Sending wort to the basement

[just2brew]

Started getting the urge to start brewing again. Amazing how little time you have after kids are born.
Anyways, keezer that I use also for temp control has since been moved to the basement for more garage space. I brew in the attached garage on a gas fired herms.
I'm thinking I'd like to run to lines from the garage to the keezer in the basement. There for being able to pump the cooled wort to the fermenter. I'm thinking 2 lines so they could always be looped and recirculated for cleaning and sanitizing with boiling water.
Anyone have any experience with doing this? I was thinking I'd use copper pipe? Anything I should consider or keep in mind?
Thanks
Brian

 

[Jag75]

I dont think I'd use copper pipe . I'd use beverage line .

 

[IslandLizard]

Welcome back to brewing!

I urge you to rethink the idea...

You're likely asking for more work and time involved. I reckon you'll spend a lot of time and effort on cleaning and sanitizing those long wort lines to prevent infections in future batches.
Boiling water alone will not clean, let stand sanitize, those lines.

IMO, won't it be a lot easier and faster to fill a fermenter and carry it to the ferm chamber?
Use a crate or a BrewHauler for carboys. Buckets come with a handle.

Or move the keezer to the garage, perhaps?
Or use a spare fridge as a ferm chamber in the garage.

Not saying it can't be done, I actually know someone who sent his wort through a flexible (plastic?) line from his driveway to his basement. He has a bad back, can't lift much. Not sure how he keeps that line sanitary. It gets moved by gravity. When he opens the valve he makes it to the basement just in time to catch it. From what he told me.

 

[cactusgarrett]

I've done exactly this, but only with one-way flow in mind. I upgraded equipment to allow for 10-15gal batches, and carrying that much wort into my house, down into the basement, then into the keezer doesn't sound appealing when i'm an old, tired old man.

I essentially drilled a 1" hole through the drywall in my garage, which exited through the insulation between joists in my basement ceiling. I ran pvc through that, then high temp tubing through the pvc. Added valves and quick disconnects and i love it immensely. It's work to sanitize prior to running sterile wort through and rinse after a brew day, but on the larger batches it's totally worth it. I don't ever see the need to go from the basement back up to the garage, so i have no intention on adding pumps; i let gravity do all the work.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Pics

 

[madscientist451]

Looks like way too much hassle, time and money from here. Getting an upright freezer for the garage would take up less space than a chest freezer, would be more expensive compared to running a pipe to the basement, but wouldn't require the cleaning every time you brew.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Yeah, but considering I'm in Wisconsin, my garage is fairly inhospitable 4 months of the year. At least enough for fridges/freezers to not work properly.

 

[kh54s10]

If I were to make something like that I would look into making it is remove-able sections short enough to soak in some sort of trough for cleaning. I would be concerned that you cannot get a set in place feed like that fully clean and sanitized. At least not without a lot of extra work.

 

[cactusgarrett]

I just run a 5gal bucket of Star San through it before running wort. Clean before and at the end of brew days helps, too.

 

[IslandLizard]

Breweries pump wort and beer all the time, the larger ones don't use hoses, all (hard) stainless piping. Now they also pump hot lye and peracetic acid through them for cleaning and sanitation, before and after.

The downside is, it probably takes as much time and effort to prep and clean, whether you pump/drain 10 gallons, 10 barrels, or more.

It's work to sanitize prior to running sterile wort through and rinse after a brew day, but on the larger batches it's totally worth it. I don't ever see the need to go from the basement back up to the garage, so i have no intention on adding pumps; i let gravity do all the work.

If your infection ratio is 0.0, you're doing the right thing, it works.

On a side note, wort is not sterile, merely pasteurized. That compounds the issue of sanitation in longer lines. I wonder if using PEX would be a better alternative, it's very smooth. You still need to deal with fittings and couplings on each end, though.

 

[RmikeVT]

If you run hot wort through those lines and can chill in the basement you've solved your sanitation problem.

 

[kh54s10]

I think as clean as you can be (without doing a caustic clean similar to a commercial brewery) there will still be a little residue left and it will build up over time. Have you taken apart a ball valve after many brews?? YUCK!!!

 

[robertlhawley]

I solved the basement-line run with a mix of the suggestions already put forth: I had a bunch of 3/4” copper pipe lying around, picked up some 3/8 soft copper tube, and made a straight CFC chiller that also runs to the basement. Garage is detached so the pipe has to be set up each time. But it’s way better than trying to carry 10 gallons of wort. Easy to clean and sanitize, zero infections after several years of monthly batches. I have pics somewhere and can post if there’s interest.

 

[mongoose33]

Yeah, but considering I'm in Wisconsin, my garage is fairly inhospitable 4 months of the year. At least enough for fridges/freezers to not work properly.

You might reconsider this...I'm in Wisconsin too, just down the road from you.

Not sure why people want freezers for this stuff; I'd rather use a refrigerator. All you need to do is use something like a fermwrap wrapped around your fermenter, and it doesn't matter much whether the refrigerator works well or not in the winter--the ambient is already cold. In this case, the insulation in the refrigerator would work to keep the cold OUT, not in.

It's more a question of how to keep it warm enough in the dead of winter.

If it were me, and I had the fridge (look on CL for used ones; there's a bunch on there for under $100), I'd try this and see how I liked it.

There's a further benefit--you have an extra refrigerator for other uses.

Just a thought.

 

[cfrazier77]

I grew on the back porch and put a 6 " hatch that goes to the basement. I use a long section of sanitized silicone hose to go straight to my conical. I like that I don't have to carry wort through the house.

 

[augiedoggy]

PicsView attachment 649394View attachment 649395

we use a similar setup at the brewpub only I use a 40 ft coiled up santoprene line. It actually works very well as gravity works in our favor.
To clean we just run water through it when we are done and sanitizer through it before we need to use it.. its been in use 11 months now with no infections or issues..

 

[augiedoggy]

Yeah, but considering I'm in Wisconsin, my garage is fairly inhospitable 4 months of the year. At least enough for fridges/freezers to not work properly.

just an fyi but its usually only the newer freezers and fridges that wont funtion correctly in freezing temps due to the newer refrigerant freezing and turning to slush. If you buy an older fridge or freezer with R12 it will work fine.