need some help with low effec!

[bracconiere]

i pulled 97% one batch then only 95%, now i'm consistantly only getting 92%!

i know this might not be the right forum. but anyway.

my ph probe is shot, and haven't been checking ph, think i did with the 97'r. i honestly don't know why the drop in effec. i do a two step mash for beta & alpha amylase.


i think i fell asleep for the 97 one also? think that would make a difference? i usually do draw from the mash tun and check it, until it stops going up.

 

[bracconiere]

if it helps, with my tap water and a working ph meter. i got about between 5.0-5.6 tested at mash temp. usually had the best results at 5.3...but not sure if that could throw it off by 3-5%?

and being i've been.. well would you think if it's more acidictic with my tap water, would it be better to bump it up after my beta rest for my alpha? let's be honest after 97% i'm thinking 99% is doable! BMC can eat my homebrewer ass!

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

I can't get above 72%...quit bragging and enjoy the fact that you use 30% less grain than me per batch! ::angry fist shaking::

 

[bracconiere]

I can't get above 72%...quit bragging and enjoy the fact that you use 30% less grain than me per batch! ::angry fist shaking::

this is porfessional sports! consistantly shooting 3 pointers might make you win the game, but you need the dunks!

and when i started regualarly brewing i got 62%, which is why i'm so proud now! (but still want to know how to get it to be 97% instead of 92%!)


and malting my own barley is what gave me the idea for my second alpha rest, like the old timers to even get 80% with homemalt i HAVE too! but with the pro stuff it goes off the charts!

edit: and i wouldn't worry about 72% too much, everytime i try to make "good" beer and clean and sanitize my fermenter, it's sour garbage...but damn i can make alcohol!

 

[day_trippr]

Not that I want to engage in this apparent nuttiness, but are these numbers reflecting mash efficiency, or something else?

Cheers! (Do carry on, regardless )

 

[bracconiere]

Not that I want to engage in this apparent nuttiness, but are these numbers reflecting mash efficiency, or something else?

Cheers! (Do carry on, regardless )

honestly i don't know. i just brewed a batch with 15lb's pale, 1 lb 60L, 2.5lb's white flour...got a slight bit more then 10 gallons of what read 1.059 at 85f.....and i WILL get two full 5 gallon corny's from it.....so beersmith tells me that 92% temp corrected.....now that i've come close to perfect with 97, i want more!

maybe i should try lodo, and mash in a trash compactor! and do it on my fancy scale by weight!

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

this is porfessional sports! consistantly shooting 3 pointers might make you win the game, but you need the dunks!

maybe i should try lodo, and mash in a trash compactor! and do it on my fancy scale by weight!

At first I was thinking that maybe we're just not playing in the same league. Then, I was worries we weren't even playing the same sport! But now, after reading your last response I realize you're playing a game you've made up on your own in the middle of a basketball court lol

 

[bracconiere]

But now, after reading your last response I realize you're playing a game you've made up on your own in the middle of a basketball court lol

hey the trash compactor was a serious idea! do my mash then, dump it in a trash compactor with a drain, to squeeze out the remaining wort. and i'd sparge by weight so i don't over sparge!

somebody, forget who, ask if i sparge to 1.000. i politely explained i would if i could!

something like this!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Joseph-Jos...106022?hash=item3fec94ac26:g:FdQAAOSwbs5fmXRg

 

[bracconiere]

and here is the history of my effec.
back in 2005, i sparged full open. was getting 63%, learned from the morebeer forums, sparge slow, and ph. bought a ph meter and started adjusting ph, and sparging slow which bumpped me to 83%, which i was happy with for a while.

then when i started malting, i had to do a two step mash to get decent effec, 30min at ~150f, then ramp it up to 162-163f...when i did that at first i was drawing off wort from the tun, boiling it, and adding it back until target temp. with store bought malt i'd 88%-90%. then i found out i was doing it wrong and to just scoop out the mash, malt and all, and boil that. effec jumpped to 97% first time i did that. i damn near wet myself!! but now i just get 92%, and i'm trying to figure how to duplicate that magic batch!

i am going to check the ph when i brew next week. see if that helps, even with a shot probe

the batch in question, was brewed on 9-4-20. i got 10 gallons of 1.070 wort, with 20lb's of 100% pale malt? beersmith says that's 97%...and i don't smoke pot, so i wasn't tripping!

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, mash efficiency. 97% is pretty tough to hit unless you cut losses to zilch and sparge like a madman.
What are the typical "end of runnings" on your sparge?
You don't really want to go much below 1.006 and pH 5.6 or so lest you pull silicates and tannins out of the mash...

Cheers!

 

[garzlok]

92% Mash Efficiency and you're concerned....FU and your First World Beer problems....go caress your scales!

Signed,
We The Common Folk

 

[bracconiere]

Ok, mash efficiency. 97% is pretty tough to hit unless you cut losses to zilch and sparge like a madman.
What are the typical "end of runnings" on your sparge?
You don't really want to go much below 1.006 and pH 5.6 or so lest you pull silicates and tannins out of the mash...

Cheers!

i pretty much always use 7 gallons strike water for my 10 gallon batches, and sparge with 10 gallons. but i'm thinking SERIOUSLY i already kinda do a lazy batch/fly sparge, because i'll forget to add water a couple times during the sparge and it goes dry. maybe if i could cut back on the sparge water and just squeeze the last running to get my pre-boil volume? so it'd be a triple style sparge, fly/batch/biab with a squeze! i'm starting to look around for something round, and big enough to fit in the tun, and i have some weights i can stack on top for next batch....

thanks for the unintended idea, now i need to look at the grain absorbtion rate! so i know when to stop fly sparging, and put the squeeze to it.

and @garzlok lol, you know if i can hit 97% again regularly, that's like $1 a twelver cheaper with store bought malt! and if i can dial it in, with home malt, my already cheap $8 10 gallon batches would be like $7! if that ain't me livin in the third world i don't know what is!


edit: oh and i don't really take end of runnings readings. i have a 15 gallon polar ware cheapo kettle and i just sparge till it's full, then boil it down to 10 gallons.

 

[bracconiere]

ok so i see for my next recipe beersmith i'll have about 2.25 gallons grain absorbtion. so i think i'll let it run dry, just to make me a gallon shy of a full pot, then put the squeeze to it. should be able to get that last gallon out undilluted.

 

[garzlok]

An $8-7, 10-gallon batch? 1...FFS! 2...God bless you! I love it! People ask me how much money do I save by brewing my own beer...I change the subject and start explaining that I have my Mother-in-law living with me and I like to stay hydrated and busy.

....she-aht, I think I dropped $40 in ingredients to make 5-gal of a Chocolate/Peanut Butter Stout (I like to pay the electrical bills for my LHBS)

 

[garzlok]

ok so i see for my next recipe beersmith i'll have about 2.25 gallons grain absorbtion. so i think i'll let it run dry, just to make me a gallon shy of a full pot, then put the squeeze to it. should be able to get that last gallon out undilluted.

You know...if you're serious about the squeeze....you could go to the hardware store and get a cheap 8x8" Tamper and with a steady push down.....squeeze the grains......a lot cheaper than your compactor! .....oh snap! You might be able to figure out how to turn it into a mash cap and go quasi-LODO too

 

[bracconiere]

well, this batch is cooling! it's down to 90f and at 1.057 maybe 58.......that makes the difference between 94%, or 97%...i adjusted the ph, but like just shook baking soda in to the mash. over did it, doh! but then i started adding HCl to it, and my probe finaly bit the big one, it was jumping around from 2 to 8, sometimes 5...i gave up and just said f it, let it ride....i let my fly sparge run dry couple times, and when i had about nine gallons for my pre-boil in the pot, let it run dry and put my 5 gallon bucket lid in my 10 gallon cooler on the grain. with about 30-40 pounds of weights, then with some extra help from body weight. squeezed out about .75 a gallon...it read 1.030~ at whatever temp probably 130f....then i filled the tun back up, and it took a while for the water to re saturate the grain bed but it started flowing after a while of sitting...


but man if i ONLY got 92% it'd be 1.059..if i get 94% 1.061...and if i actually pull off my 97%, at 1.062.. i'll probably start dreaming of 99%, like my old dream of 99 cent twelve packs!


(i did squeeze it again but it was only 1.000, so i figured it'd cost more to boil it down in gas price! oh and the grain bill so you can do the math if you want.

14lb's 12-13oz's pale, 1.5lb's 60L, 2lb's chocolate malt. 10 gallons into the fermenter, and will be same to kegs....


edit: well the hydro still read 1.057 at 80f...so 1.059 for the batch, damn, all the squeezing was for naught the chase continues!