Making a few tweaks to my system the next time I brew, mostly just in positioning the tanks. I'll keep the hot water tank elevated (and probably raise it a bit, leaving it about 4 feet off the ground), and raise the mash tun to about 2 feet, and start using an open pump box on the tun discharge before circulating the wort back through the HERMS coil and out. This will prevent the pump from applying any suction to the grain bed itself, which I think has been leading to compaction of the bed and stuck sparges.
Picked up an old chest freezer from a buddy last week, which is now a fermentation chamber that can fit 4 carboys. Added a heat bulb and a two-way temperature controller, so if the fermentation is more than a degree out of the target range on either side the system will automatically heat or cool to keep it right.
The rye ale has turned out more as a brown than a red (lesson learned... roasted barley doesn't make a red!) but the astringency of the rye fits really well. It's almost like a dry nut brown, but with the sweetness there. Turned out well, though not as planned.
The amarillo wheat ale is such a massive hit I can't really wrap my head around it. Placed very well in a homebrew competition... nearly won a 2000L commercial brew. Wow.
The plan for the next brew is to do a few experimental things. The first is a sorgum beer, so gluten free to accommodate a few family members that can't handle barley. The other thing will be to do a Red Ale. Since we produce 60 L in a batch, we'll split it 66/33 into a hopped red ale -- freaking love the style -- that should come mature about October called... wait for it... One Ping Only. The other 3rd I'm hoping we can convert into a Flanders -type red. Sour beer can be so incredibly good, but I sure as hell don't need 3 batches of it.
My brew buddies and I are now into large territory. 9 pony kegs, 14 fermenters, solid temperature control, forced carbonation. We still only can produce about 120 L in a solid day of brewing, and we all have young kids so that doesn't happen often. But damn, the results have been really good recently.