of hose it might be cheaper to just buy and old fridge of CL or somewhere and a STC1000 temp controller and ferment in your garage

 

[Jason879]

Lol, yeah, I figured I would get a lot of responses like yours I've just been carrying my boil kettle from my garage to my "brew closet" in my house. So far no spills or major injuries. However, as I'm a klutz, I'm trying to head off any unfortunate situations before they occur. Thanks for the response!


Best Regards,
Jason

 

[NeoBrew]

I have to carry mine too. But I transfer to my carboy in the garage then carry that downstairs. I use one of those rubber carboy caps until I pitch the yeast. I also wear leather gloves in case something untoward happens with my glass carboy on the way.

 

[Jason879]

I ferment in a mini brew conical fermenter. Yes, I could carry that out to my garage, but it's a little clumsy, as am I . I obviously don't want to spend an arm and a leg on this so that's what I'll probably end up doing, I just wanted to bring my query to the brewing brain trust. 😁thanks all for your input!!


Best Regards,
Jason

 

[rgauthier20420]

I have this idea before. I finishing my basement and had planned on putting a fermenting area just below my garage and under the house. My drop would have been down and not up though. To be honest, most any pump should work for this as long as it food grade. It really becomes more of a matter of how fast want to get it there. A chugger or march is going to be the fastest and run a pretty penny. If speed isn't the biggest issue, then a $20 food grade solar pump like this one will get it done also. Cheers.

 

[BrewDrinkRepeat]

Don't forget to factor in how much wort you're going to lose in 60' of hose! And also how you're going to clean and sanitize that hose before/after use.

IMO a much better solution is to buy a handtruck (with pneumatic wheels if you have hardwood floors in the house). Transfer to your fermenter then wheel it to your fermentation room in the house.

 

[thistlebrew]

I have been doing something similar for a few years now. Brew outside in the back yard, transfer into my basement where the conicals live. It was all down hill, but I used my march pump anyway. Worked like a charm.

Ran wort through about 35' of beverage line (the thick walled stuff) into the fermenters them pitch. All is good.

I was able to unhook the line from my pump after emptying the kettle and by holding it over my head while gathering up the line, walking downstairs to the basement, I had very little loss. Once the line was empty I tossed it into the sink and rinsed with hot water very thoroughly then hit it with sanitizer for a quick rinse. Drain, roll it up, and set aside till next brew day.

I always flush the line with sanitizer before use each brew day as well (I'm already mixing up a bucket full to use when assembling the conicals).

I figured I would just replace the line when it started to look shabby or if I could pinpoint a flaw in the beer as a result of that particular tubing. But so far so good. It's been three or four years and is just now starting to look a little off.

Sure has saved my back a lot of labor. And no risk of dropping a slippery carboy.

Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Jason879]

I have been doing something similar for a few years now. Brew outside in the back yard, transfer into my basement where the conicals live. It was all down hill, but I used my march pump anyway. Worked like a charm.

Ran wort through about 35' of beverage line (the thick walled stuff) into the fermenters them pitch. All is good.

I was able to unhook the line from my pump after emptying the kettle and by holding it over my head while gathering up the line, walking downstairs to the basement, I had very little loss. Once the line was empty I tossed it into the sink and rinsed with hot water very thoroughly then hit it with sanitizer for a quick rinse. Drain, roll it up, and set aside till next brew day.

I always flush the line with sanitizer before use each brew day as well (I'm already mixing up a bucket full to use when assembling the conicals).

I figured I would just replace the line when it started to look shabby or if I could pinpoint a flaw in the beer as a result of that particular tubing. But so far so good. It's been three or four years and is just now starting to look a little off.

Sure has saved my back a lot of labor. And no risk of dropping a slippery carboy.

Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Wow! Thanks so much for the helpful info. I may be shooting a little long on my estimation of distance, but I figure better long than short (no "that's what she said" jokes). Still thinking on this.


Best Regards,
Jason

 

[SavoryChef]

I use a march pump with 20' of silicon tubing with no problems with head pressure. I can chill at 3 gallons a minute into the conical.

 

[Jason879]

That is awesome info! How about a new kind of question: what's the farthest anyone has pumped with a march or any other kind of pump. Keep in mind this is a home setup, not a small brewery.


Best Regards,
Jason