I need your help!!!!!

[BrewingRugger]

I have been brewing for a little more than a year and half, and began to do all grain at the beginning of this year. I am noticing that ever since I switch to all grain that I am not hitting my OG, when I was doing extract with grain I always hit my OG. I notice to day looking at my beersmith program that I am not getting efficiency that I thought my equipment gave me. I need help increasing my brewhouse efficiency. Any suggestions?

 

[Yooper]

I have been brewing for a little more than a year and half, and began to do all grain at the beginning of this year. I am noticing that ever since I switch to all grain that I am not hitting my OG, when I was doing extract with grain I always hit my OG. I notice to day looking at my beersmith program that I am not getting efficiency that I thought my equipment gave me. I need help increasing my brewhouse efficiency. Any suggestions?

Well, it's easiest to start with the basics. Most of the time, efficiency problems are related to crush.

But, it's more important to hit a certain number consistently than a target number. For example, if you hit 68% efficiency each and every time, it's a simple matter to just adjust your recipes accordingly. It's not about the number- it's about knowing your system and what you do with it.

What kind of problems are you having? What is your current efficiency and what was it before?

 

[organ]

List your equipment.

 

[BrewingRugger]

I have a ten gallon drink cooler with a SS braid 30qt SS brew pot. I usually batch sparge. My efficiency is usually hitting 42-58%, depending on what batch I am brewing. When I build my recipe, I use 65% efficiency and my OG is still lower than what I plan for. I also get my grains crushed at my LHBS, could that be my problem? or am I doing something wrong?

 

[BrewingRugger]

I need to tell you that I collect about 7 gal and boil down to 5 to 5.5 gal.

 

[RM-MN]

Your crush is likely to be the big problem but temperature of the mash can do it too. How accurate is your thermometer at mashing temperatures? If it is accurate at freezing temp and at boiling temp, we tend to expect it to be accurate all the way through the temperature range but that may not be the case. Get a lab grade thermometer or get a couple of the digital as they seem to be pretty accurate from my experience.

When you look at a crushed grain you need to think about how water will affect it. If it is too thick, it will take a considerable amount of time for water to reach the middle and then it will take even more time for the water to extract the sugars after the mash is complete. As you go to a thinner crush, the water can reach the middle much faster and the sugar extraction is faster too. At the extreme, your grain is ground to a fine flour and conversion is really quick and the sugar can be extracted very fast but you cannot separate the sugary wort from the flour (stuck sparge) so you have to accept something of a compromise.

 

[whatsleftofyou]

Another thing to check is that your post-boil volume measurements are accurate. I had this exact same problem when I first started doing AG and that's a big portion of what it was. What you think is 5-5.5g could be 5.5-6.