HERMS...procedure question

[Bentpirate]

In March I was able to purchase a HERMS system for a real good price. My experience with HERMS is nill, I have used the standard 10 gal coolers etc. I brewed a Hefe that I have brewed many times with sucess to keep things simple. I heated to water and mashed at 152 for an hour. Now, during this time I recirculated the wort through the HERMS the entire time and batched sparged. I was able to finally drink a glass last night - It had a much fuller head than any beer I have ever brewed, the color looked fantastic, but the taste - It was a combination of watered down, sterile, astrigent, it almost tasted like I washed everything out of the grains; just all around I would be ashamed to share this beverage with anyone. My question is; do I / should I recirculate through the entire mash process, should I get it to temperature, let it alone and only run the pump when the I need to raise the temp - I have read the thread "Implementing a HERMS easily" time and time again, but I think I am missing something. The other odd point was that my pre boil and post boil gravity readings were spot on - I really thought this would have been the best that I ever made - it simply was the worse by far.
The other question; it was only conditioning for 2 weeks which is typically where I start drinking the Hefe's. Should I wait longer, with the flavor 'magically' come back or by cirulating too much did I loose it forever. Any insight would be greatly appreciated....
If this subject was covered before I appologize in advance, I am learning so much by reading all the threads.

 

[Walker]

Some folks use a controller to turn the pump off and on, but most leave the pump running all the time and use the controller to turn the heat off and on.

I can't help with your flavor problem, though. My HERMS just became ready this past weekend, and I haven't actually brewed with it yet.

 

[brrman]

I recirculate through the entire mash. No watered down astringency here. The point IS to wash everything out of the grains, but you can oversparge to get tannins and cause astringency. I am curious about your water volume situation.

How did you batch sparge and with how much water? And how much mash water did you recirculate with?

I get my HLT to temp and set the recirc pump on with the valve at medium to slow rate. Then after the mash I feed the MLT with water from the HLT at the same rate that I am running wort from the MLT to the kettle (never wide open). I know ahead of time how much water I intend to drain from the HLT to get to my boil volume.

Post your recipe if you can.

 

[Bentpirate]

I am currently at work and I don't have my note book handy; but I may have over sparged after reading over my notes last night. Another example of the taste; if you make coffee with too few grounds for a full pot.....
Thank you for answering the question about letting it circulate; my thought was the same that the idea was to wash the grains.
Does the astringency taste ever go away, or is this basically trashed?

 

[thorongil]

You should have no problems recirculating the entire time. Watch your sparge temps if you have astringency problems - your sparge water should be no more than 170.