Poor Efficiency- Maybe a process issue?

[dhoyt714]

Just finished brewing a red ale yesterday, that I was really excited to brew. I have been getting varied brewhouse efficiencies on my last 3 brews but this was just bad, a mere 60.45%.

Here's my process:
Mashed in with 3.66 gallons of water for 60 minutes. I batch sparged so I drained the whole thing and added 4.41 gallons of water heated to 174. I stir vigorously throughout the process. I use a stainless steel braid in the bottom of a 5 gallon cylinder cooler and I think their may be some channeling issues going on. The crush of the grain seemed fairly well so I don't think this is a culprit.

My questions are if the stainless braid is indeed coming off of the bottom will this cause this sort of problem? Should I make it shorter?

I thought about getting a 10 gallon rectangular cooler and building a manifold out of pvc.

Or maybe making a shorter stainless braid?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DocScott]

Do you mill your own grain? Even though you said you think its ok, that would be the first thing I'd look into with efficiency that low. If you mill it, what's your gap setting? If you get it milled by the LHBS, maybe ask them to double mill your next batch and see if it helps.

Can you post your grain bill? My initial impression of your volumes is that they seem backwards to me. The volume of water in the mash seems very low to me (but this depends on the grain bill) and your sparge volume is a bit high. If your water to grain ratio is off, that could lead to worse extraction and lessened efficiency (basically you're leaving too much sugar behind). You can take a gravity reading of the second/third runnings to see if this is the case.

Third issue could be channeling, but as long as you're stirring well before lautering and the grain bed sets well, this shouldn't account for the loss in efficiency you are experiencing.

 

[dhoyt714]

I dont mill my own grains I use the hand crank one at the LHBS and it always seems like a good crack. You can see the white on the inside of the hull.

THe grain bill is

8- Maris Otter
1-Crystal 60
.5-Cara Amber
.5-Cara-Stan
.5-Cara Pils
.5-Meladonien

I use brew 365 with the mash thickness at 1.33.
I feel like I never really get a good grain bed as well, almost like all the grain is suspended during the batch sparge.

 

[dobe12]

Efficiency problems are very often resolved by a better crush. Try to get a slightly finer crush or double crush. You could also try a slightly thinner mash.

 

[dhoyt714]

I still have the spent grains. Ill go take a picture.

 

[dhoyt714]

Here's the pic.

 

[dobe12]

Here's the pic.

If I'm seeing it right, that's a terrible crush. Crush is honestly the first and easiest place to start with efficiency issues. Try and get your grain crush somewhere else if possible. Or ask your LHBS for a finer crush or at the very least a double crush. See what you get.

 

[dhoyt714]

Very good point. The closest store to my house sells most of the grains un-crushed. But, he has a hand cranked mill that I thought worked well and that is how I crushed the grains.

I might just start going back to the one that is near my brother in-laws a half hour away always had great luck there.

Thanks again.

 

[dhoyt714]

Another thing I did notice is that my first runnings was 2.3 gallons and by my math that would be .5 gallons over what it should have been probably due to the poor crush.

 

[dobe12]

The more I look at that pic, the more I think it's the crush. There are a lot of whole kernels in there. If you go back to that place again, run some grain through his mill and show him. If there are whole kernels ask him to adjust the gap. If he won't, go somewhere else.

And another option, you can buy your own mill. I have a Cereal Killer. Only $100 and shipped free. I BIAB so I can crush pretty fine and not worry about stuck mash/sparges. With my new mill I'm getting 80-85% efficiency.

Good luck

 

[Yooper]

It's hard to tell in the photo, but that looks like a terrible crush!

Here's a photo I just find online of a decent crush: http://foodnbeer.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/crushed-barley.jpg

 

[dhoyt714]

Thanks yooper. I need to find a great lhbs that has a decent crush. My tiny apartment can't fit a grain mill.

 

[dobe12]

Thanks yooper. I need to find a great lhbs that has a decent crush. My tiny apartment can't fit a grain mill.

I live in a small condo and have one. They aren't big. I keep mine in the box it came in. It's maybe 18" square.

 

[dhoyt714]

Thanks for the info dobe12. $100 really isnt that much and it would alleviate alot of problems in the future.

 

[DocScott]

Thanks for posting the picture. Your poor efficiency is definitely your crush. I stole this picture off of google as a comparison (as I don't have any of my own handy right now)

Try crushing your own or double milling through the LHBS. If they won't allow you to do this, maybe try another shop or ask someone else local that can help. Getting a better crush alone will dramatically help your %.

 

[dhoyt714]

Thanks for the reply doc Scott. Now that just looks sweet!


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