Hit 90 % efficiency today and chilled in 12 minutes !!! BAIB

[ShakerD]

I changed the setting on my barley crusher to the smallest setting. .015 according to their website, I don't have a feeler gauge. It took forever to crush the grain and it came out like flour.

I did my usual BIAB 12 gallon starting at 159 degrees. I had to mash in really really really slowly to avoid dough balls and stir the heck out of it. Mash temp 150 for 90 min. I dunk sparged three times topped up to 13 gallons and cranked up the heat to boil for 60 min.

In the end I add a bit more water to top up to 12 gallons. Checked the OG and according to Beer Smith it's 90%+ efficiency.

I am a skeptic so I saved the sample and I am going to leave it for a couple of hours to check it again. Basically I can't believe my eyes.

I did taste the spent grain and it wasn't sweet at all. First time that's ever happened for me.

On a side note my brand new 50' 3/8 SS chiller with the help of my 39 degree water took the wort from boiling to 65 in 12 minutes. LOL I was shocked!

DOUBLE WOW TODAY!!!

Cheers

 

[paraordnance]

Congrats with your results fellow Albertan brewer! I have a hard time getting past 73% mark with my BIAB so far but I was a little scared to grind my grains too much, so I have to experiment a little more. By the way, your efficency numbers might be a little off. I noticed that every time when I had to use top up water, it doesn't mix very well right away but still, even at 80-85% is still impressive!
Did you build a IC yourself? Where did you get 50' of copper? Home Depot only sells 25' coils, I might check local plumbing outlets to get something similar. Have plans to build one next week.
Hey, stay home & warm tonight, expecting 25 cm of snow in southern Alberta. Gotta love that

 

[roadymi]

We use soft copper for plumbing household propane systems. We get 1/2" in 50' coils and 3/8" in 100' coils. Check with a good plumbing supply place.

 

[iijakii]

I'm subscribing to this thread, please remember to tell us your yeast attenuation and how it tastes

 

[ShakerD]

Congrats with your results fellow Albertan brewer! I have a hard time getting past 73% mark with my BIAB so far but I was a little scared to grind my grains too much, so I have to experiment a little more. By the way, your efficency numbers might be a little off. I noticed that every time when I had to use top up water, it doesn't mix very well right away but still, even at 80-85% is still impressive!
Did you build a IC yourself? Where did you get 50' of copper? Home Depot only sells 25' coils, I might check local plumbing outlets to get something similar. Have plans to build one next week.
Hey, stay home & warm tonight, expecting 25 cm of snow in southern Alberta. Gotta love that

Lol you weren't kidding about the snow!

I checked the SG again this morning after a night in the fridge and the wort is crystal clear. Every bit of cloudiness has settled to a layer on the bottom of the mug. I was very careful to only measure the clear wort. The gravity changed 0.001 which changed the efficiency to 90%. According to beer smith it was actually 92 before but I didn't think anyone would believe me so I dropped it to 90 lol. I was so impressed by how clear it is was I drank it lol. Changing to voile fabric was a good idea. I forgot to mention I forgot the whirlfloc... again.

The wort chiller I bought was this one.

Super Efficient 50' Stainless Steel Wort Chiller

I am Captain DIY but when I priced everything out and with the dollar at par it was just easier and the same price to buy one. Plus I wanted one made out of stainless steel. The shipping was 10 days inclusive and came xpresspost.

 

[jaginger]

I checked the SG again this morning after a night in the fridge and the wort is crystal clear. Every bit of cloudiness has settled to a layer on the bottom of the mug. I was very careful to only measure the clear wort. The gravity changed 0.001 which changed the efficiency to 90%. According to beer smith it was actually 92 before but I didn't think anyone would believe me so I dropped it to 90 lol.

i believe you for sure. i BIAB and, with a fine crush, i have been over 90% every single time. I couldn't believe it either, but 5+ times in a row confirms it for me.

 

[cyberwollf]

I Just started BIAB too. Any worries of astringency and Tannins from such a fine crush on the husks?

Might have to crank my BC down next time.

 

[ShakerD]

I Just started BIAB too. Any worries of astringency and Tannins from such a fine crush on the husks?

Might have to crank my BC down next time.

I was wondering about that as well. Maybe jaginger can answer that for us.

The airlock is just purring away and the krausen looks great.

 

[jaginger]

I've had very little astringency/tannins. I should add that my crush has a bit of flour, but not all of it.

I am actually going to back off the crush just slightly, as i don't think i need 92% efficiency to make good beer, and i don't want to take the chance. So I'm shooting for still a very fine crush, just on the edge of starting to make flour.

If it was all flour, I think you could get some off flavors. I've never had it crushed quite that fine.

 

[wildwest450]

I changed the setting on my barley crusher to the smallest setting. .015 according to their website, I don't have a feeler gauge. It took forever to crush the grain and it came out like flour.

Not really a great idea. High efficiency does not equal good beer.


_

 

[ShakerD]

Not really a great idea. High efficiency does not equal good beer.


_

I agree it doesn't equal good beer but it doesn't necessarily equal bad beer.

Take a look at this wiki

Evaluating the Crush

19 mil / 0.48mm

At a much tighter setting (19 mil / 0.48 mm), the same mill will produce considerably more flour and shredded husks. While the efficiency is significantly increased, the lauter may not run as easily and may even get stuck if the allowed run-off speed is to fast. As long as the mash and lauter pH are well below 5.8, no significant tannin extraction should be expected even though more of the husks have been shredded. The increased brewhouse efficiency makes this the crush of choice for many brewers

In retrospect I may have been hasty in saying that the crush came out like flour. I think cornmeal or coarse ground flour would have been a better descriptor although there definitely was flour there.

If you worried that tannins might be extracted that is possible but jaginger has just confirmed that he hasn't had the issue doing something similar.

Tannin extraction seems to be more dependent on ph and I have see several threads considering it a "Boogeyman" Along with HSA and squeezing the bag.

 

[ShakerD]

**UPDATE**

So last weekend my lazy butt finally got around to kegging the two batches that I made on the original post day and the following day.

The beers are clear and tasty. I didn't notice any off flavors. I forced carbed and quick chilled the beers for a sample.

Since then I have brewed a few more batches and I have sampled the wort every time. No tannin extraction that I can taste.

I haven't actually achieved 90%+ in the last 3 batches since this one. However using what I have learned here I have developed my process so that it is simple and consistent so that I know what the result is going to be. A consistent 88%

The different in efficiency between the 88% and 90% in only a few efficiency points and really translates to a insignificant savings as far as cost is concerned. I am more focused on making a consistent product and developing my recipes to their fullest potential.

Cheers!

 

[Golddiggie]

That is good to hear.. 88% efficiency is pretty fracken sweet... I've been hitting 78-82% with BIAB using grains milled to .039"... I do have a set of feeler gauges, so I might set my BC up for a finer crush next time I do a BIAB batch...

I need to dial in my MLT cooler before that though. If I can get 75% or better, regularly, I'll be happy. If I can get over 80% I'll be really happy... Above that, and I'll need a few batches to confirm it before posting...

A few extra minutes milling grain to get better use, is time well spent... Especially since that means you could get more brews per sack of grain.

 

[jaginger]

BIAB is very easy, no doubt. Golddiggie, hope you are putting that group buy grain to use!

I think you can go with a finer crush for sure, but 80% is pretty efficient anyway. I think my crush is in the .027 neighborhood, have to check again tonight to be sure.

 

[Golddiggie]

Golddiggie, hope you are putting that group buy grain to use!

Used some (~23#) for a 10 gallon honey cream ale on 2/26, and will be using more this Thursday for a EESB (working name of 'Double Tap', and I'm not talking about keg taps here)... After Thursday's brew day, I plan to vacuum pack the rest of that sack (~20# left by then)...

Once I've moved into a new place (larger and more home brewing friendly) I plan on spacing out what I have left to lat the better part of the year. That way, I'll have enough left by the time we do the next large grain buy... OR, I'll just order up more during the next one (when I can) and store it...