all grain recipe OG and brewhouse efficiency

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Pezman1

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I recently made the leap after several years of extract brewing to all grain brewing. Several folks on this board said it would happen...they were right...

Anyway, to make things easier, I bought all grain kits (unmilled) to start with.

I was excited to find the OG of my Northern Brewer Dead ringer matched exactly the OG expressed on the kit instructions- 1.064. I was a little less excited that the brewhouse calculator showed this as 72% efficiency. The fermentables were 11 pounds domestic 2-row and 1 pound caramel 40L. I do Bobby M's no mash out, double batch sparge method.

Question - Is 72% brewhouse what normal expected OGs are calculated at? Am I golden or do I need to look deeper into my method to try to improve things? I figure I can't be off too bad if I'm hitting the expected OG and everything tastes good.

Its just that some people post they are getting >80% efficiency and it makes me wonder......

Thanks! Pez.
 
It doesn't matter.
Most calculators figure 72%, and that's a pretty normal. What's important is your consistency. If you do it the same way every time, and it works for you, and the efficiency is the same every time, then it doesn't matter. You'll brew great beer with the sacrifice of a dollar or two worth of grains.
As you tweak your system, you may get better efficiency, but it's not really that big of a deal.
 
Great! That's what I was hoping to hear. My first batch of cream ale for swmbo (at a higher mash temp) came in around 74% brewhouse.
Pez.
 
More important than the actual % number is consistency- I'd rather be at 70% each time than at 68% one time and 85% the next!

My "old" system, with the cooler, got 72% all the time and I loved it. My newer MLT gets more like 75%, and so I'm adjusting for that. As long as it's consistent, there is no advantage to a higher %, and in fact I've heard Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer both say that you get a better quality wort with a lower extraction percentage, FWIW.
 
That makes alot of sense. Thanks for all the info.

My MLT is an igloo extreme with bazooka screen. Simply amazing how it holds the heat. I did rig the lid edges with a bit of weatherstriping as I thought the gaps a bit big.


Pez.
 
everybody's system is different. my system consistently hits around 66% brewhouse eff with a mid 70 mash eff.
 
Pezman

I am sort of in the same situation, about 2 months a go I got my new RIMS going, I uses to just use a HLT and color set up and was getting an average of 72%. I also got a barley crusher and mill my own grains now. I have 6 to brews on the the new equipment and am still trying to figure out efficiency.
It has gone up quite a bit, on my bigger grain bills I have been doing a second running and getting some nice lighter ails. :ban:

Matt
 
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