Pump for whirlpool - and practice

[mikevarela]

Got a blichman 10 gal and some silicone 1/2" tubing. Building an immersion chiller now and will build another extra arm for Jamil style whirlpool (don't want to cut hole in kettle)

I'm getting a medium pond pump for the immersion chiller so that's cool.

I need advice on a March pump for the wort. It's leaving the kettle from the main spout, then to the march and then to the copper tube that'll run the whirlpool.

I don't want to spend a crazy amount on a pump. I'm interested in a pump for 5 gal batches.

-------

then, I also have a question on practice.

If you'll permit a walk through, i'd like to see if I've got it right.


Flow of wort is Kettle -> out main ball valve -> down silicone tubing -> into march pump -> out through march pump and directly attached ball valve -> silicone tubing -> into copper pipe which is in kettle for whirlpool.

5 min before boil is over, drop in immersion chiller and extra copper tube for whirlpool. Turn on pump but close exit ball valve and let it run to sanitize. then at flame out turn on pond pump and start circulating cold water through immersion chiller. take whirlpool tube and pour out little bit of wort in tube after opening pump for a little second, get rid of this sanitized but not clean wort. put tube back into kettle. cover kettle with lid and use sanitized (soaked towel in starsan) towel to cover extra opening from copper tubing. watch thermometer and at yeast pitch temp, remove all tubing and let whirpool sit for 10 min. put copper whirlpool tube into fermenter and slowly open pump and run out wort to glass fermenter.

I have a hop blocker and I'm familiar with it's use and the speed I should drain the wort.

so, does this sound right? I'm super excited to start doing this but want to get it all right.

[dogismycopilot]

I also use a Jamil-style whirlpool chiller, and I would recommend putting it in the kettle, and starting the March pump about 20 minutes before the end of the boil, to sanitize. Leave the pump outflow fully OPEN to recirculate boiling wort. That's the only way you're going to sanitize it.

Also, when you first start to chill, the water coming out of your immersion chiller will be very hot, so let that go down the drain, or into another container, to water your plants or something, when it cools down. Recirculating that hot water will not do any good. Once the water coming out of your chiller is relatively cool, add some ice to the vessel with the pond pump, and recirculate.

Good luck

[EagleDude]

To be honest, I didn't follow you completely when it came to the whole sanitize and cool down process. The flow from kettle to pump to copper was all good as far as I can tell. If you don't have all the copper yet, you can save some materials by using the following process.

I have a 50' of 1/2 inch copper tubing that I use for both HERMS mash temp regulation and for cooling the wort to pitching temps. I have tried using the coil sitting in the wort with cool water running through it to cool the wort and the reverse with submersing the coil in cool water and having the hot wort running through the coil. The latter works much faster for me ... temps below 130 within 10-15 minutes on 11 gallon batches (DMS danger zone). Here is how I do it:

1: place coil in boild kettle 20 minutes before the end of the boil and hook up all hoses to run from kettle to pump to coil and back into the boil kettle. All valves fully open and kick up the heat a bit to maintain the boil. This will give you hot side sanitation inside and out of the coil.

2: Fill up second kettle with cold water and move coil to that container at end of boil.

3: Turn pump on at full blast to run the wort out of the kettle, through the coil submerged in cold water, and back into the boil kettle at an angle to get the whirlpool action going.

3: Replace cooling water as needed to keep temps down by running a hose in with an adjustable attachment and drain at the same rate.

4: Turn off drain and hose to cooling tank. Add ice to the cooling water and continue circulating wort to get down to desired ale or lager pitching temps.

You can oxygenate the wort at the latter stages of cooling by picking up the wort output tube just above the top of the wort to simulate the "shake" technique.

I can already imagine the responses from folks that don't like the idea of running cooling wort through the inside of the coil, but that is just nonsense ... have you ever seen the outside of the copper coil after "sanitizing" it in the boil. No reason to believe the inside would be any different. Besides, it just had 20 minutes with boiling wort running through it.

After transfer to the fermentor, I run 120 degree PBW through all tubing, pumps, coil, kettle for a good 30-45 minutes. Rinse well then store for immediate use without additional cleaning on the next brew day. One rule I live by is that anything on the hot side does not need to be sanitized ... My 2 year old just tested that belief by having his own idea on wood aging. I was brewing a blond ale that the kid put a 6 inch piece of cottonwood stick into the cooling hose. I didn't find it until after the transfer to the fermentor, but boiling wort did pass through for 20 minutes prior to the cooling. The beer is still great and just entered it into a competition. Yeast was reused on a robust porter that was also great. No off flavors or abnormally low gravities but to wild yeast or bacteria.

Another piece of advice, don't cover up the container until temps get below at least 130. If you see steam, you still want it to escape.

Hope this helps! And everyone else ... welcome to tell me how I am doing it wrong!

[Bierbutt]

I've wondered about a pump for my equipment as well. I would love some speed control. Has anyone seen/used this pump before? Getting a DC drive is quite a bit cheaper than a AC drive.

http://www.brewpump.com/Default.asp