Suthrncomfrt1884
Well-Known Member
So, I brewed what was supposed to be a traditional Bock on friday. I hit all of my temps perfectly and it turned out to be a great brew day. The only issue is that my efficiency seems to be 90% when I normally hit about 75-80%.
I did change a few things compared to my normal brewing procedures, but I'm not convinced these changes could lead to a 10-15% increase.
Here's what I changed:
1. I used all store bought RO water instead of tap water. I had been noticing an odd bitterness on the backend of all my beers, so I thought I'd start with a good water base to see if helped.
2. I used a step mash schedule of 122-140-156 with 30 minute rests at each step instead of my typical single infusion mash for 60 minutes. I knew the increase in mash time would help a bit, but I don't think it could help this much. Because of this mash schedule, I also sparged with less water than usual.
3. I recently discoved that I had been using my manifold the wrong way in my mashtun. I had the slots pointing up in the past, but have since switched them so they face down.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to take pre-boil gravity readings since my hydrometer tube is broken and my kettle is too shallow to get a reading. Because of this, I'm basing my efficiency on my post-boil/pre-pitching gravity. Beertools told me my recipe should have been about 1.064 w/ 75% efficiency. I ended up with 1.080 as a starting gravity. Instead of a Bock, I suppose I created a Dopplebock.
Any thoughts on why my efficiency increased so much?
I did change a few things compared to my normal brewing procedures, but I'm not convinced these changes could lead to a 10-15% increase.
Here's what I changed:
1. I used all store bought RO water instead of tap water. I had been noticing an odd bitterness on the backend of all my beers, so I thought I'd start with a good water base to see if helped.
2. I used a step mash schedule of 122-140-156 with 30 minute rests at each step instead of my typical single infusion mash for 60 minutes. I knew the increase in mash time would help a bit, but I don't think it could help this much. Because of this mash schedule, I also sparged with less water than usual.
3. I recently discoved that I had been using my manifold the wrong way in my mashtun. I had the slots pointing up in the past, but have since switched them so they face down.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to take pre-boil gravity readings since my hydrometer tube is broken and my kettle is too shallow to get a reading. Because of this, I'm basing my efficiency on my post-boil/pre-pitching gravity. Beertools told me my recipe should have been about 1.064 w/ 75% efficiency. I ended up with 1.080 as a starting gravity. Instead of a Bock, I suppose I created a Dopplebock.
Any thoughts on why my efficiency increased so much?
