Efficiency woes, fooled me twice shame on me.

[JBOGAN]

So for the past one and a half years I have used a bazooka tube in my mash tun for fly sparging and at the start my efficiency was at about 59%. Switched my LHBS where I could crush my own grains and hit 65% from there on out. Last brew session I changed to a cpcv manifold and hit 80% which makes me look like a boner for not doing it sooner. Well I brewed last night and hit a whopping 53% eff... Being in a pinch for time I went back to the LHBS that crushes the grain for you and no matter how fine you tell them to adjust poor efficiency ensues.

Everything I do is plugged in to Beer Smith and written down in notes so I know that I have not lost my mind. This is the second time I went back to said shop and the second time I have lost major OG points. Lesson to the new brewer, crush and manifold set up really does make a difference on your brew rig. The SWMBO may be mad after I brew another beer within a 8 day period but I must solve this problem.

 

[jdauria]

Best way to solve LHBS crush issues, get your own mill!

 

[JBOGAN]

It is only a problem at the shop where they do it for you. Plus I have no room for storing grain which is the reason I defer from buying my own mill. If I buy anymore equipment that hoarders show might show up at my front door as well.

 

[guitarguy6]

Best way to solve LHBS crush issues, get your own mill!

Yup, I just purchased a cheap corona mill that I attached a drill to and get way better efficiency then when I would get it crushed at my LHBS. Do you stir your mash at all? Have you tried batch sparging instead of fly sparging?

 

[JBOGAN]

Yup, I just purchased a cheap corona mill that I attached a drill to and get way better efficiency then when I would get it crushed at my LHBS. Do you stir your mash at all? Have you tried batch sparging instead of fly sparging?

Never heard of not stirring and I have fly sparged from the start of going all grain. May try batch sparging sometime down the road but saving 20 to 30 minutes is not much to me, plus I enjoy fly sparging.

 

[peterj]

Yup, I just purchased a cheap corona mill that I attached a drill to and get way better efficiency then when I would get it crushed at my LHBS. Do you stir your mash at all? Have you tried batch sparging instead of fly sparging?

Yeah I just bought a corona mill and use it with my drill too. $25 on amazon.

I was having consistency issues with my LHBS too. One of the shops was all over the place. My usual one was normally pretty good, but every once in a while I'd get terrible efficiency out of nowhere. I've used my mill for my last 2 brews and it's been great. I tightened it a hair from the 1st to the 2nd and I saw a 3 point jump in efficiency. It's nice to have that kind of control.

Also just because you have a mill doesn't mean you have to store grain. I still go and buy my grain bill every time from the same LHBS. The only difference now is that I just tell them not to mill it.

 

[guitarguy6]

Never heard of not stirring and I have fly sparged from the start of going all grain. May try batch sparging sometime down the road but saving 20 to 30 minutes is not much to me, plus I enjoy fly sparging.

I meant stirring during the mash rest. For instance I usually mash for 60min and will stir at 45min, 30min and 15min. I didn't used to stir after dough in and this increased my efficiency quite a bit. For me switching from from fly sparging to batch sparging also increased my efficiency. I think that was mostly due to my mash tun not having a false bottom and the sparge water would channel through only certain parts of the mash.

 

[JBOGAN]

A few things may have happened which were out of my control.


1. poor crush
2. improper measurement of grains
3. American 2 row (asked for Weyermann )
4. Grain guy had body order that was horrid from a 14 foot distance and may describe his lack of care for others and himself.

 

[JBOGAN]

body odor not order, that would suggest hygiene.

 

[peterj]

A few things may have happened which were out of my control.


1. poor crush
2. improper measurement of grains
3. American 2 row (asked for Weyermann )
4. Grain guy had body order that was horrid from a 14 foot distance and may describe his lack of care for others and himself.

Haha, this made me "lol".

Yeah on my last brew I asked for English crystal malts but the guy gave me Briess. Really nice older guy who goes to my church though, so I just went with it. He actually makes all of our parish's communion wine.

 

[JBOGAN]

All I can do at this point is go to the shop where I can crush my own grains , set my efficiency at 80% and build up a yeast starter for say around the 65% range and have an extra pack of yeast handy if I achieve 80%. That way I will not over pitch and I can reduce the problem to my process or the store.