So I finally got into AG brewing I did one batch a week ago and got 49% eff (into the kettle). I then did the same same recipe last weekend and got 75% eff (again, into the kettle). My volumes and temps were fairly spot on. I've been using Brewtarget for all of the temps & quantities. The only thing I changed was the setup on my grain mill. I had assumed the crush wasn't good enough so I tweaked the mill (converted pasta mill) and went at it again. I don't think I want to go any finer on the mill. I think I had enough flour in the crush.
I'm using a 15 gal Ice Cube cooler with a copper manifold as my MLT.
1. Is the first batch going to be worth trying? Guess the only thing I would be out would be the effort in kegging it.
2. When trying to "hit the numbers" in a given recipe, if you know (a head of time) you are going to only get ~75 eff, should you try and compensate at all (larger grain bill ahead of time, adding DME to the boil, adding less sparge water, or boiling off, ect)? If yes, which method is easiest and how do you go about making those calculations?
I'm using a 15 gal Ice Cube cooler with a copper manifold as my MLT.
1. Is the first batch going to be worth trying? Guess the only thing I would be out would be the effort in kegging it.
2. When trying to "hit the numbers" in a given recipe, if you know (a head of time) you are going to only get ~75 eff, should you try and compensate at all (larger grain bill ahead of time, adding DME to the boil, adding less sparge water, or boiling off, ect)? If yes, which method is easiest and how do you go about making those calculations?