Bradinator
Well-Known Member
I am not sure if I should celebrate or go back and re-evaluate my recipe, but according to Beersmith I somehow managed 90% efficiency with a BIAB session. Whats I find stranger yet is I botched my mash temperatures during the first 10-15 minutes of it.
My mash schedule was supposed to be a single step... I got the strike water (1.5G) up to 165F, added the grain, stirred and cooled it slightly to bring it to 150F. Walked away and decided I needed to start reading all my temperatures in Celcius, thought my mash temp was way to high so I lowered it to 120F, realized I was reading it in Celcius, raised it back to 160F, then stabilized it at 152F which I had for an additional 60 minutes. So for about 15 minutes I had a fluctuating mash temperature. I was certain it was going to hurt my efficiency...
I am confident on my volumes and have calibrated my hydrometer. Grains were crushed by the LHBS.
Here is the recipe anyway, its was supposed to be a light cascadian ale, 5 gallon batch, now its a Cascadian Ale (yay?). I sparged with 4 gallons of 175F water. I did not raise the mash temperature at the end of the batch. I squeezed the bag also.
Ingredients
Grains
3.0 lbs Pale Malt 2-Row
1.0 lbs Munich
1.0 lbs Crystal 120L
1.0 lbs Biscuit Malt
0.5lbs Dextrose
Hops
0.5 oz Columbus @ 60min
0.5 oz Falconers Flight @ 50min
0.5 oz Cascade @ 40min
0.5 oz Columbus @ 30min
0.5 oz Falconers Flight @ 20min
0.5 oz Cascade @ 10 min
Misc
tsp Irish Moss
tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 package Nottingham Yeast, rehydrated in ½ cup warm water
Predicted OG (75% eff): 1.038
Actual OF (~90% eff): 1.047
In hindsight I did not need the dextrose to raise the body. Has anyone else seen such high efficiencies with BIAB? Or is beersmith incorrect?
My mash schedule was supposed to be a single step... I got the strike water (1.5G) up to 165F, added the grain, stirred and cooled it slightly to bring it to 150F. Walked away and decided I needed to start reading all my temperatures in Celcius, thought my mash temp was way to high so I lowered it to 120F, realized I was reading it in Celcius, raised it back to 160F, then stabilized it at 152F which I had for an additional 60 minutes. So for about 15 minutes I had a fluctuating mash temperature. I was certain it was going to hurt my efficiency...
I am confident on my volumes and have calibrated my hydrometer. Grains were crushed by the LHBS.
Here is the recipe anyway, its was supposed to be a light cascadian ale, 5 gallon batch, now its a Cascadian Ale (yay?). I sparged with 4 gallons of 175F water. I did not raise the mash temperature at the end of the batch. I squeezed the bag also.
Ingredients
Grains
3.0 lbs Pale Malt 2-Row
1.0 lbs Munich
1.0 lbs Crystal 120L
1.0 lbs Biscuit Malt
0.5lbs Dextrose
Hops
0.5 oz Columbus @ 60min
0.5 oz Falconers Flight @ 50min
0.5 oz Cascade @ 40min
0.5 oz Columbus @ 30min
0.5 oz Falconers Flight @ 20min
0.5 oz Cascade @ 10 min
Misc
tsp Irish Moss
tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 package Nottingham Yeast, rehydrated in ½ cup warm water
Predicted OG (75% eff): 1.038
Actual OF (~90% eff): 1.047
In hindsight I did not need the dextrose to raise the body. Has anyone else seen such high efficiencies with BIAB? Or is beersmith incorrect?