Is the crush my problem w efficiency? (PICS)

fimpster said:

However I stirred the mash

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this is crucial IMO. I stir at dough-in, then every 20 mins and one final before mash out.

Maybe run the same recipe and procedure except speed up the run off to 1 gallon in 5 minutes? I don't know if it helps to run it off super slow or not, would be interesting to find out. Getting 80% is pretty good and I'd be happy with that.

madscientist451 said:

Maybe run the same recipe and procedure except speed up the run off to 1 gallon in 5 minutes? I don't know if it helps to run it off super slow or not, would be interesting to find out. Getting 80% is pretty good and I'd be happy with that.

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I've already thought the same thing. On Sunday I will be brewing a recipe that I have brewed twice before. Both of those times I got mash efficiency in the low 60's. I'm going use my new procedure, but I'll run it off much quicker, and see if it makes any difference. I'll let you know how it goes.

madscientist451 said:

Maybe run the same recipe and procedure except speed up the run off to 1 gallon in 5 minutes? I don't know if it helps to run it off super slow or not, would be interesting to find out.

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it does, as it stops the creation of channels which can prevent the sugars from being drained. I got the best efficiency of my brewing life using a slow sparge (see my post earlier in the thread) and I'll always be doing the same in the future.

daggers_nz said:

it does, as it stops the creation of channels which can prevent the sugars from being drained. I got the best efficiency of my brewing life using a slow sparge (see my post earlier in the thread) and I'll always be doing the same in the future.

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I believe the OP is batch sparging, in which case channeling is not an issue. The wort and grain should be in equilibrium for sugar concentration, both for the original run off and the sparge run off (assuming it was stirred adequately). So channeling or not, the amount of sugar drawn off will be the same. Channeling is definitely a concern when fly sparging.

Brew on

doug293cz said:

I believe the OP is batch sparging, in which case channeling is not an issue. The wort and grain should be in equilibrium for sugar concentration, both for the original run off and the sparge run off (assuming it was stirred adequately). So channeling or not, the amount of sugar drawn off will be the same. Channeling is definitely a concern when fly sparging.

Brew on

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well, there we go!

I batch sparge. I stir it well before draining. I does not seem to make any difference in how fast it is drained. I usually vorlauf until clear, then open the valve all the way. Stirring well seems to be key, though.

Ok, so on Sunday I brewed the recipe that I had brewed twice before, getting mash efficiency in the low 60's each time. I had my LHBS run the grain through the mill only once. I stirred my mash much more frequently (as I had started doing, per post#40), but I ran off the wort much quicker. I ran off 2.75 gallons first runnings in about 5 minutes. I split my sparge water as I have been doing lately and got around 3 gallons out each sparge, also in about 5 minutes each. Mash efficiency 82.7% according to Beersmith!

So, running off slowly was not what made my efficiency go up. Simply by stirring my mash much more frequently (add topping up with a bit of hot water to keep temps up each time), and splitting my batch sparge water in two, I have been able to hit 80%+ mash efficiency on my last three batches. w00t!

good job. It's always satisfying to know you are improving your processes and getting small victories such as this

Thanks!

Discussions like this are priceless for some that is about to do their first all grain brew. Joining this forum would be my recommendation for anyone attempting to start brewing at home.

this is definitely my favorite homebrewing forum. So much knowledge but there is always a recipe available for any style of beer I want to make and they are always on-point

For my birthday my wife got me a mill. Cereal Killer, it's not the one I would have chosen, but it was a total surprise and it was very thoughtful. The CK is actually pretty damn nice for $100. I have done a couple 1 lb. test runs to try it out and adjust the gap size. I settled on .038" for now. Tomorrow will be my first full batch through it. Hopefully with the better techniques I've adopted, I will still be getting 80%+ mash efficiency. Who knows, maybe once I really get the CK dialed in I can hit 90! *keep dreaming*

Holy crap! I just plugged my numbers from yesterdays brew into Beersmith, and it calculated my mash efficiency at 91.5%!!!

I will have to back off my mill gap a bit. .038" might have been a bit too tight as there was a bit of flour in the grind, and some wort left in the MLT after the first runnings. Since I batch sparge, I threw in a half pound of rice hulls with the sparge water and was able to get all the wort out on each of my two sparges.

At any rate I was surprised to see such a high mash efficiency. I had adjusted my Beersmith efficiency after my last three brews came in over 80%, but now coming in at 91.5% I still overshot my OG. It didn't help that I boiled off an extra half gallon either. It was supposed to be 1.054, I hit 1.060. Ooops, out of style (3b).