My plan for an "All Grain System"

[Frodo]

I might be missing something here. or it is just way to early, but what would I use this for?

I can't speak for mjohnson (but I think this is what he was implying); I was thinking about something like that for pumping ice cold water from a bucket filled with ice and water through my immersion chiller, to use less water and reduce chill time. It's a good idea to me at $15 for the pump.

 

[MX1]

I can't speak for mjohnson (but I think this is what he was implying); I was thinking about something like that for pumping ice cold water from a bucket filled with ice and water through my immersion chiller, to use less water and reduce chill time. It's a good idea to me at $15 for the pump.

Ahh got it...not enuff coffee, yeah, that is what I am going to blame it on

 

[Rich_S]

These are really good comments. I use another one to two pots on the stove, and heat water for sparging that way. But it's not as convenient as if the things were all together.

The 10 gallon cooler could do a low gravity 10 gallon brew with multiple sparging, but you always need at least a few gallons head space in the brew kettle to feel comfortable. I make 5 gallon batches, which means at least 5.5 gallons post boil (trub and hop losses), 6.5 to 7 gallons pre-boil, so an 9 gallon vessel is just right for me (I use alot of hops). With 11 gallons post boil, a 15 gallon vessel IS needed and about the miniumum. I think that's why old kegs with the top cut out (15.5 gallons) are so popular for boiling.

I recently ordered a Blichmann Boilermaker, and was really torn on the size.

Up to this point, I have only brewed 5 gallon batches, but I wanted the flexibility to do 10 gallon batches in the future.

I was leaning towards the 15 gallon pot for that flexibility.

Ultimately, I decided on the 10 gallon.

Here's why - the 15 gallon really is too big for 5 gallon batches as the thermometer will be out of the liquid. Likewise, while it is workable for 10 gal batches, it's definitely on the small side. With ~13 gal preboil for a 10 gal batch, you're looking at about 2" of headspace over the wort, less as the liquid heats and expands.

A 10 gal kettle is perfect for 5 gal batches, and if I want to do 10 gal batches in the future, I'll just buy a 20 gal pot.

 

[mjohnson]

I can't speak for mjohnson (but I think this is what he was implying); I was thinking about something like that for pumping ice cold water from a bucket filled with ice and water through my immersion chiller, to use less water and reduce chill time. It's a good idea to me at $15 for the pump.

Exactly. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 

[aggieactuary]

You can also get a cheap pump from harbor freight to pump cool water. I've been using this instead of the faucet fitting. The nice thing about it is that you can easily use a bucket of ice water if your ground water isn't that cold. Look for the 145 GPH Mini Submersible Pump - its like 15 bucks and as really helped me out.

Thanks. I think this is the best idea I've seen for my set up. I've been searching on pumps and some people seem to think you need a lot more GPH than the 145GPH you linked to. Have you had any problems with that one?

 

[IrregularPulse]

I recommend a CFC over an IC.

 

[maida7]

I can't speak for mjohnson (but I think this is what he was implying); I was thinking about something like that for pumping ice cold water from a bucket filled with ice and water through my immersion chiller, to use less water and reduce chill time. It's a good idea to me at $15 for the pump.

I've used this method before and it's very effective in the summer time when the tap water is not as cold.

However I use my tap water to get it down to 100F then hook up the pump and ice water. Using the tap water for the first stage saves on ice. Using the ice for the final cooling is very effective and you can get it down into the 40's for lagers.

 

[mjohnson]

Thanks. I think this is the best idea I've seen for my set up. I've been searching on pumps and some people seem to think you need a lot more GPH than the 145GPH you linked to. Have you had any problems with that one?

No problems at all. Works great. I would say that for an immersion chiller, you don't need much GPH at all. In fact, if the water is coming out cold, then you should slow it down - the idea is to absorb heat from the wort into the water and then have that water exit the chiller. If you have too much flow, you don't give it enough time to transfer the heat. Really, once the temps get down into the low 100's, I start to slow the flow down. Once its down really far, I slow it to a trickle.

Like maida7 said, if you recirculate the water back into the ice bath right after the boil, you'll melt the ice really quickly. Here's my process (my stove is close enough to my sink to get away with this). I have a bucket (5 gal from home depot) of ice and water with the pump in it. I put this bucket in the sink. I put my faucet over the bucket. I start the pump, but I have the chiller output the hot water into the sink - not back into the bucket. I refill the bucket with the faucet trying to match the flow of the pump. Once the temp is down to 100 or so, I put the output of the chiller into the bucket and just recirculate the ice water.

Works really well and the price is right for the pump.

 

[Frodo]

Works really well and the price is right for the pump.

Thanks for the ideas! Definitely sounds like an inexpensive solution.

 

[Powers]

fyi - i bought the 190 gph pump from the local harbor freight store for 11.99 about two weeks ago. the same pump is listed at 19.99 online, so you may get a better deal in the local store.

 

[aggieactuary]

Is it possible to have too many GPH in a pump for the wort chiller?

Harbor Freight has a 1258 GPH pump on sale for $22.50. It has an inline flow control valve, so that sounds like it should work, right?

 

[Powers]

that's almost half a gallon a second, which might be a little heavy duty. even with flow control, i'd steer clear of that kind of power unless you have experience with one of that nature

 

[maida7]

I think the pump I use is like 50 GPH and it does the job.

 

[logdrum]

I bought the 258 GPH, & while it does the job, there is no power to spare. OTOH, the "flow control" that comes with the pump is a joke.

-d

 

[aggieactuary]

I ended up ordering the 190 GPH because it was on sale for $11.99. I'll let everyone know how it does.

 

[aggieactuary]

The outlet on the pump is 1/2". My silicone tubing and auto-siphon are 3/8". What kind of adapter or fitting can I use to connect the tubing to the pump?

 

[maida7]

The outlet on the pump is 1/2". My silicone tubing and auto-siphon are 3/8". What kind of adapter or fitting can I use to connect the tubing to the pump?

what is the auto siphon and fancy silicone tubing for? I'd use vinyl tubing and barbed adapters

 

[Powers]

i've used the 190 gph pump twice since i bought it a few weeks ago. in my opinion, it pumps too fast, but still works. i wanted the 145 gph pump, but the local Harbor Freight store only had 190. the 190 gph pumps really fast and doesn't allow for heat to be absorbed into the coil as well. still for $12, it works pretty good and you have save alot of water.

make sure and have lots of ice handy. i only had about half my ice box, which wasn't near enough to get a good recirculation going. most of the water was too warm and i had to let it run down the drain....

 

[maida7]

make sure and have lots of ice handy. i only had about half my ice box, which wasn't near enough to get a good recirculation going. most of the water was too warm and i had to let it run down the drain....

This is why you use the tap water to get it down to 100F then hook up the pump and recirc the ice water.

 

[Powers]

okay, i actually use about a dozen 12 oz plastic water bottles that i keep frozen for the first part of the cooling process. once they start to thaw, which is around 90-100 degrees, then i move to ice from the freezer for the final stretch. but i always let the first 5 gallons or so of hot runnings go down the drain.

EDIT: in full disclosure, i'm a water law attorney and i see way to many disputes over limited water supplies, so i do what i can to reduce my water use in the brewing process. but it's a water heavy hobby!

 

[aggieactuary]

Powers, what size tubing are you using, and how are you hooking it up to the pump?

 

[Powers]

i had some tubing at the house that fit snug into the hole on the pump, but i'm not sure what size it was. hmmm, this gets me thinking that you could get a thicker walled tube and restrict the flow. or, you could use connectors to scale back the tube size. were you nudging me toward that idea, aggie?

 

[aggieactuary]

No, I was just trying to figure out how I'm going to connect the pump to my wort chiller.

I have 3/8" tubing coming off my wort chiller. Actually, I have 3/8" tubing with a garden hose fitting attached, but I could take the hose fitting off.

 

[Powers]

the pump had a hole in it that you could insert a tube. my hose from my wort chiller didn't fit, was too loose, so i searched around and found a hose with the same inner diameter, but a thicker wall. that hose fit, so i just fused the two with a fitting that joined the tubes (like a dowel with a hole!)

 

[Powers]

looking at my statement, dowel with a hole isn't too technical. but the basic principle is this: =-= , with the = being a tube and the - being the connection. a double sided brass nipple should work. i would just take the pump to wherever you can get tubing and see what fits. you can then replace that tube on your chiller, or find something to join the two tubes together with like i did.

 

[logdrum]

My pump has female 1/2" threads that fit one of the supplied fittings (1/2" barbed x 1/2" mnpt) I made a short jumper of the appropriate tubing w/ a barbed x garden hose at the other end. to wit: female garden hose x 1/2" barbed into jumper of 1/2" vinyl tubing to 1/2" barbed x 1/2" mnpt into pump. make any sense?

-d

 

[maida7]

My pump has female 1/2" threads that fit one of the supplied fittings (1/2" barbed x 1/2" mnpt) I made a short jumper of the appropriate tubing w/ a barbed x garden hose at the other end. to wit: female garden hose x 1/2" barbed into jumper of 1/2" vinyl tubing to 1/2" barbed x 1/2" mnpt into pump. make any sense?

-d

You probably could have found a 1/2" npt to garden hose adapter. Most big box stores like lowes carry them.

 

[logdrum]

I needed an npt to female swivel, which either they (Lowes) don't carry or were out of. Believe me, I looked!

-d