Hi Kegland, I recently bought a robobrew thinking it was going to be a compromise (didn't have the bank for a grainfather), however I'm thrilled with it for the price, massive improvement over my previous BIAB setup.
What I want to know is when recirculating mash do you need to have a decent flow to not stuff the pump or is it happy as long as some liquid is flowing through it? Also is there a trick to cleaning the groove at the top? Should the ring that supports the malt pipe be removed?
Thanks for your support Milhouse. We appreciate you giving us the sale.
The better the flow rate through the malt pipe the better extraction of sugars you are going to get. If we want to talk exact numbers if you have 1-2 liters per minute going through the malt pipe this is slow but it's acceptable. This is a bit tricky to determine unless you lift up the malt pipe and capture what's going through the malt pipe with a bucket then measure the liquid.
If you get faster flow rates this is even better.
* Rice hulls will help you get better flow
* Dont mill the grain to fine and this will give you better flow
* Don't try to brew absolute maximum volume as this will significantly reduce the flow
Also..
If you use things like rice or oats this stuff can turn into glue so not a bad idea to use rice hulls especially on these.
If you are often brewing maximum gravity beers or filling the malt pipe to the absolute brim you may want to consider upgrading to the 65L Robobrew Brewzilla. The 65L model works great for smaller batches too and you will get excellent flow on one of these. The only thing is it takes up a bit more space in your garage and you need 15amp power socket. The additional power does speed up the brew day which is also nice.