effects of scaling for efficiency

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

doublehaul

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Messages
603
Reaction score
32
Location
nunya
I have a single malt recipe that calls for X pounds of grain, at 75% efficiency. I adjusted the efficiency to 68% and added 2 pounds of grain to compensate which raises the OG but also raises the FG a few points. What effects will this have on the beer? Make it sweeter? Say the original FG was 1.014 and the new is 1.02, and I'm trying to keep.the ABV around 6.5+.
 
Can you post the original grain bill and your modified grain bill? Scaling up shouldn't change the FG.
 
You're right, the FG was different in the application I am using than the original recipe I have to begin with and I didn't notice that.
The original recipe calls for 11.5 lbs maris otter, and gives OG 1.065, FG 1.014 (ABV 6.7%?)
I punched it in brewersfriend.com and it gave me 1.064, 1.019 (6.11%?) (BrewTarget gave the same OG,FG but calculated 5.9% ABV).
Anyways, I left it alone and tried to scale to 68% eff, which calls for 12.68 lbs.

I would like to hit around 6.7% ABV - which FG do you think is correct, the recipe or the programs? Maybe it's a difference in malt brands?
 
That will depend a lot on your yeast, how you treat it, and your mash schedule. If you mash hot towards 159F and use a moderately attenuative yeast like Wyeast 1968 (my haus yeast) you could end up at 1.020. If you mash at 148F and use something like pacman you could definitely get to 1.014 or even lower with a 1.065 OG.

EDIT: You're gunning for 78.5% apparent attenuation which should not be any problem assuming you are able to pitch a healthy starter of liquid yeast. If you're using a dry yeast with an appetite like notty or S-04 you should be able to hit 78% AA with a midrange mash temperature like 152F. Others may have different experience, I know how to do that with MO and Wyeast 1968 since I brew many bitters.
 
Calls for 152F mash and wyeast Scottish ale 1728, which I already bought. According to their website the attenuation is 69 percent 73 percent. Think ill be close?
 
If you pitch a 1L starter made on a stir plate you might get close but I think you'll fall short with that yeast. If you just pitch the smack pack I don't think it will happen since you won't have enough cells to complete the fermentation without a growth phase.

If you never used this tool you'll want to check it out: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html Jamil is a real resource.
 
this beer's site actually gives Original Gravity: 1.063,Terminal Gravity: 1.011.
Should I just use another yeast? If so, what would you recommend? (It's an IPA). I can get wyeast locally.
 
Wyeast 1056 is a fine choice for American IPAs and if you treat it right you can get 77% AA. I always find when I make a stirred 1L starter I can push yeast a few percent beyond what Wyeast claims even when I mash hotter than 152F.

The 1728 isn't a bad choice mind you, it will just leave you with a higher final gravity than will 1056. Both are appropriate for IPAs.
 
Back
Top