Decojuicer
Well-Known Member
Yesterday I brewed a Schwartbier that-at 70% efficiency- should have come in at 1.057. Instead it came in at 1.050. That means that my efficiency was only 66% or so.
I did a couple things differently that SHOULD have brought my efficiency way up. I also did a couple things that I know messed with my efficiency.
1.) I had the LHBS crush my grain much finer than usual. They normally crush at 37 or 38(I can't remember) and had them crush it at 25.
2.) I sparged differently than what I was doing. I got my sparge water above the mash tun and laid a hose in and let the sparge water flow at about the same rate at the mash water was draining into the kettle.
3.) I mashed longer than usual. This was because of poor time management and because of a propane issue. One of my tanks was so low that I couldn't get the sparge water up to temp. I'm not sure which category this falls into. I usually do 90 mashes, and this lasted just over 2 hours.
4.) I think that my mash was to hot. When I added the water for mash, I figured that the temp would drop significantly. When I checked before sparging, it was at about 162 degrees. Probably to hot.
5.) My sparge water, on the other hand, was to cold. When I changed propane tanks, I cranked up the heat to try to get the water up so that I could start my sparge. When I came back a few minutes later, it was up near 200 degrees. I added some cold water to it, but I think that I dropped the temp to far. I have no doubt that probably had a lot to do with my loss of efficiency.
My big question here is, does doing a smaller batch, 5 gallons as opposed to 10 gallons, help with maintaining temps and time? Should I concentrate on doing 5 gallon batches until I am getting a good, consistent, efficiency, then go back to doing 10 gallon batches?
Also, do you guys think that I should go finer on my grain crush?
I did a couple things differently that SHOULD have brought my efficiency way up. I also did a couple things that I know messed with my efficiency.
1.) I had the LHBS crush my grain much finer than usual. They normally crush at 37 or 38(I can't remember) and had them crush it at 25.
2.) I sparged differently than what I was doing. I got my sparge water above the mash tun and laid a hose in and let the sparge water flow at about the same rate at the mash water was draining into the kettle.
3.) I mashed longer than usual. This was because of poor time management and because of a propane issue. One of my tanks was so low that I couldn't get the sparge water up to temp. I'm not sure which category this falls into. I usually do 90 mashes, and this lasted just over 2 hours.
4.) I think that my mash was to hot. When I added the water for mash, I figured that the temp would drop significantly. When I checked before sparging, it was at about 162 degrees. Probably to hot.
5.) My sparge water, on the other hand, was to cold. When I changed propane tanks, I cranked up the heat to try to get the water up so that I could start my sparge. When I came back a few minutes later, it was up near 200 degrees. I added some cold water to it, but I think that I dropped the temp to far. I have no doubt that probably had a lot to do with my loss of efficiency.
My big question here is, does doing a smaller batch, 5 gallons as opposed to 10 gallons, help with maintaining temps and time? Should I concentrate on doing 5 gallon batches until I am getting a good, consistent, efficiency, then go back to doing 10 gallon batches?
Also, do you guys think that I should go finer on my grain crush?
