How does continuous fly sparging work using a HERMS coil?

[ipatch]

I have a HLT with a HERMS coil, and MLT keggle setup, and was planning on doing a continuous fly sparge.

Do I just fill up the HLT with the total water needed, and then slowly pump the hot water over my grains?

Here is what my equipment looks like,

 

[PDX_T]

That's all there is to it.

 

[RoadKing]

Also, just maintain an inch or two of water above your grain bed.

 

[ipatch]

I was wondering how all the tubing gets hooked up, and I guess it's something like this.

 

[PDX_T]

opinions may differ on this, but you might want your HEX in I be the bottom of the coil, so that under pressure it is completely full.

 

[Bobby_M]

During mashing, you draw off the MLT to the pump then into the coil and back on top of the mash. That's the recirculation part. When you want to start sparging, the only thing you do is move the pump input hose from the MLT out to the HLT out. Now you're pumping sparge water from the HLT, through the coil (cleans the wort out during the sparge), and on top of the mash. You'll run the MLT off into a bucket or into a kettle sitting on the ground now if you don't have a second pump.

 

[ipatch]

I thought the recirculation part was running the wort through the coil.

 

[AnOldUR]

Recirculation is ony done during the mashing process. It's purpose is to hold or step the temperature of the mash. Once the mash is over and you've begun to lauter and sparge you no longer need to recirculate.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm not sure exactly where the confusion is. The liquid part of the mash is run through the HERMS coil and pulls heat out of the water in the HLT before that mash liquid is returned to the mash tun. Maybe you thought this liquid was "wort" which I suppose it is at some point in the sacc rest, but it's probably just better to call it liquid mash. The HERMS process is about temp maintenance and marginally step mashing depending the horsepower of the HLT burner/electrical element.

The reason I suggested sparging through the coil after the mash is over is that it cleans the coil and doesn't require you to disconnect hoses after the rest recirculation during mashing.

 

[ipatch]

I'm not sure exactly where the confusion is. The liquid part of the mash is run through the HERMS coil and pulls heat out of the water in the HLT before that mash liquid is returned to the mash tun. Maybe you thought this liquid was "wort" which I suppose it is at some point in the sacc rest, but it's probably just better to call it liquid mash. The HERMS process is about temp maintenance and marginally step mashing depending the horsepower of the HLT burner/electrical element.

The reason I suggested sparging through the coil after the mash is over is that it cleans the coil and doesn't require you to disconnect hoses after the rest recirculation during mashing.

Do I have the right process described in my picture above, or am I missing something?

 

[mrwizard0]

Do I have the right process described in my picture above, or am I missing something?

I would say you are missing some things. There are really 2 processes that have to occur, so 2 separate drawings are really appropriate.

1. Mash - liquid mash or wort, whatever you want to call it, goes out the bottom of the mlt into pump, through the coil and back into the mlt. That should be done for the full hour mash
In short: mlt->pump->coil->mlt

2. Sparge - wort should go from the mlt to your kettle and water from your hot should go into the mlt, preferably through the coil to clean all the sort out of it. So
Hlt->pump->coil->mlt->kettle (via gravity)

There are some videos of kal's electric brewery where he moves the camera along the flow of the system. It's a good place to start because it also talks through the whole process of herms and is one of the best resources out there, minus hbt of course