Rugg1132
New Member
Hey, I just did my second all-grain batch and wanted to evaluate my efficiency. I used 12.5 lbs of grain, mashed in an igloo beverage cooler with cpvc manifold at around 152 for an hour, held the temperature very well and opened to stir every 20 min. Fly sparged with another cpvc manifold with 170degree water for about 45 min an collected right around 6 gallons. I stirred it and got a sample for testing. I checked the gravity right away and got 1.034. This seems really low, hinting at an efficiency of maybe only 44% as 100% should have yielded around 1.077.
I continued to the boil, added the 1 lb. of candi sugar as planned and after the hour boil and cooling gravity was at 1.082, which is right where it should be according to BeerSmith. I had probably boiled down to about 5 gallons.
Is it normal to see this big of a jump from pre-boil to post-boil? When the pre-boil came in so low I was expecting to be shy of the target OG but was surprised when I hit it pretty close.
Do you think my efficiency was really that poor or could I have tested a light sample? The coloring seemed to get a lot lighter after I collected about 3 or 4 gallons. I know hydrometers can be inaccurate at various temperatures so I checked around and found at 140-150 degrees I could add about 0.015 to my reading. That still comes out to an efficiency of only 63% or so.
I appreciate any input/help. Thanks a lot guys.
I continued to the boil, added the 1 lb. of candi sugar as planned and after the hour boil and cooling gravity was at 1.082, which is right where it should be according to BeerSmith. I had probably boiled down to about 5 gallons.
Is it normal to see this big of a jump from pre-boil to post-boil? When the pre-boil came in so low I was expecting to be shy of the target OG but was surprised when I hit it pretty close.
Do you think my efficiency was really that poor or could I have tested a light sample? The coloring seemed to get a lot lighter after I collected about 3 or 4 gallons. I know hydrometers can be inaccurate at various temperatures so I checked around and found at 140-150 degrees I could add about 0.015 to my reading. That still comes out to an efficiency of only 63% or so.
I appreciate any input/help. Thanks a lot guys.