I'm returning to homebrewing after a break of about 15 years. I still have an early rims setup using a rectangular picnic cooler with a custom stainless liner/stainless screen "false bottom". I quit because of the length of brew/cleanup sessions, but was making some very good pilsners....
Anyhow, although I see much discussion of equipment setup in the other forums, not much of actual brew session practice. More in this forum.
Anyhow, I recall trouble with 2 particular issues: low extract rate - I'd get a final wort of about 1.035 rather than 1.048, and have to correct it with DME.
I also found that temperatures at various levels in the mash tun varied quite a bit: several degrees higher at the top than at the bottom. Well, heat rises, and the heated recirculation is added at the top. The whole idea of recirculation was that mash temperatures would stabilize but they didn't seem to, and I recall turning off the rims and stirring the mash by hand.
I stopped brewing before I resolved the issue. And maybe it's a non-issue, I don't know...
Any thoughts on problems with/managing temperature variations throughout the mash, particularly with rims and herms systems?
Thanks for your thoughts...
Anyhow, although I see much discussion of equipment setup in the other forums, not much of actual brew session practice. More in this forum.
Anyhow, I recall trouble with 2 particular issues: low extract rate - I'd get a final wort of about 1.035 rather than 1.048, and have to correct it with DME.
I also found that temperatures at various levels in the mash tun varied quite a bit: several degrees higher at the top than at the bottom. Well, heat rises, and the heated recirculation is added at the top. The whole idea of recirculation was that mash temperatures would stabilize but they didn't seem to, and I recall turning off the rims and stirring the mash by hand.
I stopped brewing before I resolved the issue. And maybe it's a non-issue, I don't know...
Any thoughts on problems with/managing temperature variations throughout the mash, particularly with rims and herms systems?
Thanks for your thoughts...