Promash And Efficiency

[bonk]

ok, i think i'm having some confusion with promash and efficiency.

i changed my values to reflect my 'inability' to get over 65% or there abouts and went beer making last night.

now this has been driving me nuts, i don't know if i should be adjusting the recorded volume (in the fermenter) or not.

if i change the value from 12L to 11.5 (about what i got) i get about 50%. if i leave it at 12L i get 63% which is near enough in my book.

so in a round about way, do leave the recorded value as it is (12L) and using the "water needed" screen, change it to the value i got (11.5L) as the efficiency screen takes into account losses during boiling etc???



i might post some screen shots to help explain what i'm talking about if none of this makes sense.

 

[jayse]

Hi Bonk,
Do you have the amount you collect in the fermentor set as the batch size in the promash recipe formulation window? That should be set as the post boil amount.
The water needed calculator and other calculators work independently of the recipe formulation and any wort loss programmed into them doesn't get added onto the batch size of every recipe. For setting the batch size you have to add the loss on yourself.
If your calculating the effiency by what you get in the fermentor than that is brewhouse effiency, the more wort you loose the less brewhouse effiency you'll get.
Anyway i have a feeling thats what you have been doing wrongly.

Jayse

 

[Gulf Brewery]

Just to clarify Jayse's post a bit

The batch size = losses + post boil amount.
So, my batch size is 3 litres more than what I measure in the fermenter. I also record the measurement in the efficiency tab as "Measurement taken in fermenter"

Cheers
Pedro

 

[JasonY]

The batch size = losses + post boil amount.

My understanding is:

The batch size = post boil amount in kettle

So in my case to achieve 20L in the fermenter and knowing I lose about 3L from the kettle to the fermenter (trub + CFC) then my batch size is 23L.

Is that what you mean Gulf?

 

[Gulf Brewery]

100% correct. I normally set my batch size at 24 and get 21 in the fermenter (after losses and cooling). I think your efficiency is going to be higher than you think as you are not counting the 3 litres of wort that has been left behind.

Cheers
Pedro

 

[bonk]

duh - i need a fore-head smacking icon.

if i set the batch size to my volume collected + losses i get 72%

thanks for that jayse and pedro (and jason) it makes more sense now, no wonder my beers always tasted stronger then the figures i had.

cheers :beer:

 

[Gulf Brewery]

thanks for that jayse and pedro (and jason) it makes more sense now, no wonder my beers always tasted stronger then the figures i had.
cheers :beer:

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Bonk

Its not real clear to the uninitiated. Also, you need to get your volumes exact to get the correct efficiency as even 1/2 litre in a 23 litre batch is a large error amount. When you calculate losses, don't forget the odd hose holds a bit and a CFC if you have one.

Cheers
Pedro

 

[bonk]

Pedro,

thats the stupid thing, i've i was keeping track of volumes and the losses due to the cfc etc, but it just never clicked to the batch size.