Efficiency analysis spreadsheet

Thanks. There was 1.5 cup @ 1.022 in the bottom of the lauter tun that didn't go into the kettle. I don't want to push it.

Also, I couldn't get the pppg to work but I didn't mess with it much...I just used 80% for German Pils and 72% for Carapils (only .25#). Changing the Carapils number by a few percent didn't make any diff anyway.

I made a small updated and added a pie chart to show the distribution of the extract potential from the grain. You may have to clear your brower's cache if you still get v1.1 of the spreadsheet. At least I had to.

I’m getting myself an iPod touch and a spread sheet app. This means I’ll be creating versions of my spreadsheets that work well for its screen (cut down on the instructions and text in the fields).

Kai

Kai

Oh, and BTW, I have been on Basic Brewing Radio again. This time about the subject of efficiency and how to measure where you are leaving efficiency behind. We didn’t get into how conversion is affected but that has already been covered by the mash experiments show.

I haven’t listened to it yet myself (that is always a little awkward), but James does a great job making it sound good.

Kai

I listened to the show last night, Got a lot out of it. Thanks again kai

I finally took some time to optimize the spread sheet for the use with a mobile device (phone/iPod touch) running a spread sheet application. The one I’m using is Mariner Calc for iPhone/iPod (see this link http://forum.northernbrewer.com/download/file.php?id=282). The spreadsheets are now available as XLS and XML versions here:

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tables_for_Conversions_and_Calculations#Efficiency_troubleshooting

I really liked the idea of buying a spreadsheet app for the iPod more than buying one of these brew calculators as it is more versatile. With $10 Mariner Calc is one of the more expensive iPod apps but it seems to be the one that is most feature rich and well supported.

I’ll also be working on getting my water spread sheet reformatted. But you can already use the version that was intended for laptop/desktop.


Kai

Kai,

I'm hoping you can help - I've been tinkering with your spreadsheet and I'm at a quandry. Using the first runnings chart, I'm almost dead for conversion (using yesterday's numbers of 1.54 qt/lb (6 gallons for 15.625 lbs of grain)) at a reading of 19 Brix. However, when I calculate that strike volume and assumed extract for the malt, I'm getting an absurd 200+% conversion efficiency on the spreadsheet. Not sure where I'm going wrong.

Jason

This is pretty sweet! Thanks for making it dude!

If you are getting weird numbers. Make sure you actually have something entered as the extract potential and moisture content. I prefilled these fields with defaults in the latest version.

If you go through all the steps and test lauter efficiency as well, I'm curious if the losses and your efficiency add up to about 100%. It does for me but some brewers didn't see that and I'm curious why.

Kai

Hey Kaiser! Thank you for the spreadsheet, I'll be using it on my next brew to track down some efficiency issues.

Kaiser said:

If you are getting weird numbers. Make sure you actually have something entered as the extract potential and moisture content. I prefilled these fields with defaults in the latest version.

If you go through all the steps and test lauter efficiency as well, I'm curious if the losses and your efficiency add up to about 100%. It does for me but some brewers didn't see that and I'm curious why.

Kai

Click to expand...

I normally get 100% +/- 2% I am not overly careful with my volume measurements and this is close enough for me to confirm nothing weird happened during my brew day.

Maybe check that you are entering either plato or SG with no period. Also make sure the unit selection on top is set to what you are actually entering.

conpewter said:

Hey Kaiser! Thank you for the spreadsheet, I'll be using it on my next brew to track down some efficiency issues.

Click to expand...

You're welcome. It's one of those geeky things that are neat to know. And with the increasing popularity of smart phones many brewers have something capable of running a spreadsheet with them when they brew. That's why I started formating my spreadsheets in a way that makes them easier to use on small screens.

Don't worry about +/- 2 or even more. I'm concerned about +/- 10+. If you want to go all the way, just take a guess on the expected error of the measurements and enter this on the right hand side. This way you get confidence ranges on the restults.

Kai

Hi Kai, I am finally getting to the point in my AG progress that this is beginning to make sense to me - thanks for your work on this.
One thing that I don't understand on the spreadsheet is the difference between the mash gravity and the into kettle gravity.

I am definetely missing something, but shouldn't the mash gravity be the same as the wort in the kettle (prior to sparge)?

Are you taking the mash measurement while the grain is still converting in the mash tun? If this is the case, you are likely not fully converted.

Can you help me understand this part? Thanks Kai

phatuna said:

I am definetely missing something, but shouldn't the mash gravity be the same as the wort in the kettle (prior to sparge)?

Click to expand...

Yes it is. Its the first running gravity or the mash gravity. You can take it from the mash (having a refractometer helps) or the first runnings. I take a sample from the latter. I also test pH on that sample. Not because you need to know that value but because it like to have that data.

Kai