How to measure efficiency?

CornyKegs 728
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Wilsons

Wilsons

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Hello all,

Trying to wrap my noodle around AG brewing to get started, but one thing has eluded me, i read all about mash efficiency and i pretty much understand the concept, except for how do you measure the efficiency?
 
You need to measure the gravity and volume of your wort. Measuring the gravity is easy with a hydrometer. Most people mess up on the volume measurement and never really get a true picture of their efficiency. Once you have the numbers you compare your it to the max gravity for that grain bill at that volume.

Efficiency always turns into a penis size contest. I would not worry about it all that much. Consistency is much more important then overall size.

Start with the assumption that you will have 70% efficiency. Do your recipes and IF your hitting your target OG consistently then your golden. If your consistently higher/lower then just adjust your recipes to match. If your not consistent you need to work on your process.
 
maida7 said:
You need to measure the gravity and volume of your wort. Measuring the gravity is easy with a hydrometer. Most people mess up on the volume measurement and never really get a true picture of their efficiency. Once you have the numbers you compare your it to the max gravity for that grain bill at that volume.

Efficiency always turns into a penis size contest. I would not worry about it all that much. Consistency is much more important then overall size.

Start with the assumption that you will have 70% efficiency. Do your recipes and IF your hitting your target OG consistently then your golden. If your consistently higher/lower then just adjust your recipes to match. If your not consistent you need to work on your process.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything except the assumption of 70% efficiency. I'd go with 65% if you are unsure of your system. But it's definitely way more important that you have consistent efficiency than high efficiency.
 
The way I cheat at calculating efficiency is by using BeerSmith. on a side note if you're going AG buying BeerSmith is the way to go.

Anyways I never do calculations by hand. I know my system gets 80% efficiency so thats the number I plug in, plug in your final wort volume BeerSmith will then give you an "estimated OG" for your recipe and volume, if the number is off a point or two you can easily adjust the efficiency number up/down so the "estimated OG" equals what you measured to calculate your efficiency on that batch.

I also agree with what's been said high efficiency is not key but consistency is better to know you're always get 70% then you can plan your recipes accordingly.
 
jgourd said:
I agree with everything except the assumption of 70% efficiency. I'd go with 65% if you are unsure of your system. But it's definitely way more important that you have consistent efficiency than high efficiency.
Click to expand...

That is highly dependent on setup and if I had targeted 65% on my first AG batch I would have ended up with an Imperial Blonde Ale instead of a Blonde Ale. If you have a pretty basic setup and are using grains crushed by your LHBS or an online vendor, 65-70% may be a reasonable first target.

I don't think there is a one sized fits all recommendation though.
 

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