How to figure our my brewing setup

[eon]

Hello all,

I've been brewing all-grain for awhile and producing tasty beers, but I've sort of been shooting in the dark and having issues with consistency because I don't have a solid idea of what the efficiency of my system is etc..

I'm going to brew a beer tomorrow morning and I'm wondering if there is a step by step method on how to create an accurate (as accurate as you can be) recipe for my setup so my beer ideas in theory and in practice match up?

I have a pretty small set up. I have a 5 gallon mash tun, and a small brew kettle which I believe I can only collect about 4.5 gallons of water. Looking back at some old brew notes, my wort volume goal was about 3.18 gallons. This may give you an idea. Feel free to ask for clarification!

I would greatly appreciate any information you may have for me. Thank you!

 

[firerat]

Use a brewing software of some sort. I like brewers friend.

Put in your numbers and it'll tell you what your efficiency is.

 

[eon]

Thanks for the help! I am trying out brewers friend, but it seems to say 75% efficiency no matter what I do. Is this correct?

Use a brewing software of some sort. I like brewers friend.

Put in your numbers and it'll tell you what your efficiency is.

 

[firerat]

I think it defaults to 75% on new recipes until you update it. It also defaults to 5.5 batch sizes.

What I did was put together a basic simple recipe at 75% efficiency. As you go through the steps in the brew session, you input your numbers (gravity, volume, etc) and at the end it will tell you your efficiency.

Use that efficiency number in your next recipe and do everything the same. If your number are spot on, you know your brew house efficiency and can tweak from there.

Does that make sense? ​

Bear in mind that's how I did it. I don't know if that is right or not. LOL

 

[mongoose33]

Hello all,

I've been brewing all-grain for awhile and producing tasty beers, but I've sort of been shooting in the dark and having issues with consistency because I don't have a solid idea of what the efficiency of my system is etc..

I'm doubtful you're having consistency problems because you don't know the efficiency of your system.

You're having consistency problems because there are one or more process errors in how you're brewing your beer. Or, if you will, process inconsistencies.

That could be anything from the water to crush to mash temp to fermentation temps to managing oxidation to timing of hop additions to length of boil to how you're chilling to....

***

Here's an example. I brewed a few days ago, and my pump quit on me just as I was ready to begin recirculation of my wort through my chiller. By the time I figured it out (thrust washer) 20 minutes had elapsed.

This meant the 20-minute hop addition was at isomerization temps for 40 minutes, not 20, and the flameout addition was at the same temps for 20 minutes, not the two minutes it would have taken me to get the temps below isomerizaation temps.

That beer will not be the same as the normal recipe--it'll be more bitter--but efficiency hasn't anything to do with it. It's a process problem. Fix that (I did) and I'm back to consistency.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I mostly use BeerSmith these days, but most software has 2 flows related to efficiency. During recipe creation, the calculations will be based on the efficiency value (and losses) that you enter. If you say you have 95% efficiency then it will trust you. Most software also has a way to enter brew session data. Upon entering accurate information, it will calculate your efficiency. You can then use that efficiency as a baseline for future recipe creation.

Most software will have an Overall/Brewhouse Efficiency. This is based off accurate measurements of the amount of wort into the fermenter and the gravity (along with the amount of grain/fermentables used). Mash Efficiency is also important, and is based off post-mash/pre-boil volume and gravity. Mash Efficiency tells you how good you were about extracting the available sugars out of the grain, and it is often the biggest driver to Overall Efficiency.

To create a more comprehensive view of your system efficiency and losses, it is a good idea to take volume measurements at each step in the process and note rough values for any losses (say wort left in the bottom of your kettle). I find that it takes about 5.5 gals into a fermenter to get a full 5 gals into a keg.