58%...if that.
Here's how it worked. I was aiming for 2.5 gallons of a 1.090 beer through BIAB. I dropped my 8LBS of grain (7lbs MO, .5lbs Munich, .25 Carapils, .25 Crystal 40) into a bag and then into 4.5 gallons of water. Before I dropped the bag, I pulled the water off at 165F, hoping to get it set at 153F. I think my thermometer is slower than the temperature rise of the water, because when I dropped the grains in, the water steadied at 160F! After about 10 minutes of stirring and blowing on the water, I finally got it down to about 155F. I was okay with this because I figured I'd lose some degrees. I covered the pot with a heavy blanket and let it sit for 30 minutes before I checked the temp. It got down to 148F! I set it back on the stove and heated it up again to 155F. At the end of 60 minutes, it was back down to 148F. I pulled the grains and gave them a squeeze. Boiled for 60 minutes and only got 2.25 gal out. My OG was 1.070! Far less than expected. Especially because I heard that BIAB is supposed to be the best with efficiency. Here are my thoughts as to possibly why...
1) When I dropped the bag of grains in, the temp was too high. Possibly preventing the enzymes from doing their work, like a mash out.
2) I dropped the bag of grains in the water (tied at the top), instead of dropping the grains into the pot with the bag over the edges of the pot. I feel that I may have made one big dough ball, with water not being able to penetrate the interior. I tried to stir it and poke it around so it got a lot of water penetration, but this may not have been good enough.
3) The fluctuation of water temp really worried me. Mainly because I didn't know what I was going to get, but I doubt this is the reason.
4) I never used any sort of sparge/rinse water. I tasted the grains afterwards and they tasted bland, but there may have been some sugars still in there that I missed.
This is all I can think of. Any other ideas why my efficiency was so bad? Still a good 8% beer (it dropped to 1.010), but disappointing to be so far off. Thanks for the input.
Here's how it worked. I was aiming for 2.5 gallons of a 1.090 beer through BIAB. I dropped my 8LBS of grain (7lbs MO, .5lbs Munich, .25 Carapils, .25 Crystal 40) into a bag and then into 4.5 gallons of water. Before I dropped the bag, I pulled the water off at 165F, hoping to get it set at 153F. I think my thermometer is slower than the temperature rise of the water, because when I dropped the grains in, the water steadied at 160F! After about 10 minutes of stirring and blowing on the water, I finally got it down to about 155F. I was okay with this because I figured I'd lose some degrees. I covered the pot with a heavy blanket and let it sit for 30 minutes before I checked the temp. It got down to 148F! I set it back on the stove and heated it up again to 155F. At the end of 60 minutes, it was back down to 148F. I pulled the grains and gave them a squeeze. Boiled for 60 minutes and only got 2.25 gal out. My OG was 1.070! Far less than expected. Especially because I heard that BIAB is supposed to be the best with efficiency. Here are my thoughts as to possibly why...
1) When I dropped the bag of grains in, the temp was too high. Possibly preventing the enzymes from doing their work, like a mash out.
2) I dropped the bag of grains in the water (tied at the top), instead of dropping the grains into the pot with the bag over the edges of the pot. I feel that I may have made one big dough ball, with water not being able to penetrate the interior. I tried to stir it and poke it around so it got a lot of water penetration, but this may not have been good enough.
3) The fluctuation of water temp really worried me. Mainly because I didn't know what I was going to get, but I doubt this is the reason.
4) I never used any sort of sparge/rinse water. I tasted the grains afterwards and they tasted bland, but there may have been some sugars still in there that I missed.
This is all I can think of. Any other ideas why my efficiency was so bad? Still a good 8% beer (it dropped to 1.010), but disappointing to be so far off. Thanks for the input.