Efficiency Difference Between Mo And Jw Tade Ale

[jonw]

I've been using Maris Otter as my base malt in the majority of my brews for quite a while. This weekend I made an American Brown using Joe White Traditional Ale as the base. My efficiency is usually a little over 80%, but this time it was 70%. Should I expect less extraction from the JW malt, or do I have another problem?

Cheers,

Jon

 

[mika]

I'd suggest another problem, unless the JW was really really old.

 

[PostModern]

MO tends to be composed of fatter berries than Aussie malting barley. Did you adjust your mill?

 

[Ronin]

I've been using Maris Otter as my base malt in the majority of my brews for quite a while. This weekend I made an American Brown using Joe White Traditional Ale as the base. My efficiency is usually a little over 80%, but this time it was 70%. Should I expect less extraction from the JW malt, or do I have another problem?

Cheers,

Jon

I asked a similar question a year or so ago

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...c=23618&hl=

I think the general opinion was that the crush during milling has more of an effect on efficiency, and that different malts may need different mill settings to crack efficiently.

James

 

[jonw]

MO tends to be composed of fatter berries than Aussie malting barley. Did you adjust your mill?

I buy my malt ready-crushed from the LHBS. It did look a little coarser than usual (i.e. less flour, more cracked but not crushed grains)

Ronin, That was an interesting thread.

I guess I'll just have to ask the LHBS to use a fairly fine crush in future.

Thanks for your input guys.

Jon

 

[NeilArge]

I buy my malt ready-crushed from the LHBS. It did look a little coarser than usual (i.e. less flour, more cracked but not crushed grains)

Ronin, That was an interesting thread.

I guess I'll just have to ask the LHBS to use a fairly fine crush in future.

Thanks for your input guys.

Jon

Hi jonw

FWIW, I've noticed the same issue in switching from MO and JWM and can just confirm that, having screwed my mill down a fraction for the smaller grain of JWM, I'm back to 75-80% efficiency.

Cheers

ToG

 

[T.D.]

Yeah the crush sounds like the culprit there. I have always used JW malts and never had any appreciable difference in efficiency compared to MO.

The grain size comment is a good one though. Particularly during the recent drought period I noticed an increase in the variability of grain size in domestic malts. MO is always quite even. So it may be a generally courser crush, but it may also be a more uneven crush. Both can result in a fall in efficiency.

 

[warra48]

My experience seems to be diametrically opposite.

Brewed an English Old Ale yesterday, 92% of the grist was Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter. 82% efficiency into the fermenter.
Brewed a similar beer in Jan this year, again 92% TF MO. 81% efficiency into the fermenter.
With other malts, such as Bairds Pale , Bairds Golden Promise, or Weyermann Premium Pilsner etc, I normally get into the low 90% range into the fermenter.

I don't know the answer. I do nothing different with my mash compared to other brews. My MillMaster is set at about 1.1 mm, and never varies from brew to brew. I hand crank my mill, so it's nothing to do with speed etc.

One of the imponderables of craft brewing. I think I need a beer.

 

[captaincleanoff]

yeah, I also noticed the opposite

I usually use JW malts, which crush quite fine through my Barley Crusher mill

last week I used MO malt instead, and the crush was noticeably courser.

I didn't get the efficiency I normally get with JW malts

 

[Fourstar]

Ive noticed stuff all difference using JW Ale, pils, Bairds MO and Simpsons MO with my Mash Eff bieng within 2-3% points.

Definitly something else playing a-part. Standard grsit size? Mash length? Mash Temp? Lautering differently/faster? These are the major facotrs in mash efficiency. I highly doubt its your crush.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

could simply be a difference in the extract potential of the grains - those different malts from those different countries and different maltsters - no reason why their extract percentages should all be the same. Or their DPs, or their moisture content

You just cant tell unless you have the specs for each particular batch of malt.

I guess the crush thing - Aussie malts have been a bit thin and variable the last couple of years because of the drought - whereas the 2008 British barley crop was of excellent quality and the grains are probably plumper and choc full of lovely starch