As I discussed in the previous post about wort chillers, you need to get an electric pump if you want to use a counterflow or plate wort chiller.

Because of that prerequisite, I read up on pumps for homebrewing.

Mike has one and uses it to recirculate his wort during the mash.  They can be used during many different phases on the brew day and eliminate the need for the use of siphons to move wort from one vessel to another.

Looking at the prices of  the pumps, they range from the basic model at $160 to ones that are built to handle nanobrewery-sized batched at almost $800.

Pumps with stainless steel parts are more expensive but in theory is more durable than the pumps made with polysulfone. Mike’s is one of the latter material but he hasn’t had any problems with it in terms of durability or problems with sanitation.

One thing to keep in mind when you are researching pumps, there are ones with different capabilities and you will have to be informed of them and make some decisions.

One of these capabilities is if the pump is self priming or not, which means if the wort can be sucked into the pump by its own power or if the wort needs to be fed into it through the power of gravity.  The one Mike has is not self priming so he has to place the pump underneath the vessel that the wort is in.  Before he turns it on, he lets the wort run down the tube into the pump.

Because of this set up, he has encased most of it in wood to protect the motor and other exposed parts from spills and other accidents like boilovers.  When dealing with a pump underneath a pot or a mash tun, you want to be careful so that silly mistakes don’t ruin your investment.

There are other pumps that are self-priming and there are ones that can handle high temperature wort.  Again, all these different capabilities you should research and understand to make the best decision for your purchase.

At some point, if you are fully invested in brewing beer at home, you should be looking into building or buying your own homebrewing sculpture with a hot liquor tank, mash tun, and kettle all tied together in one frame.   Add a conical fermentor to this setup, and you will be living the homebrewing dream!

Brew ON!