Direct Fire RIMS Draft -- Input Sought

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ozzy1038

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
384
Reaction score
14
So this is a mock up of what I am intending to do. I plan to make the weldless brew stand and make it a manual direct fire RIMS until I decide to upgrade and automate it some.

I plan to take the burners off my twin burner range stove. I also plan to use the burner from my turkey fryer. I also figure one pump is enough as I will utilize two hoses and switch them to whatever fittings are needed during any given stage of the brewing process.

Here is the plan.

Pump water into HLT and get to strike temp.
Pump required volume into MLT and dough in.
Begin recirculation.
Continue heating HLT to attain sparge temp.
After mash pump runnings from MLT to BK.
Fire up BK.
Add sparge water to MLT and
Recirculate.
Add 2nd runnings to BK.
Boil.
Whirlpool.
Once whirlpooled and rested. begin cooling with plate chiller to pitch temp.

I plan to use my current IC as a prechiller in ice water in conjunction with the plate chiller.

I am also considering adding a temp probe to the return water fitting on the MLT to monitor recirculating water temp.

Any input will be greatly appreciated!

direct fire RIMS mockup.jpg
 
Your plan is fine.

Your proposed set up is basically the same as what I have been running for the past year. Temp monitoring going back into the MLT is a nice to have, but not needed. You really need to know what the temp of the liquid is coming out of the MLT... If you keep the temp coming out on target, the rest of the mash is never going to exceed that.

Now the reality of the manual direct fired system is you will most likely have some swings in temperature. It is very hard to focus on burner on/burner off for 60 minutes. You turn your back to do some other quick task and all of the sudden your at 155 instead of 150.

I went ahead and added a solenoid to my MLT burner and it was a great investment. I am never more than + or - 1 degree of target and I can attend to other things.

That being said, what are your plans for the piping and connections on your system?
 
I plan to run the gas like dannedry did.

2-13-2011a.jpg


2-13-2011b.jpg


As for liquid line I will use silicone with quick disconnects to transfer/recirculate/whirlpool.

I have given thought to adding a solenoid to the MLT burner. The nice thing is that I always can.
 
Everything looks solid. Your system will be great, and it will make your brewing much more enjoyable.

Manual control is fine, I went for quite a while without the solenoid. But since I added it, I can't imagine going back.

Good luck
 
My set up is similar and it's nice to upgrade as you go.
Why pump water into hlt, then to mlt? I just heat up water needed in mlt to strike Temp. and dough in there, then just heat sparge water in mlt once.
Also some type of insulation on the mlt will help keep temps there stable.
 
My set up is similar and it's nice to upgrade as you go.
Why pump water into hlt, then to mlt? I just heat up water needed in mlt to strike Temp. and dough in there, then just heat sparge water in mlt once.
Also some type of insulation on the mlt will help keep temps there stable.

Good point. I plan to use reflectix for the MLT. I guess I planned to do it the way I posted as I haven't planned on putting in a sight glass on the MLT. My plan is/was to heat total volume needed for boil in HLT and remove needed amount using the sight glass.
 
I would not go direct fire RIMS without some sort of automation. I cant imagine i would watch the mash closely enough for an hour without something going wrong. Also for awhile i was taking my temperature readings and running my automation at the output of the MLT but last brew i switched to a temperature probe put at the center of the grain bed, i still kept an eye on the output readings but ran my process from the center grain bed reading. I had been missing mash temperatures left and right before this but this time i was only off by about 1.5*F.
here is a good thread i started https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/rims-system-woes-273125/
A link to my system http://hollisbrewco.blogspot.com/2011/09/brewery-tour.html
and a link to the BCS automation system (there 2 options on the site, I reccomend a 462 because eventually this thing takes over your brewery, i run nearly everything with it) http://www.embeddedcc.com/index.php/?SID=6j0pauo22dr90t5d16uvs0uuu4
 
I would not recommend it but manual direct fire can be done. I made many fine beers that way. It requires all your attention and is a monotonous job though.

Try it a few times, then do yourself a favor and spend the 90 bucks on a PID and Solenoid.

Ozzy, I also heat and pump my strike water from my HLT to MLT. I dont have a sight glass in my MLT, and don't really want one in there. I also have a smaller burner under my MLT, so I can heat much faster with the HLT.
 
I hear you and 100% agree. I was trying to do it within a certain budget. Basically without the automation I am where I am at now, just a little more convenient. Believe me, if I had my way I would be dropping 3g's + and going all electric. My wife would kill me.

After hearing from you guys I realize the only place I REALLY need temp control is in the MLT. I initially was always planning on putting one on the HLT as well. I just may down the road as knowing that my water is at strike/sparge temp whenever I feel like doughing in or sparging would be nice.

I have rough costed this at $500.00 including two new 15gal aluminum pots. I am on the lookout for 1/2 barrel sankes though. I like the conductivity of aluminum. I like everything else about stainless.
 
Back
Top