Upgrading to single tier HERMS - I think...

[GuitarJImB]

Hi All

Seriously thinking about upgrading to a (tidier) single tier HERMS. Had a brew day last Saturday and sick of trailing pipes etc... Also thinking of upgrading to do 40 litre lengths (currently 25l).

So, Ive had a go at designing it and came up with this - apologies if conventions are confusing. I've colour coded the processes... (Numbers are female quick-connects and m=male quick connects)

Any help/ideas/thoughts with the NEED list most welcome :thumb: particularly the HERMS bit, ie. where to buy/how to make a HERMS coil, HERMS heat source, will one of SWMBO's soup stock pots do as a HERMS pot? Is this advisable (she packs a punch! :lol: ) etc.

 

[prolix]

why the pink and grey comming out the HLT and not just one?

some three way taps may ease congestion

 

[EskiBrew]

It looks like you are running the outlet of the plate chiller back into the HLT - presumably to recover the heat from the cooling wort but if this is going to be big enough to do 40 litre brews then I can't see what the benefit is of recoverting that hot water when you will have no need of it - unless you plan to brew 80 litres or more in a day :wha:

 

[Muddydisco]

I always recover mine just for washing things out and cleaning after the brew, it's free warm water

 

[EskiBrew]

I always recover mine just for washing things out and cleaning after the brew, it's free warm water

Ah good point - I run mine into a sink and use that for washing up :thumb:

 

[GuitarJImB]

why the pink and grey comming out the HLT and not just one?

some three way taps may ease congestion

They're the same pipe but used in a different process! Pink = fill MT, Grey = sparge. Same pipe (number 2-3). Hope that makes sense! :wha: Like I said my conventions may cause confusion but it kind of works for me!! :)

 

[GuitarJImB]

I always recover mine just for washing things out and cleaning after the brew, it's free warm water

That's the plan!! :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

Any help/ideas/thoughts with the NEED list most welcome :thumb: particularly the HERMS bit, ie. where to buy/how to make a HERMS coil, HERMS heat source, will one of SWMBO's soup stock pots do as a HERMS pot? Is this advisable (she packs a punch! :lol: ) etc.

For the Heat Exchanger vessel the smaller the better so it can react more quickly to changes you give it, heat source use a kettle element, and to make the coil bend 10mm copper around a hard cylindrical object...2ltr pop bottle etc. There are loads of builds on the forum this is one of mine and may give you some ideas :thumb:

 

[GuitarJImB]

Any help/ideas/thoughts with the NEED list most welcome :thumb: particularly the HERMS bit, ie. where to buy/how to make a HERMS coil, HERMS heat source, will one of SWMBO's soup stock pots do as a HERMS pot? Is this advisable (she packs a punch! :lol: ) etc.

For the Heat Exchanger vessel the smaller the better so it can react more quickly to changes you give it, heat source use a kettle element, and to make the coil bend 10mm copper around a hard cylindrical object...2ltr pop bottle etc. There are loads of builds on the forum this is one of mine and may give you some ideas :thumb:

Thanks Vossy! Will deffo follow that one :thumb:

Been reading this thread.... Great read...

Q. Looking at my diagram, would you...

a) recirc through plate chiller back to copper, then divert to FV when near or at pitching temp? or,
b) empty wort through plate chiller to FV then recirc through plate chiller back to FV?

I've tried both ways and am erring on the side of a) but would bow to your wisdom :thumb:

Was at Hook Norton brewery last weekend. Had a good few pints in the Pear Tree (tap) and a good laugh with some of the lads there. One mentioned whirlpooling before emptying/recirculating. Sounds good to me but (another question - sorry) is stirring enough to achieve this or is there special equipment that can do this better?

Thanks for your help man! :

 

[Vossy1]

Q. Looking at my diagram, would you...
a) recirc through plate chiller back to copper, then divert to FV when near or at pitching temp? or,
b) empty wort through plate chiller to FV then recirc through plate chiller back to FV?
I've tried both ways and am erring on the side of a) but would bow to your wisdom

No wisdom here G :lol: ...it's just I've been around a bit and tried a lot of things in the name of ...err....playing :lol: :P
Heat exchange diminishes the closer the coolant and product target temp get, ie, you can get from 100 deg c to 30 deg c rapidly but 30 to 18 takes an age Using a very good GPHE it took near 40 minutes with a 60 ltr batch by recircing but direct to fv took 4 mins... :shock: bit of a difference I didn't actually go to fv direct, I racked to mash tun, let the break settle then racked to fv. In the time it took to settle I'd cleaned everything and then the only job was to swill the mash tun out after transfer to fv. The extra problem you have with PHE's is that by recircing you're constantly stirring the copper up and lends the question...how do you prevent all the crap from getting into the PHE...I used a filter but it's more work than I'd like I'm now using conical fv's so can just rack the break off once it's settled :party:
Naturally you could whirlpool, though that's hard with kettle elements and varying the batch size plays havoc with the return height
Personally, if you intend to recirc I'd be using a CFC not a PHE.