would a solar 12v pump be capable of pumping.....

[nigebeer]

Hi , I am looking at using a solar pump to re-circulate cooled wort 25degC ish in my boiler until it runs clearer through the bottom filter, because I am using the BIAB method I have lots of small grain parts which end up in my fermentation bin, I have tried jugging back the wort but this now takes ages.

I could just leave the pump recirculating for half an hour, would the pump life not last long with these tiny particles running though it?

[Rick.65]

Hi nigebeer,would a aquarium pump with filter be a better idea...that is what I would use..maybe someone will advise if not advisable

[AnthonyUK]

because I am using the BIAB method I have lots of small grain parts which end up in my fermentation bin

I would suggest maybe looking at how course your bag is
I maybe get a bit of flour but never any parts of grain which if boiled can add astringency.
Also how are you filtering from your boiler to FV if bit of grain are getting through?

[Hairybiker]

Add a filter on the input of the pump.

[irv]

doesn't it all end up in the trub?

[davew]

Hi nigebeer,would a aquarium pump with filter be a better idea...that is what I would use..maybe someone will advise if not advisable

How well does the pump cope with the hot liquor?

[nigebeer]

Hi thanks for yours answers.

What I am trying to explain is that when I used to use a picnic type mash tun any bits would have been filtered out through the filter braiding in the bottom of the mash tun, and not ended up in the boiler.
I am using a voile type net curtain which is quite fine but maybe not enough.

The filter in the bottom of my boiler is made up from two 300 x 300 mm sheets of stainless steel mesh (40) with the copper tubinside, and works very well in that it never blocks, however in the past I would jug back the wort in the boiler until the wort runs almost clear, but now with the BIAG it doesnt seem to get clear by doing this until I have run about half of the wort into the fermenter.
That's why I was thinking I could use a solar pump to recirculate the wort for about half an hour until the wort starts running clear.

[AnthonyUK]

OK. So why do you want clear wort? What effects are you noticing in your finished beer?

[Jocky]

If you want to recirculate to avoid grain particles in the fermenter it would be better doing that before the boil. But to be honest now that I'm on a 3 vessel system there's not a lot of difference - some small stuff gets through, you only Vorlauf to stop grain husks and chunks getting into the book.

[DethApostle]

I have the 24v solar pump and it is fine for recirculating wort. Not powerful enough to create a whirlpool effect though (but that may be in part down to my setup too)

DA

[orlando]

Recirculating the wort after or, if you want to go the whole hog using RIMS or HERMS, during the mash will help your cause. Recirculating the post boil wort through a plate chiller back into the boiler is another effective way of improving clarity. For both adding a Y filter to the solar pump will help with clogging. I ended up removing the fine mesh screen.

[Fil]

fwiw when using an IC i just sat a sanitised nylon mesh sieve under the wort flow from the boiler, above the FV to catch the odd hop seed, or stem fragment, and it aerated the wort too

but i agree grain shouldnt get out of the bag, check for holes??? flour content is another matter ive jugged back the whole mash/batch sparge volume back a few times over im sure on occasion chassing the clarity i have seen some post pics of, and never getting it till i started with mash recirculation..

however the final beer from my pre mash-recirculation days that started the boil with lots of 'granular flour' particles was always crystal clear when drawing the last pint out of a corny
And the post recirc beers are no more clear.

fwiw with larger volumes 70l+ i now dont filter the boiler i simply suspend hops in a grainbag spider and use a 12v solar lil brown pump to recirculate the boil thru the hops for the boil duration.
So Yes the pump is upto it