efficiency / calibrating my set up

[fletcher]

hey guys,

hopefully this isn't too long winded, but i just wanted to make sure these calculations seem correct. i'm trying to get an idea of my efficiency and calibrating my set up so i can get more uniform brewing happening and make sure i'm on target with all my figures. if anyone is extremely bored and wouldn't mind running through them, i'd be thankful. not really concerned if no one can be bothered though so no dramas either way.

i used this website which seems pretty straight forward for calcs - http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewhouse-efficiency/

recipe was a pale ale and i BIAB. i use brewmate so my initial figures were on there for a 70% efficiency.

10L batch
2.2 kgs vienna
0.2 kgs carapils
2.4 kgs
14.1L strike water
5.89 water:grain ratio
65C mash temp

pre-boil temp - 65C
pre-boil volume - 11.5L, i then squeezed this and got to 12.5L
pre-boil gravity - 1.053 (spot on)

my loss to grain is 14.1 - 12.5 = 1.6L
my conversion efficiency - 89.8%
_______________________________________
post-boil volume - 8.5L
post-boil gravity - 1.068

my loss to evaporation is 4L, and a whopping 30% i believe? (100 - (8.5 x 100 / 12.5) = 30% (32 to be exact)
post-boil efficiency - 78.35%
_______________________________________
transfer into chill cube - 7L
added water - 10L
according to brewmate, diluted gravity = 1.048

loss to trub is 8.5 - 7 = 1.5L
_______________________________________
so brewhouse efficiency is all the losses combined (i think?) the calc worked this out as: 10L @ 1.048 which = 65%
_______________________________________

questions:

1. my loss to evaporation seems WAY too much, and i think it's because it's such a small volume at too high a heat?
2. if i lowered this heat, would this loss lessen? (i'm trying to aim to get straight to 10L into cube or as close to possible of course)
3. which of the efficiency figures then do i put into brewmate for my next brew?
4. i read thirstyboy suggest that the dilution water should be added to the pot to lessen loss to trub? so i should have added the 3L boiling water post boil into pot and not into cube?

thanks for any feedback.

fletcher.

 

[Crusty]

hey guys,

hopefully this isn't too long winded, but i just wanted to make sure these calculations seem correct. i'm trying to get an idea of my efficiency and calibrating my set up so i can get more uniform brewing happening and make sure i'm on target with all my figures. if anyone is extremely bored and wouldn't mind running through them, i'd be thankful. not really concerned if no one can be bothered though so no dramas either way.

i used this website which seems pretty straight forward for calcs - http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewhouse-efficiency/
Stick with BrewMate calculations instead of using two different sources. Chances are they will conflict with each other.

recipe was a pale ale and i BIAB. i use brewmate so my initial figures were on there for a 70% efficiency.

10L batch
2.2 kgs vienna
0.2 kgs carapils
2.4 kgs Whats this?
14.1L strike water 14.56lt
5.89 water:grain ratio 0.60
65C mash temp

pre-boil temp - 65C
pre-boil volume - 11.5L, i then squeezed this and got to 12.5L
pre-boil gravity - 1.053 (spot on)

my loss to grain is 14.1 - 12.5 = 1.6L
my conversion efficiency - 89.8%
_______________________________________
post-boil volume - 8.5L 13.2lt
post-boil gravity - 1.068

my loss to evaporation is 4L, and a whopping 30% i believe? (100 - (8.5 x 100 / 12.5) = 30% (32 to be exact) You must have a lava pot. 10% boil off is enough.
post-boil efficiency - 78.35%
_______________________________________
transfer into chill cube - 7L 8.5lt
added water - 10L
according to brewmate, diluted gravity = 1.048 1.048 undiluted

loss to trub is 8.5 - 7 = 1.5L
_______________________________________
so brewhouse efficiency is all the losses combined (i think?) the calc worked this out as: 10L @ 1.048 which = 65% ?? 10lt @1.048 = 70% efficiency.
_______________________________________

questions:

1. my loss to evaporation seems WAY too much, and i think it's because it's such a small volume at too high a heat? A rolling boil is all you need. Aim for 10% boil off.
2. if i lowered this heat, would this loss lessen? (i'm trying to aim to get straight to 10L into cube or as close to possible of course) Yes
3. which of the efficiency figures then do i put into brewmate for my next brew? If you based this recipe on 10lt @70%, you should of collected 10.4lt of total wort @1.048 OG, Less 4% for cooling = 0.4lt. You should have 8.5lt in your cube & 1.9lt left out ( 1.5lt trub + 0.4lt cooling loss )
4. i read thirstyboy suggest that the dilution water should be added to the pot to lessen loss to trub? so i should have added the 3L boiling water post boil into pot and not into cube?

thanks for any feedback.

fletcher.

I typed this recipe into Brewmate, 10lt batch @70% efficiency. I should end up with a total volume of 10.4lt.
Final Volume ( L ) = 10.4
After cooling ( 4% loss ) 10lt
Losses to trub & chiller 1.5lt
Brewhouse efficiency is then calculated on what figures you put into the Actual volume in kettle column, ( this figure is the total amount of wort you have produced, not what is going into the cube ) + the figure you put into the Actual Original Gravity column.
I do not measure anything until I cube my wort which is Brewhouse efficiency.

 

[fletcher]

thanks mate. i ran it through brewmate again but just wanted to tweak the settings:

the figures i wrote out weren't just random ones though, they were the ones i got whilst brewing - i should have said that. aka, the 30% evap etc, and the 12.5L pre-boil volume, and 1.053 pre boil efficiency were what i got while brewing the beer. the OG was supposed to be 1.053. i ended up with 1.048 @ 10L.

so what i was trying to do was figure out, using those calculations, what to put into brewmate to configure my system and work out stuff from there. eg, work out the boil off, so i could put the right evap % into brewmate, work out the absorption amounts so i could put that into brewmate, work out the losses to trub so i could put that in etc.

what you've shown me though has helped a bunch cos i can probably work out those settings now. thank you!

 

[Crusty]

thanks mate. i ran it through brewmate again but just wanted to tweak the settings:

the figures i wrote out weren't just random ones though, they were the ones i got whilst brewing - i should have said that. aka, the 30% evap etc, and the 12.5L pre-boil volume, and 1.053 pre boil efficiency were what i got while brewing the beer. the OG was supposed to be 1.053. i ended up with 1.048 @ 10L.

so what i was trying to do was figure out, using those calculations, what to put into brewmate to configure my system and work out stuff from there. eg, work out the boil off, so i could put the right evap % into brewmate, work out the absorption amounts so i could put that into brewmate, work out the losses to trub so i could put that in etc.

what you've shown me though has helped a bunch cos i can probably work out those settings now. thank you!

Put your batch size in @10lt, set up losses to trub & chiller @1.5lt & back that boil off to around 10%+.
Set efficiency to 70% & grain absorption to 0.60.
Fiddling with the boil off percentage will just adjust your strike in water volume so if you think you are getting 15% boil off, set that in there & see what volume you actually end up with including trub at the end of next brew day.
Put the new value in for next time & your numbers should be pretty much spot on.
I set BrewMate up @80% & usually end up a tad over, 81% so pretty close. My last brew was supposed to be 23lt @1.054 & I got 23lt @1.055, so 81%. This 23lt batch is 20lt into my cube, 3lt loss to trub & chiller & 4% cooling loss = 1lt ( 24lt collected no chill @1.055. )
To calculate that as brewhouse efficiency, I put 23lt into the Actual volume in kettle column ( 20 + 3 + 1lt coolong loss = 24lt collected) & my measured Actual original gravity.

 

[BobtheBrewer]

I'd be looking at how you squeeze the bag. I can end up with less than 1 litre left in 4.5 - 4.8 kg of grain. My worst ever absorption rate was around 0.4, can't explain that but shit happens. Average is 0.35 or less. Ref squeezing the bag, start at the top, you need to get rid of the liquid sitting on top of the grain and then work your way down. Get a good pair of rubber gloves so that you don't burn your fingers!

 

[fletcher]

thanks mate. looks like it'll be my next purchase haha