Lautering and Extract Efficiency

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thomcat333

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Although it's consistent, I'd like to improve my ~69-70% extraction efficiency and have a few questions...

1) Is a 45 to 60 minute lauter long enough for a typical 5-gallon batch, or should this be taking longer?
2) Should I be aiming for a specific lauter flow rate (given a 5-gallon batch scale)?
3) Could a conservative crush knock my efficiency down as much as 10%?
4) Should I be gently stirring the mash occasionally to help sugars get into solution?
5) Is a mash-out key for good extraction? I usually just sparge with 160ish F water.
6) In a good lauter operation, should the mash tun be running dry as you finish collection? I always have some wort left in the bottom (maybe 1-1.5 gallons or so).


Please don't flame me too bad... I know there are a ton of efficiency threads on here.

Thanks:)
 

1) Is a 45 to 60 minute lauter long enough for a typical 5-gallon batch, or should this be taking longer?


Yep, plenty long enough

2) Should I be aiming for a specific lauter flow rate (given a 5-gallon batch scale)?

Slow enough to have even flow through out the grain bed and not compact the grains.

3) Could a conservative crush knock my efficiency down as much as 10%?

Yes. Crush until you are scared.


4) Should I be gently stirring the mash occasionally to help sugars get into solution?

No (Unless you're batch sparging)

5) Is a mash-out key for good extraction? I usually just sparge with 160ish F water.

No.

6) In a good lauter operation, should the mash tun be running dry as you finish collection? I always have some wort left in the bottom (maybe 1-1.5 gallons or so).

If your OCD is acting up.:)
 
4) Should I be gently stirring the mash occasionally to help sugars get into solution?

Like Catfish said, do not stir, but ..... I found by gently 'breaking' up the grain bed with a piece of stainless, 1/4" rod every 10-15 minutes, my efficiency went up about 5%. Why? Because it prevents 'channeling' ...... where the sparge water kinda' finds paths through the grain bed and doesn't rinse all the grain as efficiently as it can.

Try it ..... you'll be surprised at what happens. :rockin:

- GL63
 
I'm using the mill at the local HBS, and I am thinking that it's not a very fine crush. Also I'll try breaking up the bed a bit. As for batch sparging, maybe someday, but I have this stupid compulsion to make the fly sparging work well... I dunno. Thanks again!
 
Bobby_M said:
Soulive and I just brewed side by side and hit 94 and 89% respectively doing batch sparging. I see no reason to strugle with fly.

Yeah, its true. I can't really explain the magic, but its real :D
 
1) Is a 45 to 60 minute lauter long enough for a typical 5-gallon batch, or should this be taking longer?
Not in my experience (fly sparging). I take 75 - 90 minutes, and get a few percent better efficiency with a 90 minute sparge rather than 75.

2) Should I be aiming for a specific lauter flow rate (given a 5-gallon batch scale)?
It works better with a consistent flow rate, but needs slight adjustments throughout the sparge as the viscosity of the wort decreases.

3) Could a conservative crush knock my efficiency down as much as 10%?
As the others have said - definitely

4) Should I be gently stirring the mash occasionally to help sugars get into solution?
Never when fly sparging

5) Is a mash-out key for good extraction? I usually just sparge with 160ish F water.
You want the grain bed to be about 168 when sparging. At the very least, you should increase the temperature of your sparge water to about 175.
When I started doing a mash out, my efficiency increased from 75% to 85%. I put this down to decreasing the viscosity of the wort and increasing the solubility of the sugars at the higher temperature.

6) In a good lauter operation, should the mash tun be running dry as you finish collection? I always have some wort left in the bottom (maybe 1-1.5 gallons or so).
I have the same, and it doesn't seem to hurt.

-a.
 
1) Is a 45 to 60 minute lauter long enough for a typical 5-gallon batch, or should this be taking longer?

That's exactly what I shoot for.

2) Should I be aiming for a specific lauter flow rate (given a 5-gallon batch scale)?

This kind of ties in with your first question. Whatever flow rate makes your sparge take about 45 minutes is good enough. I try to keep about an inch of water above the grain bed at all times.

3) Could a conservative crush knock my efficiency down as much as 10%?

Yes. The crush seems to be pretty closely related to efficiency.

4) Should I be gently stirring the mash occasionally to help sugars get into solution?

I never ever do this! I make sure that my dough-in is extremely thorough. I add water and grains slowly to the mash tun until everything is added and I stir like crazy with each addition to ensure a smooth consistency that results in absolutely no doughballs.

5) Is a mash-out key for good extraction? I usually just sparge with 160ish F water.

I believe that a proper mash-out is a key component of getting good extraction. I pull off and boil enough wort so that, when I add it back to the mash tun, it raises my mash temperature to 170 degrees. This is the only time I stir the mash after dough-in. I let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then I begin to vourlauf. I boil my sparge water and add it to a cooler, and this feeds my phil's sparger. Heating your grainbed before sparging allows your sugars to dissolve into suspension better.

6) In a good lauter operation, should the mash tun be running dry as you finish collection? I always have some wort left in the bottom (maybe 1-1.5 gallons or so).

I always add hot water to the top of my grain bed while sparging. This helps to ensure a couple of things. First, you keep your grainbed temperature where you want it (around 170) and that keeps the sugars in better suspension. Secondly, it will keep your grainbed from compacting. You definitely want decent flow.

I also believe that using soft-ish water is a good idea for efficiency, and you can use pH 5.2 buffer to give your mash a little assistance and get it to the perfect mashing pH. I treat my sparge water with the same stuff to help reduce the risk of extracting tannins.
 
thomcat333 said:
I'm using the mill at the local HBS, and I am thinking that it's not a very fine crush.

Are you using the mill at American Brewmaster? If so, it's a pretty good crush. I have gotten right around 75% efficiency with all of the grains I have crushed there. It's not an extremely aggressive crush, but it seems to do the trick.

Chad
 
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