beersmith confusion last 2 batches !!!

[hunmojo]

Hello all. I have done exactly 2 all grain brews, so far.... I really enjoyed the process

However today i tryed my third batch....and i noticed something was offff.

I noticed that beersmith gives be a boil volume that I need to get to my final volume that I would like to have in the end.

I have been using this volume to do my mashing in. (I am a BIAB brewer) i use a 20qt pot and make pretty small batches. with evaporation and everything else, beersmith usually recommends a 17- 18L boil for me that for about 3kg of grain. that comes out to be around to that i have been mashing with as far as grain/water ratio.
my beers have tasted pretty watery or a light body, but my efficiency has been around 65 at best also.

Is this effecting my brew?

thanks for the help guys.

 

[BryceL]

As long as you are hitting your OG, your beer shouldn't taste watery. One thing you can do to try and up your efficiency is to batch sparge. I BIAB and use the sparge method and get 80% efficiency on a regular basis, I also crush my own grain and crush fairly fine. If you want to sparge you can mash with 1.33 qt/lb. You can then check the volume after your mash and use the difference between that and your beersmith pre boil volume for your sparge.

 

[strambo]

I use a dunk sparge for 10 mins when I BIAB and have been getting 76-78% (only 2 batches this way, I'm a noob).

 

[helibrewer]

How far off is your pre-boil gravity? How about your post boil OG?

 

[hunmojo]

my pre boil is always wayyyyyy off for example it was supposed to be 1.032 but i got 1.025.

i just read that your supposed to mash with around 1.25qt-lb. but if i do my preboil volume like like i have been its way off. there must me a reason why people stick to this number....

could my grind be a problem with efficiency even if i usually grind it myself and i do have a good bit of flour on the bottom.

 

[BryceL]

If you mash with 1.25 qt/lb you will be short of your pre boil volume. You can either then sparge with the remaining amount you need to gey to that volume, our just top it off with water. Sparging will pull some extra sugar from the grain and up your efficiency. Have you adjusted the efficiency in beersmith to match the efficiency you normally get?

 

[TopherM]

If you are consistently getting 65 efficiency on your batches, enter 65% as your default efficiency into BeerSmith and then you'll have to scale your ingredients to your recipe numbers (expected OG, in particular).

Recipes typically assume a 75% efficiency, so if you are getting 65%, you need proportionally MORE grain to hit all of the other numbers in the recipe and end up with the same final product the recipe intended.

You either need to do that, or learn how to get your efficiency up a little bit. You can make up that 10% efficiency with a slightly finer crush and/or a mashout. Since you are doing BIAB, just make sure your LHBS or online supply shop run the grain through the mill twice (most will do this for you if you request). That'll fix your issues right there. A 10 minute mashout at 170F after your mash will give you about a 5-8% bump in efficiency as well. You can do a search and read up on this procedure, or PM me and I'd be happy to describe.

I BIAB and consistently hit about 78% efficiency.

 

[bschoenb]

If you are consistently getting 65 efficiency on your batches, enter 65% as your default efficiency into BeerSmith and then you'll have to scale your ingredients to your recipe numbers (expected OG, in particular).

Recipes typically assume a 75% efficiency, so if you are getting 65%, you need proportionally MORE grain to hit all of the other numbers in the recipe and end up with the same final product the recipe intended.

You either need to do that, or learn how to get your efficiency up a little bit. You can make up that 10% efficiency with a slightly finer crush and/or a mashout. Since you are doing BIAB, just make sure your LHBS or online supply shop run the grain through the mill twice (most will do this for you if you request). That'll fix your issues right there. A 10 minute mashout at 170F after your mash will give you about a 5-8% bump in efficiency as well. You can do a search and read up on this procedure, or PM me and I'd be happy to describe.

I BIAB and consistently hit about 78% efficiency.

Two things to consider first; Beersmith's default grain absorbtion was way higher then what I experienced (thus I ended up w/too much water); then once you get the grain absorbtion correct; then you need to adjust your effeciency to what you are actually getting. Mine at a standard mill was 60%

 

[hunmojo]

thank you for all your help. i will try and tinker a bit. i did my very first batch by using a rolling pin to crush my grain.....lets just say after 2 hours NEVER AGAIN:......haha...
I did however just find an old cast'iron hand cranked grain mill at my grandparents house that they used to crush corn for their chickens, i assume that this would function the same as the store bought grain mills.
how can i figure out absorption rate. can I put some of my crushed grain into a small mug and see how much that absorbs and scale it u???

 

[BryceL]

Assuming that you squeeze your grain bag to get as much wort back out as possible, the number seems to be in the 0.06 to 0.08 gallon/lb range. I use 0.060. So, if you have a 14# grain bill, 14 x 0.06 = 0.84 gallons lost to absorption.

 

[TopherM]

I have 0.75 gallons per 10lbs grain (or maybe 0.075/lb...I forget the format) as my default absorbsion rate in beersmith. This is pretty close to the universal (intergalactic?) average.

 

[bschoenb]

I have 0.75 gallons per 10lbs grain (or maybe 0.075/lb...I forget the format) as my default absorbsion rate in beersmith. This is pretty close to the universal (intergalactic?) average.

At my mill gap of 0.028 and my personal bag hanging and squeezing methodology; my BIAB absorption in Beersmith works out to be 0.700 ~ I also run a 72 % effeciency in Beersmith