I've brewed four batches through my HERMS so far. A blonde ale (5%abv already in the keg), a german style pilsner 5.5%abv (lagering in a fridge now), a pale ale 6%abv (in the carboy ready to keg), and an english bitter 4%abv (just brewed today). The efficiency varies but is in the low 90's to high 80's except for the first batch which was terrible due to equipment problems and learning the system. The sparge time is appears to influence the efficiency quite a bit. I done it at 30", 40", 60", and 80". The 80" sparge had the highest efficency. My grain mill is set at 0.045" it appears to crack most of the grains. I'm happy with the taste of the blonde ale, it's a nice summer drink. Temperature and PH for the mashes are spot on. That's the update on the system.