Help confirm my pre boil efficiency

[zarniwoop]

Hi All,

I just calculated my pre boil efficiency (got the title wrong should be pre boil) for BIAB and I seem to be getting ~88%, which I'm pretty happy with but I just want to confirm this is correct. I recently did a Irish Red Ale (better red than dead) and ended up with 37.33L at 1.050 pre boil, this is from the following grain bill (all in grams):

Bairds marris otter pale ale 4141 Weyermann Munich 1 1812 Weyermann Carared 362 JWM Crystal 140 298 JWM Roasted Malt 155

Can someone just confirm if this is correct as I need to update my spreadsheet as I'm constantly over shooting my gravity targets. ( my boil off amount also need adjusting but that's a different issue.



Cheers

Zarniwoop

 

[manticle]

Want me to edit tbe title to 'preboil'?

 

[zarniwoop]

Want me to edit tbe title to 'preboil'?

If you'd be so good

 

[manticle]

Done.

My take - work out the numbers you are getting, make them consistent, adjust recipes to suit and forget everything else.

 

[peaky]

If you're constantly overshooting your pre-boil gravity targets then you're obviously getting better efficiency than you're allowing for. This is good. Scale your recipes back to suit the efficency you're constantly getting to bring your pre-boil gravity down to target.

 

[warra48]

I'm half way around the world at present, so I don't have access to BeerSmith2 on my PC.
However, it seems you used about 6.8 kg of malt to produce 37.3 litres at 1.050.

That's pretty good efficiency, and ties in well with the sorts of figures I regularly produce.

So, I'd say you are correct in having achieved 88% mash efficiency. Well done! Just figure out how you did it, and repeat for each batch, or scale back if you want a lower gravity..

 

[zarniwoop]

Thanks, now I've just got to reduce my trub loss a bit :unsure:

 

[gap]

If you got 1050 before you boiled what was your gravity after you boiled ??

 

[peaky]

Thanks, now I've just got to reduce my trub loss a bit :unsure:

What are you using for a kettle? Maybe you could fit a false bottom to it. I made a stainless mesh screen for my old kettle, it worked great. I had bugger all left in the kettle after running off into the fermenter.

 

[zarniwoop]

OG was about 1.062 after boiling, I needed to dilute it.

 

[zarniwoop]

What are you using for a kettle? Maybe you could fit a false bottom to it. I made a stainless mesh screen for my old kettle, it worked great. I had bugger all left in the kettle after running off into the fermenter.

60L aluminimum pot, that's not a bad idea, what did you use for the screen?

 

[DeGarre]

Your 88% looks like it is correct. I got 90% but it all depends on how much extract from grains one gets, I assumed on average 305°L from your grain bill but it was probably a bit generous.

50*37.33 / (305*6.768) = 90%

Anyway, very efficient.

 

[zarniwoop]

Thanks, looks like my multiple adding of heat and stirring plus dodgy squeezing and rinsing/"sparging" of the grain bag in a washing up bowl is paying off. Who needs a Braumeister....