Efficiency?

[freeflydude]

I've been seeing information about "efficiency" with grain brewing but nothing to explain what it is, purpose, how to determine. I've got a brew app that lists efficiency but that won't help unless I know how to use the info. Can someone help explain?

 

[WestCoastBrewmonkey]

In a nutshell, efficiency refers to how much of the potential you are getting out of your grain bill. Essentially the higher efficiency the more your equipment is getting out of your ingredients. In turn, when your set up is "dialed-in" you require less ingredients because you get the most out of them. I hope this helps.

 

[freeflydude]

It helps explain the what. How do you calculate? Is it based on the gravity of the mash after sparging?

 

[WestCoastBrewmonkey]

I use a web based efficiency calculator. It takes the ingredients in your recipie, your gravity readings and any info you have on your equipment and produces a figure as a percentage. I just started using www.brewersfriend.com which has alot of different calculators, databases, etc. It seems very user friendly so far. You could also go with brewing software. I think "Beersmith" runs around $30.

 

[Sithdad]

There are several different types of efficiency that people refer to. They are closely linked, but different in their own way.

Mash efficiency: For all-grain brewers this tells us how much of the sugar we've gotten out of the grain. You'll never get 100% outside of a lab so as close to 100% as you can get is the goal. 90% mash eff. is very good. This is nothing for extract brewers to worry about. If you don't have "How to Brew" I suggest picking up a copy. Most of the book is available online at www.howtobrew.com. This section describes how to calcualte mash efficiency. It's really pretty easy to do.

Lauter efficiency: Another all-grain only value. This tells us how much of the sugar we've left behind after mashing and sparging.

Brewhouse efficiency: This tells us how efficient we are at moving the sugar/beer from one vessel to the next. Everyone can calculate this value.

Some people stress over the numbers rather than being happy that they are consistent. I'm a consistency person. I'd rather use a little more to end up with the same product over and over. Right now I'm at 65% brewhouse efficiency and 90% mash efficiency.

 

[freeflydude]

Excellent. Thanks for the help. I didn't take any gravity readings after mashing so I'll be sure to do that next time.

 

[Sithdad]

A refractometer is very handy for taking gravity readings after mashing/lautering and before the boil. It only requires a few drops of wort instead of the 1/2 cup a graduated cylindar needs. Takes about 20-30seconds for it to cool to a temperature that it can be tested. I picked up one from ebay for ~30 shipped. Reads in Brix but that is easily converted to gravity or Plato.

 

[Beer-lord]

After trying many things mentioned, I now use this. Many swear by it but it's been pretty accurate for me.