Enoggera Qld Water

[egolds77]

Hi

I moved to Enoggera, Brisbane at the beginning of the year. Since then I've brewed 2 AG beers and found my efficency to be lower than usual by about 5-8 points, enough to annoy me when I'm aiming for 5% and getting 4.5% etc.

Has anyone experienced something similar after moving and brewing with different water supply and found out what it was?

 

[thesunsettree]

Hi

I moved to Enoggera, Brisbane at the beginning of the year. Since then I've brewed 2 AG beers and found my efficency to be lower than usual by about 5-8 points, enough to annoy me when I'm aiming for 5% and getting 4.5% etc.

Has anyone experienced something similar after moving and brewing with different water supply and found out what it was?

mate,
dont live there so cant really help but mel at ur lhbs (which is in ennogera) might be able to help

cheers
matt

 

[Julez]

Hi

I moved to Enoggera, Brisbane at the beginning of the year. Since then I've brewed 2 AG beers and found my efficency to be lower than usual by about 5-8 points, enough to annoy me when I'm aiming for 5% and getting 4.5% etc.

Has anyone experienced something similar after moving and brewing with different water supply and found out what it was?

I live up the road in Alderley. I have made a couple of calls in the past to the BCC, and apparently our supply comes from Mt Crosby. See this link for a water report, though it is a bit out of date! http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/bccwr/lib16...ity_results.pdf

Hope this helps...

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[egolds77]

Thanks, I have been getting my supplies from Mel at
my local so will have a chat next time.

 

[thesunsettree]

Thanks, I have been getting my supplies from Mel at
my local so will have a chat next time.

sweet,

she seems like a cool chick, met her the frist time today at the wacol store. how good is a chick that - A likes beer, - B makes beer B) . she seems quite knowlegable so hopefully can help.
by the way i live at karalee which is mt crosby water supply, did my first ag/partial last weekend and got 71% efficiency, dont know if this is informative to ur situation.

 

[egolds77]

Brewing a Vienna today and the efficency has come out at around 62%, 11% less than 6 months ago when I lived in Sydney. The only thing that has changed with my setup has been the water supply and my local home brew store and their supply of grain and the cracking of it.

Last night I boiled my HLT water and let it cool for this morning. My mash pH was 5.4 and the grain tasted spent (very little or no sugar) after I sparged. I'm starting to think it may be the grain just not containing less starch than normal or something along those lines.

What do people think?

 

[Julez]

Brewing a Vienna today and the efficency has come out at around 62%, 11% less than 6 months ago when I lived in Sydney. The only thing that has changed with my setup has been the water supply and my local home brew store and their supply of grain and the cracking of it.

Last night I boiled my HLT water and let it cool for this morning. My mash pH was 5.4 and the grain tasted spent (very little or no sugar) after I sparged. I'm starting to think it may be the grain just not containing less starch than normal or something along those lines.

What do people think?

Sounds odd - I don't think it would be the water though, as I consistently get 85%+ efficiency using the same water. I do run my water through a carbon filter and I used grains pre-cracked by Craftbrewer. I usually add a small quantity of CaSo4 and/or CaCl to most batches too, depending on the style. Very consistent every batch. Is there nothing else you have changed in your setup, Elton?

Actually, at what stage of the process and how are you measuring your efficiency? If you are measuring post-boil, you might find that your problem is the climate. More humidity in Bris means less evaporation in the boil and a less concentrated wort. Of course, your efficiency calcs should be related to volume, but it may explain the lower than anticipated alcohol content. Boiling longer will help this, of course.

 

[shawnheiderich]

I know that Mel is after a new mill for the shop, I crush my grain at home and get better efficency than from the store, not having a crack (pun intended) at Mel (moonshadow on here) but I think there may need to be a mill upgrade at her store. I am just putting it out there that the crush may be different from your last HB shop.

And yep Mel is great, one of the best people I have met working behind a counter at HB store. Great at her job and I enjoy going in there for a chat. Some HB shops have a less than stellar reputation on here but I would back any brewer to go to her shop and learn a bit from her.

Shawn

edit: spelling

 

[thesunsettree]

Brewing a Vienna today and the efficency has come out at around 62%, 11% less than 6 months ago when I lived in Sydney. The only thing that has changed with my setup has been the water supply and my local home brew store and their supply of grain and the cracking of it.

Last night I boiled my HLT water and let it cool for this morning. My mash pH was 5.4 and the grain tasted spent (very little or no sugar) after I sparged. I'm starting to think it may be the grain just not containing less starch than normal or something along those lines.

What do people think?

the grain i use comes from the ennogera store, and although i have only done two grain brews, i havnt had any issues with efficiency. i can imagine how frustrating your situation must be considering the variables are minimal . i have read (but have no knowledge on the subject) that ph levels have an effect on efficiency, maybe have a go at balancing the ph level of your strike water.

cheers
matt

 

[shawnheiderich]

I agree, I use a large tea spoon of brewing salt (I think that is what it is called) and get just above 5.2 with my water, but I am further north and I think we are on north pine dam?

Shawn.

 

[Julez]

pH will make a difference to efficiency, but at 5.4 it is not far off the mark enough to have that big an impact. I'd still be interested to hear more about how Elton is measuring his efficiency and if his post-boil volume was different to expected?

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[egolds77]

Yes, Mel is great, really helpful. I'm seriously thinking about buying a MM3-3 mill, it's a 3 roller mill. Constantly missing my mark with OG is really bugging me. I really need a mill so that I can have further control over my brew, isolating outside variables. Also want a chest freezer to but the mill I think has priority.

 

[egolds77]

Both pre-boil and post-boil were lower than expected gravity. I think I'll be making another beer this weekend as I've ruined my beer. The new equipment cleaner I bought obviously needs a really good rinsing. I think there was residue left from it that's killed most of the yeast starter added and it tastes strange, soapy. The trials of brewing and knowing the characteristics of your equipment and products.

I'll be stirring the mash before and between each sparge this time, recirculating briefly until resonably clear then draining the wort into the kettle. The continuous sparge method doesn't seem to work well with my setup.