efficiency improvement

[hopsnhawks]

have brewed about +10 all grain batches so far and was hoping for some advice on increasing my mash efficiency if possible

I am using a rectangular cooler with a stainless steel braid, after draining the initial mash water I add ~190 degree water, let sit 10 minutes than drain again

my volumes and temperatures have been pretty good (preboil yield ~6.5gallons) but when I plug my OG into an efficiency calculator I am consistently in the 50-55% range

I know I can just scale up the grain bill to increase my OG but are there any tips/tricks I can use with my existing equipment set up that can boost the gravity? slight sense of failure knowing I'm only getting ~1/2 the sugar out of the grain

 

[IslandLizard]

Most likely from the crush being too coarse. Get it milled twice, or better yet, tighten the gap if you can. 0.032"-0.034" (credit card) to start with. You can go quite a bit finer even (0.028"), since you batch sparge.

Do you stir like you mean it, when first mashing in?

There's no need to let the sparge sit for 10 minutes. 3 min is plenty, after stirring well. How is the grist in the cooler after draining? it should be very damp, not wet or dripping. The bottom part will be a bit wetter.

You can try to sparge twice with half the total volume each. May get you a few more points. But again look at your crush first, that's the main cause where most points are gained.

Just for reference, I get 80-85% with double sparge. And mashing at 1.33-1.50 water to grain ratio.

 

[cyberbrew]

+1 to stirring it like mad.

 

[billl]

Don't beat yourself up. The goal is to make consistently good beer, not hit some percentage.

The best way to make process improvements is to start by measuring everything. eg gravity of the mash, volume of first runnings. Gravity of the sparge. Volume of sparge runnings. etc. That will highlight the area where you are loosing efficiency. After all, it doesn't make sense to worry about double sparging if you aren't getting all the sugars converted in the main mash.

Braukaiser has a great writeup on efficiency at every step.

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Understanding_Efficiency

I'd start at the conversion efficiency step and use the chart. eg if your mash thickness is 1.25 quarts/lb, then you have a maximum gravity of 1.096 in the mash. If you are way less than that, you've isolated your problem to the conversion step. Then you would need to adjust your crush, temp, or ph to improve that. If you get something close to 1.096, then you know you are getting full conversion but just aren't washing the sugars out well. Then you could look at how well the tun is draining to make sure you got all the first runnings out. Then you could look at the sparge to make sure you are getting the remaining sugar out through proper stirring.

 

[Rev2010]

Tighter crush would likely help the most. I don't see in your post if you crush your own grains, if not then that would help the most. I set my mill gap for barley at .030 and tighter for wheat (low to mid 20's can't recall since I now just eye it for wheat). I get 81% and higher efficiency. I double batch sparge as well.


Rev.

 

[hopsnhawks]

thanks for the feedback

I use the mill at the homebrew store which I assume is preset to their liking, there is no downside to running the grain through a second time? if so I will try that

I have been taking gravity readings and volume measurements at first runnings, preboil and post boil but have no idea how to get any meaning out of it, will delve into that Braukaiser article to see if I can learn anything

my goal this last brew was to stir vigorously when I mashed in the grains then again when I added sparge water, got a bit messy and was worried about losing heat during the process but I will work getting a good stir technique

most likely I will end up accepting my system for what it is and just ramping up the grain bill ~10% or so

 

[doug293cz]

Also, look at the dead volume in your MLT after draining. To do this, put some water in the MLT, drain the water the same way you drain wort, and measure the remaining water in the MLT. The higher the dead volume is, the lower your efficiency will be when batch sparging.

Brew on

 

[Yooper]

thanks for the feedback

I use the mill at the homebrew store which I assume is preset to their liking, there is no downside to running the grain through a second time? if so I will try that

I have been taking gravity readings and volume measurements at first runnings, preboil and post boil but have no idea how to get any meaning out of it, will delve into that Braukaiser article to see if I can learn anything

my goal this last brew was to stir vigorously when I mashed in the grains then again when I added sparge water, got a bit messy and was worried about losing heat during the process but I will work getting a good stir technique

most likely I will end up accepting my system for what it is and just ramping up the grain bill ~10% or so

Stir like it owes you money, especially when you stir in the sparge water. Then stir it a little more. Don't worry about losing heat during sparging- it doesn't matter and you can even sparge with cold water with no issues as the mash is over. Just add the sparge water, stir very thoroughly and then vorlauf and drain. The key is really getting all of the grain stirred up and thoroughly mixed.

 

[hautlle]

LHBS mills are pretty notorious for being bad. People mess with the gaps and they rarely get checked.

Either have them check and adjust the gap before milling, or run the grain through twice for a better crush.

 

[Denny]

have brewed about +10 all grain batches so far and was hoping for some advice on increasing my mash efficiency if possible

I am using a rectangular cooler with a stainless steel braid, after draining the initial mash water I add ~190 degree water, let sit 10 minutes than drain again

my volumes and temperatures have been pretty good (preboil yield ~6.5gallons) but when I plug my OG into an efficiency calculator I am consistently in the 50-55% range

I know I can just scale up the grain bill to increase my OG but are there any tips/tricks I can use with my existing equipment set up that can boost the gravity? slight sense of failure knowing I'm only getting ~1/2 the sugar out of the grain

Crush is the #1 factor in efficiency. Crush til you're scared. pH and everything else will make minor improvements, but crush is the first thing to look at.

 

[Denny]

Most likely from the crush being too coarse. Get it milled twice, or better yet, tighten the gap if you can. 0.032"-0.034" (credit card) to start with. You can go quite a bit finer even (0.028"), since you batch sparge.

Do you stir like you mean it, when first mashing in?

There's no need to let the sparge sit for 10 minutes. 3 min is plenty, after stirring well. How is the grist in the cooler after draining? it should be very damp, not wet or dripping. The bottom part will be a bit wetter.

You can try to sparge twice with half the total volume each. May get you a few more points. But again look at your crush first, that's the main cause where most points are gained.

Just for reference, I get 80-85% with double sparge. And mashing at 1.33-1.50 water to grain ratio.

You don't need to let sparge water sit at all. Just stir it in, vorlauf, and run off. And I get 85+% efficiency with a single batch sparge. FWIW, I use at least 1.65 qt./lb.

 

[IslandLizard]

Depending on how much you brew, investing in a grain mill (Monster Mill gets my vote, but there are others), and buying whole sacks of base grain, if possible in a local group/bulk grain buy, should break you even within 2 years or less. The consistency and fineness of the crush will be 2nd to none.

Any brew buddies/club around to split the mill buy, or use theirs perhaps?

If on a tight budget, a Corona (knockoff) mill can be had for $25-50. They work great too, and batch sparging is among the easiest on crush demands. Too fine almost doesn't exist.

 

[pitmaster666]

may sound silly... but propping the tail of my recrangular cooler during both runoffs bumped me 5 points. I shoulda thoughta that in the first place so I kinda felt stupid

 

[doug293cz]

may sound silly... but propping the tail of my recrangular cooler during both runoffs bumped me 5 points. I shoulda thoughta that in the first place so I kinda felt stupid

Not silly at all. For your configuration that's what minimizes residual wort in the MLT. And, you are doing the right thing by doing after each run-off. Wouldn't get nearly the efficiency bump if you only did it after the last sparge step.

Brew on

 

[histo320]

One simple change I made was by Conditioning my malt before I crushed it. My efficiency went from the 60s up to the mid 80's and it has been consistent since.

Here is a link to another thread here on HBT.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/malt-conditioning-wow-rocks-144752/

 

[chuck7]

I've also found higher water to grain ratios to help with efficiency. I usually use about 2 quarts per lb.

 

[hopsnhawks]

appreciate all the advice, here is my take home message:

-run the grain through the homebrew store mill two times and not worry about what it is set at

-stir the mash like I'm getting paid to do it

-increase my water to grain ratio from 1.5 to 1.75


will be interested to see what this does to my efficiency percentage but will stop stressing about it as long as the beer turns out fine

 

[hopsnhawks]

just an update, brewed a SMaSH before the Super Bowl, 12# of Maris Otter with Galaxy hops

ran the grain through the mill two times, used a grain ratio of 1.75 and stirred like mad during the mash multiple times

got my highest ever OG of 1.058 for an efficiency of ~70%, all other batches I calculate to be around 55% so a big improvement

appreciate all the advice, guess I should shoot for 80% now

 

[MollyHatchet]

Thanks for the update, I tightened my BC to .025-.027, and I am going to increase my ratio to 1.75 qt per lb on my mash, and I am also going to try conditioning my grain. My goal is to increase efficiency, and eliminate using rice hulls and not worrying about stuck sparges.