Transfer from fermenter with a pump

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5150

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Hey Guys,

I'm trying to work out the best way for me to transfer out of my FVs while leaving them in place. I'm using 54 litre stainless pots as my FVs and lifting them out of the chest freezer isn't a great deal of fun. I also still have a spare 150L stainless pot I'd love to use for fermentation, but I'm obviously not going to be able to lift it. The garage I rent for my brewery is too small for a winch or block and tackle system.

What I am wondering is does anyone pump their beer from the FV to kegs? And if so, could you share your experience, ie. what you use and any problems.

I was originally thinking a little brown pump connected to an auto syphon, but I'm worried about oxidisation.

Any comments are appreciated.
 
I have thought about this before, as in lifting F Vs, go with a little brown pump.
Some hoses,a battery charger and your done,oxidisation won't be a problem so long as the transfer tube is long enough to reach the bottom of the keg to avoid splashing.
Have a container full of water handy so you can flush the pump and hoses after use.
Set it up in a case of some sort and post the pics for us all.
Cheers.....spog...
 
Thanks Spog, I'll rig it up this week for a test a let you know how it goes. If all good I'll take some pics etc.

Booargy, Massive coin for the pump and at just over a litre a minute, a 100L batch would just take too long, but thanks for the thought.

Judanero, I use an auto syphon at the moment, but still need to lift the pots to take advantage of gravity. Do you have your FV higher than your kegs?? I'd love to try and keep it simple. (but cool gadgets for the brewery are always a bonus).

Thanks for taking the time gentlemen.
 
Out of curiosity I check Ebay for little brown pumps and I see they have crept up in price a few dollars,the must be getting popular!
I want to grab a couple of spares in case mine shits its self during a brew,they're on the list of must get.
 
spog said:
Out of curiosity I check Ebay for little brown pumps and I see they have crept up in price a few dollars,the must be getting popular!
I want to grab a couple of spares in case mine shits its self during a brew,they're on the list of must get.
The Aus. dollar took a dive... Everything from O/S is a little more expensive.
 
I would not use any centrifigal impeller pump. It will cause massive foaming due to the small amount of CO2 in the beer. I have used a Shurflo diaphragm pump for years to transfer from the fermenter. Have a look at this model - it is used pretty universally these days to pump beer from the cellar room direct to the fonts. It is air or CO2 driven:
http://legacy.shurflo.com/pages/Food_Service/beer/categories/beerace.html

Wes
 
5150 said:
Judanero, I use an auto syphon at the moment, but still need to lift the pots to take advantage of gravity. Do you have your FV higher than your kegs?? I'd love to try and keep it simple. (but cool gadgets for the brewery are always a bonus).
Yes I should have mentioned that, my fv does always sit higher than the keg when transferring..
 
5150 said:
I just found this Battery operated syphon pump. Could be interesting.
I use one of those for transferring fuel with the race car and kart. Would be a complete PITA for brewing, especially with cleaning.
 
wessmith said:
I would not use any centrifigal impeller pump. It will cause massive foaming due to the small amount of CO2 in the beer. I have used a Shurflo diaphragm pump for years to transfer from the fermenter. Have a look at this model - it is used pretty universally these days to pump beer from the cellar room direct to the fonts. It is air or CO2 driven:
http://legacy.shurflo.com/pages/Food_Service/beer/categories/beerace.html

Wes
Hi Wes, that makes perfect sense about the foaming. Is that the model of pump that you use? For the application I need it for would an electric diaphragm pump not make more sense and not waste Co2? I'll definitely look at diaphragm pumps for the job. Thanks.


takai said:
I use one of those for transferring fuel with the race car and kart. Would be a complete PITA for brewing, especially with cleaning.
Cheers Takai, yeah I could imagine that it would be a pain.
 
5150 said:
Thanks Hippy, You mentioned that you were starting to get off flavours, was this due to oxidisation from the LBP?
Yeh mate I'm pretty sure it was oxidisation.
Those impeller pumps look the go.
Any idea on price Wes?
 
For this sort of application I would look at peristaltic pumps, no question. There will be no contact between beer and pump. Beer only contacts the tube it is in and there will not be much risk of foaming or oxidation. We used them in the lab because they are very clean, very controllable, and there is minimal contamination risk.
 
Another alternative could be to sit your chest freezer up on some milk crates or something to make use of gravity when transferring. Cheaper and less cleaning.
 
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