sgraham602

Recipes 

So my efficiency seems to average between 65%-70%. Are there any easy ways to try to boost efficiency? Or should I just adjust recipes up, knowing that my efficiency is low.

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On Tap
-Berry Mead
-1800 IPA
-Janets Brown
-Oublie Stout (Nitro)

Kegged
-Extra Pale Ale
-SBD Cream Ale
-AK47 Pale Mild

Fermenting
-5-Legged Jam Session Pale Ale

On Deck
-Falconers Flight Pale Ale
-Mosaic IPA
-Gimmersdorf Kolsh

earwig

Recipes 

Much of it depends on your process and equipment. Maybe try different sparging techniques like fly sparging instead of batch sparging. Without knowing what you have going on its hard to make recommendations.

sgraham602

Recipes 

i batch sparge, but i have fly sparged once. Maybe I'll give that a try again. Seems like I wouldn't leave as much water behind in my mash tun by fly sparging. I've noticed that on a few occasions my calculations for sparge water needed have been off and I've batch sparged with too much water.

bottlebomber

Recipes 

Fly sparging doesn't give you better efficiency, it just takes a heck of a lot longer. I get 80% every time batch sparging in my cooler. What are you doing for your crush? I crush my grains twice, once to crack them and then a second time for my crush with the gap set at around .030. It was this that gave me that final 10% boost.

crane

Recipes 

The amount of water you leave behind is dependent on your equipment. Either method of sparging should leave the same amount of water in the mash tun.

sgraham602

Recipes 

i dont have a grain mill right now. my LHBS crushes my grain.

__________________
On Tap
-Berry Mead
-1800 IPA
-Janets Brown
-Oublie Stout (Nitro)

Kegged
-Extra Pale Ale
-SBD Cream Ale
-AK47 Pale Mild

Fermenting
-5-Legged Jam Session Pale Ale

On Deck
-Falconers Flight Pale Ale
-Mosaic IPA
-Gimmersdorf Kolsh

sgraham602

Recipes 

totally, but on a few occasions the calculator i used had me batch sparge with way more water than i needed/was able to collect, which meant i left a lot of water in the mash tun. not just the dead space.

__________________
On Tap
-Berry Mead
-1800 IPA
-Janets Brown
-Oublie Stout (Nitro)

Kegged
-Extra Pale Ale
-SBD Cream Ale
-AK47 Pale Mild

Fermenting
-5-Legged Jam Session Pale Ale

On Deck
-Falconers Flight Pale Ale
-Mosaic IPA
-Gimmersdorf Kolsh

bottlebomber

Recipes 

It's possible and actually probable that you won't see much better efficiency till you get your own mill. Would they be willing to pass it through the mill twice? This may help. Many LHBS mills are dialed in to give around 65% because they don't want people complaining about a stuck sparge, and have no trouble selling the extra grain to make up for it.

Xpertskir

Recipes 

I know it may seem counter intuitive...but you could read this thread

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/maximizing-efficiency-when-batch-sparging-77125/

__________________
Kegged and serving - American Wheat, Daves Porter, Outkast Kolsch, Nectar of Nuggets
Bottled: French Canadian Breakfast Stout, Edworts Apfelwein, Westminster Wit, Put that in your stout and smoke it
Fermenting: Apfelwein, Flanders Red, Skeeter Pee, Heady Topper attempt #1, Kumquat Berliner Weiss, Sabraton Accident Stout, Nelson RyePA
Upcoming: Session IPA, Yeti eqsue stout, Dark English Mild, ESB, CDA, Row 2 Hill 56, Zombiedust, Hoppy Amber, Geuze, 100% Brett Golden Ale

TrubDog

Recipes 

I have found that being able to control grain crush by buying my own mill has improved my efficiency by 15% over LHBS crush. I've batch and fly sparged and don't see much difference between them. For me it's all in the crush!