[James K]

I have only used gravity because it works. I have a 3 tier and it’s pretty simple hlt, mash, boil, carboy. Very simple doesn’t need any fixing or repair, I just open valves and it all runs downward. If I need to move liquid higher, I use a pitcher.

[ynotbrusum]

I also have two deer hoists that I use for pulling BIAB basket from mash tun and pulling fermenters in and out of the freezer chest.  I will add a third when cornie kegs become too much for me.  So mechanical advantage makes my life much easier.

[Robert]

I also have two deer hoists that I use for pulling BIAB basket from mash tun and pulling fermenters in and out of the freezer chest.  I will add a third when cornie kegs become too much for me.  So mechanical advantage makes my life much easier.

I like that.

[BrewBama]

I was all gravity until moving inside via electric this summer. I added a pump to move liquid between vessels, to recirculate thru the RIMS, and whirlpool when I am chilling the wort.  I am enjoying not lifting heavy vessels of hot liquid.


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[kramerog]

Despite having a pump, I still use a gravity system.  I fill the HLT direct from the tap so there is no lifting there. Unfortunately, I have to lift the kettle to so it can drain into fermenters. 

The reason I bought the pump was for heat exchange and to pump the wort into the kettle, but I never got around to it.

[scrap iron]

Both, I have a brew stand with two levels and a propane burner stand below that. I pre-boil mash water in the BK then cool to 8-10 degrees above strike temp. Then pump to underlet the mash into mash tun. I also used to fill sparge water in the BK and pump up to sparge tank, but now I am doing no-sparge and skip this step. So once the water is in the vessels gravity is used to move to the next vessel. I do recirculate during mash and can add heat to the MT for different temp steps using a pump. Step mashing is easy with a pump but some don't do that. At the end of the mash I move the mash drain hose to the BK and gravity feed. Then at the end of boil I pump to fermenter. If you build a tier system you don't have to run the pump the whole time. Being an Old Man a pump is a back saver. They just require a little maintenance and mounted corectly and low enough to allow priming.

[Ortizer]

Take this with a grain of salt as I own several pumps and brew on both a Brew-Magic and a BrewEasy... which require pumps.


Pumps can be a PITA. They frequently don't prime properly, require some maintenance, and can just not work for some random reason.


That said, your reasoning is why many people get a pump. I have a good friend that uses his kettle to heat all of his strike water up, and then pumps in into the manifold of his cooler tun, underletting. Then uses the same kettle to heat up sparge water, which gets pumped into a second cooler for the lauter. Then he gravity drains the sweet wort into the kettle via gravity, and simply pumps over the HLT into the Mash for a fast batch sparge. Kind of nice as the pump never sees wort - only water.

If you get one, next thing is you will want to recirculate during the mash, etc. Unnecessary complexity unless you like that kind of thing. I do.

Would you put recirculating during the mash in front of using a pump to whirlpool at the end of the boil in terms of desires?

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[Kochhandwerk]

I just bought this pump to recirculate mash in my BIAB kettle. I opted for the stainless steel head add-on which still makes it cheaper than most similarly-sized pumps on the market.

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Mark-II-25-Watt-Wort-Pump-P4028.aspx

I intend to also fit a whirlpool arm in the kettle as well to use it. It has good reviews, some people that have kept the plastic head end up cracking it pretty quickly though attaching and reattaching fittings.

[coolman26]

I've been using a pump for years and find it very useful.  But I do not do recirculation.  My trials haven't found any value to me from it.  But I'm building a no lift system and I find pumps so useful that I just sprung for a Blichmann Riptide.

Listen to Denny, he abstained for a long time. He went pump and never turned back. See, I have been around a long time. I built a 3 tier and was going gravity. I bought pumps before I had it all set up. IMO, pumps were one of the most beneficial equipment purchases. I would not want to brew without mine. I use a CFC, so a pump is a necessity as far as I’m concerned. I use a pump for whirlpool too. Yes a pump is worth every penny. I use Little Giant and have had no issues. I would buy something with a stainless head, which mine are not.


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[mchrispen]

Would you put recirculating during the mash in front of using a pump to whirlpool at the end of the boil in terms of desires?

Desires? If you have a pump, why not do both?


Here's the thing: my system(s) were designed to recirculate, so it is a normal part of my brew day. I worry about oxidation damage during a pumped whirlpool. It seems excessive to move so much wort so fast, when I haven't seen the benefit versus a light spin with a mash paddle or spoon. Either way, just letting the wort settle still creates a decent pile of trub.


I did install a whirlpool arm in my Brew Magic kettle, and found that I seldom actually used it.

[Ortizer]

Would you put recirculating during the mash in front of using a pump to whirlpool at the end of the boil in terms of desires?

Desires? If you have a pump, why not do both?


Here's the thing: my system(s) were designed to recirculate, so it is a normal part of my brew day. I worry about oxidation damage during a pumped whirlpool. It seems excessive to move so much wort so fast, when I haven't seen the benefit versus a light spin with a mash paddle or spoon. Either way, just letting the wort settle still creates a decent pile of trub.


I did install a whirlpool arm in my Brew Magic kettle, and found that I seldom actually used it.

Interesting. Trub aside, it also seemed a handy way to chill the wort during the summer when water temp is warmer from the hose.

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[yugamrap]

I've used a March 809 pump for several years - mostly to avoid lifting.  Over last winter, I moved indoors and went to an all-electric single-level HERMS.  Now I have two pumps (Chugger) and can do recirculating stepped mashes.  I also move all of my cold-side beer between fermenters and kegs by pushing with C02.

Why?  Mostly because my back just doesn't hold up to lifting like it used to.  I still wanted to be able to do step mashes without decoction, and find that I have more consistency across the board with the PID-controlled electric HERMS.  Moving inside means I can be much more comfortable brewing when it's 95 or 5 degrees outside (we have seasons in Cleveland, OH), and my whole brewing operation is on one level of the house so I don't have to schlep things up/down stairs on brew day anymore.

That said, none of this is necessary to make good beer.  Before all this, I made some beers that won medals in competitions using no pump and batch sparging "Denny Conn style" in a cooler with a CPVC manifold.  We'll see what happens with my beers from the new system at our club's competition next weekend.   

[goose]

Gravity feed is nice and inexpensive.  I use a pump for recirc here and gravity feed the sparge liquor into the mash tun and sweet wort into the kettle (I have a three tiered system).  However, I end up lifting 5 gals (40 lbs) jugs of water to fill the HLT which is getting harder to do the older I get.  Probably will modify it to a two tiered system in the not too distant future or pump it from the lower mash tun into the HLT to fill it.

One thing to keep in mind, the pump, ii you go that route, needs to be the lowest thing in your system or it will not prime.  I didn't see this mentioned by others here, but could have missed it when I quickly paged down through the comments.

[charlie]

...  I end up lifting 5 gals (40 lbs) jugs of water to fill the HLT which is getting harder to do the older I get. 

Here's an idea: Put a CLT low down in the system and put your water in that. Then move it into the HLT using your pump. That's what I do.

I source my water from an adjacent town because our water sucks and theirs doesn't. I haul it to the house in 1 gallon milk jugs or a 40 gallon blue barrel depending on circumstances, but I always put in my elevated (60" high) HLT using a pump and my CLT mounted below the HERMS in the stand. Here's a pic: ..., uh, ... attachments is dead, so nevermind.

Charlie

[goose]

...  I end up lifting 5 gals (40 lbs) jugs of water to fill the HLT which is getting harder to do the older I get. 

Here's an idea: Put a CLT low down in the system and put your water in that. Then move it into the HLT using your pump. That's what I do.

I source my water from an adjacent town because our water sucks and theirs doesn't. I haul it to the house in 1 gallon milk jugs or a 40 gallon blue barrel depending on circumstances, but I always put in my elevated (60" high) HLT using a pump and my CLT mounted below the HERMS in the stand. Here's a pic: ..., uh, ... attachments is dead, so nevermind.

Charlie

That is roughly the same idea I came up with the other day, Charlie.  I can put the water in my mash tun that is at shoulder height and pump it into the HLT with my RIMS pump.  May try that in the near future.  I also could pour the water into a bucket and transfer 2.5 gallons at a time into the HLT which is less weight to lift and carry up the step ladder.

I have the same problem with my water that you do, it sucks.  I have quite a bit of black manganese in my well water which tended to kill the yeast and put an off flavor in the beer.  I have been sourcing R.O water from a local Clearwater dealer for years now.  It is faster than taking a couple days to fill 5 gallon  jugs from my in-home R.O. and keeps my wife happy because I don't use up all the drinking water!

Thanks for the hint!