I finally confused myself.. please help

[cpbergie]

I am trying to get my system down, and efficiency coupled with sparge water have got me confused. I use a 10 gallon rubbermaid round cooler and batch sparge.

Simple recipe. OG ~1.057
6.5 lb red wheat
4.5 lb german pilsner
.75 oz hops

Mash in - 13.75 qt
sparge - EDIT(6.03 Gal)

60 minute boil. I usually boil 8 Gallons down (18% evap or so), and end up with 5.5 Gallons in the fermentor (taking into account loss to trub and deadspace).

When ever i run this recipe through online calculators, it think its telling me to step up the grains?? Is this true and possibly a reason for some low efficiency? Not enough sparge water or needing a longer boil?

 

[drunkatuw]

I just plugged this into beersmith and got 1.057 OG (assuming 75% efficiency). Your sparge looks a little low though. Beersmith says to mashin with 13.75 qt, but batch sparge with 6 gal of water to reach a preboil volume of 8gal.

Edit: I just added your mash and sparge water and it's 8.1gal. There is no way you'll get 8gal pre-boil with 8.1 gal input. Assume about .1gal/lb for grain absorption and you have 7.1 going into the boil assuming there is no dead space in your mash tun. With the numbers from beersmith you'll be putting 9.5 gal into the mash+sparge and assuming around 1.1 gal absorbed by the grain, you have 8.6 gal going into the boil assuming you'll have some loss from trub, you'll end up close to 5.5 gal in your fermenter.

 

[cpbergie]

Thanks, i just realized i had selected a mash out by mistake.

So i guess my question is, is that enough sparge water to get enough sugars that i can actually hit 75%

 

[jdoiv]

That will depend on a number of factors. The most important of which will be your grain crush. A good crush is the key to high efficiency with a batch sparge.

Second, your water chemistry will play an important role. Use the 5.2 pH buffer if you haven't researched your local water makeup yet.

Third will be your equipment. Just using a round cooler doesn't tell us much if we don't know what kind of lauter device you are using (braid, manifold, or false bottom).

Fourth is your process. What temp will your sparge water be, how many batches will you utilize and how long will you let it rest before running off can all affect your efficiency.

If it were me and it was my first AG, I'd set the recipe down to 70% and go from there. Try brewing several similar batches to dial in your efficiency. Different grists and different target gravities will affect your efficiency. Wheat for one can cause a loss in efficiency. High gravity beers will often have lower efficiencies unless you are willing to boil for several hours.

Good luck.

 

[Bobby_M]

75 is achievable if you understand all the factors that contribute to efficiency. Check out my page.. www.suebob.com/brew/allgrain.htm

8 gallons preboil is PLENTY to hit 75% +

 

[cpbergie]

Thanks bobby, i did read that a couple times this week. I guess i didnt totally trust beersmith since it bases everything on my pre-boil volume. (i could say i loose 5 gallons to trub and it makes no adjustments except adding more sparge water). Then the online calculators we saying to add a pound of grains to compensate for something.

I plan on taking very accurate measuments with this plain grain bill, so hopefully i will help with future batches.

 

[AnonyBrew]

If you want confusion read ch. 15 in howtobrew.

 

[blacklab]

75 is achievable if you understand all the factors that contribute to efficiency. Check out my page.. www.suebob.com/brew/allgrain.htm

8 gallons preboil is PLENTY to hit 75% +

There is some incriminating evidence of Bobby holding a silver bullet in on that page!

 

[Bobby_M]

Nothing I haven't posted here blacklab... I know it's pathetic but most weddings aren't a BYOB.. lol.