RIMS

[The Beast of Bodmin]

G'Day all

Been lurking for a while but finally have a question so time to ask for help.

I've been all grain brewing for a while mashing in at 66 deg and then sparring at 77 deg. I've gotten to the point where I'm planning to build a rims system and need a bit of guidance on temps. Would you recommend continuing using the temps I have been i.e. mash at 66 then increase to 77 with the rims? I'm trying to find a nice balance between alpha and beta for an English IPA.

I did have an initial attempt at a poor mans version using my boil kettle with pre-heated spare water (77 deg) and coming out of the mash tun into the kettle and then pumped back into the mash tun. I won't find out the results until the end of the month as I'm away at work and the fermenter is 5000km's away.

Your help is much appreciated.
TBOB

 

[Adr_0]

I guess you are comparing RIMS to infusion mashing.
With infusion mashing, the main things are:
- if you try too many steps (lagers, wheat beers) you run out of room as you keep adding hot water
- you can lose temperature, which might be bit or lot, over a 60-90min mash
- sparge and mashout temps can be hard to hit if you are limited by one of the above
- if you only do single rest plus mash out, you can get away with infusion

RIMS:
- by adding a controllable heat source, you can negate temperature losses over your 60-90min mash
- multi step mashes are easy, but you can still do single rest
- mash out and sparges are consistent temp and you get very good extract from the recirculation

Any system where you use a heater needs a pump, and ideally a PID controller to get the most flexibility and accuracy. You can basically do what you want if your system is set up well, but there can be pitfalls too.

HERMS is another option, though more complex. As above, there are some pitfalls and because of the added complexity these can be exacerbated.

 

[The Beast of Bodmin]

Thanks for your reply

Yes I have been infusion mashing so far. I have been managing to hold temps in my mash tun to within 1 deg over a 60min mash which I've been happy with.

I run my boil kettle on gas as I'm brewing 75 litre batches and it gets pretty tough to get sufficient energy in using electricity without scorching unless you use a large heating element with a lot of surface area. I also find the gas gives me good accuracy on temps as it's infinitely adjustable. I run thermowell with a temperature probe and digital readout and monitor and adjust accordingly. This is how I did the last mash with my poor mans RIMS anyway.

 

[Adr_0]

I mean a nice balance, do you mean dry without being thin, with some mouthfeel? If you just want temp advice, for N English IPA I would do:
45-60min at 64°C
15min at 70-71°C
15-20min mashout at 77°C, sparge at same temp.

 

[The Beast of Bodmin]

Thanks for the reply, sorry for the delay, am away at work and the internet is a bit sketchy sometimes here. Yes I'm really trying to find the perfect balance, my beer has all of the flavour notes that I am looking for but I'd really like to add mouthfeel as it is a little lacking in this area.