101% Efficiency?! (BIAB decoct)

Hi folks!

I did a BIAB partial mash on this holiday ale I'm brewing, and I pulled some off to try a single decoction, just for the experience. I wound up adding just a touch more DME to the recipe (about 1.5 ounces) when I did the decoction (not sure why I did this).

Still, I was expecting an OG of 1.083, and I wound up with 1.088 -- an efficiency of 101% according to my original recipe. Even if I add an ounce or two to my recipe, I wind up with 99-100%. Surely my techniques are not _this_ solid, so instead of patting myself on the back, I'm worried as hell.

What's the worst that could happen? I hit my target FG and wind up with more alcohol in the beer? Or maybe I never hit my target FG and just wind up with a bigger body? What should I expect?

Thanks! Cheers!

I overpitched and made a starter with DME and brown sugar. Should I expect to pitch again during secondary? Or just use secondary for clarification?

Thank you!

pilafdm said:

I overpitched and made a starter with DME and brown sugar. Should I expect to pitch again during secondary? Or just use secondary for clarification?

Thank you!

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Sounds like its gonna be a great beer. What kind of yeast did you use?

tknice said:

Sounds like its gonna be a great beer. What kind of yeast did you use?

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Let's not be hasty. LOL. This is my 6th or 7th brew and so far I'm about 2/3 on success.

Here's the recipe (note the recipe doesn't accurately portray the amount of spices I put in):
http://hopville.com/recipe/1652168

I may have departed from the holiday ale style with my yeast, and I _really_ overpitched. It's just a three gallon batch, but I made a starter with a packet of Nottingham _and_ a vial of Rebel Brewer's house strain "American Pub Ale" yeast, too.

It's definitely going to town in my closet.

I don't have any way to control temperature except to put it in the coolest, darkest place of my house... but I'm sure I'm fermenting at too high a temp, so .... hello esters, right?

unionrdr said:

I wouldn't bother with secondary. I've even done big beers with primary only. Clear & tasty. And since you over pitched,I doubt a secondary pitch will be needed as long as you maintain good ferment temps.

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My problem is that I have _no_ mechanism for doing so. It's in my closet takign up the last available cubic inch... it's coolish (I live in San Diego) and dark. I don't have an effective central AC or heating, and there's no elegant way to run a plug for a fan or anything into the closet. I'm sure there's a good degree of fluctuation happening...

My airlock won't be enough?
Ruh-roh.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll try to look into a blowoff valve today.

Just out the fermenter in a water bath. That will keep it cool.

I once got > 100% efficiency according to Promash. I checked all my figures, and they were right. I saved the session to a file, and reloaded it. My efficiency dropped to the mid 80's. Then programs started crashing left-right-and-center so I replaced the DRAM in the computer and all my problems went away.

-a.

Thanks for all the help, everyone.
Any more wisdom about my unusually high OG?

You can not get 101%. You where only .oo5 over your expected that is not bad. What did you use to determine Efficiency?

Holy 13 fermentables! I hope that is for winter 2013/14.

I was using a calculator, not punching all that into software, so somebody should probably double check me, but I got max for that a 1.093, meaning for a 3 gallon batch you are 15 total points off of 100%.

Only 22 oz of convertible sugars, potential of about 50 points, of which you were missing 15 points. Right around 70%. Though I feel like I'm doing something wrong since my estimate of 70% brewhouse efficiency for 1.088 puts you at a higher gravity then hopville's estimate with 75% mash efficiency.

I'd say don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure we've all been there on recipes, but aim for much much simpler.

beerman0001 said:

You can not get 101%. You where only .oo5 over your expected that is not bad. What did you use to determine Efficiency?

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BeerCalculus.
I'm thinking my less than scientific measurements of DME and LME are the culprits, here...? But maybe my attempt at decoction upped my efficiency, too? (Or does decoction not do that?)

fnord said:

Holy 13 fermentables! I hope that is for winter 2013/14.

I was using a calculator, not punching all that into software, so somebody should probably double check me, but I got max for that a 1.093, meaning for a 3 gallon batch you are 15 total points off of 100%.

Only 22 oz of convertible sugars, potential of about 50 points, of which you were missing 15 points. Right around 70%. Though I feel like I'm doing something wrong since my estimate of 70% brewhouse efficiency for 1.088 puts you at a higher gravity then hopville's estimate with 75% mash efficiency.

I'd say don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure we've all been there on recipes, but aim for much much simpler.

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Simple is good. I need to learn that. (I don't think I had 13 fermentables unless you count the fact I split some up late and early boil... or maybe I did? ).

I'm shocked you went through all that trouble to hand-calculate my recipe. Thanks for giving it a look.

I was hoping to give this away this holiday season, but I can see it's going to need some mellowing. I'll just suggest people cellar it, I suppose.