Well it might be overkill after reading what everyone else is using. you can bet I'll be doing a bit of water testing before committing to a full scale brew.
I'm hoping that the flow and the combination of the sensor and PID control will keep the temps in check. If not I can always back down on the wattage or voltage.
My goal is to have a responsive system. I dislike the lag time of the HERMS coil I've been using. My experience has been something like this:
- Calculate strike temp
- Set HLT/HERMS to desired mash temp
- Wait for mash temp to come up
- Decide that mash temp isn't going to come up to desired temp
- Raise HLT/HERMS temp a few degrees
- Watch mash temp come up slowly
- Realize mash temp is climbing higher than I wanted
- Lower HLT/HERMS temp
- Wait for mash temp to come back down
- Get pissed off because I've only been at the desired mash temp for 3 minutes out of 90
I've decided that I will figure out a way to control my temps.
Thats why I've been asking these questions. The ultimate goal is to make better beer, I think mash temp is part of the answer and ultimately be able to repeat the process when I make a beer I like.
Again any wisdom is appreciated.