Herms Or Rims

[Batz]

With a HERMS/RIMS system there's absolutely no doubt it makes for a easier brew day. I set a temperature and i know it will hold. I switch on the pump and know that the wort will clear itself by the constant recirculation. But a better beer? Well, that i'm not completely convinced.


vl.

Well put !
And possibly correct,I am building a hopback at present...then..I'll think of something.

Batz

 

[razz]

Sorry Batz didnt mean to upet you, if your run a batch, with only one pump, one pump, will pump from hlt to mash, then same pump will then do mash to kettle.

With fly, you need to be pumping from hlt to mash and mash to kettle at the same time, therefore two pumps

Actully thinking about it you would need two pumps to fly sparge on a single tier regardless of rims or herms

Dave

To clear things up a little i was looking for a single pump setup, single tier, and wanted to know which method would you choose and why

I think you may have answered your own question there Berazafi. FWIW I have a 2 tier brewery, the sparge water gravity feeds to the tun and the pump carries liqour to the boiler.

 

[dicko]

Only one way to convince me Batz.
Send me a sampler

Cheers
Big D

PS im probably going to go this way once i get out of here and into my own shed/brewery.The savings in grain freight alone should cover me to do this project.

Hi Big d,

I have a Herms in my HLT and I rarely use it now, however this morning I am in my shed fairly early to do a brew, strike the mash with hot water and only achieve 62 deg c 'cause it was 4 deg c in the shed.
I switched the pump on for a couple of minutes and "presto" 66 deg c
A lot easier than mucking around with boiled water additions and thinning the mash down IMO.

Cheers

 

[Chilled]

Hey Batz,

It may be just me but your 'it's not a show pony' did not appear in post #7. Could you have another go at loading it as I would 'like to watch' h34r:

 

[Lukes]

Berazafi,
I intend to go down this path one day soon and are working on the best way to go.
BTW I found this on the internet.
Don't know if this joke (please note the date) has been seen or listed here before.
wash and mash....
I like the 2nd note "VERY IMPORTANT! Get the wife out of the house! "

Anyway some good links to plans to make your own.
RIMS

Luke

 

[berazafi]

Luke

excellent link

Dave

 

[ArnieW]

Hi all,

I agree with the general comments that herms/rims is not about making better beer necessarily, but it is about having a better beer-making tool.

And it is a lot of fun to construct.

There is a thread at the moment about $10 all grain equipment. You can make great beer on a budget, and herms/rims is not at the budget end.

My current system is a herms, but I'm soon to cross over the the other side ...

Two main reasons for the progression to rims:
- less power required (mine is electric) with direct heating of wort
- easier to regulate a temp (less thermal mass to play with than a heat exchanger).

The often cited disadvantage of rims is that you risk scorching the wort. I believe this is actually a problem of over-engineering. You do not need a big element in a rims system, and controlling a big one has its problems.

The usual workaround to the temp reg issue with herms is using a PID controller. These add considerably to the expense of the project.

But horses for courses. I like both systems.

cheers, Arnie