Efficiency Shoot Up 20 Points.

Efficiency Shoot Up 20 Points. Yahhoo!

Between a new Barley Crusher, a new digital thermometer and switching from 165F sparge to 172F sparge I went from 63% to 83%.

I batch sparge so I might even try upping to 175F just to see if I can reach 85%.

This was a great brew day.

Congratulations, that is some rocking good numbers there. I'm really happy if I hit the high 70's. Now crack open a good HB and enjoy.

Awesome...

GRAIN CRUSH kills eff. Any LHBS crush, well other than a couple companies on HBT here... will never get you over 70%... ever. Good job, proud of ya son.

Damnit I guess I'm going to have to start crushing my own. Thanks guys! Like I don't spend enough on this hobby as it is.

IMO you can sparge hotter...185 degree sparge water will not bring the grain bed over 170.

Oh, my water temp was 188F, my sparge (grain bed) was 172F.

I'm not too worried about tannin extraction, because batch sparging is so quick.

Don't get carried away with efficiency. It's good to get it up there, but it's not the be all and end all of homebrewing. Keep your grain bed temp at 170F or lower until you really know where you are going.

Just because you batch sparge quickly doesn't mean you don't get tannins. You can get just as good efficiency with a longer sparge rest at a safer temperature without risk of tannin extraction. You also have to keep a close eye on your mash pH if you are pushing those temperatures. You don't have to max it out there. Just as an example, I hit 85% efficiency this morning, and my grain bed never got above 169F.

Stay cool and don't ruin a whole batch just to squeeze out that last point or two. It isn't worth it.


TL

Thank you for the advice. I do appreciate it.



Please don't rain on my 83% parade just yet.

I want to see where I can go with temps, then I will try to translate that to 172F - 170F through adjustments to run off speed, grain crush, and manifold design.

Moving from LHBS crush to brewmasters warehouse crush boosted me from 70% to 78% without changing anything else in my process.

just did a 185 spage yesterday and it brought me to 168.

diatonic said:

Moving from LHBS crush to brewmasters warehouse crush boosted me from 70% to 78% without changing anything else in my process.

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Yeah I've been getting consistent 75-78% from Brewmaster's crush as well. Been really pleased with them. Cheap shipping and I actually get my stuff before the weekend if I order on monday. I'll still probably end up crushing my own at some point, but 78% isn't bad at all!

I got a high eff today also and it kind of disappointed me because i overshot my OG.

CharlosCarlies said:

Yeah I've been getting consistent 75-78% from Brewmaster's crush as well. Been really pleased with them. Cheap shipping and I actually get my stuff before the weekend if I order on monday. I'll still probably end up crushing my own at some point, but 78% isn't bad at all!

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When you do make the plunge into crushing your own, if you go with a Barley Crusher at factory setting you will know what to expect for efficency since that is what we use.

Ed