My efficiency is 60.1%...What to do?

So, I started to use BeerSmith and am trying to calculate my efficiency.

The Cream Ale recipe from the NB kit which I plugged into BeerSmith called for 2.5 gallons at 150 F for 60 min, 1.6 gallons at 170 F for 10 min and 2.85 to sparge. I collected 6 gallons in the kettle (supposed to collect 5.72 gallons) and took a reading before the boil. It was 1.035. I plug that into BeerSmith and it says my efficiency is 60.12% Is that the right way to figure it out?

Also, after the boil I ended up with 4 gallons (2 gallons evaporated...wow). The adjusted reading was 1.054. Is that my new OG? Could that be right? Can I add water to bring it down?


Thanks...

If the batch was for 5 gallons, you need to add water up to 5 gallons, then check the gravity, that is your OG and should be entered in the measured OG field, then click on the brewhouse efficiency button and it tells you your efficiency. I think.

I brewed that same kit yesterday and had a pre-boil volume of 6.2g @ 1.036 and the online calculator I used said it was about 76% efficiency.

Did you enter the correct grains/amounts into the calculator? I don't know how yours could be that low with such similar readings to mine on the same kit.

OP, are you reading 60% in the "brewhouse efficiency based on target volume" section, or the "efficiency into boiler" section.

For my smoked porter I recently brewed, entering in my pre-boil volume and pre-boil SG reading only got me 64% efficiency in the "efficiency into boiler" section.

However, after boiling down to my target volume, I took another reading and entered that into the Brewhouse efficiency based on target volume section and it read 75% efficiency.

Here is a screen shot of the Recipe and of the efficiency details. Should I add water to make the volume 5 gallons in the fermenter? It has been in the primary overnight and started to bubble already.
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Something doesn't sound right in those numbers.

After mash/sparge/lauter you had roughly 6 gallons at 1.038 (pre-boil). Sounds normal. The other day I had a 1 gallon batch @ 1.75 gallons @ 1.035 pre boil.

Then you boiled down to some smaller volume, lets say 5 gallons, and had a less gravity(i.e 1.035)? That doesn't sound right. I boiled my 1 gallon batch down to 1.1 gallons @ 1.060.

You typically get a stronger gravity wort after the boil from what I know.

I put my pre-boil info in the Efficiency into boiler, and then my post boil info into the Brewhouse efficiency per target volume, then whatever finally gets into my fermenter in the Efficiency into fermenter section.

Re-reading your first post. I think you should put 1.054 into the Brewhouse efficiency per target volume section. Or, if you choose to top off to 5 gallons flat, give it a good gentle swirl, then read gravity.

The gravity after the boil was 1.055. BeerSmith says that is an efficiency of 94.48% which I figured was wrong since it was so high.

It looks like you set your brewhouse efficiency based on what you calculated instead of what the recipe was developed for. If NB's recipe was based on a 70% efficiency and you have 60% in the Brewhouse Efficiency box then it can throw off your numbers. In my experience with BeerSmith, I have used the calculated efficiency for subsequent batches so I can hit my OG every time. Actually, re-reading your first post, it looks like your overall efficiency is way off because you were a gallon low in your fermenter. Other factors might be a poor crush, incomplete conversion, or bad lautering. Check your processes first then worry about the numbers later... especially if you are still making good beer.

BrewVegas said:

The gravity after the boil was 1.055. BeerSmith says that is an efficiency of 94.48% which I figured was wrong since it was so high.

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1.055 at exactly 5 gallons post-boil? That's what the efficiency is based on.

I'm not sure what exactly you're saying. You said the OG was 1.035 and then that it's 1.055. You want to take the OG in the fermenter, after it's cooled right before you pitch the yeast. If it's 4 gallons and you have 1.055, you can add water to get you to the desired OG. In this case, as an example, if you have 4 gallons at 1.055 and you add 1/2 gallon, the OG would be 1.049. If you add 1 gallon, the OG would be 1.044.

Off- topic, but how do you do the screen shot? I'd love to be able to do it. I'm a moron concerning computers, so if you do tell me make sure you explain it like you would do a three-year-old please! (A slightly drunk three-year-old). Thanks!

I played around with your numbers. If you have 4 gallons at 1.054, that is 74% efficiency. For the preboil, 6 gallons at 1.035 is a hair over 72%. Of course, since your goal was 5 gallons at 1.040ish (I assume), you're still fine with adding water to get you to the 5 gallons if you want. A cream ale is supposed to be a light bodied, light flavored beer.

Yooper_Brew said:

Off- topic, but how do you do the screen shot? I'd love to be able to do it. I'm a moron concerning computers, so if you do tell me make sure you explain it like you would do a three-year-old please! (A slightly drunk three-year-old). Thanks!

Click to expand...

If you hit your "print screen" button (sometimes labeled PrtSc on a laptop), it'll capture your screen as an image. You can then paste (Ctrl-V) into your favorite photo program for saving, cropping, etc...

The only photo editing program I have is the free Picassa, and there is no way to "make" a photo with it. But it worked in Word, so thanks!

Carry on with the beer discussion, and please just ignore me over here. Thanks!

It was 1.035 before the boil at 6 gallons and 1.055 after boil at 4 gallons. So, is it safe to say that each half gallon lowers by .006? My target is 1.040. I boiled & chilled 1.5 gallons of water and added it to the fermenter. I just took a reading and it is 1.042. There are still bubbles around the hydrometer, but it looks to be around 1.040-1.042. Does the yeast affect the reading?

Print Screen by itself copies an image of the entire desktop to your clipboard. THen you go to your favorite image editing software (Photoshop, Microsoft Paint, etc) and paste it in there like you would any other copy-paste function. That is, either do a ctrl-v or go to the edit menu and click paste.

Another cool trick is the alt-print screen. hold down the Alt key, then hit Print Screen. That will only copy an image of your currently active window to the clipboard. WHich you can then paste to any other program.

To do screen prints, I have a free program called Gadwin Screen Print. I downloaded it from [ame="http://download.cnet.com/Gadwin-PrintScreen/3000-2094_4-10123018.html?tag=mncol;1"]HERE[/ame]. Download.com is powered by Cnet, so it is safe to download stuff. This program has a setting that allows you to choose the active window or you can designate the area to be screenprinted.

An alternative is button "Prt Scr" on your keyboard. Hit it and you will have it saved automatically into your clip board. You can now right-click and paste it in Paint, Word, etc. If it doesn't work make sure that you haven't clicked the "Fn" (function) key. This allows you to toggle between the function keys. Good luck...

Also, I upload the image to photobucket.com and insert it into the body of the message with the insert image icon. Just paste the html link and it will appear in the body of the message.

BrewVegas said:

It was 1.035 before the boil at 6 gallons and 1.055 after boil at 4 gallons. So, is it safe to say that each half gallon lowers by .006? My target is 1.040. I boiled & chilled 1.5 gallons of water and added it to the fermenter. I just took a reading and it is 1.042. There are still bubbles around the hydrometer, but it looks to be around 1.040-1.042. Does the yeast affect the reading?

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Thanks for all the computer shortcut advice- now I have to use it sometime!

Yeast doesn't affect reading, but bubbles can. Just spin the hydrometer a bit to "knock out" some of the bubbles. Your reading sounds about right, so you should be all set.

BrewVegas said:

It was 1.035 before the boil at 6 gallons and 1.055 after boil at 4 gallons. So, is it safe to say that each half gallon lowers by .006? My target is 1.040. I boiled & chilled 1.5 gallons of water and added it to the fermenter. I just took a reading and it is 1.042. There are still bubbles around the hydrometer, but it looks to be around 1.040-1.042. Does the yeast affect the reading?

Click to expand...

To calculate the change in gravity for dilution or boils, take the gravity before the dilution or boil, and convert it to points. i.e. a gravity of 1.035 = 35 points, and a gravity of 10.55 is 55 points.
Then multiply the points by the original volume and divide this product by the final volume, then convert back to a gravity reading by adding the 1.0 in front of the adjusted points. This will work for all gravities.

-a.

BrewVegas said:

It was 1.035 before the boil at 6 gallons and 1.055 after boil at 4 gallons. So, is it safe to say that each half gallon lowers by .006? My target is 1.040. I boiled & chilled 1.5 gallons of water and added it to the fermenter. I just took a reading and it is 1.042. There are still bubbles around the hydrometer, but it looks to be around 1.040-1.042. Does the yeast affect the reading?

Click to expand...

You boiled off 2 gallons in a 60 minute boil ?? That's 30% !!! You need to turn the heat down some.

Yes, it was a hot day about 100 F, so it boiled quicker. I'll be sure to turn it down next time!