All Grain Newbie Question - Recirculation During Boil

[Jonno2003]

I'm doing my first all-grain brews using a Brewmonk 30L all-in-one, which I have to say, from my novice perspective, has been pretty simple to pick up and understand and predictable and reliable in all that it has done so far. And the beer is a clear cut above extract kits which is exactly what I was hoping for.

I recirculate using the pump during the Mash phase but I have not been recirculating during the boil.

I don't know why I don't - I just haven't!

Should I? Are there good reasons to/good reasons not to?

 

[chillipickle]

You don't want boiling wort going through your pump.Just recirc while mashing.
There is a good chance you will shorten your pumps life if it has boiling wort going through it.

 

[Gerryjo]

I'm doing my first all-grain brews using a Brewmonk 30L all-in-one, which I have to say, from my novice perspective, has been pretty simple to pick up and understand and predictable and reliable in all that it has done so far. And the beer is a clear cut above extract kits which is exactly what I was hoping for.

I recirculate using the pump during the Mash phase but I have not been recirculating during the boil.

I don't know why I don't - I just haven't!

Should I? Are there good reasons to/good reasons not to?

Certainly a big no-no but when cleaning take your water to about 80°
and recirculate through the pump which will get rid of any unwanted nasties whilst stored away.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

^^ I agree
Recirculating during the mash is definitely worthwhile because it helps to ensure an even distribution of heat and enzymes throughout the whole volume, while at the same time washing the sticky converted sugars off the surface of the individual grains.
During the boil it is still important to get good heat distribution and mixing of the hops, but recirculating is made unnecessary by the vigorous ‘rolling boil’ created by the convection currents in the boiling wort.

 

[foxy]

I'm doing my first all-grain brews using a Brewmonk 30L all-in-one, which I have to say, from my novice perspective, has been pretty simple to pick up and understand and predictable and reliable in all that it has done so far. And the beer is a clear cut above extract kits which is exactly what I was hoping for.

I recirculate using the pump during the Mash phase but I have not been recirculating during the boil.

I don't know why I don't - I just haven't!

Should I? Are there good reasons to/good reasons not to?

There are two types of impeller come with those pumps, a white nylon one or a black metal/ceramic one the white one is good for 80C the other for boiling wort. Whichever you have there is simply no need to have the pump on when boiling.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I don't have an all-in-one but I do recirculate for the last 10-15 minutes of the boil (my pump is rated to 100C) and continue during cooling to whirlpool the wort. After about 30 minutes the pump is turned off and everything is left to settle before transferring to a fermentation bucket.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Good point about the whirlpool

 

[AnimatedGIF]

In addition to whirlpooling, is it not important to run some boiling wort through to sterelise if, for example, using the pump to transfer to FV?
I too am an all-in-one novice. As in, I unboxed it today and it's in the garage soaking in ChemClean. For that reason, don't take my word for it.

 

[Galena]

My two penneth.
I recirculate during the mash, not the boil. If whirlpooling I will cool to 80C and then use the pump connected to a whirlpooling inlet, at 80C it should pasturise so should be no nasties. I transfer to the FV using gravity through the valve and filter at this point with a steralised veg bag to get any stray hops out.
When finished and cleaning my kit I run some vwp through and then water to rinse clean.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

As others have said, no need to recirculate during boil. I run boiling water through my CFC before I brew and it sometimes a surprising amount of crap comes out.

I've just checked the instructions for the Grainfather and it says to reciruclate boiling wort through the CFC for a while to sanitise it. If you're going to do the same, as every system is different, check your instructions for the correct answer. Or contact the seller/distributor/manufacturer.

 

[Moe]

I don't have an all-in-one but I do recirculate for the last 10-15 minutes of the boil (my pump is rated to 100C) and continue during cooling to whirlpool the wort. After about 30 minutes the pump is turned off and everything is left to settle before transferring to a fermentation bucket.

I have a Brewzilla.
I recirculate for the last 5 minutes of the boil to sterilise the pump, and keep it on during cooling as I have found it helps chill the wort quicker.

I transfer to the FV using the pump, as I brew with the BZ on the floor (makes it easier to lift the grain basket out).

No idea if this is the correct way or not, but it’s been fine for 14 brews on it so far.
If the worst happens I can buy a replacement pump and treat it as a lesson learned

 

[AdeDunn]

As others have said, I turn my pump on for the last 10/15 minutes of the boil and pump boiling wort through my pump, pipework and plate chiller in order to sterilise it ready for cooling. I then full volume cool (recirculating through the plate chiller back into the kettle, rather than transferring to FV through the chiller) so that the protein mass you get during cooling gets left behind during transfer. once cooled, I turn the pump off for a while to let everything settle out of suspension that is going to, then back on with the tap turned down a bit to transfer to FV as I don't gravity transfer through the bottom tap, but rather pump out through the same pipe as I use during recirc which gives me extra height and splashing (I have a tall FV).

I have a bakers rack that I brew on, you can adjust the height off the worktop bit on these, so I have just 1 shelf below it. Less bending and puts my machine at the perfect height to work with.

 

[Scrattajack]

I have a Brewster Beacon 40 and asked their support site asking if it was ok to pump out hot wort into a no-chill cube. They replied yes, that the the pump would easily handle 100C but they wouldn't recommend running it during the boil because of pockets of air.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

…wouldn't recommend running it during the boil because of pockets of air.

I can see why they might think that, however those bubbles are not air: they are water vapour (live steam) that will quickly re-condense back into the water - I doubt they would cause the pump any trouble.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I turn my pump on for the last 10/15 minutes of the boil and pump boiling wort through my pump, pipework and plate chiller in order to sterilise it ready for cooling.

That’s a really good idea - I might start doing that.

 

[AdeDunn]

Just don't accidentally touch your chiller whilst doing it... Trust me on that one... lmao