Transfer with pump

[Frodv]

Hi, is it ok transfer my beer from fermenter to storage tanks using a small sentrifugal pump? I know some will say I may get cavitation, but is this i big problem?

I transfer beer that is cold crashed to 32 degree F. And I use a small "chinapump" to transfer from the bottom of the fermenter. The pump is screwed into the fermenter in a 1/2" ball valve.

 

[IslandLizard]

If you can prevent air from being whipped in, it should be OK, but using a pump that may not be all that easy, especially to get it all primed. Why not just rack?

The idea is to move the clear beer, leaving the trub and yeast behind in the fermentor. Won't that pump suck a lot of the yeast and trub with it, being on or close to the bottom, which would negate your cold crash efforts pretty much?

What kind of storage tanks are you thinking of? Kegs?

 

[Frodv]

There will be no air to be whiplash in because I feed the fermenter with co2 AS I pump, but not enough to push all of the beer (I've tried). It is not a powerfull pump, and it is not self priming, so it will not suck and the trub will not get sucked in ( I've tried that too). The pump is located lover than the fermenter, so priming is not an issue.

My storage tanks are old waterheater tanks (200 liter stainless steel) and I fill it from the bottom up...

 

[IslandLizard]

There will be no air to be whiplash in because I feed the fermenter with co2 AS I pump, but not enough to push all of the beer (I've tried). It is not a powerfull pump, and it is not self priming, so it will not suck and the trub will not get sucked in ( I've tried that too). The pump is located lover than the fermenter, so priming is not an issue.

My storage tanks are old waterheater tanks (200 liter stainless steel) and I fill it from the bottom up...

Ah, good, as long as you can keep all air out, the better.

2 hectoliter "storage" tanks? How are you carbonating those? Are they serving tanks?

You know you need to fill them all the way to the top, to remove all the air above? Or are they already 100% pre-purged with CO2?

We really should have a (semi) pro forum here for those brewing sizes and related issues. I've never brewed anything larger than 20 gallons.

 

[Frodv]

They are serving tanks. I carbonated with CO2. I pre-purge a couple of times before filling them, and then I purge some more after filling...

 

[IslandLizard]

They are serving tanks. I carbonated with CO2. I pre-purge a couple of times before filling them, and then I purge some more after filling...

Just using CO2 to prepurge tanks that large has little benefit. There's so much O2 left while you're wasting CO2 by the pound on each purge. There are tables/graphs for that. To effectively get (nearly) all the O2 out, fill them with water to the very (very) top, then push it all out with CO2. Don't open it. Now you have a tank (nearly) 100% filled with CO2, ready to receive and store beer. Even purging a 5-10% headspace after filling takes more CO2 than the described method leaving a higher residual O2 level. Unless you can fill them to the very top, a 100% liquid prepurge is your only choice.