Efficency issues

Hey guys,

I am in need of some help. I am going from brewing 10gal batchs to 5 gals bathces. I am using a 15 gal keggles. The one as the HLT and one as a Mash ton. I was have terrible efficency whith the mash ton while doing 10gal batches. I am guessing the majority of the efficency problems will go to an unisulated mash ton and brewing outside with cooler temp. Do people agree with that? My question is if I isulate the mash ton that should fix my problems. But if i scale down my brewing from 10gals to 5gals will I have other problems. Or will I be ok with 5gal batchs in a 15 gal mash ton?

What do you guys think?

How do you sparge? I doubt your efficiency is a temp problem. Sparging issues and milling are 2 likely suspects. Also, most people don't do a good job knowing their volumes, and this is essential to calculate efficiency.

Finally, unless your efficiency is under 70%, I wouldn't worry. What kind of numbers are we talking about here? Note that efficiency will suffer on higher-ABV beers. What kind are you making?

the last beer was an amber and we missed the SG by 16 points. We brewed outside and the mash ton is not insulated. We sparge out by setting the bed by pulling off a gal or so until it is comeing out clear and then useing hot water from the hot liquer tank and pour it over the top of the mash. We have tried to change the grain milling to make sure all the grain is cracked and that didnt help us out.

Thanks