Simple Way to Check 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.

RLinNH

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
1,021
Reaction score
39
Location
Bow, NH
I just checked Wiki, and to tell the truth, I am more comfused about Efficiency then I was to begin with. I also have checked a few of my books, and I am still lost. So, how do I check for efficiency?

My last batch was a Mini Mash. I collected 3 1/2 Gallons of Wort from 5 1/2 lbs of Grain. I Batch Sparged. My first Sparge had a Hydrometer reading of 1048 and I got 1 1/2 gallons of wort from that. My second sparge had a hydrometer reading of 1.030 and I got 2 gallons from that Sparge. Total collection was 3 1/2 Gallons. So my efficiency would beeeeeeee???
 
You have to use some sort of software that can calculate what your SG should be with a pre-set efficiency number, I use 75%. Then, take your actual SG reading and adjust the efficiency percentage until it matches your SG.... then you have your efficiency :)

beersmith is what I use, but they all work. They are cheap too, so you should get one.

NOTE: Don't worry about your sparge and first runnings gravity, it's all about the gravity of what's about to go into your fermenter.
 
Here ya go...

4 lbs British 2 Row

8 oz Caramel Wheat Malt

8 oz. Biscuit Malt

4 oz 10L Malt

2 oz Chocolate Wheat Malt

2 oz Dehusked Carafa III Malt

3.3 lbs Munich Malt Liquid Syrup

1.1 lbs Wheat Dried Malt Extract

The SG of the Wort before it I poured the yeast in (After I added Water to bring the Batch up to 5 1/8th Gallons) was 1.051.
 
I got 45% efficiency for that. I didn't have munich malt extract though, I had to use pale malt extract. Do you know the potential SG of the munich liquid extract?
 
I'll teach you how to fish...

The math is easy, Beersmith is probably great, but unnecessary.

First, make sure you know the approximate extract amount for each of your grains (points per pound per gallon, p/p/g). This is available in many texts. Go to the books, my man! Ok, for your English 2-row, the extract is 36.

To calculate the gravity contribution of the 2-row, multiply the extract by the weight of the 2-row: 36 X 4 = 144.

Now divide that by your volume of water: 144/5.125 = 28.1.

What that means is that if you extract ALL of the sugar from your 2-row, you will get 28.1 points, or an OG of 1.0281. Got it?

Now do that for all of your grains. Add the values for the points together. That's the points for the entire batch. Use Excel, build your own little spreadsheet with fancy macros and all that jazz.

But, now what do you do about that efficiency? Just add that into the math I showed above:
Points = EFFICIENCY X extract X weight / volume
OG = (Points/1000) + 1
***you would use a decimal percentage...i.e. 0.75 for 75%

So in your case, you got about 45% efficiency. For the 2-row:
Points = .45 X 36 X 4 / 5.125 = 12.6
OG = (12.6/1000) + 1 = 1.0126

But yes, in the end, build this spreadsheet in a way that you will predict your OG based upon an estimated efficiency...then plink around with the efficiency value once you know the actual OG to correct for the error. Eventuall you'll settle on an efficiency that's pretty close.

If that makes sense to you, you're on your way to becoming a brewer. If that made no sense, probably time for the Beersmith.
 
One thing that confuses people is that some calculate their mash efficiency - ie how much sugar extracted after sparging where what you want is your "brewhouse" efficiency ie how much sugar ends up in your fermentor. The latter takes into account both your mash efficiency and then how much you lose to your system and process.

GT
 
My next Batch is going to be AG. So I need to get some Software. I like Beer Smith the best as it has the coversion capability.
 
The best thing to do is learn how to work it out, undersatnd it.
Then let the software do it.
It's like using a calculator. It's fine to use one but you should realy learn hoe to do the math first.
It comes in realy handy being able to figure things out for yourself.

You realy need to understand it if you want to brew from scratch.
 
I apologize for digging up this old thread, but in attempt to learn about "efficiency" in anticipation of switching to AG in the very near future and the simple fact that not understanding it p's me off :D I have been using this thread to help work my way through the calculations to understand it, but I am just not coming up with the 45% that a previous poster mentioned. I was wondering if somebody could point me in the right direction and tell me where I went wrong with my calculations.

4 lbs British 2 Row (4x36)/5.125=28.1
8 oz Caramel Wheat Malt (.5x35)/5.125=3.4
8 oz. Biscuit Malt (.5x36)/5.125=3.5
4 oz 10L Malt (.25x35)/5.125=1.7
2 oz Chocolate Wheat Malt (.125x33)/5.125=0.8
2 oz Dehusked Carafa III Malt (.125x32)/5.125=0.8
3.3 lbs Munich Malt Liquid Syrup (3.3x36)/5.125=23.2
1.1 lbs Wheat Dried Malt Extract (1.1x4)/5.125=9.4

Total points = 71

51(measured SG)/71= .72 or 72% efficiency

I am at a loss as how it is 45%.

Once again I apologize for digging this thread up and thank you for any help.


P.S. This is my first post but been lurking here for a few days. This forum has opened my eyes to a whole new world of home brewing!
 
It doesn't make sense to factor in malt extracts like DME/LME or simple sugars. You're going to get 100% from those and it's going to skew the results for the partial mash portion.

4 lbs British 2 Row (4x36)/5.125=28.1
8 oz Caramel Wheat Malt (.5x35)/5.125=3.4
8 oz. Biscuit Malt (.5x36)/5.125=3.5
4 oz 10L Malt (.25x35)/5.125=1.7
2 oz Chocolate Wheat Malt (.125x33)/5.125=0.8
2 oz Dehusked Carafa III Malt (.125x32)/5.125=0.8

3.3 lbs Munich Malt Liquid Syrup (3.3x36)/5.125=23.2
1.1 lbs Wheat Dried Malt Extract (1.1x4)/5.125=9.4

Total points = 71 (subtract the extract 71-32.6 = 38.4 potential from just the grains)

51(measured SG) (Ok, but subtract the same 32.6 from the extract = 18.4 that he actually got from the grain.

18.4/38.4 = 48% from the grain. You can see why a large portion of malt extract at 100% efficiency would skew it.
 
I think I get it, thank you very much for that reply. So being someone that is about to do his first partial mash this weekend, I should focus on that efficiency within the grain to help prepare myself for all-grain. Is 75% still a good target for the grain portion of a partial mash recipe or does the process lend itself to be a bit less efficient?
 
TheBug said:
I think I get it, thank you very much for that reply. So being someone that is about to do his first partial mash this weekend, I should focus on that efficiency within the grain to help prepare myself for all-grain. Is 75% still a good target for the grain portion of a partial mash recipe or does the process lend itself to be a bit less efficient?



I think that this process lends itself to be quite efficient. You are dealing with a small protion og Grains, so you should be able to hit your target temps, and hold them for a given period of time. I think that the 2 most important parts of a mini Mash are the container size not being to big for your Mash, and also the lauter.


As an update, I have since this thread originated, switched to AG and I am now right around 77% Efficiency.:mug:
 
Thanks for the tips. This weekend will be my first attempt at partial-mash along with quite a few new tricks I picked up off of this forum to give a try.
 
Back
Top