I definitely need one of these. We brew 30 gallons of beer over the course of a week. Bottling is such a pain, even with an auto-siphon, because we have to rack the beer into a bottling bucket first. This would make life so much easier.
Definitely, you will love it. Do also look at a footswitch and an inline filter (ours is in the mail, review coming). The filter will protect the pump head from getting clogged. The footswitch is a safety thing that really should be part of the kit. And if by 30 gallons in a week you mean 6 Five gallon batches, then that is prosumer brewing, and the pros use pumps.
Yeah, we brewed six 5 gallon batches of Hefeweizen and a gallon of pear wine. Never made wine before, we have a pear tree in the backyard, so we decided to give it a try. If the small batch of store bought pears becomes a decent wine, we'll try a large batch using our homegrown pears this summer. Do they sell a foot switch where you bought the pump, or is that something you had to find elsewhere?
Pear cider and Hefeweizen are some of my favorites. If you don't like the pear wine as is, don't hesitate to cut it with some apples or other additives to get more control over flavor. Below are some links. First is the link to the footswitch that we currently use. It's not perfect as there will be a slight delay from putting your foot down and the pump starting. Fixing that would take electrical know-how but is doable and on our to-do list. Second is an affiliate link to a neat pear cider kit that was popular when I worked at the homebrew shops. Even if you want to use fresh pears, it is a great way to get the gravity points up and adding a kick of flavor. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088K9JYNR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 www.homebrewing.org/Cider-House-Select-Pear-Cider-Making-Kit-53-lb-_p_5036.html?AffId=690
Is there anything you have to do to the unit afterwards as far as cleaning/maintenance? Or do you just run more sanitizer through it after you’re done with your wine and call it good?
It should be cleaned with PBW or Onestep, then rinsed with fresh water (Don't recirculate for a thorough rinse) then let dry completely with the hoses removed. A professional brewer will say you have to clean before it can be sanitized and most homebrewers will say that just running sanitizer through is fine. It is worth noting that they do not list compatible cleaning chemicals, so do what makes you feel comfortable. Regardless of what NorthernBrewer says, it will need to be disassembled at least once a year for deep cleaning or anytime you transfer anything with lots of hops, spice, or anything that could clog the pump. We have a video on how to deep clean here. ua-cam.com/video/au_pABbIp78/v-deo.html
Cleaning and sanitizing pumps and their lines is as simple as recirculating the solution through the pump for 5-15 minutes, depending on how deep you want to clean. Northern Brewer doesn't disclose what chemicals to use, but PBW isn't safe on all plastics, and Star San will get foamy. Use Easy Clean or One Step. Make two batches if you need to clean and sanitize back to back. If the pump or lines are exceptionally dirty, let the first few seconds run off before recirculating. I don't have a video on how to recirculate a pump, but here is a video of how to take apart the pump head for a deep cleaning. ua-cam.com/video/au_pABbIp78/v-deo.html Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.
Probably not, or if it could it would struggle and probably burn out the motor. Unfforchinitly this is outside of our area of expertise though. Sorry, we couldn't be more help.
It is advertised to be able to do that but may not be better than Co2 depending on what you are transferring from. We haven't done this ourselves and will test it during our full review. From a convenience factor, it would be great, but if you watch the bottling portion of our pink Moscato 2020 (link below), you can see how important it can be to flood the lines before doing a transfer. Send us a picture of your setup and we can give a more accurate answer if this pump is good for you. Info@Thebvc.net ua-cam.com/video/JzZRz0Yf8aI/v-deo.html
@@BrewVintChill I don't have pics. I'm just getting started and trying to get set up. I'm going to be using carboy and ss brewtech brew buckets. I figured this might be "tweaked" to use on both.
@@sethnewton2027 It will work on both. I am familiar with those buckets, they should work really well because you can mount the pump below the output of the vessel, so you can gravity prime the pump with no effort and then output it where ever you want. With the carboy, you will have to deal with either doing the sanitizer trick they talk about in the instructions or deal with a little bit of aeration. The pump has to problem self-priming, but if it starts dry it will work in some oxygen at the pump head when it floods. But if you are still building and already willing to invest in the brew buckets, I recommend at least looking at the Anvil Crucible Conical Fermentor to avoid buyer's remorse down the road. They cost a little more or less depending on what size/model you were looking at, but it has separate Racking and Dumping valves, and a more aggressive angle on the cone. But they do take up more room and can't be stacked, always use the right tool for the right job. Affiliate link: www.homebrewing.org/7-Gallon-Anvil-Crucible-Conical-Fermentor_p_10699.html?AffId=690
I don't like that big bulky power supply. Can we use our own power supply? Also, I will be using this for cold water transfer. How long do you think this pump will hold up? I'm hoping at least 2-3 years (minimum). thanks
You could, as long as it is in spec. But be careful as a cheap power supply may drift over time and burn out your motor. I'm expecting at least five years out of mine, even with the abuse I put it through. It's main point of failure will be if anything happens to the membrane inside the pump head. We recommend disassembling the pump head for regular cleaning if you transfer unfiltered. Cheers!
ua-cam.com/video/JzZRz0Yf8aI/v-deo.html Check out our 2020 Pink Moscato video where we use the pump for bottling and a transfer. It worked, but you will want a foot pedal and we did not like how using a second racking cane went. We will be testing a stainless steel bottling wand this week to fix the issues.
Sorry miss, but we prefer more constructive and informed criticism. Please articulate your issue with our video in a more precise manner. Include timestamps for a speedier response.
I definitely need one of these. We brew 30 gallons of beer over the course of a week. Bottling is such a pain, even with an auto-siphon, because we have to rack the beer into a bottling bucket first. This would make life so much easier.
Definitely, you will love it. Do also look at a footswitch and an inline filter (ours is in the mail, review coming). The filter will protect the pump head from getting clogged. The footswitch is a safety thing that really should be part of the kit. And if by 30 gallons in a week you mean 6 Five gallon batches, then that is prosumer brewing, and the pros use pumps.
Yeah, we brewed six 5 gallon batches of Hefeweizen and a gallon of pear wine. Never made wine before, we have a pear tree in the backyard, so we decided to give it a try. If the small batch of store bought pears becomes a decent wine, we'll try a large batch using our homegrown pears this summer. Do they sell a foot switch where you bought the pump, or is that something you had to find elsewhere?
Pear cider and Hefeweizen are some of my favorites. If you don't like the pear wine as is, don't hesitate to cut it with some apples or other additives to get more control over flavor. Below are some links. First is the link to the footswitch that we currently use. It's not perfect as there will be a slight delay from putting your foot down and the pump starting. Fixing that would take electrical know-how but is doable and on our to-do list. Second is an affiliate link to a neat pear cider kit that was popular when I worked at the homebrew shops. Even if you want to use fresh pears, it is a great way to get the gravity points up and adding a kick of flavor.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088K9JYNR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
www.homebrewing.org/Cider-House-Select-Pear-Cider-Making-Kit-53-lb-_p_5036.html?AffId=690
Is there anything you have to do to the unit afterwards as far as cleaning/maintenance? Or do you just run more sanitizer through it after you’re done with your wine and call it good?
It should be cleaned with PBW or Onestep, then rinsed with fresh water (Don't recirculate for a thorough rinse) then let dry completely with the hoses removed. A professional brewer will say you have to clean before it can be sanitized and most homebrewers will say that just running sanitizer through is fine. It is worth noting that they do not list compatible cleaning chemicals, so do what makes you feel comfortable.
Regardless of what NorthernBrewer says, it will need to be disassembled at least once a year for deep cleaning or anytime you transfer anything with lots of hops, spice, or anything that could clog the pump. We have a video on how to deep clean here. ua-cam.com/video/au_pABbIp78/v-deo.html
How do you clean the line? Any tutorial?
Cleaning and sanitizing pumps and their lines is as simple as recirculating the solution through the pump for 5-15 minutes, depending on how deep you want to clean. Northern Brewer doesn't disclose what chemicals to use, but PBW isn't safe on all plastics, and Star San will get foamy. Use Easy Clean or One Step. Make two batches if you need to clean and sanitize back to back. If the pump or lines are exceptionally dirty, let the first few seconds run off before recirculating.
I don't have a video on how to recirculate a pump, but here is a video of how to take apart the pump head for a deep cleaning.
ua-cam.com/video/au_pABbIp78/v-deo.html
Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi!
Can I use it to transfer thick paint like batter of a sweet prep in India?
Probably not, or if it could it would struggle and probably burn out the motor. Unfforchinitly this is outside of our area of expertise though. Sorry, we couldn't be more help.
@@BrewVintChill oh ok. That's ok. Thanks for replying so quickly. Appreciate
How do you think this pump would work doing a closed transfer with the outlet side having a liquid line ball lock connector to the keg?
It is advertised to be able to do that but may not be better than Co2 depending on what you are transferring from. We haven't done this ourselves and will test it during our full review. From a convenience factor, it would be great, but if you watch the bottling portion of our pink Moscato 2020 (link below), you can see how important it can be to flood the lines before doing a transfer. Send us a picture of your setup and we can give a more accurate answer if this pump is good for you. Info@Thebvc.net
ua-cam.com/video/JzZRz0Yf8aI/v-deo.html
@@BrewVintChill I don't have pics. I'm just getting started and trying to get set up. I'm going to be using carboy and ss brewtech brew buckets. I figured this might be "tweaked" to use on both.
@@sethnewton2027 It will work on both. I am familiar with those buckets, they should work really well because you can mount the pump below the output of the vessel, so you can gravity prime the pump with no effort and then output it where ever you want. With the carboy, you will have to deal with either doing the sanitizer trick they talk about in the instructions or deal with a little bit of aeration. The pump has to problem self-priming, but if it starts dry it will work in some oxygen at the pump head when it floods.
But if you are still building and already willing to invest in the brew buckets, I recommend at least looking at the Anvil Crucible Conical Fermentor to avoid buyer's remorse down the road. They cost a little more or less depending on what size/model you were looking at, but it has separate Racking and Dumping valves, and a more aggressive angle on the cone. But they do take up more room and can't be stacked, always use the right tool for the right job.
Affiliate link:
www.homebrewing.org/7-Gallon-Anvil-Crucible-Conical-Fermentor_p_10699.html?AffId=690
@@BrewVintChill thank you!
I'll look into them.
I don't like that big bulky power supply. Can we use our own power supply? Also, I will be using this for cold water transfer. How long do you think this pump will hold up? I'm hoping at least 2-3 years (minimum). thanks
You could, as long as it is in spec. But be careful as a cheap power supply may drift over time and burn out your motor.
I'm expecting at least five years out of mine, even with the abuse I put it through. It's main point of failure will be if anything happens to the membrane inside the pump head. We recommend disassembling the pump head for regular cleaning if you transfer unfiltered.
Cheers!
@@BrewVintChill thanks so much. Appreciate the info.
Have you guys tried to use this pump for bottling yet? If so how did it turn out?
ua-cam.com/video/JzZRz0Yf8aI/v-deo.html
Check out our 2020 Pink Moscato video where we use the pump for bottling and a transfer. It worked, but you will want a foot pedal and we did not like how using a second racking cane went. We will be testing a stainless steel bottling wand this week to fix the issues.
Bet you've had a few booster shots haven't ya
Sorry miss, but we prefer more constructive and informed criticism. Please articulate your issue with our video in a more precise manner. Include timestamps for a speedier response.
@@BrewVintChill never said I have in issue with the video, just that you peddle the booster shots. Good to see you show your true colours.
What are you talking about?
@@caseyj6713 another loyal servant of big pharma. Good for you Casey