Efficiency: Could it be milling?

Efficiency has become the bane of my existence. I am at least trying to be consistent but I can't even do that.

I haven't changed my process since I started brewing a few months ago. I mash in a cylindrical cooler at 152 for 60 minutes. Then I heat up the mash to about 160ish. Then I fly sparge with water that's around 172ish. I drain slowly. It takes at least on hour to collect the wort. If anything, I should be getting better efficiency as I gain understanding of the process. But I've been hitting around 65%.

Here's what I'm trying to figure out, on a couple of beers I reached 78% for my efficiency, which is a number I'm quite pleased with. I'd like to repeat this on each of my beers. The only thing that was different on these instances where I got higher efficiency was the person that measured and milled my grain at the brew store. When one person in particular measures and mills my grains, my efficiency is always below 70%. When anyone else measures and mills my grains it's higher than 70%.

I understand that milling makes a significant difference in efficiency but the brew store I frequent has a very nice electric mill. I'm not sure how anyone could mill any differently than the next. Am I right? I'm going to start weighing my grains when I get home to see if he's shorting me, but I wanted to see if milling was a possibility at all. I've never milled before so I maybe my assumption that it's all the same with a big fancy mill is wrong.

Any feedback would be most helpful!

MLBinID said:

...When one person in particular measures and mills my grains, my efficiency is always below 70%. When anyone else measures and mills my grains it's higher than 70%...

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Next time ask them to double crush the grist. They won't change the settings on the mill, but twice through will improve the crush rate without the grain getting pulverized.

Try adding some rice hulls (a sauce pot full) to your mash tun. Rice hulls will fluff up your grain bed and reduce channeling.

+1 on the double crush. Watch those numbers magically rise. Make sure you're stirring the mash like a madman at the start and before recirculating, too.

Okay, I'll go with the double crush and the rice. I'm just ticked that I've been able to get 77% without it but can't repeat it.

Regardless, I brew some tasty beer! Isn't that what it's all about? I'll leave the subtleties of the process to my husband.

If the mill is constant I'd assume that either one guy is giving you extra grain and that is causing an apparent increase in efficiency or that the other guy is shorting you and causing an apparent decrease in efficiency.

Gartywood said:

If the mill is constant I'd assume that either one guy is giving you extra grain and that is causing an apparent increase in efficiency or that the other guy is shorting you and causing an apparent decrease in efficiency.

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This is the most likely scenario. I would like to think it's the former case, but you never know.

The other question I would have is how much water are you using in your mash. Are you measuring it, or eyeballing it? I'd recommend about 1.2 quarts/pound of grain.

And yes, be sure to carefully weigh your grain after your purchase, to make sure you are getting what you paid for, not more or less.