Figuring out my true efficiency in 1st AG brew. (belgian golden strong ale)

[Dave37]

Hello all. I just finished my 1st ever AG batch of brew. I had a few moments where i felt like i was in over my head but i feel all in all everything came together pretty smoothly.

Anyway I just downloaded Beersmith2 and with the particular recipe i used i think my efficiency may be slightly skewed as to what the program was expecting out of my preboil gravity.

For my fermentables i used Only 10lbs of Castle belgian pilsner 2row malt. and with 10 minutes left in my boil I added 3lbs of pure cane table sugar.

beersmith2 was expecting a pre boil gravity of 1.063 and my reading at 60 degrees Fahrenheit came out to a crappy 1.042. giving me a whopping mash efficiency rating of 37.4%.

But..my expected OG after boil was 1.074 and surprisingly i was able to hit this dead on the money. I ended up with a batch size in the fermenter just around 5.25 gallons giving me a total measured efficiency of 68.9 which from reading these forums i believe is a pretty crappy number. Not horrible for my first go round though...I don't think anyway.

Any way after all of my rambling i was just wondering if you could explain to me if my pre boil and mash technique/ efficiency was really that crappy or because of the fact that 23.1% of my total fermentable material went in towards the end of my boil, my pre boil efficiency does not accurately reflect my "true" efficiency.

I tried to explain this the best that I could. I am a true greenhorn brewer. Thanks.

 

[Dave37]

Im also curious about adding another package of yeast to my fermenter less than 24 hours after my first pitching. According to beersmith with the first two pkgs of yeast ive added (wyeast 1388) im a few billion cells short of the recommended amount. My LHBS is closed on mondays and i was already about halfway through my boil when i realized i had this problem. Would opening up my fermenter tomorrow and pitching some extra yeast be a good idea? Or is there another/ better option? Thanks

 

[beerman0001]

Since was not in your wort when you took your pre boil gravity your numbers will not match up. If your fermentation has already started you are wasting your $$ to pitch more yeast now.

 

[kandofab]

I have to side with beerman0001. Dont waste your money. Even with the higher OG with pitching 2 you will be fine. Your effeciency is also going to depend on alot more than that. You need to take into consideraation your mash method, did yiu hit the temps, and the time? Did you end up with the pre boil you were supposed to? I have used beersmith alot but I did find that sometimes there amount of water is a little high. Anyway im sure it will turn out ok. Keep it up and you will be good to go. Anyway thats just my two cents.

 

[duboman]

Hello all. I just finished my 1st ever AG batch of brew. I had a few moments where i felt like i was in over my head but i feel all in all everything came together pretty smoothly.

Anyway I just downloaded Beersmith2 and with the particular recipe i used i think my efficiency may be slightly skewed as to what the program was expecting out of my preboil gravity.

For my fermentables i used Only 10lbs of Castle belgian pilsner 2row malt. and with 10 minutes left in my boil I added 3lbs of pure cane table sugar.

beersmith2 was expecting a pre boil gravity of 1.063 and my reading at 60 degrees Fahrenheit came out to a crappy 1.042. giving me a whopping mash efficiency rating of 37.4%.

But..my expected OG after boil was 1.074 and surprisingly i was able to hit this dead on the money. I ended up with a batch size in the fermenter just around 5.25 gallons giving me a total measured efficiency of 68.9 which from reading these forums i believe is a pretty crappy number. Not horrible for my first go round though...I don't think anyway.

Any way after all of my rambling i was just wondering if you could explain to me if my pre boil and mash technique/ efficiency was really that crappy or because of the fact that 23.1% of my total fermentable material went in towards the end of my boil, my pre boil efficiency does not accurately reflect my "true" efficiency.

I tried to explain this the best that I could. I am a true greenhorn brewer. Thanks.

First off 68% is not terrible. It is more important to achieve consistent efficiency than chasing numbers every batch. This issue can be adjusted with increasing your grain bill.

Second, you did not add 23% of your fermentables at the end of the boil. The wort you drained from your mash tun was 100% of your fermentable material unless you added LME or DME that you did not mention.

Third, the first thing to look at in mash efficiency is the quality of your crush. If you had you LHBS or online store mill your grain most likely it was a poor crush. If you can have them crush twice or get your own mill.

Fourth, there is no need to add more yeast

There are a couple of efficiency numbers to keep track of, one is the mash/lauter and the second is the brewhouse. The pre-boil gravity should be taken either with a refractometer or a cooled sample and temperature corrected with a hydrometer. This number will give you an idea of the mash/lauter efficiency. Depending upon this reading you can then adjust your boil time and vigor or add additional fermentables if necessary to achieve your desired OG

Brewhouse efficiency takes the entire process including losses into account as well as final volume and gravity. It is possible to have a low mash/lauter number and a higher brewhouse if after all adjustments the final volume and gravity were met. It is also possible to go backwards as well.

 

[helibrewer]

Efficiency terms are tough to figure out sometimes. I've kind of adopted Braukaiser's Understanding Efficiency. I use Conversion Efficiency as what happens in the mash tun...the first runnings gravity. How does that compare to the calculated maximum (see braukaiser's chart). Then there's the lautering efficiency....how does mine compare: calculated volume/calculated SG vs. Actual volume/actual SG after the sparge. All the efficiency numbers after this don't concern me too much because they are mostly concerned with deadspace and other equipment related stuff. If I have what I want (post boil SG) and how much I want (post boil volume), then I'm a happy camper.

 

[Dave37]

Thanks for all of the timely responses. I appreciate that last bit of advice especially helibrewer. Perhaps because it is mostly what i wanted to hear . My predicted OG and my measured OG were exactly what i was looking for as was my volume. (1.074 and 5.4 gallons respectively) so i am m

 

[kylevester]

Hello all. I just finished my 1st ever AG batch of brew. I had a few moments where i felt like i was in over my head but i feel all in all everything came together pretty smoothly.

Anyway I just downloaded Beersmith2 and with the particular recipe i used i think my efficiency may be slightly skewed as to what the program was expecting out of my preboil gravity.

For my fermentables i used Only 10lbs of Castle belgian pilsner 2row malt. and with 10 minutes left in my boil I added 3lbs of pure cane table sugar.

beersmith2 was expecting a pre boil gravity of 1.063 and my reading at 60 degrees Fahrenheit came out to a crappy 1.042. giving me a whopping mash efficiency rating of 37.4%.

But..my expected OG after boil was 1.074 and surprisingly i was able to hit this dead on the money. I ended up with a batch size in the fermenter just around 5.25 gallons giving me a total measured efficiency of 68.9 which from reading these forums i believe is a pretty crappy number. Not horrible for my first go round though...I don't think anyway.

Any way after all of my rambling i was just wondering if you could explain to me if my pre boil and mash technique/ efficiency was really that crappy or because of the fact that 23.1% of my total fermentable material went in towards the end of my boil, my pre boil efficiency does not accurately reflect my "true" efficiency.

I tried to explain this the best that I could. I am a true greenhorn brewer. Thanks.

Unless you specifically told BeerSmith you weren't adding the sugar until the end, it assumes it's part of the pre-boil gravity. That's why your BG was so low. Consequently, if you didn't adjust your hops your beer will be more bitter than BS says. Your mash efficiency was whatever BS said it would be. Hope that helps.

 

[kylevester]

Unless you specifically told BeerSmith you weren't adding the sugar until the end, it assumes it's part of the pre-boil gravity. That's why your BG was so low. Consequently, if you didn't adjust your hops your beer will be more bitter than BS says. Your mash efficiency was whatever BS said it would be. Hope that helps.

And by that, I mean that BeerSmith calculates both an estimated mash efficiency and a brewhouse efficiency. Your mash efficiency will be whatever BS says, within a couple % points. The total efficiency is also what you stated, roughly 68%.

BeerSmith uses your inputted efficiency to calculate the numbers. So if you put in 70% efficiency with your grain bill, then your numbers are pretty much right on.