Holy friggin efficiency

I just got 97% effeceincy into the boiler making Muncher's centennial Blonde. I don't know what I did, but hoora! A new high.
Now I must be off to sleep.

Did you adjust for temp?

you sure you have the right grain amounts?! cause 97% seems like it would be impossible

BerserkerBrew said:

you sure you have the right grain amounts?! cause 97% seems like it would be impossible

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pretty close
i think

that beats the hell out of mine....will you list off your procedure?

My effeciency is typically around 80% into the boiler.
I adjusted for temp, and I do have the correct grain amounts. I was going by BeerSmith calculations.
Crushed my grains, preheated my tun, doughed in 12 qt water at 165, rested @ 150 for 75 min, batch sparge 1 was 2.5 gallons at 190, bs 2 was 3.25 gallons at 170. Collected 7 gallons of 1.044 wort.
7.10 lb us w-row
.75 lb dextrine
.5 lb crystal 10
.5 lb vienna

It's not impossible to get 97%. I was brewing consistantly at 98% for a while, but was gettign stuck sparges, and decided to increase my crush size a bit and now i get 93% consistantly with no stuck sparges. Is it possible that the crush was much finer than your previous batches?

Sounds awesome.

I hadn't changed my rollers, but it actually looked a bit coarser than last time. If that makes any sense at all. All I know is I now have a blonde that was supposed to start at 1.040 and is now at 1.056. LOL. My only concern now is that the BU:GU ration might be a bit low (0.25). Oh well, it's beer, and I will drink it!
Ooh, and this is the first time I get to use my fermenting fridge (free fridge!). Very exciting stuff, people. :rockin:

I would be afraid if I saw 97%.... tannin extraction?

I once fluked a 95%.
I used the same calculation as always. I've never managed to replicate it.

Tankard said:

I would be afraid if I saw 97%.... tannin extraction?

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That's what I was thinking when I read that he was sparging at 190 deg. f.

Any thoughts on sparging at over 180 deg. f?

Sparge water was 190, bringing my grain bed to 168-170.

The truth is, there are enough variables in efficiency calculations to er a few points up or down. There's OG measurement error, sample taken from stratified wort, wort volume measurement error, temp correction, grain weight error, actual grain potential error from what the program was loaded with (you can get closer if you take the actual analysis from the malster for the sack you're using).

In any case, you're still up in the 90's and it's livin on the edge my friend. I've started adjusting my own process to stick down in high 80's/low 90's to combat astringency.

jacksonbrown said:

Sparge water was 190, bringing my grain bed to 168-170.

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Yes, but wouldn't that 190 deg f hitting the top of the mash cause the grains at the top of the mash to heat to over 180 thereby causing the tannins in the grains at the top of the mash to become soluble? I'm just asking. A 97% efficiency sounds great, but is there a cost?

I don't know. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks. I've used 190 deg water for sparge with no adverse consequences (that's I've noticed). My grain bed doesn't make it past 160 when I sparge with 180. I don't think the immediate hitting of the water would mash any grain that quickly. I dump the water in, then stir right away. It should allow for a quick enough stablization I would think. Again, we'll see. I'm optomistic.

Tankard said:

I would be afraid if I saw 97%.... tannin extraction?

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As long as the running are heavier than 1.010 then this wouldn't be an issue to get concerned about.

I never noticed an increase in tannins when I was hitting the mid to high 90s. But I did get stuck sparges which SUCK. So I changed the coarse of my grain and have been living happily ever after at 93%. Gelatin is a good way to remove tannins too.