This review is by Homebrew Finds Reader Benji S.  Benji has been brewing for 10 years.  His favorite style is Festbier.  He’s an all grain brewer and member of WIZA (Whidbey Island Zymurgy Association).  Check him out on Instagram at neon_hop

Making beer is all-together extremely fun, rewarding, messy, and labor intensive. Want an example? Look no further than the need to transfer large volumes of liquid, at varying temperatures, between and through multiple containers. Mashing, sparging, boiling, racking, and cleaning all require gallons of liquid transfer. Liquid is both heavy and resistant to being easily moved around en masse. Introducing new equipment into your brew day can often mean finding new and interesting ways you now have to fight against both of these obstacles. Having recently acquired a Spike CF5 conical, I’ve found myself in this exact position, often wondering “How do I even fill and clean this thing effectively?”. In terms of equipment, adding a Brewing pump to the equation has become the de facto ways to help answer these questions.

My Homebrew Pump Selection Criteria

I’ve been brewing for well over a decade, but using a pump in the process is new to me. Approaching a new piece of equipment requires some evaluation of what you want it to do, what expectations you have for how it will work, and what your budget will be to balance against. The feature set I arrived on during my search largely came down to this:
Stainless Steel head to reduce the chance for plastic pieces from rubbing of the propeller
Head assembly should be fairly easy to take apart to aid in cleaning

• 1/2” NPT connections on the ports, as I already had 1/2” connectors to convert them to quick disconnects
• At least 3” of cord length as the power outlets tend to be a bit far away where I typically brew
• Needs to be 115v
• Price range of $100-150
• Targeted Uses (in order of importance): CIP cleaning of my conical, transferring from the kettle to the conical, fly sparging

Compare Prices, Review Continues Below

• Chugger X-Dry Series Pump  Stainless Steel via MoreBeer
• Chugger X-Dry Series Pump  Stainless Steel via Adventures in Homebrewing
• Center Inlet Version: CHUGGER PUMP CPSS-CI-1 Stainless Steel 115 Volt Center Home Brewing System Beer Pump, 55” Cord WITH Plug, Inlet 3/4” x Outlet 1/2” MPT, ETL-Certified, USFDA Food Compliant Materials – note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
• Tri-Clamp Version: CHUGGER PUMP TRI-XCPSS-IN-1 Tri Clover X-DRY Run Dry Protection, Molded 1 1/2″ Tri-Clamp Fittings, SS, 115 Volt Home Brewing System Beer Pump, ETL-Certified, Approved Carbon Bearing Material. – note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
• Search “Chugger x-dry” at Amazon – offerings vary
• Search “Chugger x-dry” at eBay – offerings vary

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