Just wondering, aside from if you want to do a step mash, why would you use a rims system? I’ve been batch sparging for the last 15 years and my mash tun only loses about 2° over the hour of mashing. My numbers and volumes are usually right on. I make good beer (to my pallet ) and have no problem with the set up, just wondering why do people use the rims system.? Thanks.
Homebrewing is a hobby and people can choose to do it any way they like. But in general, I agree with you. I batch sparged in a cooler for many years. I made great beter, it was cheap, it was easy. I got a Grainfather (HERMS, not RIMS) to make brewday faster and easier, which it does. I do step mashes on it sometimes just because I can and to see if it it improves anything. I can’t say it does.
Thanks
Recirculating the wort in this way promotes clarity by filtering wort through the grain bed during the mash. It also helps maintain an even temperature throughout the mash and permits brewers to raise the mash temperature easily when necessary
We don’t get to choose if we live or die. Death is certain. We only get to choose how we live before we die.
How much would you say it contributes to finished beer clarity? I’ve never done a recirc mash, but I will soon since I just acquired a Brewzilla. Does it help with hot-break and less likely boil overs?
I’d say little to none in terms of clarity. My beers were as clear from a cooler mash tun as they are from my GF. No change in hot break. I find both that and clarity are more pH related. Maybe less likely on boil overs.
I dont use a RIMS system, but I do use an electric BIAB system after batch sparging with a cooler for 15 years. teh electric system is nice since its all in one, requires little lifting on my part and temperature is controlled with a touch of a button.
IMO it generally doesn’t make a lot of sense for smaller systems but once you get into larger batches it starts to make sense to use an external heat source (either recirculating or direct heat) to maintain consistent temperatures. A recirculating system does a better job of maintaining precise temperatures without scorching versus a direct heat source–but then you also have to venture into the HERMS vs. RIMS debate.
They are also great for complicated mash schedules where you want incremental increases or step mashes without infusions/decoctions.
There are other good reasons (e.g. mobility limitations) but if your current brewhouse solves all of your needs and you’re happy with the beer, it sounds like a solution searching for a problem.
it is interesting, i looked at this thread, then closed it. but looking at google images of RIMS systems out there.
i theoretically “WANT” to add automation and connections to my current batch sparge in a cooler, add to kettle system. but it would basically not be any less time/work to have pumps moving hot water or wort around. the only thing it would help is me not having to lift my 5 to 6 gallons of wort max (~50 lbs?) for very short distances. that currently is not worth all the extra cleaning more vessels and ewquipment would require or the cost.
unrelated to RIMS, but thinking it through the best place for me to spend my money on more beer stuff would be a really powerful wort chiller (probably upcoming) and figuring out a bunch of better temp controlled storage and fermentation areas.
my true fantasy is to actually just build another basement level down where i can have all my beer stuff.
Cool, thanks for the confirmation. I recently discovered pH as a clearing tool at the end of the boil, and was surprised to hear at least one pro brewer say they add acid during the chill specifically for that reason.
I just kegged a beer last night which is HIGHLY cloudy, even after 10 days of cold crash at -1C, but it’s a Wit and it was fermented with WLP400, Flocculation: Low to Medium… Can’t really expect anything else from that. I’m sure it’ll clear up in the kegs, but it’ll be slow. I didn’t add finings.
That’s pretty much my story. With the exception that I did just buy a used V3.11 Brewzilla, I too use a kettle and round 10gal cooler mash tun, so call it a 2 vessel system for more years than I can count. Last year NB ran a closeout on 17 gal kettles for $100 and free shipping and I snagged one just because. The real reason was A) it was so cheap and B) I wanted to do a decoction mash. I’ve used it when doing decoctions where I needed the second kettle, but it’s mostly been a space-user-upper otherwise. It is narrower and taller than my other kettle, can’t say I find it to work any different. I still only own one burner and I can still run multiple batches concurrently with what I have. I now own a pump only because the Brewzilla has one built in. If not for that I still wouldn’t. I make a concerted effort to NOT buy stuff just because it invariably depricates some other piece of equipment. And almost always when I want something, it’s for some special circumstance and it’s just going to sit unused 99.9% of the time. Just because we can buy stuff doesn’t mean we should.
I know, loads of people say decoctions are a waste, that’s fine. I enjoy doing them, though maybe not so much in the middle of July. I find a massive difference in the beers and I say it’s worth it, but to each his own. It sure makes a beer ferment out. I have a recipe that as a single infusion is 4.0-4.2%, which went to 6.1% doing a decoction mash. It starts much higher and finishes much lower. Not sure why on the latter but it’s a huge difference in my system anyway.
I’d also say my decoction beers are brilliantly clear. Much clearer than not.
Although I don’t always do it, I have adjusted pH both pre and post boil and in the fermenter.
I did two so far, one before and one after the boil and I was impressed by the way the wort cleared in the kettle. I left it sit for ~1-2 hours before putting it in the fermenter. It looked beautiful.
Where’s the “like” button? I second what BrewBama wrote.
Don’t forget, ‘in the keg’ too. If a finished beer is too sharp or too dull, a post fermentation addition of basic buffer or acid can help those respective conditions. I’ve done it and it works. I figure out the dosing via trial and error with additions in a glass of beer.
I use a Brewzilla now, so I have repurposed my HERMS to cool my wort following my boil. By using this method, I can pitch my yeast immediately in my fermenter as I can drop temps to 70F degree range.
+1. I use my HERMS to regulate heat during the mash recirculation and once the mash is complete I transfer the wort to the boil kettle.
I clean the mash tun as the wort in the kettle is coming to boil temp and once clean, move the hot water from the HERMS vessel into the mash tun to hold for final brewday cleanup.
I add cold water into the HERMS vessel so that after the boil I can whirlpool thru the HERMS coil to cool the wort.
As the heat transfers from the wort to the water, I move it into the mash tun and refill the HERMS vessel with cold tap water.
It usually takes three iterations of moving/refilling with the final fill being an ice bath in the HERMS vessel to get the wort to pitch temp.
I easily get to both Ale and Lager temps(~65° and ~55°F respectively) this way.
I am repurposing water and don’t have to clean another piece of equipment (wort chiller).
Brilliant!
Hmm… stole my way of doing things 
… HLT has many uses.
Recirculating wort and having some form of heat input is a ‘nice to have’ addition to your brewing. Recirculating your wort is actually the best way to achieve homogeneity in both temperature and composition. Having a way to add heat means that you can readily perform temperature steps and a mash out step. But neither of those facts mean that you can’t brew beer without them.
I spent a couple hundred bucks a couple of decades ago to create my RIMS and haven’t been sorry for the investment. One thing that my RIMS also enables me to do is produce a low dissolved oxygen wort (LODO) by having the wort return to the tun under an impermeable mash cap. I find that LODO isn’t worthwhile for some beer styles, but there are some where it makes a huge difference.
+1. I built my RIMS system years ago and have never looked back. It is a great way to maintain temperature control in the mash and gives me crystal clear wort in the kettle. Although I am not a LODO brewer per se, allowing the wort to recirculate into the mash tun under the top of the liquid level doesn’t hurt to keep the oxygen levels down during the conversion and mash out steps.