I am in the process of designing/building a single tier HERMS brew system. I got some my inspiration from this post by blackheart. See his diagrams for my basic setup.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/automated-herms-rebuild-216077/
My current questions center around how to cool the wort after boiling. My initial design work flow was to fill the HLT with ice water and recirculate the hot wort through the coil, whirlpooling in the BK. Once pitching temp is reached I then pump/gravity-feed the wort to the fermenter.
Based on my math the volume of the 50' HERMS coil and additional ~20' of transfer lines is ~0.8 gallons.
Questions I have:
Any insight to this process will be appreciated.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/automated-herms-rebuild-216077/
My current questions center around how to cool the wort after boiling. My initial design work flow was to fill the HLT with ice water and recirculate the hot wort through the coil, whirlpooling in the BK. Once pitching temp is reached I then pump/gravity-feed the wort to the fermenter.
Based on my math the volume of the 50' HERMS coil and additional ~20' of transfer lines is ~0.8 gallons.
Questions I have:
- Should I plan for this additional 0.8 gallon loss in my recipe (seems like a lot to lose ~14% of a 5.5 gal batch)
- Should I attempt to drain the coil and hoses to capture this volume (seems like a lot of trouble and a sanitization issue)
- Should I move the coil from the HLT to the BK and use it as an immersion chiller (easiest)
- Is there something I am missing
Any insight to this process will be appreciated.