59% Efficiency

[ccudc9]

My last batch had a 59% efficiency (embarrassing story on why:cross but in spite of that it came out better than I would have predicted with hitting my target OG. That being said, whats the best way to replicate this result assuming I hit my target?

 

[Pivovar_Koucky]

So you want to get the same flavor profile while increasing the OG?

 

[whatsleftofyou]

Just keep the percentages of the various malts in the grist the same and shoot for the lower gravity. For example, if your recipe was:

9lb 2-row (90% of total grist)
.5lb Munich malt (5% of total grist)
.5lb Crystal 40 (5% of total grist)

Then you could shoot for
7.5lb 2-row (still 90% of total grist)
.42lb Munich malt (still 5% of total grist)
.42lb Crystal 40(still 5% of total grist)

Then just keep the same hopping schedule you did on this beer, and you should get a very close (if not identical) beer. This is why many recipes (and my preferred method) give the grist in percentages - everyone gets different efficiency on their system.

 

[ccudc9]

Thank you that is what I was looking for. Since @ 59% I ended up with 1.039OG if I missed at all with my percent adjustment, I would almost have to make it up with DME, correct?

 

[whatsleftofyou]

Right. Although then you would get a slightly different beer since you're essentially upping the percentage of base malt.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

I've heard Jamil Z. and John Palmer recommend scaling a beer up or down by only adjusting the base malt, not the specialty malts...

 

[whatsleftofyou]

I've heard that too, now that you mention it. I have no evidence to support this, but that doesn't make sense to me. .5lb of roasted malt (or whatever grain) is going to have a much different effect on a 1.040 beer vs a 1.080 beer.

Thinking about it more, I seem to remember that being one of the High Gravity shows where they were talking about bumping beers up to huge gravities. So it's a bit of a different topic than what we have here. I could be remembering wrong, though.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

hmm... I'd have to go back and look for the correct show but your point does seem reasonable to me. I suspect that scaling up or down to small degrees would/could be done by only changing the base malt, but larger-scale changes may require some adjustment to the specialty malts.

I'd be interested to hear from folks that have more experience scaling recipes since I haven't really had a reason (or desire) to scale something up or down...