Hey All,
I am just getting a very small nano brewery on its feet (1.5 barrel capacity). I built my system from the ground up, and everything is working, but not necessarily as quickly as would be best.
I am using stainless steel tubing and a 200,000 btu burner in a sort of 'hot water on demand' set up that I built to heat my water in the HLT. Yesterday, I was having issues with vapor lock, and a buddy of mine was saying that I probably need a stronger pump. Right now I am using one of the nano-scale March pumps for just about all of my brewing tasks that need a pump. It is not self priming, so I was contemplating buying a non-high-temp self priming pump for other transfers (under 150 bucks).
But now with this vapor lock issue, and need to move wort more quickly during the brewing process, I was thinking that it might be best to replace the March pump with something more in tune with pushing water through 3/8" SS tubing at a higher velocity, a pump that is good with high temps, and is self priming, and maybe something that I can keep using if and when I grow beyond my 1.5 barrel system. Right now, I also use my March pump in a keg cleaning set up that I made - a pump with a real kick would benefit the cleaning process as well.
I need to shave time off of my current brew session, and I'm thinking the right pump would do just that.
Would anyone have any good suggestions? I'm not looking to break the bank, but I realize that this is something that would be a good investment. Any workhorse machine that may come to mind, I'll take any feedback on.
Thanks very much.
rich.
I am just getting a very small nano brewery on its feet (1.5 barrel capacity). I built my system from the ground up, and everything is working, but not necessarily as quickly as would be best.
I am using stainless steel tubing and a 200,000 btu burner in a sort of 'hot water on demand' set up that I built to heat my water in the HLT. Yesterday, I was having issues with vapor lock, and a buddy of mine was saying that I probably need a stronger pump. Right now I am using one of the nano-scale March pumps for just about all of my brewing tasks that need a pump. It is not self priming, so I was contemplating buying a non-high-temp self priming pump for other transfers (under 150 bucks).
But now with this vapor lock issue, and need to move wort more quickly during the brewing process, I was thinking that it might be best to replace the March pump with something more in tune with pushing water through 3/8" SS tubing at a higher velocity, a pump that is good with high temps, and is self priming, and maybe something that I can keep using if and when I grow beyond my 1.5 barrel system. Right now, I also use my March pump in a keg cleaning set up that I made - a pump with a real kick would benefit the cleaning process as well.
I need to shave time off of my current brew session, and I'm thinking the right pump would do just that.
Would anyone have any good suggestions? I'm not looking to break the bank, but I realize that this is something that would be a good investment. Any workhorse machine that may come to mind, I'll take any feedback on.
Thanks very much.
rich.
Comment