First DIY herms brew yesterday

[Turfgrass]

Yesterday was my first Herms system brew and it all ran well, however lots to learn still.

Evaporation rate. Overshot

Stuck MT circulation. The false bottom worked great, but the grain bed was real tight and that required me to mix the bed on occasion to prevent slowing down the recirculation.

OG- missed

Need brewing software that inputs herms equipment

 

[rhags138]

Next time, you can try using rice hulls in the mash(that is, if you didn't already).

 

[Rodent]

what was your recirc rate? too fast and you'll compact the grain bed and have issues.

 

[Turfgrass]

Next time, you can try using rice hulls in the mash(that is, if you didn't already).

i Actually bought some today to try out in the near future. Is there a dosage that you could share? Thanks

what was your recirc rate? too fast and you'll compact the grain bed and have issues.

I don’t know. Is there a recommended rate that you could tell me. I could then try capturing it into a container to measure. Thanks

 

[LarMoeCur]

Yesterday was my first Herms system brew and it all ran well, however lots to learn still.

Evaporation rate. Overshot

Not uncommon. Once I get my wort boiling, I got to manual mode and throttle back the heat to 78%. This brought my boil off rate down some but I still boil off more then my old turkey frier days.

Stuck MT circulation. The false bottom worked great, but the grain bed was real tight and that required me to mix the bed on occasion to prevent slowing down the recirculation.

Do you account for the water volume under the false bottom when calculating your mash water requirements? My false bottom void is 1.5 gallons so I calculate the 1.25qt per pound and then add 1.5 gallons to arrive at my strike water volume.

I always watch the site glass after I start the MLT pump. I keep a mental note that the volume was right at 12 gallons. If I see it's lower later in the mash, I know I have a vacuum. I throttle the pump back until the volume returns to the starting point and run the pump at that rate to prevent compacting the grain bed completely. I also use 1/2 to 1 pound of rice hulls depending on the recipe. Which I haven't had to throttle the pump after I started this practice.

OG- missed

Need brewing software that inputs herms equipment

I use BeerSmith but had to build my own equipment profile. It's pretty easy to do.

 

[rhags138]

I believe I used a pound in a 5 gallon brew. They are unfermentable and only serve to prevent the mash from compacting anyway. And as far as recirculation rate....your going to want the wort coming in equal to the wort exiting. You are going to have to play around with it a bit until you get it right....I know, phrasing. Your also going to want to leave about 1 inch of wort above the grain bed at all times

 

[Turfgrass]

Do you account for the water volume under the false bottom when calculating your mash water requirements? My false bottom void is 1.5 gallons so I calculate the 1.25qt per pound and then add 1.5 gallons to arrive at my strike water volume.

Okay, for example, the loss of the false bottom is .25qt and the herms coil is .175qt and mash at 1.33 at 9 pounds.

11.97 + .175 + .25= 12.4 qts or 3.1 gallons of water at mash time. This does include hoses.

 

[LarMoeCur]

Okay, for example, the loss of the false bottom is .25qt and the herms coil is .175qt and mash at 1.33 at 9 pounds.

11.97 + .175 + .25= 12.4 qts or 3.1 gallons of water at mash time. This does include hoses.

What are you using for a mash tun? And what does your false bottom look like? I'm using a 20 gallon kettle and my false bottom is 1.5" off the bottom of the kettle. It takes exactly 1.5 gallons of water to touch the bottom of the stainless steel. That's the extra water I'm talking about. If I leave that water out my mash is very thick and the pump will compress the grain bed into a brick. I also lose .25 gallons because of the pickup tube.

 

[Bilsch]

Stuck MT circulation. The false bottom worked great, but the grain bed was real tight and that required me to mix the bed on occasion to prevent slowing down the recirculation.

It's better to have a coarser crush for recirculated mash.

 

[Blazinlow86]

It's better to have a coarser crush for recirculated mash.

i agree however this topic seems to come up with every first recirculate brew day post and its a highly debated topic. i crush VERY course which allows me to not have to fiddle with flow rates as i just open the pumps all the way and come back when its done.it works the same regardless of the grist so its always 100% consistent. the downside to this is you will get a few points less efficiency. some brewers use the standard finer crush and just monitor the sight gauge for vacuum and adjust the pump rate (some report they can only pump as slow as 20-50%) thru the 60 min mash or stir the mash when it compacts. first thing i would ask is what was YOUR reasoning for building a herms system. if your main concern is efficiency than turn your pump up only until your sight gauge starts to drop. if you not concerned with maximum efficiency than try milling your grain at .045-.050 SLOWLY and you should be able to run full closer to full speed. i feel not having to adjust flow rates etc make the system more consistent as there is less variables from batch to batch. i also like to be able to leave my system unattended. those were the reasons i went eherms so i rather spend a few dollars more on grain and live with the lower efficiency. cheers

 

[Bilsch]

if you not concerned with maximum efficiency than try milling your grain at .045-.050 SLOWLY and you should be able to run full closer to full speed. i feel not having to adjust flow rates etc make the system more consistent as there is less variables from batch to batch. i also like to be able to leave my system unattended. those were the reasons i went eherms so i rather spend a few dollars more on grain and live with the lower efficiency. cheers

I don't see much of an efficiency loss and I mill non-conditioned grain at .049" gap on a MM3 running at 70 rpm.

 

[brewbama]

I don't see much of an efficiency loss and I mill non-conditioned grain at .049" gap on a MM3 running at 70 rpm.

Do you use full volume mash or do you sparge?

 

[Bilsch]

Do you use full volume mash or do you sparge?

I guess you could call it a modified full volume. It's a step mash beginning with 85% of the total water, then near the end of the 162°f step I meter the remaining 15% of the water, just after being DO boiled, into the recirculation loop while also direct heating up to the final 172° rest. I do this because I like the protection against oxidation that full volume mash, done in a mash capped and top capped mashtun, provides but also get improved beta action in the thicker mash earlier on. Seems complicated but it also saves some time the way my system is setup.

 

[augiedoggy]

i Actually bought some today to try out in the near future. Is there a dosage that you could share? Thanks

I don’t know. Is there a recommended rate that you could tell me. I could then try capturing it into a container to measure. Thanks

I use a flowmeter like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/Water-FLOWMETER-ROTAMETER-Inline-Flow-Meter-0-5-5-GPM/391623292733?hash=item5b2e91373d:g:v7MAAOSwHMJYLeha&_sacat=0&_nkw=flow+meter+5gpm&_from=R40&rt=nc&LH_TitleDesc=0|0

to measure flow and tell me if theres something wrong... I aim for 1.5-1.8 gpm flowrate and never have any issues.. my uninsulated MT keeps perfect temps and efficiency is about 91% avg this way... I also never use rice hulls and use a credit card to set mill gap. (30 mil or .03" )

 

[ryanj]

Yesterday was my first Herms system brew and it all ran well, however lots to learn still.

Evaporation rate. Overshot

Stuck MT circulation. The false bottom worked great, but the grain bed was real tight and that required me to mix the bed on occasion to prevent slowing down the recirculation.

OG- missed

Need brewing software that inputs herms equipment

I had almost the same exact experience on my first batch with my E-HERMS system. My thread grew to 3-4 pages and was ultimately closed because of differing opinions. Here's what worked for me:

1. Boil off rate is no big deal. I guess 1gph, but my result was 1.4gph. The good news is that on my second batch, I planned for 1.4gph and it was spot on. Just remember to take good notes and keep your boil workflow the same and you'll always have the same boil off rate.
2. Stuck recirculation is SUPER common. I had a ton of problems myself. You can solve this a few ways:
   1. Throttle back your pump.
   2. Mill your grain more coarse until you can pump at desired speed
   3. Add rice hulls until you can pump at desired speed.

Regarding the mash recirculation, I went with option #1 and just dialed my pump back and it worked perfectly. I didn't use rice hulls or change my .035 crush. As a matter of fact I didn't even touch the grain bed once I mashed in. You'll hear that you HAVE to pump fast -- but you DON'T HAVE TO. I was able to knock out an 88% mash efficiency on my last batch and all I did was slow down my pump.

There are tons of ways to solve the mash recirculation issue and ultimately it really depends on your equipment. What worked for me was simply slowing down the pump.

If you have any specific questions from someone who was very recently in the same boat as you -- shoot me a PM.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I had almost the same exact experience on my first batch with my E-HERMS system. My thread grew to 3-4 pages and was ultimately closed because of differing opinions. Here's what worked for me:

1. Boil off rate is no big deal. I guess 1gph, but my result was 1.4gph. The good news is that on my second batch, I planned for 1.4gph and it was spot on. Just remember to take good notes and keep your boil workflow the same and you'll always have the same boil off rate.
2. Stuck recirculation is SUPER common. I had a ton of problems myself. You can solve this a few ways:
   1. Throttle back your pump.
   2. Mill your grain more coarse until you can pump at desired speed
   3. Add rice hulls until you can pump at desired speed.

Regarding the mash recirculation, I went with option #1 and just dialed my pump back and it worked perfectly. I didn't use rice hulls or change my .035 crush. As a matter of fact I didn't even touch the grain bed once I mashed in. You'll hear that you HAVE to pump fast -- but you DON'T HAVE TO. I was able to knock out an 88% mash efficiency on my last batch and all I did was slow down my pump.

There are tons of ways to solve the mash recirculation issue and ultimately it really depends on your equipment. What worked for me was simply slowing down the pump.

If you have any specific questions from someone who was very recently in the same boat as you -- shoot me a PM.

Coming from a full speed side of the fence user you definitely don't HAVE to pump full speed. That being lots of people don't circulate at all and make excellent beer. It's more at what speed does it become not really a recirculating system anymore? And then at point the debate becomes if a recirculating system makes a difference at all. Cheers

 

[jppsav]

I have been grinding at .30 and have had some issues with compacted grain bed and very slow recirculating although I get 92% efficiency. I’m going to grind at .035 next brew and see how it effects efficiency and recirculation.

 

[ryanj]

I have been grinding at .30 and have had some issues with compacted grain bed and very slow recirculating although I get 92% efficiency. I’m going to grind at .035 next brew and see how it effects efficiency and recirculation.

I have my mill set to .035 and I got 88% on my last batch with conditioned grain and no recirculating issues (running the pump at 30% or so).

With my equipment, .035 is about as fine as I would go.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I have been grinding at .30 and have had some issues with compacted grain bed and very slow recirculating although I get 92% efficiency. I’m going to grind at .035 next brew and see how it effects efficiency and recirculation.

At .030 I don't think your gonna be able run the pumps more than a trickle. Opening up to .035 might make a slight difference but you'll still probably only be able to get up to 25% of your pump speeds. I wouldn't worry about it too much plenty of other users can't pump faster than that and of course you could not circulate at all and still end up with great beer. I'd say as long as your flow is fast enough to keep a consistent temp without stratification don't worry about it. To get it to flow closer to full speeds takes abit of tweaking and will lower efficiency by quite abit. I can only get a mash efficiency of 84% on mine at full speeds. Cheers