Efficiency still in the crapper

[mr_wibble]

I think the crush looks good - husks aren't too torn up, and the endo-thingies are broken up nicely. I assume there is some flour at the bottom? Make sure you add this to the mash.

Was your mash temp 78°C or was that a typo? Most single infusion mashes are in the 65-69°C range. Some people stir once through the mash, but don't do any more than this as you will lose heat each time you open the lid - this includes each time you check your temp with a thermometer.

Your sparge water should be 75-80° ideally. The only, single function of this is to transport the sugars out of the mash tun and into your boiler. Hot is good as it thins everything out and makes it easier to drain. You will notice if you drain too quickly, as the grain bed starts to compact and the flow slows right down, with the wort only going through the path of least resistance. You basically have you play it by ear and just monitor your grain bed - you can always try to flow quickly and see what happens if you really want.

There was a little bit of flour ... bugger all really, but the whole lot went in.

Yeah, the mash temp was 68C ... I can't edit the post now, *sigh*.

thanks,
-kt

 

[Adr_0]

There was a little bit of flour ... bugger all really, but the whole lot went in.

Yeah, the mash temp was 68C ... I can't edit the post now, *sigh*.

thanks,
-kt

You could go finer in the crush then, and in hindsight you have some headroom on the husks to go finer. That will probably help, I have definitely gone a lot finer than that without issue on a similar setup I have for my pilot batches (the false bottoms work well).

I would hazard a guess that your lautering efficiency is 100% fine - nothing more to do there, but...

Your iodine test still looks to have a lot of starches in it. Is your pH really 4.6-4.8? Tank water probably is great water for brewing, but needs hardness in the form of calcium carbonate and a bit of calcium sulphate. Try EZ water or Braukaiser's water calculator.

Otherwise, how are you calculating your efficiency? Your efficiency cannot change when you stop sparging and have your preboil as you are not changing sugar content past this, but your brewing numbers can look like it one of the following is off:
- Leftover volume from trub/hops is too high
- Boiloff is off (if it's too high the SG ends up about right but volume is too low, disguising lower mash efficiency)
You should change these numbers to get the right volume/SG in your beer design once you have measured your mash efficiency (conversion + lauter) and input this into the software. Don't change the efficiency to get these numbers to look correct.

Good luck...

 

[Adr_0]

actually... did you add anything to get pH 4.6 or was that just the mash pH?

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Nothing wrong with a 68% efficiency. What was your mash PH? I'm guessing that photo of PH 4.6 is your rain water?

 

[mr_wibble]

actually... did you add anything to get pH 4.6 or was that just the mash pH?

No, didn't adjust the water.
That was the mash pH.

I assume the water pH is 7, the only minerals it would get is dust off the roof.

 

[Spiesy]

I get around three "pellets" per session in the crapper.

 

[Adr_0]

Where do you live? Apparently rainwater can be quite acidic. Don't live near a power station do you?

The mash pH it slightly outside the ideal 5.2-5.5 range and would also be lacking calcium. The pH means that the enzymes just work slower, and the calcium has a number of carry-on effects including clarity, hop utilisation, yeast health and wort fermentability... apparently.

Regardless, the iodine test seems to show starch still. Can you do a hardness and alkalinity test on your water? Probably very very low and I would say you need to put in some calcium carbonate to help buffer the pH (keep it stable) and potentially some calcium sulphate for more calcium and to prevent the beer being too 'soft'.

Just further on what I said previously, I would say your lauter effieincy is very good. I only do a single sparge and get 74-78% fairly consistently. Efficiency is not a measure of self-worth, but you might as well get some value out of your grains and then figure out what works for you process-wise and what gives you the most consistency.

 

[Adr_0]

I get around three "pellets" per session in the crapper.

What does that put your efficiency at?

 

[billygoat]

No, didn't adjust the water.
That was the mash pH.

I assume the water pH is 7, the only minerals it would get is dust off the roof.

Rain water absorbs CO2 as its falling which drops the pH. I have three different tanks and they each have different pH readings and they also vary on the amount of rain we've had and how long since it rained. I always use the same tank as its cleaner water being further away from trees etc. Over the last couple of years I have measured it each brewday and it has ranged from 5.5 to a touch over 6. Even though it varies a bit, my mash pH is more effected by the grains used and the salts I've added.

 

[Adr_0]

Rain water absorbs CO2 as its falling which drops the pH. I have three different tanks and they each have different pH readings and they also vary on the amount of rain we've had and how long since it rained. I always use the same tank as its cleaner water being further away from trees etc. Over the last couple of years I have measured it each brewday and it has ranged from 5.5 to a touch over 6. Even though it varies a bit, my mash pH is more effected by the grains used and the salts I've added.

What would be an example of added salts for a pale ale? Do you get much joy with calcium carbonate or does bicarb soda work better?

 

[billygoat]

What would be an example of added salts for a pale ale? Do you get much joy with calcium carbonate or does bicarb soda work better?

I add my salts to the total water (mash and sparge) in the HLT, usually 44 litres which leaves some left over at the end of the sparge depending on brew length, boil time etc. The additions for an American Pale Ale would typically be 14g of Gypsum, 4g of CaCl2 and 5g of MgSO4.
I have tried chalk and sodium chloride but don't bother now.
For other styles I change it up a bit and reduce the Gypsum and up the CaCl2.
If using only Pilsner malt I have just started adding some acidulated malt to the grist as my pH was closer to 6 when pilsner only.