RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Background: I'm setting up an 5 gal eHERMS and I have a digital flow meter. My pump circulates water through all the fittings at a maximum rate of 4gpm. I condition my grain, and I'm considering using rice hulls.I feel like a broken record bringing it up over and over but the biggest obstacle I see causing lower efficiency on a recirculating system is channeling... Which is remedied by recirculating at a lower flow rate. too often I hear of people trying to recirculate as fast as possible or way too fast thinking its somehow going to improve the temp regulation. with a herms you can set the flow as little as 1-2gpm and still hold temps as well as stepmash fine and your going to get higher efficiency due to less compacting of the grainbed.
Questions:
Do you suggest starting the flow pretty low after dough-in and gradually ramping the flow, or does that not matter too much? Would this help set the grain bed?
What do you think about increasing the flow rate while stepping? How much is too much? I know it's probably system-dependent but any advice is appreciated.
Thanks