recirculating

[Hastings]

Hey guys,

I bought a pump and I'am going to recirculate my mash in a keggle. The only thing is that I don't have a heat source that the pump is going through. I will just have it connected from the bottom to the top with a cover on top to hold the heat and it will be on a burner so just in case it looses heat.

My questions are:

A) Is what I'am doing with the pump ok?

B) Can i use the pump to pull out my wort?

C) I batch sparge but with a pump is there another type of sparge i should do?

 

[bgruis]

A)I think you'll be fine.

B) Yes, of course...are you saying pulling the wort for recirc or to the Boil Kettle? either way is fine though, your only limitations would be equipment ones.

C) I really like Batch sparging, however you could fly sparge with a sparge arm or the old dinner plate method. Having done both (I have a sparge arm). I prefer Batch as it is much quicker and easier.

I use a two tier keggle system (HERMS)...I recirc through the hot water in the HLT. This works great for me.

I have also done what your talking about as. You will likely suffer a little heat loss, but if your MLT has direct fired heat then that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[jfowler1]

You will be fine using your pump to recirculate your mash. My mash tun is not direct fired, but I do use the pump to recirculate the mash for about 10 minutes after I mash out. As far as the sparge goes, I use a fly sparge on a rig design very similar to the B3 1550.

I do have one piece of advice. When you begin the recirc, you need to have all the valves involved fully open to get the pump to prime. Naturally, open the valve on the mash tun slowly so that you do not create a huge rush of pressure and compact the grain bed. When you turn your pump on, control the flow rate at the last possible ball valve the wort can pass through before it re-enteres the tun. In my case, I have a valve installed at the top of my mash tun that I use for flow control, but that is unusual. For most people, it would be the valve at the output of the pump. In my experience, this system works best because by having the valve on the mash tun fully open, you do not choke flow into the pump, and by keeping that "last" valve partially closed, you control the flow rate of the entire system and do not over compact your grain bed.

As I understand it, the March Pump (which I assume you are using) does not really "suck", hence its inability to self prime. However, by running the whole system at full speed, you risk the same stuck sparge issues you would have if you were to drain your tun too quickly.

Joe

 

[RobbyBeers]

You will likely suffer a little heat loss, but if your MLT has direct fired heat then that shouldn't be an issue.

So you're not recirculating through a secondary heat source, but I think what folks are alluding to (above) is that, so long as you're recirculating, it's ok to use direct fire to keep the mash temp up. Or maybe that's not the question (?).

 

[Hastings]

I'am going apply direst heat if i start loosing heat is that alright?

 

[tasq]

I'am going apply direst heat if i start loosing heat is that alright?

Yes, but you are going to find it tricky to maintain temps that way.