HERMS Coil or Dedicated Counterflow Chiller?

[Yesfan]

I've always been a fan of a simple immersion chiller. I like the idea of just dunking the chiller in boiling wort to sanitize it, then hosing it off after the brew session. The biggest drawback though was the longer chill times using it. This I realized after seeing my cousin's counterflow chiller in action that he recently purchased. That may have sealed the deal for me.

I was tempted to see if I could make a DIY version of his or maybe a parallel chiller, then saw the newest article here on the HBT frontpage.

DIY HLT/Heat Exchanger

I found this thread too (LINK)


Long story short, should I consider a HERMS coil as a counterflow chiller option? I have a 15G Concord I use as my HLT tank. I'm thinking I wouldn't have to make space for a CFC on my Top Tier and if I had to have a 2nd pump, I could use one of those small solar pumps for recirculating the ice water.

The other thing is if I do make the jump to an eBrewery setup, I'm halfway there.

 

[mredge73]

I use my HLT HERMS as my chiller. I have a 50' 1/2" coil in my old 7 gallon boil kettle and it works great.
It isn't as fast as my plate chiller but is much more convenient. You still need either lots of ice or constant flowing water.
To maximize efficiency you need to keep the cooling water mixed by stirring the HLT occasionally.
Circulating with a pump would be ideal but isn't really necessary.

 

[coolitfast]

Check out my demonstration from a couple years ago using the Exchilerator as a herms unit. It may help you. I would not recommend a garden hose CFC you will pic up the taste of the garden hose and ruin sparge water. http://www.brickriverbrew.com/media Herms Demonstration

 

[Yesfan]

Check out my demonstration from a couple years ago using the Exchilerator as a herms unit. It may help you. I would not recommend a garden hose CFC you will pic up the taste of the garden hose and ruin sparge water. http://www.brickriverbrew.com/media Herms Demonstration

I was watching one of those videos just last week.


Yeah, I wouldn't even think about sticking a garden hose style CFC in my HLT kettle and use it that way. Haha! That's crazy.

Like mentioned by Mredge, I'm looking at it from a convenience standpoint. I really don't know if I'll make the jump to an eBrewery setup anytime soon, but I do ponder the idea. I would want a dedicated circuit added if I go that route, so that's more $$$ too.

Even, if I don't, I like the idea of one vessel for sparging and chilling. This would save in buying another piece of equipment and let me get rid of another (my immersion chiller). I can see now why Alton Brown calls himself a "uni-tasker".

Thanks for the replies.