Efficiency? What is that? A little help here please?

[Rubberband]

So I brewed up a batch of EdWort's Robust Porter according to his recipe. I used my Beer Smith program to calculate all the process parameters for my equipment. Beer Smith predicted a SG = 1.062 and the actual SG was 1.072, which doen't really sound right.

I guess my question is, how important is it that I figure out my brewing efficiency? Putting in different efficiency levels will certainly change the predicted SG in the software, so I guess I should know how my process performs. I will certainly have the hydrometer working next time during all steps to try and see what my process is producing in terms of efficiency.

I've seen discussions on calculating effieciency but I never really put much thought into doing the calculations myself. My SG measurements are generally higher than predicted by Beer Smith but I generally ignore this and focus on the finished product. Will it be of any benefit to determine my brewing efficiency?

 

[The Pol]

When you nail down your eff. and use that to adjust recipes so that you can hit your target OG, you can balance your hops to your gravity.

It is mighty hard to balance IBUs with your OG, if you keep missing your OG.

 

[HenryHill]

Make sure you are hitting your water volumes correctly, and tweak your water losses due to hops, boil-off evaporation, cold break, etc, in your software settings for your equipment.

THEN see where you are on calculated estimated efficiency. If you still have a obviously better efficiency than your setting in Beersmith over several brews, adjust that number up to what you are repeatedly attaining.

 

[Rubberband]

Make sure you are hitting your water volumes correctly, and tweak your water losses due to hops, boil-off evaporation, cold break, etc, in your software settings for your equipment.

I generally seem to come up with 5.5 gallons after brewing which always surprises me. So you calculate water loss to hops? Does this apply to pellet hops? Also, when I sparge, generally I use the amount of water required but I make sure I have enough water for a little extra sparging to make sure I collect the right amount of wort for boiling.

 

[Rubberband]

When you nail down your eff. and use that to adjust recipes so that you can hit your target OG, you can balance your hops to your gravity.

It is mighty hard to balance IBUs with your OG, if you keep missing your OG.

Well, I never stopped to think of this one. I am not a big fan of hoppy beer and I certainly want the ability to control the IBU's. I like a good balance between malt and bitterness but sometimes my hops take over the malt. I thought the higher gravity I achieve would reduce bitterness due to less effective hops utilization. I may be mistaken.

 

[The Pol]

I need to clarify.

Your OG wont change the # of IBUs in the beer.

BUT, the OG will determine how perceptable the IBUs are.

Take a 1.040 beer with 40IBUs... compare that bitterness to a beer with an OG of 1.070 and 40IBUs. The HIGHER the OG, the LESS hoppy the beer will be percieved.

Your OG wont change the IBUs, but it WILL chnage the malt/hop balance

 

[HenryHill]

Well, I never stopped to think of this one. I am not a big fan of hoppy beer and I certainly want the ability to control the IBU's. I like a good balance between malt and bitterness but sometimes my hops take over the malt. I thought the higher gravity I achieve would reduce bitterness due to less effective hops utilization. I may be mistaken.

Harsh bitterness can be water quality issue-have you tested it to know if you might have water issues? This may be another issue or it may be the style OG/IBU ratios that the Pol is referencing.

The best approach is one issue at a time and baby steps to better assess any changes. Rule out variables first.

 

[The Pol]

Henry is right...

If your water chemistry is not correct for the style, you can get much more hop bitterness coming out than you desire in a malty beer.

 

[Yooper]

Once you know your efficiency, it makes it much easier to predict the results. I also set my recipes up for 5.5 gallon batches, and I usually get the exact OG I planned on. Like was mentioned, this makes figuring out your hopping much easier.

Take a look at beersmith, and play with the efficiency. You'll notice that each time your OG changes, the IBUs change, and of course the IBU/SG ratio changes. To me, it's easiest to plan my beer based on having a certain amount of bitterness in mind and make my recipe to that. If the OG is much higher than I planned, I would have to consider adding water to bring in more in line to keep it balanced, for example. It's not just about hoppy vs malty- the entire beer is balanced. The IBUs don't change all that much from a 65% efficiency to a 75% efficiency. But the IBU/SG ratio does.

So, if your efficiency is better than you anticipated, you will have a maltier beer. But how much maltier? If it's good, can you repeat it? Probably not, if you're not formulating your recipes based on your own efficiency.

 

[Rubberband]

I guess my hydrometer has more uses than I originally anticipated. When I started brewing, I just checked the FG to see that the fermentation process had completed. Recently, I have started measuring gravity for SG to see how I compare to the recipe. I guess, I never really thought that the hydrometer could measure my process effectiveness. Thanks for the input everyone.