New Brewer Efficiency problems

[mwm5461]

Hey all,

I am a new brewer and new to the forums as well. I have done some research online to try and find ways to increase my efficiency. I just finished my fourth brew today and had another disappointing brewhouse efficiency of 50%. My previous brews have all had around the same efficiency and I was looking for helpful advice. I have included screen shots of my recipe and calculations from beersmith.

The recipe is a Sierra Nevada Clone that I got from this link: http://byo.com/recipe-exchange/item/3025-sierra-nevada-pale-ale-clone

Some things I read is to stir more and that pH could be an issue. I appreciate any additional help or feedback on improving my efficiency and brewing techniques. (Also, FYI I forgot to add my pH 5.2 stabilizer to this brew)

I also seem to have trouble reaching the a final fermentation volume of 5 gal and typically have 4.5-4.7 gallons.

Again, thank you for any help you can provide and I am excited to be a part of the home brew talk forum community.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Welcome to the forum!

One thing I would consider is how well your grain is crushed. Have your LHBS mill your grain bill a few times to make sure that it is sufficiently broken up. That way you know that you're getting the most out of your grain. Not looking to get flour but the more crush you have the more surface area for mashing.

+1 on the stirring while doughing in to make sure you don't have any dough balls. If it ain't wet, you ain't getting any sugar out of it!

A question on your mash, are you pre-heating the mash tun? If you are striking with your 163.9 degree water into a 70 degree mash tun, the grain won't end up being the right temp, due to temperature absorption by the mash tun. Pre-heating with hot water will help keep the temperature more steady.

If you are consistently ending up with less than 5 gal of wort post-boil, you may also want to adjust your BeerSmith equipment profile to have a larger boil off rate.

Hope these suggestions help!

 

[ThunderpantsBrewing]

Have you dialed in your system for Beersmith, like checking the actual amount you're boiling off? That isn't a constant. Do you crush your own grain? If not, who do you buy grain from? Also, don't use the 5.2 stabilizer! Do a search on this forum and you'll find a lot of people advising against it. I suggest using Bru'n Water to get a better idea of what is going on with your water. 5.2 Stabilizer has no idea what kind of water you're using, and it doesn't care.

 

[mwm5461]

Thank you for your advice on crushing the grains.

As far as the mash temperature goes I heat the water to the temperature calculated by BeerSmith. In the case of my brew today I heated the strike water to 168 degrees so that the mash temperature was 154 degrees.

I actually just got an 8 gallon Megapot 1.2 for Christmas so I need to retest the kettle for the BeerSmith equipment profile. Thank you for the advice on that.

I will make sure to check out Bru'n Water as well.