Build a Herms

[riversend]

I am upgrading from a BIAB to a herms. Does anyone know of a place that rents knockout punches? I really don’t want to spent 75 buck on a punch for one hole. Step bits suck bc my drill has two speeds like my wife’s driving. Fast and stop. #firstpost

 

[Dcpcooks]

Best advice is to watch the for sale board. They usually sell quickly and most people use them and resell them ASAP.

I’ve not heard of a site that rents them.

 

[Bobby_M]

A tungsten carbide hole saw is less than $20 and I actually prefer them to punches. https://www.brewhardware.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=tungsten+carbide


Question for discussion; BIAB to HERMS is an upgrade in what metric?

 

[riversend]

Well I guess not necessary an upgrade perse. I used the electric biab kettle for a BK while using an igloo for a MT. I just like the three tier system over lifting a bag to drain

 

[Sparkncode]

I drilled all the holes in my eHERMS pots with carbide holesaws.

I used a 10 year old nicad battery drill and it got through the stainless steel pots fine. Both for element and for weldless fittings. I tried step bits too but the carbide hole saws worked better with my drill. The battery drill is variable speed and two gears ratio.

I would not like to use a drill that is only on or off for such a task as cutting speed does matter but a variable speed is a useful tool and are not too expensive. Probably way more use than a punch

 

[Smellyglove]

the q.max punches are way cheaper and also do the job.

 

[mongoose33]

Question for discussion; BIAB to HERMS is an upgrade in what metric?

Don't know what you mean by "metric." I've done a lot of BIAB, and successfully; the one area where it's more difficult is in temperature of the mash. Not only is it more difficult to nail down effectively, you can't easily hold it. I lose maybe 2-3 degrees over the course of a mash, but if I want to hold a temp, well, that's tough.

If I end up too low, what do I do? I can turn on the burner, which may or may not get me there. And if I'm too hot, what do I do? Ice cubes?

There are several variables that influence BIAB mash temps. I brew in my garage and ambient temps can vary from in the 40s to the 80s. Further, I use a Blichmann Hellfire burner. That burner retains heat after I turn it off, significantly so. Thus I have to try to account for what I think of as "heating inertia" before settling at the final temperature.

Finally, if you want to do step mashes, doing it with BIAB w/o a HERMS setup is, shall we say, difficult.

Again, I've done a lot of successful beers with BIAB, but nailing the temp is not easy, at least in my context. Others may have better luck.

PS: I wish I had a HERMS. It would help with LODO processes.

 

[riversend]

Quick question, if I have a mushroom estop button that uses resistors and trickles current to ground, do I use only the NC block to wire?