Hows my first time efficiency?

[Walking_Target]

My first bre was a 5.4 gallon finished volume wit an sg of 1.061@ about 120*f.

I think this works out to about 1.068 at room temp.

This was 11# of canadian 2-row and 1# light munich.

Ive run a rough calc and gotten 83% brewhouse efficiency... can anyone more experienced verify this? About 0.5 gallon system and trub loss...

Thanks!

 

[bierandbikes]

I'll have to run the numbers, but that is pretty awesome efficiency for your first AG brew. I think my first few were in the 55% range. I am consistently in the 70-80% range now. I would say that there are many other variables such as mash temp, technique, sparge, etc.

Good job.

 

[Walking_Target]

Reran my numbers. Ended up with 5.4 gallons @ 1.61 out of 11# of 2-row and 1# of Light Munich. I overcompensated on the gravity temperature correction.

Still, 78% is not a bad number for my first time doing a full all grain. I think I've squared away where I need to improve too; think I didn't let the first sparge sit long enough, so it didn't dissolve as much of the sugars as it could have.

 

[schematix]

When I did my first all grain batch I was targeting a 1.075 IPA. I based my grain quantities on what a lot of people seem to indicate was decent for a 1st time all grain batch: 75%.

I have still to this day never see a hydrometer float so high. I had hit 1.090, making for a first time efficiency of 90%. I still hit within a few percent of that on every batch.

I run 10G batches, and do a continuous sparge at 1 Qt/min so it takes almost an hour to run off a batch. That seems to make a big difference vs 5G brewers.

 

[Clonefan94]

Your numbers high or low don't matter as much as being able to hit that percent every time. My first AG % was crazy low, my second was high, mid 80s. Since then I've figured out my system and hit 75% + or - a % every time. This allows me to construct my recipes accordingly.

If you can hit that every time, that's awesome, but the big key is to find a consistent efficiency.

 

[Walking_Target]

Hey, if I can squeeze a few extra percent points out and get an 80% efficiency off of my next batch, I'll be one happy camper.

I'll add that I have pretty ideal brewing water to start, to this batch I added 1/2 tsp of burton salts to help with the bittering. my tapwater is pretty good for most brewing, but i find that hoppy beers end up tasting one dimensional without a little extra assistance.

Next batch is going to be an english-stye or wheat beer without modifying the water to start, so I'm going to see if that helps overall efficiency.