What the hell happened to my efficiency?!?!

[Brulosopher]

I batch sparge and usually get between 70% to 80% efficiency. I decided to try no-sparge this morning with a RyePA recipe I designed to account for the expected efficiency hit- I use BeerSmith and rather then setting my efficiency to 70%, as I usually do, I put 65%. Everything went great in terms of hitting all my temps and volumes. My expected OG was 1.067... I got 1.051... with a 16.25 lb grain bill. That's 50% efficiency. I figured no big deal, I just wouldn't no-sparge anymore. Okay...

I started by second batch (I typically brew 2 batches per brew day) and, again, everything went totally as planned. This time I did my typical batch sparge, which just felt better. I was confident all would return to normal. It didn't. For this batch, OG was expected to be 1.058, and I got 1.045, for an efficiency of 54%. Yuck!

While I initially presumed the hit to my efficiency had to do with trying a new technique (no-sparge), I was shocked to see the similar issue in my second batch. My only guess as to what would cause such a drastic change is the crush of my grain- I purchase and crush from LHBS. Might this be the case? The only thing is, I have been using the same LHBS for over a year, and this is the first time I've ever had results like this. Fortunately, Santa is bringing me a BarleyCrusher for xmas... I'm excited to see what types of differences occur when I'm crushing my own grain.

Cheers!

 

[dogbar]

Check your hydrometer

 

[bigbeergeek]

Did you change water sources?

 

[Brulosopher]

Did you change water sources?

Nope, same as always: carbon filtered municipal H2O

 

[wheels4]

Willing to bet its the crush. Same thing happened to me in the begining now I use a $20 corona Piker Mill and never have a problem 75-81 every time. The kids love to crush the grains for me so I put a drill on it for them. Dont be discouraged Im sure this is where your problem lies.

 

[wolverinebrewer]

I'm also betting it's your crush.
I have always had my LHBS crush my grains and I always have gotten 68-70%. When I asked 2 different employees how I could get better eff, one told me I batch sparge too slow and one told me my pH was off. That's funny. Last week I purchased a Cereal Killer. For my batch yesterday, I had the brew store crush for me as usual but then came home and crushed them myself slightly finer. I got 78%.

 

[bigbeergeek]

You can always run your grains through their mill twice. They might try to talk you out of it but improved efficiency is the name of the game.

 

[Brulosopher]

You can always run your grains through their mill twice. They might try to talk you out of it but improved efficiency is the name of the game.

Great idea. Thankfully, my BarleyCrusher should be here by next brew day!

The 2 beers are fermenting away as I type, so at least I got that going for me

 

[mcaple1]

definitely the crush mate

 

[Rev2010]

I did a hefeweizen 2 weeks ago with the grain purchased and crushed by Northern Brewer. It was my second AG batch but everything went perfectly that day - hit my 152 mash temp perfectly and my mash PH was 5.2. However, my efficiency was a disastrous 56%. Since then I bought a Barley Crusher Mill and just used it today on my 3rd AG batch, a Belgian Wit. I used 4.25lb 2-row, 2.25lb White Wheat, 2lb flaked wheat, and .75lb flaked oats. I only milled the 2-row and white wheat and my efficiency today was 74%, way way better than last time and just the same as last time I hit my mash temp perfectly and held it for an hour with only 1 degree loss and my mash PH this time was 5.3.

So, I think the grain mill made a huge difference. I opted to not crush the flaked grains since it's not needed though most seem to do it anyway. Probably could've scored another point or two in efficiency if I'd crushed them.


Rev.

 

[Rifester]

I recently switched to all-grain and have had stellar efficiency EXCEPT with grain milled by NB. I really like their service, but in the future I am going to request all orders double milled or I am going to purchase my own mill. My temps have been spot on and the only issue I can identify is with NB's mill... Glad I found this thread!