One pump or two?

[WitsEnd]

With all of the brewing porn floating around this forum, I've finally decided it's time to buck up and build a brew sculpture.

My debate is, one pump or two? What are the advantages of having two pumps?

From what I've gathered:

1. System can accomodate fly sparge with 1-tier.
**While visually appealing, I'm 6'3", so I can't see the height of a 2-tier sculpture being a problem for me.
**Batch sparging possible on 1-tier system with one pump.

2. Jamil's whirlpool immersion chiller. One pump can recirculate wort while the other recirculates ice water through the IC.
**A cheaper pump could be used for this as it would not have to be high temp and sanitary

3. Recirculating HLT to reach sparge temp while recirculating mash.
**Sparge is not a critical temperature to maintain, but would be an added feature
**Not neccesary if mash tun is not heated - possible sacrifice in consistency

EDIT: adding to list

Parallel thread at http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtop ... 026#602026

[Mylo]

You don't need to have two food grade pumps to do #2, above (I said "#2"). You can use a regular sump pump for one of them.

If you design a single pump sculpture like a 1550, then you can save a little floor space. I still think that I am going to prefer a single tier on my next sculpture - and therefore two pumps.


Mylo

[beerocracy]

If you batch sparge you can do single tier with just one pump. I use a single March pump then use a cheapo pond pump for recirculating the chiller water during cooling.

[foomench]

I do single tier with a single pump, but I have to use some muscle as well.

I fly sparge. Pump delivers water from HLT to mash tun. Runnings are collected in brew kettle on the floor which I move up to the burner when it is about half full. I use a spare pot to collect additional runnings while I start up the boil. This is less than ideal, but works. (I think ideal would be a grant with a float switch.)

For chilling my HERMS-HLT doubles as a prechiller. Water pressure from the supply pushes water through the prechiller and then the immersion chiller. I'm not recirculating chilling water, so no pump needed for that. I have used my single pump to whirlpool ala the Jamil method, but don't always do this.

I'd like a second pump, but I'd like a lot of things.

-Eric

[dresselbrew]

I have a 2 tier system with one pump. HLT drains by gravity into mash tun. Pump is for recirculation, sparging, and whirlpooling. I'm in the process of setting up a herms too. This only requires one more hose while I recirculate. Well and the herms coil, etc.. But I don't need another pump for it.

[WitsEnd]

Thanks for all the input, but I'm specifically looking for what people use the second pump for. ie, what is the value added to the system with the second pump.

[foomench]

I would use it to pump my sparge output to the boil kettle at the same time I'm pumping water from the HLT into the lauter/mash tun.

[Whitebeard_Brewer]

(edit) I use a Brutus 10, Single Tier stand....

Well. For starters, pump #1 is recirculating the water in the HLT while it's coming up to temperature, Pump #2 is sitting idle. Once the water is heated, Pump#1 then transfers the hot sparge water into the MT. Once mashed in:

I fly sparge, so pump #1 is pumping hot water from the HLT into the MT, and pump#2 is pumping hot wort from the MT into the BK. Each pump has a ball valve on the output side, so I can throttle the pumps back for optimum flowage.

Once the boil is complete, I use a Shirron plate chiller, so no pump needed for that, until I start brewing more in the summer, then it will pump from the HLT, which will become an ice bath, though the chiller. Pump #2 is pumping/recirulating the beer through the beer side of the chiller, back into the kettle, until it reaches as close to pitching temps as I can get it with my well water, then it pumps the cooled beer into the fermentor.

After everything is done, the pumps are used to move hot water around and through all the pumps/kegschiller to clean everything.

HTH, if not, I'll try again.