There are many pumps available for brewing beer at large and small scales. The most important aspects of a brewing pump are the temperature rating and the flow rate.
These are pumps designed to use during the hot side of the brewing process for pumping mash water to recirculate, hot liquor to sparge, or boiled wort through a whirlpool or heat exchanger. None of these pumps are self priming, but they do vary in the materials used and the connectors that they come with.
Some of these pumps are from legacy brands such as March, some are designed with quality of life features such as Blichmann, but they will all work for years and years if you treat them right. They are more similar than they are different, so choose the one that will work best with your current or planned brew house and goals.
Home Brewing sized:
| Pump Name | Sku | Flow Rate / Max head height | Material / inlet position | Electrical requirement | Connectors | Specialty Feature |
| Kegland MkII (plastic) | PMP500 | 5 gpm / 11.5 ft | Plastic - center | 110v / 60hz | 1/2" BSP x 2 | Affordability |
| Kegland MKII (Steel) | PMP502 | 13.5 gpm / 15-21 ft | Steel - center | 110v / 60hz | 3/4" BSPT x 2 | Affordability |
| Kegland MKII (Steel T.C.) | PMP505 | 5 gpm/ 11.5 ft | Steel - side | 110v / 60hz | 1.5" T.C. x 2 | Affordability / threadless |
| Kegland MKII (Steel Threaded) | PMP504 | 5 gpm / 11.5 ft | Steel - side | 110v / 60hz | 1/2" BSP x 2 | Affordability |
| X-Dry Series Chugger (Steel Threaded) | H332X | 7 gpm / 18.6 ft | Steel - side | 110v / 60hz | 1/2" MPT x 2 | Flow rate / reliability |
| X-Dry Series Chugger (Steel T.C.) | H335 | 7 gpm / 18.6 ft | Steel - side | 110v / 60hz | 1.5" T.C. x 2 | Flow rate / threadless |
| X-Dry Series Chugger (Steel T.C. Center) | H336 | 7 gpm / 18.6 ft | Steel - center | 110v / 60hz | 1.5" T.C. x 2 | Flow rate / threadless / reliability |
| March Pump | H315HF | 7 gpm / 18 ft | Plastic - side | 110v / 60hz | 1/2" MPT x 2 | Flow rate / Affordability |
| March Pump - Stainless | H350 | 7.2 gpm / 12 feet | Steel - center | 110v / 60hz | 3/4" MPT in, 1/2" MPT out | Flow rate / reliability |
| March Nano Brewery Pump | H325 | 17 gpm / 27 ft | Plastic - center | 110v / 60hz | 1" FPT in, 1/2" MPT out | Flow rate / reliability |
| March Nano Brewery Pump- Stainless | H327 | 17 gpm / 27 ft | Steel - center | 110v / 60hz | 1" FPT in, 1/2" MPT out | Flow rate / reliability |
| SS Brewtech Brew Pump | PMP509 | 11 gpm / 18 ft | Steel - center | 120v / 60hz | 1.5" T.C. x 2 | Easy cleaning / Threadless |
| Blichmann Riptide - original | BL295 | 7 gpm / 21 ft | Steel - side | 120v / 60hz | 1/2" MPT x 2 | Built in flow control, purge, and switch |
| Blichmann Riptide - T.C. | BL299 | 7 gpm / 21 ft | Steel - side | 120v / 60hz | 1.5" T.C. x 2 | Built in flow control, purge, and switch |
| Blichmann Riptide - 230v | BL296 | 7 gpm / 21 ft | Steel - side | 230v / 50hz | 1/2" MPT x 2 | Designed for EU / 230v |
| Anvil Brewing Pump | PMP580 | 3 gpm / 7 ft | Plastic - center | 110v / 60hz | 1/2" Barb x 2 | Affordability / easy to clean |
Things to consider:
Priming and purging - None of the pumps on this list are self priming. Every one of them will need to be primed manually and require you to add a valve (except for the Riptide). The priming valve should be placed before the pump head and used to allow all air to escape the inlet tubing prior to powering on the pump. These pumps are not designed to pump air or gas.
Head pressure - as you increase the lift from the outlet of the pump, to the highest point in your piping the flow rate will decrease. The maximum head heights listed above represent 0 gallons per minute flow rate.
Materials - The plastic used in the pump heads are all food safe up to 250 degrees. They will not leach any unsafe chemicals or flavors into your wort.
Inlet position, size, and cavitation - The center inlet helps the liquid flow more smoothly through the head of the pump and prevents cavitation, which is when air gaps get trapped inside the pump head and stop the pump. The same is true for larger inlet diameters. The issue of cavitation arises more when pumping liquids at or near their boiling points such as during whirlpools or chilling.
Controlling flow - Every pump listed in this article can handle back pressure created by restricted flow coming out of the pump head and has more than enough flow to sparge/mash/transfer a 31+ gallon batch of wort. This is why we recommend adding a control valve on the out-side of the pump (except for the Riptide). Do not attempt to control the flow with a valve before the pump. If you require more granular control of the flow rate you can use multiple ball valves in series or use specialized "Gate" or "Needle" valves.