Reasons not to use an electric pump

[jgaepi]

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.

 

[benbradford]

pumps are great?

 

[BudzAndSudz]

Don't think that just having gravity feed will alleviate priming issues, there's way more to it than just having the pump downhill. My pump makes me grumpy at least once a brew day, but it still beats lifting the heavy pots over and over!

 

[mccumath]

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.

 

[BudzAndSudz]

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.

Good point. I suppose it's worth mentioning that I also use a chugger pump. It definitely still has some priming issues, but it can shoot some wort like I never imagined so it's darn worth the money!

 

[benbradford]

I have a chugger and a march. Both have priming issues, but work well. The chugger is more powerful but screams bloody murder if there is any air in the chamber. I can't use it when I am near a boil to circulate because the bubbles fill the chamber and make it scream.

 

[lschiavo]

Just to throw it out there, Little Giant is another option. I have been very happy with mine (TE-3-MD). Maybe it's just my setup but I can't ever remember a priming issue.

 

[Barnesie]

The march pump is the best return-of-investment of anything I've bought for brewing. Regardless of the brand, I think a pump is top on the list of things that can make your brewing life easier.

 

[JRems]

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

 

[ajdelange]

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.

 

[maida7]

The only reason I could see for NOT using a pump is it's one more piece of equipment to purchase. Also one more thing to clean on brew day. Not that cleaning a pump is hard. I just shoot some water thru it with the hose.

For 5 gallon batches I don't think a pump is really needed unless you have a bad back or really want to avoid a gravity system. Once you go to 10+ gallon batches a pump is really handy. Lifting 10+ gallons of very hot liquid is not a good idea.

 

[nickelmcgee]

I use an air diaphragm pump with an air compressor. The thing rocks it out. I run a HERMS system and having a pump that can recirc wort through the HLT coil without issue is essential. It also doesn’t “shear” protein either. I think shearing protein is BS even for a centrifugal pump.

 

[Spartan1979]

I bought a March pump. I mostly do 5 gallon batches and I rarely use it. Mainly because I don't want to bother cleaning it. While it's not that hard to clean, the time it takes is just added on to the end of my brew day.

 

[BudzAndSudz]

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?

 

[CJBrewVT]

If you have another way of transferring liquid besides lifting a kettle, then you probably don't need a pump. Maybe you use a couple of small pots?

 

[ajdelange]

I would be completely flabbergasted if that was true. Can you please cite a source of some sort?

I don't think there's much doubt that shearing occurs but as you should be able to pick up from the tone of my post I question how much of problem that is. You can look it up as well as I can - check Practical Brewer, Handbook of Brewing, Narziß and books like that. Not saying you'll find it any any all or none of those three but you might and if not you probably will in the material referenced in those.

 

[Barnesie]

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.

 

[maida7]

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.

I just blow some water from the hose thru the pump at the end of the brew day. No big deal.

 

[jgaepi]

My concerns were $ and then more tubing and maybe quick connect valves. Even with Midwest 20% for veterans seems like it would still be about $200 for everything.

My original thought was it would help suck additional liquid out of the mash grains and faster. I was already thinking of measuring batch sparge water for the mash using a 4 quart container. It would probably be more accurate than xferring water from the kettle to mash tun using a pump.

But I am just thinking that with 5 gallons it is just not worth it.

 

[Monster Mash]

I have to agree that with 5 gallon batches you can get by without a pump. When you get to 10+ gallons it makes things easier.

 

[maida7]

My original thought was it would help suck additional liquid out of the mash grains and faster.

I think that would just compact the grain bed and you'd end up with a stuck sparge

 

[mattd2]

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

Pretty sure you should not run any centrifugal pump dry, where are you getting that info from?

 

[HDIr0n]

I think it just depends on what direction you want to go with your brewery. I have a HERMS style setup, and can't use my HERMS coil without a pump. The same would be true with a RIMS setup. If you are more traditional then yeah you can probably do without.
-G

 

[Coldies]

Get a pump. I only brew 5 gallon batches and use my pump to recirculate the mash via RIMS. In regards to cleaning it, its not tough at all. At the end of mashing when all my wort is in the BK, I fill up my mash tun with hot tap water and recirculate it for a few minutes, drain and repeat. Done. About every 5 brews I will run Oxyclean through it.

 

[EvilBrewer]

...with Midwest 20% for veterans...But I am just thinking that with 5 gallons it is just not worth it.

Holy [expletive]! Midwest gives a 20% discount to veterans? That's great - and thank you for your service!

As for whether you'll *need* a pump, I brewed 5 gallon all grain batches without a pump for a couple of years and it was fine. There was some lifting of boiling liquids which I didn't particularly care for...but I did it. That being said, I use a pump now and I'd never go back. My pump is mounted to my brewstand now but when I first got it, I did not have a brewstand....I screwed the pump to a block of wood and would place it on the ground (below the elevation of the banjo burner). Definitely a cheap yet effective solution.

 

[sonex]

I built my system to avoid the PITA pumps. I work with pumps for a living and having to prime and clean them does not make them easier or efficient. You can build your system to not use one. I have a batch sparge rig. Its set up with the hlt on the top shelf the mash tun on the middle shelf and the kettle on a lift table all have electric coils in them. Everything is gravity fed to each other. When the wort is ready to be transferred to the fermenters I just pump the lift table up with the kettle so I can gravity feed to my fermenters. Whats a nice bonus is the table is on wheels so I can roll the fermenters to my ferm freezer lift the fermenters to freezer height and just set them down into the ferm freezer. the lift tables can be had at harbor freight for less than 150 bucks, so price is comparable to march pumps. This was not meant to dis pump fans, just trying to give other options that are less complicated than using a pump.

 

[limulus]

one of these days when I finally do go off the grid, I'll brew over a fire and use a Gilligan's Island bamboo bicycle device to pump my wort. I can also exercise at the same time.

 

[JRems]

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

 

[mattd2]

http://www.franklin-electric.com/media/documents/995783.pdf
run dry time 8 hours

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/little-giant-vs-march-pumps-268504/
This thread goes into the run dry claim from LG (I know it is from Walter at March but still has some info).
Might ask walter to run a test to see how long you can run a March dry without killing it

 

[jcaudill]

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.

As to OP's question: no reason you shouldn't use a pump of some sort. Someone made a comment about them extending brew day to clean - but they save time moving liquid so I'd argue there is an offset. Also you have a lot more versatility with a pump. And if you're worried about a little extra cleaning - maybe brewing isn't for you.

I've never had the priming issues with my March that everyone talks about. I have a valve on the outlet of the pump to help prime it. That said I wouldn't ignore the alternatives like Little Giant or Chugger.