I brewed a nice IPA yesterday (with a brewhouse efficiency of 68%, I estimated the OG to be 1.068):
Pale Malt (2-Row): 13.5#
Carapils: 1#
Crystal 40L: 1#
Batch size: 5.5 gallons.
I mashed with 4.84 gallons (heated to 170F) at 153F for 60 minutes. After the mash, my temp. was 152F. 1 degree loss is not too shabby.
I then mashed-out with 2.14 gallons (heated to 210F) to make up for grain absorption which increased the temp to 165F. Mixed for a minute or two, let settle for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected 5.1 gallons at 1.071 SG.
I sparged with 4.8 gallons (heated to 181F) which increased the temp to 168F. Mixed for a minute or two, let settle for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected 4.45 gallons at 1.039 SG.
Total to kettle was 9.55 gallons at 1.051 SG (after mixing the collections).
After boiling, I collected 5.75 gallons to fermenter at 1.060 SG. There was about 0.9 gallons left that I could have collected if I had the room.
I calculated my efficiency to be 60% (based on the 5.5 gallon batch size). If I base it on my actual collected volume (5.75 gallons), it's 63%. And if I add in the extra 0.9 gallons in the kettle that I could have collected, it's 70%. But maybe I shouldn't care about the extra left in the kettle.
So my questions are:
(1) Are my calculations correct?
(2) What could I do to increase my efficiency?
Pale Malt (2-Row): 13.5#
Carapils: 1#
Crystal 40L: 1#
Batch size: 5.5 gallons.
I mashed with 4.84 gallons (heated to 170F) at 153F for 60 minutes. After the mash, my temp. was 152F. 1 degree loss is not too shabby.
I then mashed-out with 2.14 gallons (heated to 210F) to make up for grain absorption which increased the temp to 165F. Mixed for a minute or two, let settle for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected 5.1 gallons at 1.071 SG.
I sparged with 4.8 gallons (heated to 181F) which increased the temp to 168F. Mixed for a minute or two, let settle for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected 4.45 gallons at 1.039 SG.
Total to kettle was 9.55 gallons at 1.051 SG (after mixing the collections).
After boiling, I collected 5.75 gallons to fermenter at 1.060 SG. There was about 0.9 gallons left that I could have collected if I had the room.
I calculated my efficiency to be 60% (based on the 5.5 gallon batch size). If I base it on my actual collected volume (5.75 gallons), it's 63%. And if I add in the extra 0.9 gallons in the kettle that I could have collected, it's 70%. But maybe I shouldn't care about the extra left in the kettle.
So my questions are:
(1) Are my calculations correct?
(2) What could I do to increase my efficiency?