The thing that sold me on the Blichmann K-RIMS system was the gravity flow control using a washer with specific diameter hole from the mash kettle to the boil kettle and an AutoSparge to control the return up to the mash kettle. I’m a bit of a fanatic about control and repeatability when I brew. I figured once I dialed this in to my process it would be one less thing to worry about as I try to brew new recipes and hit hit my numbers,etc. At some point in the medium term, due to the effects of old age, I will probably want to switch from the stacked gravity feed option and make my system similar to yours. Do you have a way where you can replicate your valve and pump settings from batch to batch? Am I over thinking it? Your thoughts?
BTW, I agree, SMaSH is definitely the way to start on the new system.
Linda
Admittedly, I'm not the most scientific brewer but I've brewed a lot of beer that a lot of people enjoyed and having both experience brewing on my system and lots of notes allows me to replicate recipes batch over batch. I've been brewing on this system now for about three years and generally know how to run it. With experience, I expect you will as well.
With that said, you may be over thinking this a bit. It's called a Brew
easy after all. The K-RIMS system was popular prior to recent rise of the eBIAB systems that so many use now days. You simply make up your grain bill in the top, then start recirculating brewing liquor through it. If you want to step mash or mash out, you can do that - just adjust the temp controller and let it run. I recirculate slowly and allow the grain bed time to settle so the Auto-sparge doesn't clog. I've never had a stuck mash, nor have I had a clogged recirculation system. When I'm done mashing, I just run all the wort into the kettle and boil it. Simple.
The real tricks to using the system are:
1. Perfecting the equipment profile in your brewing software to write your recipes correctly
2. Dialing in your strike temp
3. Figuring out what the temperature overshoot needs to be to get an accurate temperature in the mash tun
4. Dialing in the drain valves on both ends. (My system isn't terribly sophisticated; I just eyeball it and turn the handles until as much water enters the top of the mash as runs out the bottom.)
5. Finding your boil off rate during the boil.
Take lots of notes on this, especially during your first few brews. Those notes will be essential for feedback later so you can adjust equipment profiles and recipes accordingly. As with any new brew system, it'll take practice and good notes to master yours. Being a common and well regarded system, I expect you'll get it sorted in no time.
Lastly, since you're electric you can brew in the garage. If the mash tun becomes too heavy, you can always rig up a hoist to lift the mash tun off the kettle. That's pretty common with the eBIAB crowd as well because no matter what system you brew with, wet grain is still miserably heavy.