Herms System

[kirem]

What the hell is a Herms system and what does it look like!Any pics and could you make one.

You have to be taking the piss.

If not do a seach.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

You have to be taking the piss.

If not do a seach.

+1

But seriously though when I first became involved in AGing all the lingo was goppledock to me. As Kirem said just search the forum you will be amazed at what else you find on the way.

BYB

 

[churchy]

Sorry for the noob question.Done bit of a search on it now.



Andrew

 

[Screwtop]

It's all been covered before, a search will find heaps of info. My HERMS heat exchanger is homebrewed and from memory cost somewhere around $100. A cheapo 10L S pot from BigW, $10 Jug element, 3M of 1/2 in copper, compression fittings and snaplock connectors, $5 car windscreen insulation.

Screwy

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

In reality with todays malts there is so much conversion done in the first 10-15 mins that I honestly think how you control the temp for the next 45 mins has a very minimal effect indeed.

Justin,

Taking this into account would you think mashing in at a lower strike temp then bringing it up to the desired mash / sach temp would make more sense :unsure: E.G HLT water is at 76c but your actual mash temp required is 67c. I would guess that most brewers such as myself never actually get their mash temp correct at the start? They / I then spend a little time getting it right. Meanwhile back at the ranch 5-10mins has also passed. Not trying to blow wind up anyones you know what. Just trying to get more info from brewers who have actually used a herms and not received secondhand info. I feel first hand info is more reliable than hear say / secondhand.

As you have stated the first 10-15mins is where the most conversion is created.

BYB

 

[newguy]

Taking this into account would you think mashing in at a lower strike temp then bringing it up to the desired mash / sach temp would make more sense :unsure: E.G HLT water is at 76c but your actual mash temp required is 67c. I would guess that most brewers such as myself never actually get their mash temp correct at the start? They / I then spend a little time getting it right. Meanwhile back at the ranch 5-10mins has also passed. Not trying to blow wind up anyones you know what. Just trying to get more info from brewers who have actually used a herms and not received secondhand info. I feel first hand info is more reliable than hear say / secondhand.

As you have stated the first 10-15mins is where the most conversion is created.

When I got my HERMS together and took it for the first couple of runs, I tried very hard to bring my strike water up to a temp that would allow me to hit my target mash temp dead on once I pumped it into the mash tun. Then I realised that the 10 min it took to pump it over kind of made the exercise pointless. Now I deliberately bring my strike water up to approximately whatever my desired mash temp target is and allow the system to bring it up to target. Because my strike water is about the same temp as my mash target, when it mixes with the room temp grist the mixture comes in somewhat cooler than target (usually around 3-5C). I only do a 60 min mash. I too used to get quite poor attenuation but not anymore.

This method also is very good at doing a pseudo protein rest. Just dough in with water at about 49C and allow the system to bring the works up to your mash temp target. This works really well for my weizens.

Edit: Attached HERMS magazine article I wrote a couple of year ago: View attachment 2606016.pdf

 

[gibbocore]

Threads been well covered, but i'll throw in 2c, i'm building a herms for a few reasons, i want improved consistency and attenuation and i like to tinker.

 

[muckanic]

Could someone please describe how wiezens, wits, roggens, stouts, etc, are made with exclusively highly modified malts?