What's your best mash efficiency?

[Rocker1986]

ah, never thought of that ha! Took it as a default thing, oh, Duh! :lol:
Cheers.
I'm still confused. It doesn't matter other than the end result that always seems to hit the mark.

:lol: Nah it's adjustable. I used to have mine set to 75%, but then I started regularly getting less than that, so I changed it to 72.5%, and was still getting less. Then I tested my hydrometer and found it was reading .998 in 20C water, which was obviously part of the cause. The other thing I changed recently was the gap on my mill. I widened it to try to get the grain to go through faster (having issues as per a couple of threads on the Mashmaster mills), which in turn obviously resulted in a coarser crush. I also began stirring the mash regularly. Since then, I've ended up with about the 75% brew house efficiency again, provided I hit 25 litres volume. I'll do another 2-3 batches before I change the Beersmith settings, but it's good to be getting these numbers again.

 

[Eagleburger]

I have a beersmith problem. How do I enter the 2 dozen eggs I get from the chooks that eat the spent grain?

 

[seamad]

That's in the add on button

 

[warra48]

I have a beersmith problem. How do I enter the 2 dozen eggs I get from the chooks that eat the spent grain?

For white eggs, you add nothing, they're useless, so don't use them.
For spotted eggs, brew according to the Old Speckled Hen recipe, and add 3% to your brewhouse efficiency.
For brown eggs, add 5 points to your OG for Stouts and Porters only. Do not use these in lighter beers.

Remember to hard boil your eggs first, then crush with your grains. The shells will provide all your brewing minerals without needing extra additions.

PS: I always get between 90 to 95% mash efficiency, and can get higher if I add an extra small batch sparge, but I don't bother with that these days.
I mill with an original MillMaster set at 1.1 mm, hand cranked, and mash in an el cheapo 25 litre Willow cooler with a manifold to drain it.

 

[dblunn]

I'm lucky to get 75% mash efficiency. :angry2: But at least my beer tastes nice

 

[Rocker1986]

Just got 84.5% mash efficiency on a BIAB I'm doing today. Higher than the 78% predicted based on my old 72.5% brewhouse number. I might have to increase this figure now. Looks like the coarser crush I've moved to recently as a result of the milling fiasco has helped increase efficiency, as the last few batches have exceeded expectations.

 

[Frothy1]

Oh wow, this post just came back to life.

If anyone didn't find this with google, here's a link for how to adjust efficiency in beersmith.

I adjusted my mash and brewhouse like this and get nearly bang on every time.



not bragging or anything but 93.2 is a lovely number.

 

[Rocker1986]

I hit 89.7% on my last brew day. I don't really care that much about it, as long as it's consistent and not stupidly low or something.

 

[boybrewer]

Efficiency this and efficiency that it really doesn't matter as long as you hit the OG and Fg and I rarely did . Although since dailing in my brew system I am now hitting all the pre boil and post boil numbers only because I now have a refractometer and still making great beer .


PS Brewhouse efficiency 80.5% .
That just means I am getting better extraction out of the malts .Still make good beer though .

 

[Rocker1986]

That would have everything to do with dialling in your system and nothing to do with having a refractometer. I only use a hydrometer but because my system is dialled into Beersmith properly, I always hit my targets, or sometimes go above them.

That said, I'm not worried about trying to get sky high efficiency. Brewhouse ranges between 75% and 80% on standard brews (varies due to batch volume rather than SG), so it's at least consistent enough to be able to easily design recipes and have them turn out as intended. That's really all I'm worried about.

 

[Weizguy]

I have a beersmith problem. How do I enter the 2 dozen eggs I get from the chooks that eat the spent grain?

I find "Break and Enter" to be the only option.

I usually range around 90%. Always good when I get better, and some head-scratching and feeling like an under-achiever when lesser efficiency is encountered.

I was always happy with 75% or better, but with consistency came higher numbers.

 

[Dan Pratt]

we may achieve 90% mash efficiency however that is 90% of the brewhouse efficiency of say 70-75%.

when you adjust beersmith to 100% your mash is still 90% but the OG and targets all increase which which that 90% mash would not achieve.

So the efficiency of mashing is purely based on brewhouse efficiency or in laments terms, final volume after losses is calculated?

 

[Frothy1]

I got an extra 10% when I started conditioning my malt.

My Brewhouse efficiency is terrible though.

 

[Rocker1986]

If I hit my intended batch volume, my brewhouse efficiency is usually very close to 10% lower than my mash efficiency. I use a nominal figure of 75% brewhouse efficiency currently for recipe design but if I keep going over it like I have been lately then I might have to change it.

 

[welly2]

I've been getting consistent 90% mash efficiencies and consistent 75% brew house efficiencies for the past three - four batches. I'm not going to touch or change a single thing.

 

[MHB]

we may achieve 90% mash efficiency however that is 90% of the brewhouse efficiency of say 70-75%.

when you adjust beersmith to 100% your mash is still 90% but the OG and targets all increase which which that 90% mash would not achieve.

So the efficiency of mashing is purely based on brewhouse efficiency or in laments terms, final volume after losses is calculated?

Actually it think you have that backwards, Mash Efficiency is a component Brewhouse Efficiency.
Mash Efficiency is when you compare what you got to the results of the congress mash test.
Brewhouse Efficiency includes all the other losses in the process, but as mash efficiency goes down Brewhouse Efficiency must go down too.
Mash Efficiency is reported as compared to the test result, the test is conducted in distilled water, with no minerals added, using a set mash regime. It is possible to get more extract than the test, i.e. more than 100% yield!
I can't guarantee that the resulting beer would taste too good.

Mark
View attachment Congress Mash.PDF

 

[JDW81]

My best efficiency is consistency between my batches. Couldn't give a stuff about trying to get any higher than I get now. I hit my numbers and make good beer.

I've had my efficiency rant enough times on other threads, so won't start again here. Needless to say, efficiency isn't everything.

JD

 

[MHB]

JD. I see your point, efficiency isn't everything but to me it is important.
I suppose to some extent it is going to depend on what you are looking for from your brewing, my main interest is in understanding the processes, having control of them and applying them to make exactly the beer I want. Much less about the brewing part, more about the recipe design and planning (not suggesting its right or wrong just personal motivations).
If I can get 10% better efficiency I will, not so much because every 10th brew comes with a free grain bill but because I enjoy the challenge.
The deciding factor for me is beer quality, if increasing the yield reduces the beer quality you have gone too far, same with every step in the process, adjust the water to suit the style, mash at the optimum temperatures and pH, don't over sparge, don't try to get too much out of the kettle (some should be left behind), pitch the right amount of yeast, manage the ferment properly...

Generally my brewhouse yield (efficiency to fermenter) is in the low to mid 80's%, From experience I know I can push that up to 90+% but at a price I'm not willing to pay.
Mark

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

My best efficiency is consistency between my batches. Couldn't give a stuff about trying to get any higher than I get now. I hit my numbers and make good beer.

I've had my efficiency rant enough times on other threads, so won't start again here. Needless to say, efficiency isn't everything.

JD

Yep. Effficiency is not everything.

No point in getting high efficiency 1 batch and crap eff the next. You need consistency between batches otherwise it will change the resulting beer due to different SG's etc

 

[JDW81]

JD. I see your point, efficiency isn't everything but to me it is important.
I suppose to some extent it is going to depend on what you are looking for from your brewing, my main interest is in understanding the processes, having control of them and applying them to make exactly the beer I want.

I agree Mark, efficiency is important and my system also runs about 80% (brewhouse). The only reason I say it isn't the be all and end all is because there are a lot of less experienced brewers than yourself who get sucked into the efficiency pissing contest and feel that if they're not getting 90%+ then they're doing something wrong. They then try and eek every single point out of their system and end up with a lesser quality final product.

I also strive to understand my processes, and my system is dialled in to be consistent with pre-boil gravity based on how I brew, however I'm not willing to push it further as I know the final product will suffer (as will consistency).

I think the understanding of processes is a lesson that is often lost on some brewers. They get so bogged down in numbers that they lose perspective and forget about paying attention to each step of wort/beer production.

JD