88.4% Efficiency with Batch Sparging?

Is this even possible?

Did my first ever all-grain batch today. Used a 10g circular cooler with a homemade bazooka tube. Had the grains crushed at the store and mashed in at about 152. Used 5.2 and a little gypsum for taste. Batch sparged at 168 for 15 minutes.

Estimated pre=boil gravity was 1.038. Actual was 1.041

Post-boil gravity was estimated at 1.044. Actually was 1.055.

Can this be right?

Sure, why not? I average 83-85% with a single batch sparge and no special procedures. I've been as high as 93%.

Denny said:

Sure, why not? I average 83-85% with a single batch sparge and no special procedures. I've been as high as 93%.

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Do you let the sparge water sit for 10 minutes or so or just mix it up and drain it right away?

It could be, but your math looks fishy.

If your estimated pre-boil was 1.038 and your actual was 1.041, you really only came in a smidge above your target rate, assuming you hit all your volumes right. Post your grain bill and your gravities with volumes, and I'm sure someone will check your numbers.

This is the recipe:

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5.00 gal Dublin, Ireland Water 1 -
10.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 2 -
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (2.5 SRM) Grain 3 64.9 %
2 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4 21.6 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 10.8 %
4.0 oz Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.7 %
1.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.80 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 7 38.9 IBUs
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 -
1.0 pkg Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) [125.05 ml Yeast 9 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 11.56 qt of water at 163.9 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 1 steps (4.54gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:

the volume is the important part for the calc...If you had a higher evaporation rate than expected then the extra gravity is from concentration of sugars and not efficiency. It is certainly possible to get around 85% on a good setup, especially with a good crush. Nice.

Hell of a lot better than I've achieved over 10+ batches. Enjoy it and see if it repeats!

granpooba19 said:

Do you let the sparge water sit for 10 minutes or so or just mix it up and drain it right away?

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Mix it in, vorluaf, and run off immediately. I've experimented with letting it stand for periods from 10-30 min. and found it made no difference at all. I think that the reason so many people let it stand is because when I originally wrote my article about batch sparging that was what I recommended. After further experimentation I discovered it wasn't necessary, but by that time the advice was being repeated.

Thank you to everyone for all of the help! I'm doing a double-brew weekend, so I'm going to try and do everything exactly the same and see if there's a big difference in efficiency. I'm mashing right now, so I'll post the results in a few hours.

Well, as promised, I just finished brewing again. Efficiency this time was 87.3%. I guess it wasn't a fluke...

I hate to be the rain on the parade, but your numbers look fishy. The pre-boil and post-boil numbers don't seem to line up. You never posted any volume numbers. Are you sure that you're ending up with a full 5 gallons?

The only things that matter for brewhouse efficiency folllow here. All of these are required to measure the efficiency.

Sugar IN:

• Grain Bill (i.e, #s of each grain, and the grain potential gravity; include anything that contains sugar)

Sugar OUT

• postboil volume.
• postboil gravity.

Postboil volume is the entire amount in the kettle at the end of the boil. It's not the amount that goes into the fermentor. You could just as easily measure the preboil volume and gravity and get the same answer for brewhouse efficiency; in fact, this removes any volume added by hops, but that's not significant I dont think. The math to calculate efficiency from these numbers is pretty easy, but I'll leave that for later if desired.

Good malt, good crush, good temps and good control Keep doing it, you got it!

passedpawn said:

You could just as easily measure the preboil volume and gravity and get the same answer for brewhouse efficienc

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isnt that your mash efficiency?

i agree about your other analogy pertaining to post boil volumes!

jammin said:

isnt that your mash efficiency?

i agree about your other analogy pertaining to post boil volumes!

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Well... maybe. I guess my math doesn't take into account loss from boil kettle to fermentor.

Mash efficiency can be measured in the mashtun. Lautering efficiency is the losses from the mash tun to the boil kettle.

Brewhouse efficiency is the above two, plus losses to the fermentor. I think

I confess I used to chase efficiency too. Honestly, I have no idea what it is these days... haven't checked in at least a year (can't remember last time). If you are at over 70% for normal beers, or 60% for beers over 1.070, you're better off doing something else with your time than worrying about inefficiency.