Help with efficiency

[Ducatiboy stu]

It also helps relase/seperate the husk from crushed and broken grains so it will help

 

[stm]

The rampup/mashout while stirring seems to have a positive effect on conversion and efficiency, and since you can't do this (immersion element), the next best thing would be a dunk/bucket sparge with 4 or 5 litres of hot water withheld from the mash.

 

[gaijin]

This may sound so obvious that it's ********, but are you checking your OG with a hydrometer? After my first couple all grain batches coming out way lower than expected, I measured with tap water which gave me a gravity of 0.994 (it was way off).

My refractometer is now my best friend (cos my other ******* friends drink all of my beer).

 

[davedoran]

did my first ag brew last night as well. Got 63% efficiency. Was biab. Got all the vol figures as shown with brewmate but measure OG after boil was 1.045 compared to recipe at 1.050.
Saying that I didn't do a mashout properly. Got the temp up from 66 at mash to 76 in 15mins but once It hit 76 I pulled the bag out instead of leaving at 76 for a while.

 

[stm]

As long as you are stirring well during the ramp up to 76, then there is no great advantage (for efficiency) in leaving it at 76 because the useful stuff is happening during that 15 mins or so already. For me it is more like 20 mins. Just pull the bag and leave the heat on to go all the way to boiling.

 

[davedoran]

Ya stir stir stir all the time at mash out. Appreciate the feedback. First brew in a bag and first ag so a lot to learn yet.

 

[contrarian]

Also, with BIAB it isn't unusual to get lower efficiency with a bigger grain bill. The only IPA I have made was at a much lower efficiency than other brews I have made with the same set up.

 

[JDW81]

Also, with BIAB it isn't unusual to get lower efficiency with a bigger grain bill. The only IPA I have made was at a much lower efficiency than other brews I have made with the same set up.

You tend to get lower efficiency when aiming for high gravity beers if you are starting to push the limits of your gear.

JD

 

[pat86]

In a 70 min boil - with 19L Pot (~15L Boil) - approx. how much water do you guys usually have to top up during the boil?

I added around 4 L, but I ended up well short volume wise with only around 10L at the end.

I did have a boil over too, although that couldn't have been any more than 1 L max

Also to note, I chilled the wort down, unfortunately the break material did not settle as much as I had hoped, so most of it actually went into the FV. I would say maybe 0.5L of trub was left but I'm just guesstimating and still very new to all of this...

So:
Start of boil: +15L
Top Ups + 4 L
Trub -0.5L
Boil over -1L
End of boil = 10L
boil loss = 7.5L - does this seem a bit high?

Also, I use an induction stove top and the boil is not as crazy as I have seen before - nothing to write home about for sure.



Edit: More info included

 

[danestead]

For myself, I test the preboil gravity and compare that to what my brewing software expects me to get preboil. I then test the gravity once the beer is in the fermenter. I find that I need to be hitting 2 or 3 points higher than my softwares calculated preboil gravity to hit the fermenter gravity exactly. Im not sure where those 2 or 3 points go but I just guess its maybe in protiens coming out of suspension in the hot break etc.

Basically, for me, if my preboil gravity is spot on, I can expect to be a couple of points down by the time the wort is in the fermenter.