My RIMS idea...

The Pol · 01-15-2008, 01:37 AM

I have a brew stand that you can see here...

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/PolTavern/BREWING/BrewStand.jpg

I have always used infusion mashing, but would love to build a simple RIMS. Here is my idea.

I use my Keggle and 55k BTU burner to heat up 5-8 gallons of water to say 190F.

I use my immersion chiller as the circulting device for my wort.

I connect my ball valve outlet from my MLT to a March pump to give motive flow to the wort.

I attach a thermostat device to my March pump, that reads through the wall of my MLT, to control the circulation of the wort.

When I am finished mashing I can pump the 5-8 gallons of water in my keggle, that was used for RIMS to fly sparge my mash.

My empty keggle now recieves my sweet wort, ready to boil.

Does this sound right??

The Pol · 01-15-2008, 01:59 AM

I am going to replace my through the wall therm on my cooler with a stopper thermowell and this controller which will attach to my March pump...

http://www.northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/digital-temp-controller.jpg

clayof2day · 01-15-2008, 02:11 AM

Sounds OK to me (a guy who knows nothing about this sort of stuff). One question: If your keggle is holding your sparge water, where do your mash/sparge runnings go? Are they being collected in a separate container and being moved to the keggle after its emptied? A HLT would seem to save you this trouble.

The Pol · 01-15-2008, 02:16 AM

If you look at my system, the pic posted above, you can see my HLT. What I am referring to is pumping my HOT water used for RIMS to the HLT on top of my stand, then sparging. I have a HLT, MLT and a keggle. The keggle is just the only direct fired vessel that I can run my RIMS through.

clayof2day · 01-15-2008, 02:23 AM

ah, makes sense. I think that the when you mentioned pumping in the original post I got confused because I didn't see that you were pumping to the HLT, THEN fly sparging. I thought you were planning on pumping your fly sparge FROM your keggle, in which you would then be simultaneously collecting sweet wort. However, now that I see what you mean clearly, I think it could work. It may not be the sexiest stand I've ever seen, but I think it should be effective!

**Lil' Sparky** · 01-15-2008, 02:30 AM

Sounds like it'll work, but what you're describing is actually HERMS, not RIMS.

The Pol · 01-15-2008, 02:30 AM

I think it rocks... I prefer coolers to SS, they are just more efficient with retaining heat. With the march pump there will be no more issues with walking up a ladder with 190F water...

I plan to fabricate a control panel on the side of my rack to house my electrics and my MLT thermostatic control. I should be able to simply heat my water, set the burner on low, hit the switch and set my temps on the control panel.

I used to wish to be more "hands on" with the brewing process, but now I would prefer to be more automated, efficient and consistent. I just love homemade tech!

SORRY, HERMS