I did my first all grain batch today (Dry Stout). I hit all of my mash temps exactly, but my sparge volumes were way off and I had a very low efficiency. I have a batch sparge/cooler/ss braid set up and assumed a grain absorbtion of .1gal/lbs. My measured grain absorbtion was .2gal/lbs. My volumes were then thrown off. I was expecting 4 gallons at an OG of 1.044 with %60 efficiency, I got just under 4 gallons at SG 1.034. I know with batch sparging best efficiency occurs when both runnings are the same volume. My volumes were way off; is this the reason I have dwarf efficiency? All in all it was a great first crack at all grain brewing, I just need to expect more grain absorbtion next time.
First All Grain
- Thread starter PFlint
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DeRoux's Broux
Well-Known Member
try this article for water calculations from Ray Daniels....
http://www.allaboutbeer.com/homebrew/water.html
http://www.allaboutbeer.com/homebrew/water.html
Baron von BeeGee
Beer Bully
Could part of your absorption mismatch be due to deadspace in your tun? That is to say, some of the wort you were expecting to drain was actually in tun deadspace under the manifold and not actually absorbed by the grain. Actually, I notice you're using a braided hose so if it rests on the bottom of your cooler that may not be an issue.
I have noticed better efficiency when the volumes of my batches are close...if you have comparatively little volume in your batch sparge you won't get as much sugar into solution and hence lower eff.
I have noticed better efficiency when the volumes of my batches are close...if you have comparatively little volume in your batch sparge you won't get as much sugar into solution and hence lower eff.
The dead space in my cooler probably had some effect on the low volume runnings but I think that I just did not expect the amount of absorption that I got. I went with .1 gal/lb as indicated by Papazian in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. This seems to be totally unrealistic as it applies to my system. The Ray Daniels article verified my experimental ratio of .2 gal/lb (a good read too, thanks DeRoux). Hopefully I'll be able to run another "test" in the next couple of weeks and work out the (slight) problems I ran into.
Darth Konvel
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, the 0.1 - 0.2 gal/lb rule is more a general guideline then anything. Once you figure what your absorbtion is empirically, you can just go with that. It probably varies on a number of factors including types of grains used, humidity grain is stored at, etc.
Excellent guide there, DeRoux.
Excellent guide there, DeRoux.
Baron von BeeGee
Beer Bully
That's why I like Promash so much (they should really be paying me for endorsements at this point). It has all the absorption/deadspace/fudge factors modifiable such that after 2-3 runs through your brewery you can get it dialed in really accurately. A more meticulous brewer than myself could probably accomplish the same thing easily enough with pencil and pad.
Rhoobarb
Well-Known Member
Same here. When I jumped into AG, I got the free trial version and loved it. I ended up buying it and, IMO, it is invaluable for AG brewing.BeeGee said:
