Recirculating eBIAB Questions

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Do you leave your pump and lines hooked up and filled with wort during the boil?

  • Yes

    Votes: 7 63.6%
  • No

    Votes: 4 36.4%

  • Total voters
    11

Wuzabear

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I have been very happy with my eBIAB setup to date. I have decided to upgrade my system with a pump to recirculate during the mash and whirlpool, and have a few logistical questions that I cannot seem to find the answer to.

1. When you are done with the mash, do you leave the wort in the lines during the boil? I am hesitant to do this, as I do not want a portion of the wort to not boil.

2. If you empty the lines and pump of wort prior to the boil, how do you sanitize them after they have been hooked back up for doing the whirlpool?

3. Once you have finished chilling, how do you fill up your fermenter? Do you use the pump? Or do you disconnect the pump system from the kettle valve, and hook up a separate tube to the kettle valve directly?

4. I would like to be able to switch from a recirculating"diptube" to a whirlpool "diptube" from the fitting going into the top of the kettle. Am I using the correct terminology? Am I overthinking this? Any suggestions?

I will be using quick disconnects for everything and 1/2" ID high-temperature silicone tubing. If anyone has any other recommendations or common pitfalls to look out for, that would be helpful! Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Think carefully about why you want to recirculate during the mash. I have a pump in my system but I’ve found my brewdays to be a lot more predictable, repeatable and easy if I don’t recirculate the mash. I use the pump while heating to strike temp and during the whirlpool and chilling and I’d highly recommend a pump for those activities. However, I find when mashing full volume, it’s simpler to just dough in, stir and insulate. With water chemistry and a good crush I regularly (and repeatably) hit 80% brewhouse efficiency without worrying about stuck or scorched mashes. Anyway, to answer your questions:
1 - drain the lines and return the wort to the kettle prior to / during the boil.
2 - run the pump towards the end of the boil when you add your chiller to sanitise the pump and lines
3 - dealers choice. If your kettle outlet is above your fermenter, you don’t have to pump, but if not, you do.
4 - recirculation / whirlpool return. You’ll need a ball valve on the whirlpool return so that it can be closed off when not in use.

If you’re hell bent on mash recirculation, you’ll need to make some kettle modifications, add a pump and ball valve (to control flow rate) and play around with your grain crush to find the right level of coarseness for your system.
 
1. When you are done with the mash, do you leave the wort in the lines during the boil? I am hesitant to do this, as I do not want a portion of the wort to not boil.
Yes. I start circulating at the last 5 mins of the boil (for sanitizing the lines for a whirlpool, so that wort ends up in the pot anyways.

2. If you empty the lines and pump of wort prior to the boil, how do you sanitize them after they have been hooked back up for doing the whirlpool?
See above for my process. You will lose a bit of wort no matter what here. Factor it in as your loses.

3. Once you have finished chilling, how do you fill up your fermenter? Do you use the pump? Or do you disconnect the pump system from the kettle valve, and hook up a separate tube to the kettle valve directly?
I gravity feed it, but I only brew 5 gallon batches. Some use their pump, but I like to drain the kettle slowly so I do not pick up my truck comes I worked so hard to form during whirlpool.

4. I would like to be able to switch from a recirculating"diptube" to a whirlpool "diptube" from the fitting going into the top of the kettle. Am I using the correct terminology? Am I overthinking this? Any suggestions?
I do this, see my signature for my setup design.
 
I like my recirculating set up just because it gives me peace of mind on the temperature. I have a port on the bottom so after mash is done I move the hose to the bottom and barely lose any wort. I then use the pump to fill my fermenters mostly because my setup is too low for gravity. I did just make a cheap splitter so now I can pump into both fermenters for my 10g batches.
 
Two vessel ebiab... I like it a lot... It's is based on the Brutus 20
 

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I will use the pump in the keg fermenter . first I will dump the havested yeast then pump, which generates lots of bubbles..
IMG_20181124_132831.jpg
 
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