How has your HERMS/RIMS system benefited you?

How has your HERMS/RIMS system benefited you? (Please explain how it helps you make better beer, save time, etc...)

I meant to post one more poll option, 'It hasn't BUT I've learned a lot from it.'

HUGE epenis

^^^^lol.

Started out with a bottom drain keggle/false bottom.
Even with insulation, keggle couldn't hold temps.
Added RIMS, but scorched the wort if flow was stopped or slowed for any reason (1350w ULWD).
Started really thinking I should have just gone with a cooler MT.
Switched over to HERMS, and couldn't be happier.. set and forget for the entire mash, and I get to keep my shiny MT (I hate plastic).

The beer isn't better or worse- but it's easier to maintain steady temperatures with the HERMS.

It doesn't save any time at all, as the mash time is still the same, but it does mean that going to mash out temps is easier as well.

Yooper said:

The beer isn't better or worse- but it's easier to maintain steady temperatures with the HERMS.

It doesn't save any time at all, as the mash time is still the same, but it does mean that going to mash out temps is easier as well.

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Would you say that it is as "fun" (this is a hobby) as it was before electric? I think a lot of my liking is trying to get the right temperature for everything and if I do wrong I will see the results. If it is automatic do you still get that enjoyment on brew day?

Sent from my two thumbs

If that's fun to you, maybe you won't enjoy it as much? I think you have a strange opinion on what is fun, lol! Hitting your mash temps perfectly and having repeatable success is my idea of fun.

I guess it's like carving something. ... you can do it by hand or do it by machine perfectly. .. By hand would give me more satisfaction in the end ( if that makes sense)

Just wondering if you still feel like it's yours?

Sent from my two thumbs

I have an electric herms and time is def not improved, if anything my brew days are actually longer. The system does not improve quality of the brew, I can make great beer with it, but can also make awful beer. While effort might be improved slightly, most noticeably as previously mentioned in mash out, the big factor that it helps is consistency from batch to batch. That is where I notice the most gain. But in the end I enjoy building and designing almost as much as brewing, and that more then anything is the best part about having it.

For now my HERMS consists of an IC in the HLT and a $20 ebay pump. Goal was to control mash temp without having to add more hot water during the mash. What I'm finding is that temp in the MT can vary by 4 - 5 degrees F from the point the HERMS discharges to the opposite side of the keggle. So I move the hose around & stir frequently. One aspect I really like is that before recirculating I was always fighting with grain that would get under the false bottom & clog the dip tube. Since recirculating this hasn't happened.

smagic14 said:

Would you say that it is as "fun" (this is a hobby) as it was before electric? I think a lot of my liking is trying to get the right temperature for everything and if I do wrong I will see the results. If it is automatic do you still get that enjoyment on brew day?

Sent from my two thumbs

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It's way more fun for me. I have pumps so I don't have to lift anything, I can maintain temperature without chasing my tail, I can make whatever beer I want and have dependable results. It's not automatic at all- it's just easier to maintain the temperature. I don't have an automated system. I just get to brew indoors, no matter the weather, because I'm all electric. I never have to buy propane, haul stuff inside and outside, or mess around with with setting things up. It's fun and convenient, although it takes as much time.

Yooper said:

It's way more fun for me. I have pumps so I don't have to lift anything, I can maintain temperature without chasing my tail, I can make whatever beer I want and have dependable results. It's not automatic at all- it's just easier to maintain the temperature. I don't have an automated system. I just get to brew indoors, no matter the weather, because I'm all electric. I never have to buy propane, haul stuff inside and outside, or mess around with with setting things up. It's fun and convenient, although it takes as much time.

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You almost have me convinced, "almost" being the prominent word. Glad you like your brewer, Yooper, I like mine too!

I'm in the process of putting together a HERMS system. I currently have a really awesome gravity system that goes all the way from my HLT right into my fermenter which is already sitting in my chest freezer. My MT is a 10G igloo cooler.

The benefits I'm hoping for are:

- maintain more precise temp throughout duration of mash

- get more consistent temp throughout the grain bed

- recirculate mash to eliminate manual vorlauf, which is one of my least favorite parts of the brewday.

and since the transition to HERMS will include the addition of brewing pumps I'll have a few extra benefits. Oh and I'll be going from the 10G cooler to a 15G blichmann w/false bottom.

- Whirlpool the BK during chilling
---reduce sediment into fermenter
---perform a hopstand
---speed up chilling and get more uniform chilling with my IC

- Bigger MT with better false bottom so I can make higher gravity beers

- Use the pumps for a semi Clean-in-Place process that will help keep my brew gear out of my wife's way

I hope it's worth it as it ain't gonna be cheap, but I think I'm being realistic as to the benefits and if I'm mostly right then I feel good about it.

sudbuster said:

You almost have me convinced, "almost" being the prominent word. Glad you like your brewer, Yooper, I like mine too!

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My town was just named "The Coldest Place on the Planet"- so trust me, brewing indoors is a huge advantage most of the time. If I lived in a more moderate climate, brewing outdoors or in a garage would be possible but with the cold weather (even in the spring and fall), I love brewing indoors.

The brewery does have wheels, and I can roll it out the door if I want to brew outside- which I have done exactly once.

Would like to hear more opinions about going to HERMS. Waste of money is the top vote getter, would like to hear from some folks that regret going to a HERMS set-up.

I am in the process of building a brutus 10 style single tier rig. I plan on direct firing the mash but will still recirculate with a pump as needed to maintain temps. I may change over to an electric rims tube at some point, depends on how well direct firing works.

If I was going to fully automate my process I would probably go HERMS, but for my purposes it requires too much additional equipment, the biggest one being an additional pump.

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I'm starting to wonder, I'm planning and collecting the equipment for a HERMS build, but I'm not planing any automation at this time. It'll be completely manual, including controlling the temp of the HLT, disconnecting and reconnecting hoses to switch from filling the MT, to recirculating within the MT to adding the HERMS loop, to sparging (and that's just on that side, whole thing again on the BK side). Am I about to make my brewday a hell of a lot more labor intensive than it already is? I need those little breaks for cleaning and prepping for the next steps.

I wasn't sure what to vote for. I can't say my RIMS makes better beer. I made some damn good beer with the old igloo cooler. It does help my sanity. I can dial up a mash temp and it stays there. So, no worries. That's about it.

Interesting how no one who voted "Waste of time and money" elaborated on their answer. Makes me think that they've never even brewed on a HERMS. I was thinking about going HERMS at one point but haven't yet. I too would like to hear from those who think that it isn't worth while.

HERMS or RIMS isn't about saving time or brewing better beer. It's primarily about getting stable mash temps and because of that, repeatability of batches. Recirculating mashes give you clearer wort, which can lead to clearer beer.

LandoLincoln said:

HERMS or RIMS isn't about saving time or brewing better beer. It's primarily about getting stable mash temps and because of that, repeatability of batches. Recirculating mashes give you clearer wort, which can lead to clearer beer.

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That's really what I'm looking to get out of it. I'm not hoping it's going to fix anything about my beer.

It'll be part of a larger upgrade that amongst other things will give me a bigger MT to work with and the ability to really whirlpool my BK during chilling.

Definitely. HERMS and RIMS are about nailing perfect mash temps and being able to use non-cooler mash tuns to do so. People need to stop thinking certain equipment upgrades will make them better.