Efficiency of steeping/partial mashing

[mateok]

With my last extract brew, I decided to do a hybrid steep/mini-mash. 1.5 lbs of Vienna was steeped in 2 quarts of water for 60 min in 153* strike water. I then took the grain bag and dunked it in the brew kettle water to emulate the sparge. Then I continued the rest of the recipe with the extract. My OG readings suggest I achieved 80% efficiency (used a few online and spreadsheet calculators.). My question - is it possible to achieve that level of efficiency? I've read that it normally is less than 50% with steeping. Please forgive me if some of my terminology is off...I'm fairly new to this.

 

[SixFoFalcon]

With Vienna, I think 80% is theoretically possible if you are keeping it in the ideal temperature range for saccharification. I mean, that's about as high an efficiency as you can go with that malt, so conditions would need to be almost exactly right, but it's not impossible.

153° F is the strike water temp? Or is that the rest temp (after the grist is added?) If it's the former, the actual rest temperature would be considerably lower and I'd think you'd need to check your math on the efficiency. But if you're keeping it at 153° during the whole rest you could be right on.

More highly kilned malts like the higher numbered Crystal/Caramel, any of the roasts, etc. won't produce as much, if any, maltose no matter how long you "mash" them, so the efficiency numbers would be extremely low.

But malts like Vienna and Munich, while often used as "specialty" malts for their distinctive character, can indeed produce good amounts of fermentable sugars and some people use up to 100% of these malts in their all-grain batches for certain styles.

 

[Jayhem]

You can definitely hit 80% efficiency with BIAB partial mashing. I am learning that the key to high efficiency is mash temp control and most important, grain crush! My grain was being crushed too course and I could not break 60% efficiency using most 2-row base malts. I'm expecting to hit 75% eff. once I get my own grain mill and give it a finer crush.