Arpeggiator
Active Member
Hi Brewers,
I must apologize for posting yet another question about efficiency but i really feel like I'm doing something wrong or overlooking something. I have read TONS of threads about efficiency, and I'm still puzzled by my low numbers. I'll post my recipe/procedure and any feedback would be appreciated.
Yesterday I brewed an imperial porter. It seems like i get terrible efficiency once i start brewing batches over 7% abv. Taking this into account I wrote a recipe using Beersmith and factored in an efficiency of 66%
5.5 gal batch
20# 2-row
1.6# Biscuit
1# Cara-pils
.6# Black Patent
.6#Chocolate
.6# Melanoiden
.6# Vienna
25# total grain bill
I used a strike water ratio of 1.25qt/lb. and mashed at about 152-153 degrees for 60 min in a modified coleman xtreme cooler. It held temp perfectly and I vourlaufed slowly then drained tun with valve fully opened and collected about 4.5 gals wort.
Next, I sparged using 2.5 gals of water at about 172 degrees. I let it sit in the grains/cooler for about 10 min. before i vourlaufed and drained tun with valve fully opened. I collected about 2.25 gals wort.
My pre-boil volume was 6.75 gals (right where i want it). But my gravity at this point was about 1.078 (Beersmith estimated 1.087). I boiled for 60 min. and I admit i could have boiled a little harder cause i ended up with about 5.75 gals instead of the 5.5 i was looking for. I know this will shave off a few efficiency points but i ended up with a starting gravity of 1.092 and BS estimated 1.103. I haven't done the math to figure out what my exact efficiency is because I'm not that concerned. It just seems that if i enter it all into BS at 66% eff. then i should be somewhere in the neighborhood. I feel like i've done all the mash/sparge steps correctly and don't know what i can do differently. This is about the 10-12th high gravity beer i have done and all of them have suffered from terrible eff. I've played around with different mash/sparge temps. I've tried mashing for 90 and 120 min. with no better results. I don't know how some people can claim efficiency rates of 75-85% using the same process i have. Also, the brew shop i go to is trustworthy and I;m convinced the problem is not the crush. They will mill it at my request and i've asked them before to crush it to nearly sawdust and bulked with rice hulls with no better results. Hydro is also calibrated and i can't tell you how many thermos I've gone through thinking thats the problem. Again, sorry for the long post but am i overlooking something?
Thanks, cheers, and happy brewing
I must apologize for posting yet another question about efficiency but i really feel like I'm doing something wrong or overlooking something. I have read TONS of threads about efficiency, and I'm still puzzled by my low numbers. I'll post my recipe/procedure and any feedback would be appreciated.
Yesterday I brewed an imperial porter. It seems like i get terrible efficiency once i start brewing batches over 7% abv. Taking this into account I wrote a recipe using Beersmith and factored in an efficiency of 66%
5.5 gal batch
20# 2-row
1.6# Biscuit
1# Cara-pils
.6# Black Patent
.6#Chocolate
.6# Melanoiden
.6# Vienna
25# total grain bill
I used a strike water ratio of 1.25qt/lb. and mashed at about 152-153 degrees for 60 min in a modified coleman xtreme cooler. It held temp perfectly and I vourlaufed slowly then drained tun with valve fully opened and collected about 4.5 gals wort.
Next, I sparged using 2.5 gals of water at about 172 degrees. I let it sit in the grains/cooler for about 10 min. before i vourlaufed and drained tun with valve fully opened. I collected about 2.25 gals wort.
My pre-boil volume was 6.75 gals (right where i want it). But my gravity at this point was about 1.078 (Beersmith estimated 1.087). I boiled for 60 min. and I admit i could have boiled a little harder cause i ended up with about 5.75 gals instead of the 5.5 i was looking for. I know this will shave off a few efficiency points but i ended up with a starting gravity of 1.092 and BS estimated 1.103. I haven't done the math to figure out what my exact efficiency is because I'm not that concerned. It just seems that if i enter it all into BS at 66% eff. then i should be somewhere in the neighborhood. I feel like i've done all the mash/sparge steps correctly and don't know what i can do differently. This is about the 10-12th high gravity beer i have done and all of them have suffered from terrible eff. I've played around with different mash/sparge temps. I've tried mashing for 90 and 120 min. with no better results. I don't know how some people can claim efficiency rates of 75-85% using the same process i have. Also, the brew shop i go to is trustworthy and I;m convinced the problem is not the crush. They will mill it at my request and i've asked them before to crush it to nearly sawdust and bulked with rice hulls with no better results. Hydro is also calibrated and i can't tell you how many thermos I've gone through thinking thats the problem. Again, sorry for the long post but am i overlooking something?
Thanks, cheers, and happy brewing