Determining Brewhouse Efficiency?

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Pelikan

Pelikan

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So I just sprung on a mill, and am moving to partial mash/all grain brewing. I'm wondering, how does one calculate efficiency? Is this more or less as simple as taking SG readings of the wort pre-boil and comparing it to what your software says it should be at a given efficiency?
 
Any ideas on how to rapidly cool a sample for a gravity reading? I need to know my efficiency between the time I take the sample and about 50 minutes later, as that's when I'll have to add additional extract (if additional extract is required, but with the Crankandstein mill, my efficiency might be so high that additions aren't needed). I was thinking of maybe picking up a small flask in about the volume of my hydrometer cylinder, and doing a mini ice-bath cool. It's about the best solution I can come up with...
 
Pelikan said:
Any ideas on how to rapidly cool a sample for a gravity reading? I need to know my efficiency between the time I take the sample and about 50 minutes later, as that's when I'll have to add additional extract (if additional extract is required, but with the Crankandstein mill, my efficiency might be so high that additions aren't needed). I was thinking of maybe picking up a small flask in about the volume of my hydrometer cylinder, and doing a mini ice-bath cool. It's about the best solution I can come up with...
Click to expand...

That's it, exactly. My brewing software also has an adjustment factor for temperature, so you needn't nail it right on the nose.

Alternatively (and how I measure everything pre-ferment), a refractometer is an invaluable tool. You needn't draw 100ml of wort, cool it, etc.- a refractometer uses a mere drop of wort for an instant reading.
 
Alternatively (and how I measure everything pre-ferment), a refractometer is an invaluable tool. You needn't draw 100ml of wort, cool it, etc.- a refractometer uses a mere drop of wort for an instant reading.
Click to expand...

I have read that they only give initial gravity readings is this true? I would prefer a refractometer since they require less wort but can I get readings post yeast pitching with it?
 
Yunus said:
I have read that they only give initial gravity readings is this true? I would prefer a refractometer since they require less wort but can I get readings post yeast pitching with it?
Click to expand...

It's true, the refractometer is far less useful once the yeast is pitched and the ferment is underway. Some will argue that you can use various online calculators to translate a post fermentation Brix reading into SG, but I can't speak to the accuracy of those methods. The refractometer is my instrument of choice in the brewhouse; in the fermentation 'room', the hydrometer is king.

Jason
 
flyangler18 said:
It's true, the refractometer is far less useful once the yeast is pitched and the ferment is underway.
Click to expand...


No, it's not! You just need to adjust for alcohol content. I never use the hydrometer unless I forgot to take pre-ferment readings and I want to know ABV after fermentation.

Thats one of the best things about the refractometer, you can use it in conjunction with a hydrometer to get actual ABV without knowing OG.

It's really simple. I just set up a spreadsheet with the calculations, plus promash will do the calculations too.
 
Let's see... Refractometer $150.00 v/s Hydrometer and a glass of Ice water $10.00 bucks. Sounds like I could brew quite a lot of beer for the extra $140.00.

But then, I'm a cheap bastard. Just ask my wife.:D
 
kornbread said:
Let's see... Refractometer $150.00 v/s Hydrometer and a glass of Ice water $10.00 bucks. Sounds like I could brew quite a lot of beer for the extra $140.00.

But then, I'm a cheap bastard. Just ask my wife.:D
Click to expand...

Not an honest cost comparison, my friend! An ATC 0-32 Brix refractometer will set you back $35 delivered on Ebay:

Brix Refractometer ATC 0-32% Fruit Wine + 50 Pipettes - eBay (item 380089144986 end time Jan-09-09 17:29:22 PST)

This is the precise model from the precise seller that I have.
 
flyangler18 said:
Not an honest cost comparison, my friend! An ATC 0-32 Brix refractometer will set you back $35 delivered on Ebay:

Brix Refractometer ATC 0-32% Fruit Wine + 50 Pipettes - eBay (item 380089144986 end time Jan-09-09 17:29:22 PST)

This is the precise model from the precise seller that I have.
Click to expand...

Cool! I stand corrected... :eek: I did a search on google before posting and the cheapest on on the first page of searches was in the $140.00 range. For $35 bucks I may get one myself.
 
Pelikan said:
Any ideas on how to rapidly cool a sample for a gravity reading? ..... I was thinking of maybe picking up a small flask in about the volume of my hydrometer cylinder, and doing a mini ice-bath cool. It's about the best solution I can come up with...
Click to expand...

One of my fellow homebrewers uses a stainless steel martini shaker and an ice bath. It really cools the wort sample down quickly.

As far as determining efficiency, I feel that there two different measurements. Mash efficiency is where you take the reading pre-boil. Brewhouse efficiency is where you take the reading post-boil. This one takes kettle losses, boil rate, hop absorption and other misc items into account.

I just measure Mash efficiency and learn to predict the brewhouse losses.
 
tfries said:
One of my fellow homebrewers uses a stainless steel martini shaker and an ice bath. It really cools the wort sample down quickly.

As far as determining efficiency, I feel that there two different measurements. Mash efficiency is where you take the reading pre-boil. Brewhouse efficiency is where you take the reading post-boil. This one takes kettle losses, boil rate, hop absorption and other misc items into account.

I just measure Mash efficiency and learn to predict the brewhouse losses.
Click to expand...

I guess what I'm actually going for is mash efficiency, not a global brewhouse efficiency. So in that sense I guess I'm looking to measure the pre-boil wort.
 

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