I can't see your PDF's for some reason. From the comments it sounds similar to my set up. I run a 50' 1/2" coil in the HLT I have a probe on the outlet side of the coil, the burner on the HLT is controlled by a blichmann controller. You will see a large delta between your HLT and wort temps unless you move the HLT water around. Don't skimp on a coil. You really want 1/2" not 3/8" or you'll end up with bits of grain clogging at the compression fittings. It was a real bummer when I found out the hard way and thought I had a stuck mash only to find out later it was the compression fittings and small coil. Also don't skimp on the mash tun false bottom. You really need a good one that will allow you to recirculate with ease. I'm a huge fan of the Blichmann false bottom. I can recirculate 50% wheat without rice hulls at 1.5 gpm with the blichmann. The NorCal false bottoms work ok too. My buddy has their false bottoms in a 26 gallon set up from more beer and it works nicely. But he needs rice hulls at about 30% wheat or rye.
I think two pumps makes life easier but I ran with one for a while. If your into high gravity beers you'll want to match your mash and boil kettles to the same size. I've just upgraded to a 30 and 30 gallon kettles. I make some 1.130 og stouts and I wanted to be able to produce 15 gallons, so I needed a 30 gallon mash tun to accommodate 85-90 lbs of grain.
A 20-20-15 gallon set up will accommodate 10 gallon batches at any gravity.
Let me know if you have any questions. It has evolved through many versions of this set up over the years. I've used pretty much every combo of gear along the way from coolers and keggels with electric heating elements and even a sous vide circulator to try and manage temps.
I can step up temps safely (fear of stuck sparge) at about 2 degrees a min. I can go faster if I use a little heat under the mash tun but I don't do that very often.
I like the burner under the mash to get strike water to temp faster. It saved me about 45 min per brew day. Basically I heat strike water and the HLT water, at the same time while I crush grain. Dial in temps. Dough in with all pumps off and valves closed. Wait 20 min and begin recirculating. I've settled on a .39 crush which produces a clean recirculation and about 78% efficiency. You can go finer and push it higher if you choose. I like the balance and flow through the bed at that setting. You'll find your balance along the way.
Gotta go brew some farmhouse ale now! Cheers
I
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