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Before I started messing with mash pH, I would commonly get an efficiency of about 61-63%. After I started making mineral and acid additions, I saw a jump to 70% efficiency. My normal brew method for a 2.25 gallon batch is to mash in my 4 gallon kettle, then rinse the grains with water until I hit my volume of 3.5 gallons. That's been feeling a little tight lately, so I decided to switch it up tonight. I did a full volume mash in my 10 gallon kettle, and didn't bother to sparge/rinse. I was aiming for 3.5 gallons at 1.046 pre-boil; 70% efficiency. I just finished taking the measurements and I ended up with 4 gallons of wort at 1.047. BeerSmith is calculating that at 81%! I didn't think I'd ever see numbers like that on my current system. I've got about 40 minutes left in the boil; I'm super curious to see what all the final measurements are.
I probably should have been using the larger pot all along. Not sure why I wasn't.
Edit: just in case anyone is curious - I'm brewing up a stout that I'll be adding some coffee to at bottling time.
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by tracebusta
Finished off at 2.65 gallons at 1.061. Looking back at the recipe, it turns out I had planned for 63% efficiency, but ending the brew night I was at 70%.
I think brewing consistency is my new years resolution. Not necessarily the same recipe, but process. I've been working on that for a little while, but I really want to nail it down now.
Posted 34 days ago.
Interesting. Was this BIAB? How much time did you save not sparging?
How did you have a drop from 4 gallons @ 1.047 (188 gravity points) to 2.65 gallons @ 1.061 (161 gravity points)? It seems like you lost ~ 0.43 gallons of 1.061 wort somewhere in your system.
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by chino_brews
Consistency is the key, no doubt. I usually nail 74%-76%, and I'm quite happy with that. I'd be fine wit 70%, as long as I could count on it.
Posted 34 days ago.
Yes to BiaB. I probably only saved 10-15 minutes without sparging, but it was more about saving myself a mess to clean up. I usually put the bag on a rack above the pot and pour through that, which means that I usually have some run off go on the stove. Tonight doing it no sparge meant that I just held it up (the bag) for a couple minutes, then moved it into my smaller pot. When that cooled down a bit, I squeezed it a bit to get more wort out, then added that to the main kettle.
I guess I lost it in the boil off? I'm pretty sure I left less than 1/4 gallon of trub in the kettle after filling the fermenter. I had the kettle on two burners on full blast for an hour, so the boil was quite vigorous.
Olan - I'm also fine with whatever number I get, as long as it stays the same. I had my system tuned for 63%, but now that I'm adjust the pH it's throwing me off a bit and I'm in the 'trial and error' phase again figuring out what my new numbers are going to be.
Posted 34 days ago.
I'll bet you left almost half gallon in the kettle w/o realizing it because it was like an inch deep in a 10-gallon kettle. One of the hazards of brewing small in a big kettle. The boil wouldn't explain it because sugar doesn't evaporate at 212°F, and of course your brewhouse efficiency calculation is a ratio of extract that made it into the kettle over potential extract in the grain bill.
Posted 34 days ago.
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