Filled converted keg too heavy--Need Pump Advice

[BrewBlender]

My wonderful wife bought me a converted keg for my birthday and now that I am able to brew 12 gallon batches, I can't lift the keg onto the burner after I've emptied my cooler mash tun. We're talking 14+ gallons of wort in a converted keg that has to be lifted at least 2+ feet onto a burner.

I want to buy a pump but I have some questions:

1) Can someone recommend a pump that can handle 212 degree temps?

2) Currently my Mash Tun is on a table and I usually will pour the Hot Liquor water by hand from another pot into it. Then after the mash, empty it to the keggle on the ground. Should I keep it on the table and have the pump on the ground then going UP to the keggle on the stove OR should I put the Mash Tun on the ground and pump out and UP to the Keggle on the stove? Does it matter if I am pumping up or down or level?

3) When pumping from the Mash Tun to the Keggle, can I pump directly into the spout at the bottom of the keggle and fill it from the bottom up, or is it better to put the hose over the top of the keggle and empty down into it? Does it matter?

4) I am a batch sparger: When I get this new pump, do I need to control the speed of the flow out of the Mash Tun into the pump and/or the speed from the pump to the keggle? Right now, I just open the spout on the mash tun about half way to allow the wort to come out not slow but not fast. Does it matter how fast you empty a mash tun when batch sparging?

5) Lastly, now that I will have a pump, can I just pump my hot liquor into the Mash Tun? Does it matter how fast that hot water gets in? (I usually will just pour the whole amount of the strike water quickly) I just want to make sure you can do it slower.

[Mylo]

Gravity can be your friend, man - in addition to your enemy. Why don't you put your mash tun above your kettle. Pump up your strike and sparge water and let gravity pull it down back into the boil kettle.

Get the march pump from B3. You can find them a little cheaper on eBay, but they don't have the mounting flanges.

I have a three tier system right now. I fill from the top of the BK with a hose (down to the bottom). I pull the hose out every once in a while, because I like to keep an eye on the flow rate. If you fill from the bottom, you have no idea if or when it gets stuck.


Mylo

[Brew Engineer]

I pull the hose out every once in a while, because I like to keep an eye on the flow rate.


Mylo

You are a sick bastard, aren't you!!!

[nathan]

you could also get two big pitchers and catch your wort from the mash and pour it into the keggle.
when you get a gallon in there, light the burner and keep filling.

Just don't do what I have done on occasion and forget you are filling one container. I use 1 gallon gatorade jugs as grants for recirc and getting to keggle, (or used to, before I started using my new home-built single-tier two-pump HERMS setup). I have focused on my boil from batch 1 or chilling it and forgotten that batch 2 is pouring into 1 gallon jug.

Maybe you could be less retarded than me. I just this second realized I could have put a pot down, and put the jug in the pot, so if it overflowed it would be okay... wow am I a stupid ass sometimes.

[BrewBlender]

Is it detrimental to the wort if you're pouring it into the Keggle?

[Bugeater]

Is it detrimental to the wort if you're pouring it into the Keggle?

It all depends on how you pour it. If you pour it from a height so it splashes around, the answer is yes. If you lower the pitcher (or whatever you are using to transfer your wort) into the keggle as close to the bottom as you can get (or to the level of the wort) and pour gently down the side, the answer is no.

I routinely do this kind of transfer and have no problem with it.

Wayne

[missing_link]

I have a pump but in order to get better measurements of my pre-boil volume, I sparge into a graduated bucket. When it hits 3 gallons or so, I stop the pump, dump the bucket and then restart the sparge. I like this method because I get to know exactly how much wort I have collected.

After the first dump, I light the burner with a low flame because 3 gallons will boil easily in 30 minutes.

Linc