wheat whoas

i just brewed an American wheat a few days be4 Christmas. my brew house efficiency has been all over the chart anywhere from 54% to 75% (the last batch which was a Scottish 80 ended up becoming a wee heavy since i got better efficiency then i thought i was gonna get) this wheat batch was 65%. only different thing i did from the last batch was only mashed for 45 mins instead of 60.

the grain bill was 4.5# marris otter and 4.5# white wheat with 6oz of rice hulls too.

also i couldn't use the IM since it was 22 out and the small pump i use for it wouldn't pump in that weather so i got it too about 110 then thru the lid on and airlock and left it outside overnite.

i put the re hydrated yeast covered in the fridge and left it overnite too. then pulled it out in the morning to warm it up and did the same for the primary. pitched the yeast then left it in the warmer room to warm up some it was around 55 when i pitched.

what i am asking is should it be ok since there was that lag time from the yeast sittin in water? and has any1 else had the efficiency swings with wheat? i have done 3 batches and they were 62% 54% and 65%.

i think it will be alright, but i would seriously recommend finding a better way to chill. you want to chill as fast as possible. 30 minutes is good, 10 is best.

as for the efficiency...are you using the same method every time? are you buying it from the same place...does it have the same crush? are you using rice hulls to help with the filter bed? those might be issues.

Csuho said:

only different thing i did from the last batch was only mashed for 45 mins instead of 60.

and has any1 else had the efficiency swings with wheat? i have done 3 batches and they were 62% 54% and 65%.

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If you mash for a different length of time each batch I'd think you might have some differing efficiencies. Is your temp control more consistent than your time control?

you can reach conversion in 45 minutes, but going over that should only help matters unless you have a drastic change in temp. so, yeah, i would definitely check out temperature as well.

temp on the last 2 batches has been constitant maybe 1 degree drop for the full hour on the scottish and the same on this last batch. i did the iodine test and that was good.

every other batch has been the full 60 min mash.

grain has been from mostly the same place but 1 batch was from a fellow brewer. used rice hulls the last 2 since i had them run it thru 2x times.

the past 2 batches the crush has been the same but different then all the others.

i do have an immersion chiller but the outside hose was froze over so no good there then the small pump i use for the last 20 degrees of the drop i use it in ice water that wouldn't even pump. so it was in a little bit of ice water then just said screw it and left it out in the 22 degree weather. we shall see if it turns out or not. be4 the scottish i hadnt had any good luck in the past 2 batches. time will tell though.