rtstrider
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I'm currently working to diagnose efficiency issues on a new to me setup. I moved from BIAB to a 3 tier setup and have had horrible efficiency. BIAB I was getting 70% and up. On the 3 tier I've only hit that once and that was with an all Avangard pilsner malt 90 minute mash. I do fly sparge and at the end of brewday I'm hitting around 58% efficiency. I have a theory the shop I've been getting the grains from (new shop) may not be crushing them as tight as the old shop. On my old BIAB setup I would have the shop double crush the grains and never had issues. So my question is would there be any potential issues, stuck sparge, etc if I asked the previous shop to double crush the grains in the new mash tun setup? The setup is large cylinder coolers. I would not be opposed to throwing in rice hulls if that might be needed with the double crush.
Now with that said here's my current process
Use the following Mash/Sparge water calculator for volumes https://www.mibrewsupply.com/recipe/mash
Heat mash water (add brewing salts) to temp specified by brewers friend.
Let the mash water sit in the mash tun for 10 minutes or so to preheat.
Add grains, stir, close the lid, check in 10-15 minutes for temperature and adjust as needed
Heat fly sparge water to 168F-170F
After 60 minutes (if the mash is 150F or higher) vorlauf until the crud is longer showing in pitchers (crud being loose grain and such) to set the bed
Drain/Fly sparge for 45-60 minutes
Boil, add hops, cool, transfer to glass carboy, take hydro sample
I use RO water only but have thought about investing in Campden tablets. I have a charcoal refridgerator water filter and figured I could use that plus Campden to clear out any chlorine. I reached out to the local water company and they said they do use low amounts of chlorine.
Now one other thing that caught my eye is my boil amounts are a tad higher than what the recipe calls for. Meaning I'm boiling roughly 6.75 gallons instead of 6.5 gallons. However the efficiency shouldn't be 15 points off or so because of a quarter gallon difference I wouldn't think. Apologies for the long winded post but I'm at wits end lol Have seriously considered going back to BIAB and giving up no the 3 tier.
Now with that said here's my current process
Use the following Mash/Sparge water calculator for volumes https://www.mibrewsupply.com/recipe/mash
Heat mash water (add brewing salts) to temp specified by brewers friend.
Let the mash water sit in the mash tun for 10 minutes or so to preheat.
Add grains, stir, close the lid, check in 10-15 minutes for temperature and adjust as needed
Heat fly sparge water to 168F-170F
After 60 minutes (if the mash is 150F or higher) vorlauf until the crud is longer showing in pitchers (crud being loose grain and such) to set the bed
Drain/Fly sparge for 45-60 minutes
Boil, add hops, cool, transfer to glass carboy, take hydro sample
I use RO water only but have thought about investing in Campden tablets. I have a charcoal refridgerator water filter and figured I could use that plus Campden to clear out any chlorine. I reached out to the local water company and they said they do use low amounts of chlorine.
Now one other thing that caught my eye is my boil amounts are a tad higher than what the recipe calls for. Meaning I'm boiling roughly 6.75 gallons instead of 6.5 gallons. However the efficiency shouldn't be 15 points off or so because of a quarter gallon difference I wouldn't think. Apologies for the long winded post but I'm at wits end lol Have seriously considered going back to BIAB and giving up no the 3 tier.