Higher SG than Predicted (First All Grain Brew)

[atomicx6637]

I brewed up a 2 1/2 gallon batch of Dry Stout, took the default recipe that came with Beersmith and cut it down from 5 gallons to 2 1/2 gallons. The app called for a 1.039 SG after boil. I had a SG of 1.044. I'm just curious, does that mean I had better conversion from the grains the the 72% I put in the application?

 

[smokinj]

It means you got better efficiency, i.e. extracted more of the sugars.

 

[atomicx6637]

Is there a way to calculate your efficiency, so that I can adjust the settings in BeerSmith?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

There are efficiency calculators online like this one. Plug in your volumes and grain quanities with your gravity readings. This is generally done pre-boil and gives you an idea if you need to add more water, hops, or DME to adjust for unexpeceted efficiency.

 

[smokinj]

If you put all of your actual readings into beersmith and click ok, then click once on the recipe name (so you can see the recipe in black and white, but cant change anything), one of the lines will be 'actual efficiency'.