Looking for ideas

[luvinsudz01]

I've been at it for over a year, and now I'm ready to get serious about brewing. What I don't know is should I build a RIMS or a HERMS, or possibly something else? I've got the equipment and know how to do the fab work, but just not the concept of what to build. Whatever I build I want to do it right the first time. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Yooper]

Aside from the method of heat, a RIMS and HERMS really aren't that different. In my all-electric HERMs, the heat exchanger (copper coil) is in the HLT. It works well for me, as there is no risk of scorching/burning the wort as it goes through. In a RIMS, of course, you'd be heating the wort that way. I think it may be more efficient or at least quicker, to get mash-out temps with that, depending on the size of the heating unit.

If you go with two tiers, you could get away with one pump as you could gravity drain to the BK. I did that for a while, then added another pump and made it a single tier.