Tight Arse Herms Setup

[Mitternacht Brauer]

Hi All ,

With all the talk of herms around at the moment I thought I might share my new setup.

This brew would be the first time that I used my new 50L HTL ,a 50L Mash tun and a quicky herms that I threw together.

Htl and Mash tun were uninsulated (Sorted already) but still worked a treat.

The kettle didn't boil as much as I thought it would . I did have to top it up due to evaperation but only twice during the 90 minute mash and that was only to keep the water above the herms coil .It did keep the mash temp at the set temp for the whole mash without having to make any adjustments.



One thing I will have to think about is the plumbing from the herms to the sparge arm /80L kettle .At the end of mash it dawned on me that I hadn't thought this bit through quite enough . I made do but .....

 

[dent]

hah, looks familiar:

Been running this for awhile, been pretty good.

 

[raven19]

An awesome yet scary setup all in one! :blink:

I assume there is a pump in there moving wort around?

 

[technocat]

Crude but effective I take it .......good on ya and +1 for ingenuity

:unsure:

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

An awesome yet scary setup all in one! :blink:

I assume there is a pump in there moving wort around?

Yep, I have the march pump recirc wort through this coil in the kettle to maintain temp in the mash tun .

The kettle is controlled via PID controller with probe in the top third of mash tun .I checked the temp during the mash at different levels in the tun and there was only a few degrees in it between the bottom and near the top .


Another view of kettle .



Buster

 

[sinkas]

the lettle needs to be a bit further off the edge in the first pic, for best results, brew wearing thongs

 

[GMK]

Been told by a herms expert ( not Me) that he reckons he mashs in cold - water temp out the tap - then runs thrugh the herms stepping it up approx 0.5 - .75degree a min to the mash temp - ie start at 18C - 66C for mash (takes 75mins to reach 66C ) hold for 15mins - then step up quickly to 78C for Mash Out - Reckons doing it this way is the best beer he has ever made - now only does it this way.

Have any of you other Herms System guys ever tried it this way - if so - what results....

 

[clean brewer]

Been told by a herms expert ( not Me) that he reckons he mashs in cold - water temp out the tap - then runs thrugh the herms stepping it up approx 0.5 - .75degree a min to the mash temp - ie start at 18C - 66C for mash (takes 75mins to reach 66C ) hold for 15mins - then step up quickly to 78C for Mash Out - Reckons doing it this way is the best beer he has ever made - now only does it this way.

Have any of you other Herms System guys ever tried it this way - if so - what results....

Sounds interesting, no certain way is ever set in concrete is it?? Everything has always been invented for the first time....

Someone with a HERMS should "DO IT"........

:icon_cheers: CB

 

[TidalPete]

Sounds interesting, no certain way is ever set in concrete is it?? Everything has always been invented for the first time....

Someone with a HERMS should "DO IT"........

:icon_cheers: CB

Never mashed in at tap temp but for the last 8 brews or so I've been doughing in at 32 then ramping up straight away to the next mash step (Usually 42) & nobody's been complaining about the beers they've had.

TP

 

[lonte]

I jumped on tonight to ask what HERMS owners were using as a HE and this topic was alive - brilliant! I had an electric jug noted among my possibilities - it's good to see it's a workable solution. However, if I may slightly hijack the topic, what else are people using as a HE? Cheers, L.

 

[Sammus]

I jumped on tonight to ask what HERMS owners were using as a HE and this topic was alive - brilliant! I had an electric jug noted among my possibilities - it's good to see it's a workable solution. However, if I may slightly hijack the topic, what else are people using as a HE? Cheers, L.

The most common option is to build one. Usually using the element out of a kettle such as this, or buying stand alone heating element and somehow mounting it inside a bucket or a pot with a copper coil inside the pot to run the wort through.

 

[lonte]

The most common option is to build one. Usually using the element out of a kettle such as this, or buying stand alone heating element and somehow mounting it inside a bucket or a pot with a copper coil inside the pot to run the wort through.

I did some experimenting late last year pumping water through my MT then through an old immersion chiller sitting in a temp controlled HLT but didn't get the control I needed and it sure took far too long to come up to temp and also too long to step up in temp. I realise wort reacts differently from water but gotta start somewhere. I thought at the time that the large size of the HLT (~40L) was making the control harder and a smaller vessel might offer more control.

So with these kettle-based systems is the coil hand made or is there something pre-made out there that fits the bill? You're dealing with a bit of a tool-tard here.

Cheers, L.

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

Hi Ionte,

I made my own coil by crimping one end of your length of copper, fill it with water and crimp the other end . Then I just rolled it around something solid. Dead easy.I was surprised how easy it was using such a small diameter.









Buster

 

[raven19]

Great piccies there.
Others have also used sand in lieu of water so the copper wont 'fold flat'.

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

Great piccies there.
Others have also used sand in lieu of water so the copper wont 'fold flat'.

Hi Raven,

I used water purely because it was easier to get .

buster

 

[lonte]

So with these kettle-based systems is the coil hand made or is there something pre-made out there that fits the bill?

How about using my Mashmaster plate chiller? Have it sit (nearly) fully submerged (including water inside in the 'chill water' channel) and pump wort around the normal wort side? Risk of a slight leak around fittings but it's only water in the kettle and this is all pre-boil. L.

 

[ausdb]

How about using my Mashmaster plate chiller? Have it sit (nearly) fully submerged (including water inside in the 'chill water' channel) and pump wort around the normal wort side? Risk of a slight leak around fittings but it's only water in the kettle and this is all pre-boil. L.

You would need to circulate the hot water through the chiller otherwise on the outermost plates would be doing any heat transfer. So you really need a second pump that being the case you might as well have the chiller outside the kettle or HLT or wherever you are heating it from.
Strangebrew has a diagram of how such a system would work.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

If you aren't scared of a RIMS instead of a HERMS ... then you dont need the coil at all. Just pump the wort into the kettle itself, directly heat the wort with the element and allow it to overflow itself back into the mash tun (or you could mount a return outlet if you want to be fancy)

I RIMS with exactly the element in that kettle... and if you give it a good clean after each brew (in the case of the kettle you would just soak in PBW) then there is no scorching and you get (or at least I get) more efficient heat transfer, slightly faster ramp times and tighter control of wort temperatures.

 

[lonte]

If you aren't scared of a RIMS instead of a HERMS ... then you dont need the coil at all. Just pump the wort into the kettle itself, directly heat the wort with the element and allow it to overflow itself back into the mash tun (or you could mount a return outlet if you want to be fancy)

I RIMS with exactly the element in that kettle... and if you give it a good clean after each brew (in the case of the kettle you would just soak in PBW) then there is no scorching and you get (or at least I get) more efficient heat transfer, slightly faster ramp times and tighter control of wort temperatures.

Brilliant! Though I might set it up to gravity feed into the jug as a grant, then pump out of there to the top of the grain bed so as to not put the grainbed under pump pressure and possibly compress it. Just keep enough (plenty, even) sweet liquor over the jug element and pump out at the same rate it's filling the grant. Temp probe at the return at the top of the mash tun I'm thinking and plenty insulation over the whole deal. Sounds an easy one to set up for proof of concept. Thank heaps, L.

 

[Screwtop]

Been told by a herms expert ( not Me) that he reckons he mashs in cold - water temp out the tap - then runs thrugh the herms stepping it up approx 0.5 - .75degree a min to the mash temp - ie start at 18C - 66C for mash (takes 75mins to reach 66C ) hold for 15mins - then step up quickly to 78C for Mash Out - Reckons doing it this way is the best beer he has ever made - now only does it this way.

Have any of you other Herms System guys ever tried it this way - if so - what results....

Kenny, Depending on style I begin with 38 to 52 and ramp from there, pretty much the Zwickel method.

Cheers,

Screwy