HERMS in below freezing temps

[jtkratzer]

Just curious if anyone does anything special when brewing in the cold to better maintain temps. I'm using Sabco kegs and running an eHERMS system and I don't recirculate very fast. Just curious/concerned I'm going to lose heat to the air temps in the teens and not pick it up fast enough from the HERMS coil. I could try a sleeping bag around the keg, but I was thinking it might melt the 150* temps.

 

[Satisfaction]

Just curious if anyone does anything special when brewing in the cold to better maintain temps. I'm using Sabco kegs and running an eHERMS system and I don't recirculate very fast. Just curious/concerned I'm going to lose heat to the air temps in the teens and not pick it up fast enough from the HERMS coil. I could try a sleeping bag around the keg, but I was thinking it might melt the 150* temps.

I wrapped my mash tun in Reflectix, cheap and works fantastic. Just brewed recently and found that my setup needed an 8 degree offset to maintain temperature. Meaning my HLT was 158F if the MLT was to maintain 150F.. course this would vary per setup, wind and temperature.


Reflectix Link

http://www.homedepot.com/Reflectix/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ19n/R-100012574/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UOBbX3fNkul

 

[jtkratzer]

I'll have to get some. I'm about to dough in, so it will be for the next brew.

 

[slakwhere]

i have used my herms in fairly cold conditions and haven't noticed any major issues. i monitor my temp output from my HERMS coil and then it goes via short hose back to the MLT. you could always just adjust your HERMS output temp by another degree or two high to ensure your grain bed is at the correct temps. that's the wonderful thing about HERMS!

 

[jtkratzer]

i have used my herms in fairly cold conditions and haven't noticed any major issues. i monitor my temp output from my HERMS coil and then it goes via short hose back to the MLT. you could always just adjust your HERMS output temp by another degree or two high to ensure your grain bed is at the correct temps. that's the wonderful thing about HERMS!

I was thinking that, but then your mash (as it eventually all passes through the coil) is higher than the desired temp. Maybe it doesn't make much difference.

 

[slakwhere]

most HERMS guys set their HEX water to be a little higher than the mash temp to account for heat losses in hoses, the MLT itself, etc. in this case you'd just want to adjust that offset as you may be getting more heat loss.

between a thermometer in the MLT and watching the output of the coil, you should be pretty darn close.