I just recently did my first AG brew - a simple pale ale, which I will bottle later this week. Its turning out great.
When I brewed it, I didn't worry too much - I relaxed, had a lot of homebrews, etc. I used about 9 lbs of 2-row with some added Crystal, etc. Since my gravity reading fell a little below where I was aiming, I added a bit of DME (3 cups or so) to the boil to make it a little bit stronger. Now, as I am preparing for my second ag brew, I have some questions about ensuring that I get the most sugar out of my grain as possible so that i don't have to supplement with DME.
How can I calculate efficiency of my mash? How do I know how well I am doing in terms of getting the fermentables out of the malted grains?
Thanks . . . btw, I've been lurking on this board for a few weeks . . . this is my first post!
When I brewed it, I didn't worry too much - I relaxed, had a lot of homebrews, etc. I used about 9 lbs of 2-row with some added Crystal, etc. Since my gravity reading fell a little below where I was aiming, I added a bit of DME (3 cups or so) to the boil to make it a little bit stronger. Now, as I am preparing for my second ag brew, I have some questions about ensuring that I get the most sugar out of my grain as possible so that i don't have to supplement with DME.
How can I calculate efficiency of my mash? How do I know how well I am doing in terms of getting the fermentables out of the malted grains?
Thanks . . . btw, I've been lurking on this board for a few weeks . . . this is my first post!