SpanishCastleAle
Well-Known Member
Saturday I brewed an Oatmeal Stout with the following grain bill (this is a 6 gal. batch):
8# Maris Otter
1# Roasted Barley
1# Crystal 60L
1# Flaked Oats
then I added .25# Molasses well into the boil (so the Molasses was NOT in my preboil gravity reading but WAS in my OG reading).
When I took my preboil/mash gravity reading I got 1.042 in 7.75 gallons. But then my OG was only 1.052 in 6 gallons (remember this number has the Molasses where the preboil gravity reading does NOT have it). So it looks like my Mash Efficiency is ~81% but my Brewhouse Efficiency is only ~76%.
My question is where is this efficiency going? This recipe used 2 oz. of whole hops so I assume all the wort that they absorb is one place I'm losing efficiency. But where else? I must admit that between the inaccuracy if gravity readings and volume measurements that there could be efficiency 'losses' there.
FWIW, I did a Glucan rest but still had a slow-ish sparge...not stuck but slow to the point that the grain bed couldn't 'keep up' with the usual flow rate. But I went from mash out to boil in about an hour so nothing bad. I usually do 5 gal. batches so this was a little more grain than I'm used to...plus the gummy Oats.
8# Maris Otter
1# Roasted Barley
1# Crystal 60L
1# Flaked Oats
then I added .25# Molasses well into the boil (so the Molasses was NOT in my preboil gravity reading but WAS in my OG reading).
When I took my preboil/mash gravity reading I got 1.042 in 7.75 gallons. But then my OG was only 1.052 in 6 gallons (remember this number has the Molasses where the preboil gravity reading does NOT have it). So it looks like my Mash Efficiency is ~81% but my Brewhouse Efficiency is only ~76%.
My question is where is this efficiency going? This recipe used 2 oz. of whole hops so I assume all the wort that they absorb is one place I'm losing efficiency. But where else? I must admit that between the inaccuracy if gravity readings and volume measurements that there could be efficiency 'losses' there.
FWIW, I did a Glucan rest but still had a slow-ish sparge...not stuck but slow to the point that the grain bed couldn't 'keep up' with the usual flow rate. But I went from mash out to boil in about an hour so nothing bad. I usually do 5 gal. batches so this was a little more grain than I'm used to...plus the gummy Oats.