Oh Yeah, Hit 89% efficiency

FatDuc · 10-20-2008, 02:26 AM

I finally broke out of the ~70% efficiency rut!!!

I've been hitting between 70 and 72% for the last 4 batches while I get the process dialed in, but today I guess I got it right.

Cranked the Barley Crusher down to .036". I mixed the hell out of the grains. Getting this finer crush meant I had a few softball sized doughballs. I haven't encountered this before, and I took it as a good sign that I was finally getting the crush fine enough. Beer Alchemy had me at almost 92% pre-boil, but into the fermenter I'm just over 89%.

Now I'm a bit high on the OG, but I'm still nicely in the balanced range and I had a really great brew day!

It's a Special/Best Bitters by the way, and I've got high hopes for this batch now...

McKBrew · 10-20-2008, 02:38 AM

Obviously it's the Barley Crusher that I need. Congrats on awesome efficiency.

**fat x nub** · 10-20-2008, 04:41 AM

I can not wait until I get my Barley Crusher. I am so excited. Good job on the brew day...now can you keep it consistent?

TeleTwanger · 10-20-2008, 03:46 PM

I don't want to be a downer but isn't there such a thing as too much efficiency? I mean extraction at what cost? More tannins? Just curious, 90% seems really high.

70% isn't a rut but probably the average. 75-80% is what I'm getting lately and I'm happy with that.

FatDuc · 10-20-2008, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McKBrew

Obviously it's the Barley Crusher that I need. Congrats on awesome efficiency.

I know there's fans of all the other mills here, and I imagine they're all pretty good, but I'm getting pretty happy with the BC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeleTwanger

I don't want to be a downer but isn't there such a thing as too much efficiency? I mean extraction at what cost? More tannins? Just curious, 90% seems really high.

70% isn't a rut but probably the average. 75-80% is what I'm getting lately and I'm happy with that.

Tannin extraction is a concern as well, but I'm going with what's been working here for a number of well experienced brewers here, and the high 80's should be a good number to shoot for. I wasn't happy with 70% based on that.

I will say that this mash took more effort at the beginning, where I really had to spend more time mixing. I was surprised at how much the grist was balling up into clumps that were dry in the middle, and how I had to really pay so much more attention to break up these dougballs then with previous mashes. The change on the BC gap was from .038" to .036", but the husk still looked nice and in tact, and it looked like I had a real nice crush with pretty decent uniformity. I had no problem with the sparge using the SS braid, which I was concerned about based on the doughing in. All that stirring at the beginning caused me to miss my temp by half a degree, where I normally have to stir the mash for a while to get it down to the mash temp.

TeleTwanger · 10-20-2008, 04:42 PM

That's cool whatever works for you. I still don't think 70% is bad at all, and unless I needed to cut serious cost I have no desire to shoot for 90%. I guess it would be cool to hit 1.063 with just 10lbs of grain though, LOL...I thought I had high E when I can get 1.063 from 11lbs of grain and I see all these recipes that call for +13lbs, I almost feel guilty.

**Mutilated1** · 10-20-2008, 05:00 PM

I've gotten about 90% efficiency on most every batch I've done. For some reason my efficiency is not quite as good when I do a larger batch. For my setup 11-12 pounds of grain is near full capacity. If I do that much I only get mid 80s efficiency by my measurements, but most of the time my beers are typically 8.5-10 pounds of grain which for my small cooler type MLT works out just fine.

I was surprised the first couple of batches that I did that my efficiency was as high as it was, but after talking to a few other people around my area that brew from grain I've come to find out that 90% is not that uncommon.

FatDuc · 10-20-2008, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeleTwanger

That's cool whatever works for you. I still don't think 70% is bad at all, and unless I needed to cut serious cost I have no desire to shoot for 90%. I guess it would be cool to hit 1.063 with just 10lbs of grain though, LOL...I thought I had high E when I can get 1.063 from 11lbs of grain and I see all these recipes that call for +13lbs, I almost feel guilty.

Well honestly I think that part of the difference with this batch was also a lower OG target and lighter grain bill than the last two I brewed. This was a 10.25 lb bill, where the last couple were over 12lbs in a 5 gal mlt. I was mashing with 1qt per lb with the higher bill, and I went with 1.25 qt per lb with this one because I had room to.

jpsloan · 10-20-2008, 09:03 PM

I brewed up a porter this Saturday. I got my grains at my LHBS rather than ordering it from AHS as usual. This means I used the LHBS's motorized mill for the first time.

I got a lot more doughballs than usual, and a lot more "flour" in the bucket.

I plugged in my recipe into Brewsmith, set for 70% efficiency, and expected an OG of 1.047. When all was said and done, I ended up with 1.054.

I think the difference in the crush was the biggest part of the increase.

**jkarp** · 10-21-2008, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mutilated1

I've gotten about 90% efficiency on most every batch I've done. For some reason my efficiency is not quite as good when I do a larger batch.

That's my experience also. I do 3 gallon AG batches and consistently hit around 90% batch sparging in my 2G mash tun. I just think it's easier to wash those last points from a smaller pile of grain.