efficiency?

I am new to AG. I keep hearing things about efficiency. I still haven't really got a grasp of what it is, or how it's measured. Maybe someone would be good at explaining what efficiency is, and how we measure it.

Thanks for all of the awesome advice!

I'm new too and found these links helpful

Mash Efficiency
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/efficiency-48481/#post482767

Brewhouse Efficiency
Brewhouse Efficiency for All Grain Beer Brewing | Home Brewing Beer Blog by BeerSmith

The link in my sig that says "all grain primer" is another resource.

The very short answer for those wanting the executive summary is:

efficiency - a measure of how much sugar in the grain is converted, extracted, and deposited to the fermenter.

How do you measure that???

ChemE said:

The very short answer for those wanting the executive summary is:

efficiency - a measure of how much sugar in the grain is converted, extracted, and deposited to the fermenter.

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By calculating the available sugars for each grain and weight you use and compare that against an actual gravity and volume measurement of the wort you get. Again, refer to my all grain primer.

Bobby_M said:

By calculating the available sugars for each grain and weight you use and compare that against an actual gravity and volume measurement of the wort you get. Again, refer to my all grain primer.

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He's right. His primer really is very excellent and would answer many questions. I think the best way to learn this is to brew a batch and run the calculations yourself by hand.

ChemE said:

efficiency - a measure of how much sugar in the grain is converted, extracted, and deposited to the fermenter.

Click to expand...

Personally, I think the only important measure is mash efficiency, pre boil. That’s the true number of how good a job you did at extracting sugars from your grain. What you put in the fermenter is no more important than what you put in the bottle. So those bottles that you over-filled and a bit ran on the floor. There go a few more points. And if you are going to count that, you better find a way to measure what makes it into your mouth. Did that dribble that ran down your chin take away from your efficiency? And god forbid you over drink and Ralph some up.

Now that I think of it, measuring urine volume might be the ultimate test of brewhouse efficiency.

AnOldUR said:

Personally, I think the only important measure is mash efficiency, pre boil. That’s the true number of how good a job you did at extracting sugars from your grain. What you put in the fermenter is no more important than what you put in the bottle. So those bottles that you over-filled and a bit ran on the floor. There go a few more points. And if you are going to count that, you better find a way to measure what makes it into your mouth. Did that dribble that ran down your chin take away from your efficiency? And god forbid you over drink and Ralph some up.

Now that I think of it, measuring urine volume might be the ultimate test of brewhouse efficiency.

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I agree with you I think you're trying to say - but how can you only mention mash efficiency and pre-boil, without any regard to lauter efficiency? Who cares if you convert 100% if you only get 50% into the kettle? I'm more concerned with lauter efficiency...

ThirstyHobbit said:

I am new to AG. I keep hearing things about efficiency. I still haven't really got a grasp of what it is, or how it's measured. Maybe someone would be good at explaining what efficiency is, and how we measure it.

Thanks for all of the awesome advice!

Click to expand...

The term refers to how much of a grain's potential sugars the brewer is extracting from the mash. Brewing grains each have potential extract numbers listed. For example a pale malt might have an extract potential of 36 points, expressed as 36 points (of gravity) per pound of grain per gallon of wort. So if 100% of the sugar potential of this grain were extracted, one pound of this grain in one gallon of wort would produce a SG of 1.036. The higher your efficiency the more gravity you get out of a given weight of malt. At 67% it's 24 points, at 75% it's 27 points, at 86% it's 31 points and so on.

At a typical extraction rate efficiency of 75% you will extract 75% of the grain's potential sugar or 27 gravity points per gallon for that grain, since .75 X 36 = 27. So at a mash extraction efficiency of 75% with 10 pounds of pale malt in a five gallon batch you would wind up with an OG of 1.054. ( 2 lbs per gallon X 36 points per pound potential X .75 mash efficiency X 5 gallons = 54 gravity points) As to measuring don't kill yourself, plug your session into one of the available brewing software programs or online calculators. Also don't fret about getting an extreme efficiency number. Shoot for consistancy first. Read all of the links suggested above as well as at least one good homebrew textbook like "How to Brew".

I realize you're probably kidding but I disagree (in case you're serious). You can mash and lauter as efficiently as you like, but if you leave 2 gallons in the bottom of the boiler, you aren't very efficient. All that matters is how much sugar makes it into the fermenter and becomes alcohol.