Super high efficiency? Anticipated 1.086, Actual 1.104

Hey everyone,

Just brewed "Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter"

Type: All Grain

Batch Size: 5 gal

Total Grain lbs: 17.75

Anticipated OG: 1.086

Anticipated IBU: 31.8

Mash: 150ºF for 70 min

Sparge Water: 165ºF

Boil Time: 90 min

Brewhouse Efficiency: 73% (denny's, not mine)

Grain Bill:
Maris Otter 11 lbs.
Munich Malt 2.5 lbs.
Brown Malt 1.5 lbs
Chocolate Malt 1.25 lbs.
Crystal 120L 1 lb.
Crystal 40L .5 lb.

Hop Schedule:
Magnum whole .65 oz @ 60 min
Goldings E.K. whole .40 oz @ 10 min

Whirlfloc @ 15 min

Yeast: US-05



After boiling 8 gallons down to 5 the gravity was 1.104

I triple checked everything and definitely followed a recipe for making 5 gallons.

What kind of efficiency is this? Because I didn't take gravity readings pre-boil will I not be able to figure this out?

While gathering the wort I tasted it and it was incredible. Can't wait to drink this thing next winter.

You're waiting until next winter??? That thing wouldn't last past next month for me. It sounds really delicious. How are you incorporating the bourbon and vanilla into the recipe, and in what amounts?

Unfortunately I'm not experienced enough to shed much light on your gravity issue. The only thing I can think of is that I've ended up around 6.0 gallons post-boil, with a gallon being shed after primary. If you boiled off an extra gallon, that would put you very close to your estimated OG.

Being a relative novice, I don't know if you can add another gallon of water to get back to your intended volume, but perhaps someone else can answer that.

I wouldn't worry about it. This is going to be an awesome beer that is going to get better with age. Hope you plan on bottling some for long term (several years) aging.

Man, that's a great recipe! I've brewed it a few times. Never had the OG over 1.080 though, so I never aged it that long.

When you bottle it, I suggest adding Maker's Mark to 1/2 the batch, and leaving the other 1/2 without. They're both great in my book, but not everyone likes the bourbon.

My quick reckoning is 89% efficiency. Bravo!


TL

That kind of efficiency deservres a toast!

Beersmith shows 80% will get you exactly 1.104 for that grain bill.

explosivebeer,

Yeah, I've made enough beer to finally realize that aging is that hardest thing to do but it is also the most rewarding.

Here are the instructions for the bourbon and vanilla:

Vanilla and Bourbon additions:
After primary, slit open 2 fresh whole vanilla beans, scrape them, chop them into quarters and add to the secondary and rack beer onto vanilla beans. Leave in secondary for 7-14 days tasting it periodically to make sure the vanilla flavor is just where you want it. You can also add 1 oz. of Bourbon soaked Oak chips to secondary (optional), just be sure to check it and make sure the oak isnt getting overly strong. Rack to keg and add 7-10ml of Bourbon (I'm using Maker's Mark) for every 16 oz. of beer (test the amount of bourbon to see what your preference is).


Lil' Sparky,

I'm going to be very careful with the bourbon as I don't want an overt bourbon taste or smell, just enough to add another dimension to it.



I'm going to do the vanilla, bourbon and oak chips (.75oz) soaked in bourbon then rack it to a carboy for bulk aging. Then I'll keg it for long term cold fridge storage. I'll probably bottle some of it but I'm not sure if I'll do that from the keg or before I keg it. Any advice on filling a few bottles before I keg it? Can I just mix up the right amount of priming sugar and yeast for a few bottles and then keg the rest?

I sparged this thing for a long, long time, going really slow collecting wort. But even when I quit collecting the gravity of the wort running into the pot was 1.011.

I'm hoping to hit at least 1.020 for a final gravity as that would be an 11% beer :rockin:

80+% efficiency is awesome. I'm very surprised. I must have hit all the temperatures just right.

dantodd said:

Beersmith shows 80% will get you exactly 1.104 for that grain bill.

Click to expand...

Odd. I confirmed the 89% with ProMash. To further confirm, ProMash showed that 73% efficiency would give the recipe OG of 1.086.


TL

TL, check to make sure your batch size is at 5 gallons and not 5.5. I ran the numbers with 5.5 and got what you got, then saw the recipe is set for 5 gallons. Reran the numbers and came up with 80%.