HLT as HERMS heater?

[Cpt_Kirks]

It seems that using the HLT as the heat source for a HERMS setup is pretty common.

One question comes to mind, though: If the HLT temperature is being used to control the wort temperature, how can the HLT be used to heat the sparge water? The sparge water will be too cool when it's time to mash out.

Is this an issue, or am I over thinking this?

 

[Henrythe9th]

my HLT with HERMS stays around 160f or about 4 to 8 deg above my mash temp depends on how cold it is outside.. I batch sparge so as the MLT is draining I fire up the burner and can get it to 170 175f for the sparge

 

[mariojr]

Also you would use the HERMS to raise the temp of the mash to "mash out" temps before sparging.

 

[JuanMoore]

If you use the HEX to do a mash-out, then the water will be at sparge temp (or even a couple degrees high). If you don't do a mash-out, the HLT water will still be a few degrees warmer than the mash, and it only takes a minute or two to heat the water 10-15F. If batch sparging, the water can be up to temp by the time the MLT is drained.

For me personally, since sparge temp has little to no effect on efficiency, I usually don't do a mash-out, and just sparge with whatever the water temp is at the time. It gets up above denaturing temps in the BK within a couple minutes. There are plenty of people who mash overnight without issues, so I'm not worried that the extra few minutes of enzyme activity is going to change the fermentability of the wort significantly.

 

[rcrabb22]

It seems that using the HLT as the heat source for a HERMS setup is pretty common.

One question comes to mind, though: If the HLT temperature is being used to control the wort temperature, how can the HLT be used to heat the sparge water? The sparge water will be too cool when it's time to mash out.

Is this an issue, or am I over thinking this?

I use my HLT heated HERMs for 45 min, then shut down recirculation and raise my HLT temp to 175 (electric). My mash tun holds temp well enough for the last 15 min while the sparge water heats. I batch sparge with the hotter water.