BadWolfBrewing
Well-Known Member
The first brewing on a new system is under way. Stout tanks, electric, herms.
Experiencing a problem. The HERMS coil that stout includes in their HLT is sort of insufficient. I would guess it is maybe 30' of slightly under 3/8" stainless. The wort coming out of the coil is less than the temp of the HLT, which makes controlling temperatures tricky.
My options to fix are either a higher flow pump (I have chugger center inlets), such as the march AC-3B-MD or a better coil. A better coil will increase the heat transfer into the coil, while a pump would just increase the flow rate. Right now, I'm maxing out at about 1.3 gpm, which might be an upper limit for grain bed compaction.
I'm leaning towards a coil, mounted to the lid. All vessels share the same lid, so I have 3. A 50' 1/2" coil mounted to the lid could double as a chiller, when put on the brew pot, so that has a nice ring to it. A higher flow pump would make for more effective whirl-pooling, which is also nice. That being said, the flow through the chugger center inlet is pretty impressive, without the restriction of the coil.
I haven't insulated the MLT, and that would help some. I'd prefer not to, for pure aesthetics...
Am I missing any perspectives?
Many thanks
Experiencing a problem. The HERMS coil that stout includes in their HLT is sort of insufficient. I would guess it is maybe 30' of slightly under 3/8" stainless. The wort coming out of the coil is less than the temp of the HLT, which makes controlling temperatures tricky.
My options to fix are either a higher flow pump (I have chugger center inlets), such as the march AC-3B-MD or a better coil. A better coil will increase the heat transfer into the coil, while a pump would just increase the flow rate. Right now, I'm maxing out at about 1.3 gpm, which might be an upper limit for grain bed compaction.
I'm leaning towards a coil, mounted to the lid. All vessels share the same lid, so I have 3. A 50' 1/2" coil mounted to the lid could double as a chiller, when put on the brew pot, so that has a nice ring to it. A higher flow pump would make for more effective whirl-pooling, which is also nice. That being said, the flow through the chugger center inlet is pretty impressive, without the restriction of the coil.
I haven't insulated the MLT, and that would help some. I'd prefer not to, for pure aesthetics...
Am I missing any perspectives?
Many thanks