Can you verify my efficiency

I brewed a batch of all grain and I am kind of shocked with what the starting gravity and ending gravity are. Can you please comment on whether I got exactly what I should have or if somehow I am obtaining crazy efficiency with a double bucket mash ton.

6 Pounds Muntons Pale Malt
2 Pounds Muntons Wheat Malt
1 Pound Muntons Crushed Crystal

Pitching Temperature 89.6 degrees
Starting Gravity with temperature
1060
Temperature corrected
1064

Ending Gravity at 60 degrees
1000
Temperature Corrected
1001

My Math tells me that I'm at 8.56% Alcohol

did you drink it yet?

t1master said:

did you drink it yet?

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I tried a bit of it after racking it tonight. It tastes like Hooch!!!

Powersurge said:

I brewed a batch of all grain and I am kind of shocked with what the starting gravity and ending gravity are. Can you please comment on whether I got exactly what I should have or if somehow I am obtaining crazy efficiency with a double bucket mash ton.

6 Pounds Muntons Pale Malt
2 Pounds Muntons Wheat Malt
1 Pound Muntons Crushed Crystal

Pitching Temperature 89.6 degrees
Starting Gravity with temperature
1060
Temperature corrected
1064

Ending Gravity at 60 degrees
1000
Temperature Corrected
1001

My Math tells me that I'm at 8.56% Alcohol

Click to expand...

Well, your alcohol calculation is about right for those numbers. According to the calculators on TexanBrew.com, you're at 98% efficiency. Maybe something wrong with the hydrometer?

Kephren said:

Well, your alcohol calculation is about right for those numbers. According to the calculators on TexanBrew.com, you're at 98% efficiency. Maybe something wrong with the hydrometer?

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The Hydrometer reads 1000 in pure water so I know its not that. What I am wondering is if sedimentation that was present in the Wort could have scewed the gravity.

I would venture to guess that 98% efficiency is almost an impossibility.

While I'll accept it not being 98% there are two things that do stand out.
1) It smells like alcohol
2) It tastes like alcohol

I should not that I am taking 5 gallons of liquid out of the wort ton. I dont stop sparging and then add pure water to the carboy to top off to 5 gallons. I run as much water through the mash ton as it takes to get 5 gallons of wart.

Does this matter?

Powersurge said:

I would venture to guess that 98% efficiency is almost an impossibility.

Click to expand...

Not almost...

Powersurge said:

While I'll accept it not being 98% there are two things that do stand out.
1) It smells like alcohol
2) It tastes like alcohol

I should not that I am taking 5 gallons of liquid out of the wort ton. I dont stop sparging and then add pure water to the carboy to top off to 5 gallons. I run as much water through the mash ton as it takes to get 5 gallons of wart.

Does this matter?

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If you've got the smell and taste of alcohol, why worry about the numbers?

I'm not sure what you're saying about the mash. From what I've read, you should run all of your water through the mash tun until you have 6-7 gallons of wort, so that after you boil, you'll have about 5.5 gallons. You'll lose 1/2 gallon from the trub, so you should be racking almost exactly 5 gallons into your secondary (maybe a slight bit more).

Kephren said:

If you've got the smell and taste of alcohol, why worry about the numbers?

I'm not sure what you're saying about the mash. From what I've read, you should run all of your water through the mash tun until you have 6-7 gallons of wort, so that after you boil, you'll have about 5.5 gallons. You'll lose 1/2 gallon from the trub, so you should be racking almost exactly 5 gallons into your secondary (maybe a slight bit more).

Click to expand...

I dont have a boil pot large enough to boil 6 gallons of wort so I only pull a tad bit more than 5 gallons when I sparge. I only boil about 2.5 gallons of the wort after I am done.

After really looking into my process for this batch I think there are two things going on here. 1) My weights may have been off. I dont think it was dramatic but I might have had 10 pounds of grain than the 9 I thought I had.
2) I had a lot of sedimentation that I thought I got out. This residual sedimentation might have effected the starting gravity.

My brewing philosophy has been changing. My main concern in the first few batches I brewed was to create some real powerful winter warmers. I was proud if I created a beer that was 8%. Now I want to refine my methods. I notice that when you go above 6% you tend to add an alcohol taste that I would now like to get rid of.