Amateur HERMS

[pob]

I used a 10A STC last week for a Pilsner step mash in the Keggle / eBIAB, worked fine with some manual intervention.

Have two 2.2Kw Argos elements, use both to hit/get to strike temp. Cut power to one within 3° of target, let STC hit temp with single element.

For each step then use both to start, switch one off (the one not connected to STC) as approaches step temp.

STC was set to 0.3° tolerance, keggle was thermowrap foil & sleeping bag mat insulated. Using 35L for a full boil mash BIAB has large thermal mass, so holds temps well, temp rise easyish to monitor/control. A stir of mash to keep temp stable during heating helped, STC clicked off once temp reached.

Next project is looking at PID/SSR to allow both elements to be controlled together.

Insulation is now removable from keggle as I realised (after last brewing adventure) that although it was very good at keeping things hot, it worked against me when cooling with immersion chiller (also means I can clean messy spills).

[Ciderhead]

Nice job, glad to see I'm not the only PID virgin here.

[Ciderhead]

3 KW might be a bit much heat for the volume of wort my little solar pump could push around it quick enough and I'd be afraid it would be a bit of a monster caramelising wort.
Very clever idea though
I have been looking for info on thermal shock on wort but struggling to find anything, I am guessing its not good?

[christhebrewer]

Somebody tried a willis heater in a RIMS system before and gave up on it. Can't remember who it was or why it wasn't good. As far as I remember he changed to HERMS.
I love my herms but have a few bugs to figure out. Sometimes it's great but sometimes it just gets stuck. I think either the flow through the mash has been a bit funny or maybe the mash temp probe was just in a bad position. I try to get the mast temp probe in the middle at the bottom of the grain bed but its impossible to know exactly where it is. A couple of times I have pumped through for 20 mins or more with no temp rise,  I give it a bit of a stir and away she goes.

[Hop Bomb]

Would you recommend buying a 5 litre stainless pot & adding a kettle element with PID for a herms or if you had access to a burco type boiler for roughly the same price would you use that & cut it down to size to hold 5 litres? Also, what length of 10mm copper is good for the heat exchange?

[DEMPSEY]

The willis heater do not hold up for long and as such are a failure.

[DEMPSEY]

Somebody tried a willis heater in a RIMS system before and gave up on it. Can't remember who it was or why it wasn't good. As far as I remember he changed to HERMS.
I love my herms but have a few bugs to figure out. Sometimes it's great but sometimes it just gets stuck. I think either the flow through the mash has been a bit funny or maybe the mash temp probe was just in a bad position. I try to get the mast temp probe in the middle at the bottom of the grain bed but its impossible to know exactly where it is. A couple of times I have pumped through for 20 mins or more with no temp rise,  I give it a bit of a stir and away she goes.

Noticed this the last time when we packed the mash tun with 12 Kgs of malt and as it drained it compacted so the returning liquid from the HERMS was not blending with the grain around the probe. Once we stirred it a bit the temp began to rise. For a future reference for me is when I try a big beer recipe with a full mash tun I will try to increase the liquid amount in the grain to compensate.

[DEMPSEY]

The willis heater do not hold up for long

What do you mean?

Any one that used one that I follow up on found the sticky malt passing over the heating element caused it to gum up and burn out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxcKMJ9Jn9s

[DEMPSEY]

Your too quick with your response,I added a moovie clip

[Shane Phelan]

I'm tempted to go down the RIMS route myself. I wouldn't be familiar with plumbing of any sort so would probably go with something like this to get started.

[Hop Bomb]

Im looking at something similar to this:

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=504

Ive my eye on an asparagus steamer pot on ebay for the herms pot.

[Ciderhead]

Im looking at something similar to this:

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=504

Ive my eye on an asparagus steamer pot on ebay for the herms pot.

large kettle or cheap fat fryer just as good

[Hop Bomb]

Barkar switched from fat fryer herms to kettle herms as the fryer didnt heat quick enough.

I bought the asparagus steamer pot. SS heat exchange coil is next. You want to go splits on an order from http://www.totalstainless.ie/  ?  (6 meter length of 10mm OD seamless is 9.70p/m ex VAT & delivery)

[St. Fursey]

Barkar switched from fat fryer herms to kettle herms as the fryer didnt heat quick enough.

I bought the asparagus steamer pot. SS heat exchange coil is next. You want to go splits on an order from http://www.totalstainless.ie/  ?  (6 meter length of 10mm OD seamless is 9.70p/m ex VAT & delivery)

Can I get in on that Tom?

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

[barkar]

Barkar switched from fat fryer herms to kettle herms as the fryer didnt heat quick enough.

I bought the asparagus steamer pot. SS heat exchange coil is next. You want to go splits on an order from http://www.totalstainless.ie/  ?  (6 meter length of 10mm OD seamless is 9.70p/m ex VAT & delivery)

Can I get in on that Tom?

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

Hi yeah just to note the fat fryer i had was 450w , i am sure if you used oil instead of water you could reflect the temp change quicker . The base on the one i had was cheap tin / thin aluminium , it seemed to corrode in no time/  i  had no luck with it , The kettle i have now is a 1.7 litre currys kettle. The coil is heavy duty in that it was chiller which i wrapped around it self again  i can post pics here, literally when its in the kettle you are only working with  probably 1 - 1.2 litre of water , which reflects quick change dependant on flow rate
I have never really done decoction or step mashing as i generally dont use lagers/ pilseners malts. I use it to invariably hit  whatever mash temp  i  need - it generally corrects pretty quickly.
I have a thermocouple in the middle of the mash, the pid is controlled based on a pt100 exiting the kettle rather than in the mash the thermocouple is just there to ensure it pretty accurate across teh system ie what is exiting the herms is reflective of whats in the mash,

TBH is not astehetic to the eye ie shiny but it does what is supposed to , clear the mash and keep temp constant throughout  the mash
I would say the surface area is key to ensuring quick temp change the bigger it is the longer it will take . I had originally intended using the hlt as both herms and hlt , gatherred that wouldnt really work due the temp change needed on a whole mass of water to that passing through a coil   
Some lads on some other forum across the way have details how to buld an asparagus herms if ye are going down that route

BTW how are you going to bend stainless ?