BIAB efficiency 70%

[iglehart]

What can you expect for BIAB efficiency?

I have gotten 70% on my last batch, this was the first time I checked it.
I see people getting 80-85%.

Is 70% low or acceptable?

What are the main things to do to improve this?

Finer crush?
Different temps?

Anything else?

 

[ram5ey]

Finer crush got me from 68-70% to 75-76%

You can increase by squeezing bag or doing a dunk sparge but I like mine right at 75 for repeatability.

 

[iglehart]

I hear squeezing the bag is bad? Tannis?

Also I kind of sparge, my wife pours water over the grains. I am thinking of quitting this sparging because a few times she got the 170 degree water on me instead of the grain.

 

[JDGator]

grain crush is a big, but also watching your temps and volumes. if your volume is off one way or another it really throws off your efficiency.

 

[johnodon]

If you don't mind the extra work, sparging will help with efficiency.

Remeber this in the end though: All efficiency gains you is monitary savings. The more efficient you are, the less grain you can use to achieve the same OG. The more important factor is consistency. I would much rather have consistent 70% efficiency than inconsistent 80% - 90% consistency.

That being said, there are quite a gew BIAB'ers who consistently achieve 85% efficiency.

John

 

[haeffnkr]

All of the things mentioned help -
- Crush is big
- length of time helps, ie I can up my efficiency by 6 points going from 45 mins to 60
- I use a stir motor in my electric setup, that helps
- also as mentioned... you volumes are big factors, if you plan to have a finish volume of X gallons, being a 1/2 gallon over or under will definately affect the numbers a lot.
- I can get 86% with a 60 minute step mash and a single crush at .035"

Nothing wrong with a 70% efficiency, keeping a consitent number so you can plan your recipes is a lot better than getting into the 80 or 90% range.

good luck
thanks Kevin

 

[geoffm33]

I hear squeezing the bag is bad? Tannis?

No, extracting tannins depends on the ph and temperature of the water/wort. Old homebrewers myth. Squeeze away.

 

[johnodon]

I am thinking of quitting this sparging because a few times she got the 170 degree water on me instead of the grain.

You can dunk sparge instead if you have a large enough 2nd pot. Just remeebr to NOT put your full water volume in the kettle when mashing.

John

 

[Rockn_M]

I typically get around 70% and my beer is just fine. The biggest things you can do is crush your grian more and watch your temps.

I also squeeze my grains like it owes me money and I've never had an issue with tannins.

 

[Oginme]

First off, I would worry more about being consistent in your results rather than trying to chase a higher efficiency and ending up all over the place with your recipes. A 70% efficiency is not a bad place to be at. If you measure the next few brews and are in the same efficiency range of 70%, then you can make a process change (grind, sparge, mash time, etc.) and know what affect you had on your efficiency. You can then tie that back into the quality of the brew to see if you make an improvement, no effect, or ended up worse off.

 

[geoffm33]

+1 to a good crush. I get around 85% with no sparge. After the mash I pull the bag and put it in a colander over my old brew kettle, let it drip and start the boil. Once the temp of the boil kettle is around 200° I press more of the wort out of the bag with a pot lid. Then I dump what I've collected into the kettle.

 

[iglehart]

Thanks for all the info, I'll keep things the same for now and see if I keep getting 70%. If so then I may change my mill and sqeeze the bag.

 

[RM-MN]

Have your wife sparge with cold water. It won't hurt the efficiency much and it won't hurt your hands at all. I use cold water every time now.