Help with increasing mash efficiency

[kevindalyus]

Got it. And to figure out your efficiency, after your OG reading, you use one of the brewhouse efficiency calculators to determine what your efficiency was? Or do guys not check that after every batch?

[dmtaylor]

Nah, you don't necessarily need to check gravity before the boil. I never have. And based on what I've learned from others, that 1.008 goal for the fly sparge is an absolute minimum. Hopefully you have a gravity above 1.010 by the time your kettle is full. You could check to see, but my wager is that it probably will be. Below 1.008, you start extracting tannins. So that's the main reason for checking gravity -- just to see if you'll end up with astringency in the final beer. But if you haven't had astringency issues in the past, you don't need to measure it.

It's the crush, man, it's the crush.

EDIT: The above response was to your second-to-last post. In response to the one above, yeah, I always check the post-boil OG and figure out my efficiency with software. This will help you out a lot in figuring your efficiency on future batches. For some people, their average efficiency is 73%. For others, it's 83%. Huge difference. Make sure you figure out your average efficiency for an average beer (perhaps 1.055 to 1.060), so that you can predict your OG more effectively on future runs.

[Quin]

It's good to check your gravity BEFORE the boil. You could have added some dry malt extract to make up the gravity difference and hit your target OG. You could also boil a little longer before adding your hops and make a smaller batch. This may not have worked for this batch since you missed it by so much.

If you check it after the boil, your stuck with what's in the pot. Also your hops may be way out of balance for what you were shooting for.

[CRBrewHound]

Excellent. One last question: am I supposed to check the OG before the boil, ie take a sample of wort, try to cool it down quickly, and then check the OG? I read a couple articles saying that should be a step before boiling, with an OG target of 1.008

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I do suggest taking a reading before the boil. This is not an OG, this is referred to as a pre-boil gravity. This tells you whether you are on track to hit your OG or not. Almost all brewing software will calculate pre-boil gravities for you (If the recipes is built correct, by that all additions in the process are defined).

So, at this point once you have collected all of your wort, take your pre-boil gravity. If the pre-boil gravity is high, then you add water to hit your targeted pre-boil gravity. If it is low, then either add DME or extend your pre-hop boil to get it to the right pre-boil gravity.

If your software properly accounts for your boil off rates and your desired end volume, you will hit your OG exactly every time you brew. As the only difference between pre-boil and post boil wort is the volume of water in the wort.

[Jbug]

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/630
Check this episode out... It helped me a ton with hitting my numbers and knowing what to do when I don't!


Josh

[LukeD23]

Crush makes all the difference. i dont have a mill, was living in NC and my efficiency was always around 65% using grains crushed at the LHBS there. Moved to DE now my efficiency is up over 80% using grains crushed here. Both places sold me Briess 2-row for base malt, and i have all the same equipment with the same grist to water ratio.

[kevindalyus]

Man I love getting everyone's tips. It's all great stuff. I will plan on doing a pre-boil reading, so my only question is: How? Do you just drain some off into a glass and stick it in the freezer and wait for it to cool down? I haven't read anywhere on how to perform this step.
Thanks again for all the pointers.

[Jbug]

Man I love getting everyone's tips. It's all great stuff. I will plan on doing a pre-boil reading, so my only question is: How? Do you just drain some off into a glass and stick it in the freezer and wait for it to cool down? I haven't read anywhere on how to perform this step.
Thanks again for all the pointers.

I pull some out of the kettle when sparge is over with a baster into a cheap graduated cylinder ... That goes into a ice bath until it gets down to 70F... Then take your reading. By then you should be near a boil and ready to assess the problems if you're numbers are off... Or buy a refractometer and do it in two seconds


Josh