Hands on Review: Pumpzilla Brewing Pump

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Tom Brennan.  Read more about Tom and grab a link to his website and YouTube channel below.

Hands on Review Pumpzilla Brewing Pump

One of the best investments I made years ago was adding a pump to my homebrew arsenal. Pumps move hot water to your mash tun and makes vorlaufing easy. They circulate wort to make chilling faster and it moves your brew into a fermentor. For me, it helped saved me from back aches the day after I brewed because I would have to lift a very heavy mash tun in my gravity setup.

Now there is a cost effective option, the Pumpzilla. It has some flaws, but they far outweigh the advantages from not having a pump.

Pumpzilla Specifications and Features

  • Stainless Steel head
  • Can be set on a flat surface by itself without tipping over
  • Quiet Operation
  • Center inlet design makes it easy to prime this pump as the head is easily flooded with wort
  • Inlet and outlet fittings are 1/2 in. male NPT so they will work with any of your standard homebrew fittings
  • Water resistant (not proof!) casing
  • 5 ft. Cord
  • On/Off Switch
  • Max Flow – 5 Gal / 19L per minute
  • Max Lift – 11 ft
  • Heat Rating: 100C (212F)
  • Voltage – 120v 60Hz
  • Current – 0.75A

Hands on Review

After opening the Pumpzilla packaging the first thing I noticed was how well it was built. The pump itself was dense and felt really rugged. The stainless steel head is always a plus over some plastic headed pumps you see at the same price point. An additional feature was a rocker switch on the wiring. In the absence of that one would either have to physically plug and unplug a pump to turn it on and off or attach it to a power strip with an on/off switch. The rocker switch has a very small hash mark to indicate “on”.

Check Current Price & Availability, Review Continues Below:

PUMPZILLA BREWING PUMP WITH STAINLESS STEEL HEAD via Great Fermentations

Related Review: Stainless Steel Cam-Locks

After taking it out of the packaging and placed it on the flat surface I noticed something. The unit appears to be off balanced. When I hooked up my hose the pump’s head tilted toward the surface. This weight imbalance is to be expected, especially after hooking up the hose. Although I haven’t mounted it yet, this can be remedied by mounting the pump using the provided mounting holes.

The Pumpzilla is quiet.

While running This pump is much quieter than the pump I’ve owned and used for about 80 batches. I couldn’t hear it running over the sound of my propane burner.

Some pumps require you to prime it before it turns on. The manual states, “Once the pump head is full of liquid, THEN PLUG IN THE PUMP and flip on the on switch…”. I wonder if this is to ensure the unit doesn’t run dry, considering the rocker switch has a light touch to turn on or off the unit.

Related: Install a Priming and Purging Port for Easy Homebrew Pump Operation

Install a Priming and Purging Port for Easy Homebrew Pump Operation

While running the pump to sanitize it with my wort boiling I moved the attached power cord a little further away from the pump and without realizing it, I turned pump off. That was because the rocker gently hit the ground.

The Pumpzilla on Brew Day

Conclusions

Aside from the rocker switch being easily turned on or off, this pump is great. It is pretty quiet and can certainly move it’s fair share of liquid around your brewery. And with the pump’s solid construction I can certainly see using this for years to come.

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By Tom Brennan.  Tom has been homebrewing for about 6 years. He likes most beer styles but really likes to champion cream ales and Belgian beers. Typically he all-grain brews, but doesn’t shy away from using extract/partial mash beers either. He runs the blog http://hypobrew.com and you can watch him at https://www.youtube.com/hypobrew

Special Thanks to Great Fermentations for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review

Make sure the components you use are compatible and rated for your intended application.  Contact manufacturer with questions about suitability or a specific application.  Always read and follow manufacturer directions. review:pumpzilla tag:tpr

2 thoughts on “Hands on Review: Pumpzilla Brewing Pump”

  1. Nick

    This looks like a “mkii” pump painted red. Is there anything different about this versus the same pump in different colors?

    Reply ↓

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