HLT HERMS vs Mash Tun coil

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Thomsen1287

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I'm getting ready to upgrade my system, if it was you, or if you had to do it all over again, would you recirculate the wort through a coil in the HLT or would you recirculate hot water through a coil in the mash tun. Please provide one or a few points as to why. I have a few thoughts and reasons for one or the other but I don't want to bias the masses. Thank you very much, for any input you can give!
 
I would go with the coil in the HLT and circulate the wort. I am not saying that it cannot be done..or isn't currently being applied by some people in their brewery. The biggest reason is temperature stratification. Your wort with be at the temp you want right by the coil but slowly get cooler as you get farther away. Unless of course you have a massive mixer or you stand over your mash tun for an hour and stir. Depending on where you take your mash temps you could drastically over shoot a good portion of your mash.
The same issue in the HLT can be rectified with an aquarium pump. That is enough to move water and keep stratification from happening.
 
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