Tankless water heater for hot liquor tank - Need advice

[Cascadia]

Thanks. I'll follow up on those contacts. Yes, in general the guys I've spoken to have not been very up on things and I do have doubts on the quality of information I'm getting.

[chaser]

I never used it or saw it personally but the brewery I am working for used a Rinnai in a circulation loop with their HLT because the immersion heater in it sucked (as most do) in their old facility. So it can definitely be done. Like I said I've also used one that filled through a Rinnai and used an immersion heater to hold temp. It was basically a small emergency HLT for cellar use only, but in the limited times I had to use it it worked fine. As far as code a commercial grade tankless water heater should be fine.

[lhall]

Bumping an older thread to get some more current replies -

We are setting up a separate warehouse space for barrel-aging sour ales, and I want to have a small washdown and packaging area. I'm considering going the route of a tankless hot water heater feeding an insulated tank for hot water for washing, with an immersion heating element to maintain temperature. It looks like many people have tried this route. Would you recommend it? Can you attach some pictures?

[Starcat]

Engineering Limits

Cascadia, you are asking the right questions on many fronts.
First thing, I would not give a thin dime for one of those units used on that duty.
If someone could show me a flawless build out that they did and NEVER have to fiddle with I might reconsider, but its doubtful if the heat exchanger is going to scale up. That one simple thing is a deal breaker.
With that said, they do have some interesting applications within a very narrow range that are noteworthy.
As stated in this thread, some of those systems will definitely become more problematic over time.
Better have a spare or two on hand if so.
Also stated in this thread, this application takes that system outside of its intended design range.
Water quality, HX design, scale, cleaning issues, acid.....all EXTRA problems that will consume time better spent.