HERMS Coil for IM

[bbohanon]

So I am thinking about permanently mounting a 1/2in 50ft HERMS coil in my E-Keggle with quick disconnects on the outside to hook it up to use as my IM chiller..
Anyone else done this and if so, any concerns, issues with it?
I have a 1/2in 50ft copper drop-in IM that I use at the time but not sure I like it sitting right on the element when in use (I have had no issues with it to date however).

 

[TechyDork]

We currently use the HERMS coil in our HLT as a chiller. Just fill the HLT with cold water and ice and pump the wort through the coil and back into the BK.

Works well for us.

 

[bbohanon]

We currently use the HERMS coil in our HLT as a chiller. Just fill the HLT with cold water and ice and pump the wort through the coil and back into the BK.

Works well for us.

How are you sanitizing the HERMS coil prior to chilling? Just recircing cold starsan water through it or just going on the sparge water going through the coil being good enough for sanitation?
Interesting idea and I may give this a go..

 

[iijakii]

How are you sanitizing the HERMS coil prior to chilling? Just recircing cold starsan water through it or just going on the sparge water going through the coil being good enough for sanitation?
Interesting idea and I may give this a go..

You can recirculate some of your boiling wort through it before you add the water and ice.

 

[bbohanon]

You can recirculate some of your boiling wort through it before you add the water and ice.

This is how you know its been a rough day mentally at work when this idea never even crossed your mind initially, but should have.

Thanks much and I will certainly give this a go..

 

[cantrell00]

We currently use the HERMS coil in our HLT as a chiller. Just fill the HLT with cold water and ice and pump the wort through the coil and back into the BK.

Works well for us.

Do you have any statistics for this? Gallons of wort chilled in what timeframe?

Just curious because I have read a bunch of conflicting information on how effective this method is...

Thanks!

 

[TechyDork]

Do you have any statistics for this? Gallons of wort chilled in what timeframe?

Just curious because I have read a bunch of conflicting information on how effective this method is...

Thanks!

We are brewing 10g batches, and it takes us a while to chill down to pitching temps. Probably close to 45 minutes using. Our coil is 50' x 1/2" SS in a 20 gallon SS HLT.

We are moving to a plate chiller to speed up the process.

Our ground water is pretty cold, 40-50 F, all year long. I think with the proper plate chiller we could get the wort down to pitching temps in one pass.

 

[bbohanon]

We are brewing 10g batches, and it takes us a while to chill down to pitching temps. Probably close to 45 minutes using. Our coil is 50' x 1/2" SS in a 20 gallon SS HLT.

We are moving to a plate chiller to speed up the process.

Our ground water is pretty cold, 40-50 F, all year long. I think with the proper plate chiller we could get the wort down to pitching temps in one pass.

Funny as I am moving away from the plate chiller back to an IM. Just too much of a PITA to keep clean..

I would rather run an IM chiller and knock the wort to 100deg, then toss the fermenters into the cooler overnight to bring them to pitching temps and know my beer is not going to get infected than deal with a plate chiller that is a constant problem to keep clean..

I already had to deal with an infection from the plate chiller that no matter what I did would never ran clean after my first batch went through it.

I know some have great luck with plate chillers and all..I however, am not one of those folks.

 

[TechyDork]

I thought about the idea of just using the IC to knock temps down to 100 or so and then put it in the fridge. The problem with that is my brew buddy and I are both so busy that i know we would almost certainly forget to pitch the next day or the next week.

If we could get to pitching temps in one pass with an plate chiller that would really cut down on our brew days.

 

[iijakii]

Can also look into CFCs so you dont have to worry about clogging and what not.

 

[cantrell00]

We are brewing 10g batches, and it takes us a while to chill down to pitching temps. Probably close to 45 minutes using. Our coil is 50' x 1/2" SS in a 20 gallon SS HLT.

We are moving to a plate chiller to speed up the process.

Our ground water is pretty cold, 40-50 F, all year long. I think with the proper plate chiller we could get the wort down to pitching temps in one pass.

Ok.... Yeah, that is comparable to what I had read/heard.

Thanks...

 

[bbohanon]

Can also look into CFCs so you dont have to worry about clogging and what not.

I was thinking of going down this road as well, but with the ability to reuse the HERMS I have as a quasi-chiller seems to be the way to go and keep me from having to buy/build yet another chiller..

I am betting I could use the drop-in IM chiller as well as recircing through the HERMS as a chiller and knock the whole 10 gal batch to pitching temps within 10-15 mins to be honest with them doing dual chilling. I usually recirc my chilling water for the drop in IM in a cooler with water/ice so it would still be less water consumption running them both in a contained ice/water recirc vessel than just running the tap water through the drop in IM and down the drain...Plus I reuse that recirced chill water anyhow to clean up the gear post brew-day.

Will try this in the next 2 weeks when I brew up the next batch and report back here on my results..

 

[GotPushrods]

I use a 50' SS immersion chiller / combo HERMS coil. Love it and would do it again.

If you're not chilling a 10 gallon batch with that cold Alaska groundwater in 20 minutes, then you're not moving wort around the coils enough. Recirc that wort to get flow around those coils you WILL chill much faster.

I just chilled a batch to 50 degrees last weekend in >100 ambient morning temps with 90 degree tap water. Chilled to 92 with the hose then switched to an ice bucket and pump, and still was only 40 minutes with the switching hoses. The IC is not the problem, but the (lack of) circulation is.

 

[bbohanon]

I use a 50' SS immersion chiller / combo HERMS coil. Love it and would do it again.

If you're not chilling a 10 gallon batch with that cold Alaska groundwater in 20 minutes, then you're not moving wort around the coils enough. Recirc that wort to get flow around those coils you WILL chill much faster.

I just chilled a batch to 50 degrees last weekend in >100 ambient morning temps with 90 degree tap water. Chilled to 92 with the hose then switched to an ice bucket and pump, and still was only 40 minutes with the switching hoses. The IC is not the problem, but the (lack of) circulation is.

Awesome to hear this and I would agree about the recirc being the cooling issue with an IM..I am looking forward to giving this a try for sure with both the IM and HERMS chilling the wort..

 

[steveoatley]

I have a 25ft Coil in my EKettle as well
HERMS system, 2 vessel, 2 pumps.

I use it to chill by filling my Mash Tun - 10 gal Igloo cooler with Ice & water
I have got 6 gallons of wort down to 70F in 15 to 20 minutes, depending on
how much ice/snow i am using.

I find it to be a really efficient use of water.
I am not wasting any water.

I run cold tap water through the Coil at the end of the boil - into my bucket
that gives me 6 gallons of really hot water with Star San - to sanitize my fermenter - and other things.

I have a 10 gallon Igloo Mash Tun I fill with 29 lbs of ice, top up to 9 gall with water, and I pump that threw the Coil. Costs $7 at the corner.

Just need to keep pumping the wort - for whirlpooling, and temp stratification.
I dump in 2 scoops of PBW into the Mash tun, and I am cleaning out the Coil, at the same time.

During the winter, I can keep dumping in free SNOW, and get faster cooling.

All with only using 15 gallons of H2O for chilling.
And I have 5 gallons of Star San (hot ) & 9 gallons of PBW ( cold )for clean up

my 2 Cents
Steve

 

[cantrell00]

I use a 50' SS immersion chiller / combo HERMS coil. Love it and would do it again.

If you're not chilling a 10 gallon batch with that cold Alaska groundwater in 20 minutes, then you're not moving wort around the coils enough. Recirc that wort to get flow around those coils you WILL chill much faster.

I just chilled a batch to 50 degrees last weekend in >100 ambient morning temps with 90 degree tap water. Chilled to 92 with the hose then switched to an ice bucket and pump, and still was only 40 minutes with the switching hoses. The IC is not the problem, but the (lack of) circulation is.

You are using your HERMS coil as a typical immersion chiller in this scenario, right?

IE moving the chilled water through the coil, and recirculating the wort around the chiller?

He was wanting to do the opposite I think. And it is not nearly as efficient.

 

[GotPushrods]

You are using your HERMS coil as a typical immersion chiller in this scenario, right?

IE moving the chilled water through the coil, and recirculating the wort around the chiller?

He was wanting to do the opposite I think. And it is not nearly as efficient.

Ah gotcha, I didn't catch that. Yes, I use it as a traditional IC after the boil. The coil is mounted under the lid of the BK which doubles as the HLT in my no-sparge 2-vessel setup. Cool water through the coil, wort recirculated in the kettle around the coil.

 

[cantrell00]

Ah gotcha, I didn't catch that. Yes, I use it as a traditional IC after the boil. The coil is mounted under the lid of the BK which doubles as the HLT in my no-sparge 2-vessel setup. Cool water through the coil, wort recirculated in the kettle around the coil.

Sweet setup... I wished I had done mine that way instead of 3 vessels.

Too much spent to switch back now...

 

[spittybug]

Here in 95+ degree Houston I've been using my HERMS coil in the HLT as a cooling circuit without issue. Once done mashing, I drain the HLT and let it cool. When the wort is boiling I divert some of it through the coil to sterilize it, then cascade it back into the kettle, thus aerating it too. Then I fill the HLT with cold water (hot in Houston) and lots of ice or cold packs. When I kill the boil, I slowly push the wort through the chill coil and out into my fermenter. I haven't had issue getting the wort to <90* with it taking about 10 minutes for 5 gallons. Letting it sit in the ferm cabinet for a while before pitching the starter volumes helps it cool down another 10* or so.

 

[bbohanon]

Ah gotcha, I didn't catch that. Yes, I use it as a traditional IC after the boil. The coil is mounted under the lid of the BK which doubles as the HLT in my no-sparge 2-vessel setup. Cool water through the coil, wort recirculated in the kettle around the coil.

Gotcha..No I was going to pump and recirc my wort through the HERMS coil in my HLT which would be filled with ice and water while also pumping ice water through the IM also in the BK as a secondary option.

I will try the recirc with the HERMS coil only first as if that can chill it to < 90* alone, I will most likely ditch the IM all together and go with the method spitty mentioned in the previous post.