RegionalChaos

Recipes 

Steve, is that because the thermal mass of a large mash is not easily adjusted with the small volume being pumped through the HERMS?

I've thought about a HERMS setup for 10-15g batches, so I'm curious..

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How I brew: Stir plate starters, Extract, Full boil in a Keggle, 10 gallon batches.
Brewing upgrades in progress: temp controlled ferment, stir plate re-work, building mash tun, milling station

Planned House Ales: an Amber, an IPA, a dark IPA, a Mango Ale, a blueberry oatmeal stout, a dry Irish stout, a honey wheat, Apfelwien

What kind of R-Value does your ferm chamber need? - http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/what-kind-r-value-ferm-chamber-190459/

stevehaun

Recipes 

Yes, temp control with a HERMS or RIMS is largely a function of flow thru the system and thermal mass of the mash. This is, of course, assuming you have an adequate heat source to raise the temp of the wort flowing thru the heat exchanger. For example, if you have good temp control with flow of X and thermal mass of Y and then you change your thermal mass to 2Y, your ability to control the temperature of the mass will be greatly diminished. The flow thru my system is limited largely by the resistance of the HERMS coil and sometimes by grain bed compaction. Like I said earlier, I had great control with 15 gallon batches and could easily mash out from 150 to 165F in 15 minutes. When I went to 30 gallon batches, I could maintain mash temps but could not raise my mash temp fast enough to mash out in less than 30 minutes. During "mash out", the temp of wort returning to the mash tun is 170F but there is not enough flow to raise the temp of the mash in a reasonable amount of time.

RegionalChaos

Recipes 

But is the need for adjustment diminished since the large thermal mass would help the tun maintain temp?

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How I brew: Stir plate starters, Extract, Full boil in a Keggle, 10 gallon batches.
Brewing upgrades in progress: temp controlled ferment, stir plate re-work, building mash tun, milling station

Planned House Ales: an Amber, an IPA, a dark IPA, a Mango Ale, a blueberry oatmeal stout, a dry Irish stout, a honey wheat, Apfelwien

What kind of R-Value does your ferm chamber need? - http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/what-kind-r-value-ferm-chamber-190459/

TheWhaleShark

Recipes 

@BoarBeer: Yeah, but then I don't get a neato burrito unidirectional flow! My scientist brain really likes that!

You're right, though; in the end, it's probably most economical to just have a single heating device, rather than multiple different heating devices for different purposes.

Lots of good advice in this thread. Definitely a good read. I'll be keeping close tabs on this.

Kauai_Kahuna

Recipes 

Jonesing for more pictures here! But it just may be me.

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In Primary: Belgium Chimay clones.
In Secondary: Braggot, pale ale, end of the world white.
Conditioning: Mead, Cider, braggot, Belgium Wheat.
On Tap: Clones, Chimay Blue, Red, Porter, malted cider.
Bottles: Far, far, too many to list.

Scottatron

Recipes 

Same here. Any current pictures of the set up?

MikeRLynch

Recipes 

Alright, sorry for the lack of updates people, but that's because there's been a lack of work being done on the system. That is not, seemingly, a bad thing...

We've decided that it makes more sense from a business perspective to brew at the 7 bbl level. We do not, however have enough money or a place to put a 7 bbl system. We do however, have a semi local brewpub that may be willing to rent out their system and some fermentor space to us.

We would be getting an Alternating Proprietorship Brewing License. This will allow us to essentially piggyback on the existing breweries already established (and up to code) system/insurance/bonding/etc. With this we will be able to skip the problems of building a brewery and get right to making beer.

I know this thread is veering away from the DIY topic, but I figured I'd give a heads up. I'm not sure if I'll start another thread or post it on my blog, right now I'm up to my eyeballs in TTB forms and research. We will still be working on the 1 bbl system as time allows. We want to see it up and running as much as you do!

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Lost Elm Brewing Co.

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On Deck - IPA, Lost Elm Rye Pale Ale
Fermenting - Lost Elm ESB
On Tap - Lost Elm Rye Pale Ale, Lost Elm ESB with Honey

oldschool

Recipes 

Keep in mind that HOTD brews with a 4 bbl system.