Brewing Efficiency

[brewgasm135]

I have just moved up to all-grain, and am awaiting the rest of my equipment before I dive right in. I have read many posts where people talk about brewing their beer to specific efficiencies, ex. 75%, 68%, etc. What determines what you all are brewing and shoting for as far as efficiency goes? I have beermsmith on hand and it defaults to 75% efficiency.

Thanks for clearing this up for me

 

[bob1852]

It's mostly getting to know your equipment and system so you can consistently hit your post-boil target OG and volume.

You can then either 1) call it good and know your system/process yields x% efficiency and scale your recipes based on that or 2) keep tinkering around with your system until you hit x+y% efficiency if you're not satisfied with x% efficiency.

 

[brewgasm135]

Ok, thanks. What would be the best way to find out my efficiency with my equipment? Set a requipe into beersmith at 100% and see what the difference is between what Beersmith says my OG should be and what my OG is? If there is a calculator in Beersmith, I haven't found it yet.

BTW, I'm using a rectangular cooler mash tun conversion (maybe 60 quart?), a SS 42 Quart Pot, 50' SS immersion cooler, and an SP10 Boyou Classic Burner.

 

[brewgasm135]

Wait, maybe I should just adjust the efficiency on my recipe in Beersmith until it matches my real-world output. That sounds about right.

 

[bob1852]

I don't use beersmith

But yes, probably just leave it at 75% for now, and then compare with your first results and go from there...

 

[bengerman]

When you brew a recipe it has spots to input measured preboil and post boil volumes and gravities. Entering these will automatigically calculate your eff.

 

[barleyhole]

The fun part is figuring out what to adjust to improve your efficiency. Typically it's the crush, and to a lesser extent mash/mash out temp. Took me a couple all-grain sessions to figure out the process and to gain better efficiency than expected. But honestly the "process" part is almost more about having a less-stressful brew day where you hit mash temp, you hit your efficiency, and you hit your pre-boil volume no problem. But just remember, even if you miss your OG, your beer will still turn out delicious!

 

[eltorrente]

I tried out my Barley Crusher for the first time last brew, and got 87.5% efficiency. Crazy, since I didn't think it'd make such a big difference. I had been getting around 80% before. I never liked the typical crush from the LHBS, or internet brew store for that matter, so I bought one and can't believe how much better my crush is - at the default crush setting.

 

[brewgasm135]

Great advice and suggestions. Thanks! One final thing, what do you mean by the "crush"? Like, how much the grains are crushed prior to mashing?

*edit* Nevermind, question answered, hah.

 

[bmick]

Great advice and suggestions. Thanks! One final thing, what do you mean by the "crush"? Like, how much the grains are crushed prior to mashing?

*edit* Nevermind, question answered, hah.

Yeah crush is how the grains are...err...crushed. One BIG thing to note when it comes to efficiency is the sparge. Whether you're doing batch or fly sparging (sticky in this section on that), make sure you're doing a proper sparge and, perhaps most importantly, being patient. When I first started AG I wanted to blow through the sparge as fast as I could and my efficiencies were terrible. Now, I do a nice, slow fly sparge, about 50-60 mins to collect 6.5 gallons, and I hit about 80% eff.

 

[broadbill]

Yeah crush is how the grains are...err...crushed. One BIG thing to note when it comes to efficiency is the sparge. Whether you're doing batch or fly sparging (sticky in this section on that), make sure you're doing a proper sparge and, perhaps most importantly, being patient. When I first started AG I wanted to blow through the sparge as fast as I could and my efficiencies were terrible. Now, I do a nice, slow fly sparge, about 50-60 mins to collect 6.5 gallons, and I hit about 80% eff.

As a point of comparison...I am not patient and blow through a batch sparge as fast as I can and still get 80-84% efficiency.

 

[Yooper]

As a point of comparison...I am not patient and blow through a batch sparge as fast as I can and still get 80-84% efficiency.

Yes, of course. That's the point of batch sparging! Add the water, stir like it's a life or death situation, vorlauf and drain. There is no advantage to going slow.

 

[bmick]

Yes, of course. That's the point of batch sparging! Add the water, stir like it's a life or death situation, vorlauf and drain. There is no advantage to going slow.

You have all shamed my efficiency!!! Ha, I have very seriously been considering batch sparging as a way to cut down on the time of my brews, maybe I'll give it a whirl (get it, whirl?!) on my next batch.

 

[Yooper]

I still batch sparge from time to time. It really depends on how much time I have and what else is going on that day. I haven't noticed much loss of efficiency- perhaps 2%- and there is a time savings.

I have two pumps now, so I usually fly sparge. But not always!

 

[brewgasm135]

Sweet, batch sparging is the way I was planning on going anyways. Btw, I just discovered that clicking on the "Brewhouse Efficiency" button in your recipe is where BeerSmith calculates your efficiency based on your experience. Thanks again everyone for your advice and responses. I am now ready for my first all-grain brewday. And Yooper, thanks for honoring me with your presence.

 

[Yooper]

Sweet, batch sparging is the way I was planning on going anyways. Btw, I just discovered that clicking on the "Brewhouse Efficiency" button in your recipe is where BeerSmith calculates your efficiency based on your experience. Thanks again everyone for your advice and responses. I am now ready for my first all-grain brewday. And Yooper, thanks for honoring me with your presence.

I'm brewing a 5 gallon recipe today, and I'm batch sparging to save time (it's 80 degrees in the Northwoods, so I want to get outside!). I have 4 gallons for my sparge volume, so I'll be adding 2 gallons of 203 degree water for the first round, to bring the temperature up to 168 in the grain bed. I'll stir like a crazy person, vorlauf and drain and repeat with 168 degree water. This should take a total of 10 minutes, maybe less!

 

[C-Rider]

Sweet, batch sparging is the way I was planning on going anyways. Btw, I just discovered that clicking on the "Brewhouse Efficiency" button in your recipe is where BeerSmith calculates your efficiency based on your experience. Thanks again everyone for your advice and responses. I am now ready for my first all-grain brewday. And Yooper, thanks for honoring me with your presence.

Where is this button? I don't see it. Tks in advance