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Curious about the efficiency folks are getting. I use BeerSmith and either a cooler mash tun(5gal) or a keggle mash tun (10gal) and I seem to get anywhere from 55-75% efficiency. That’s a big swing. I order my grain crushed so that might account for the variety. Just wondering if this is similar to other’s experience or if I’m way low.

I'm guessing that you are talking brewhouse efficiency. I typically get 72% on a full volume mash for a 25L batch.

I use a Gatorade cooler (with a BIAB instead of false bottom) along with a Turkey fryer. After much trial and error I now have my efficiency to a consistent 69%, and the last several brews have been within 1 SG point of my target.

One of the biggest fixes was to fill my kettle to the pre-boil I typically want, and scratched the kettle so that when sparging, I just stop once the word reaches that line. Grain is quite cheap compared to other ingredients, so my main concern has been consistency vs high efficiency.

My brewhouse efficiency is about 68%. I mash with a picnic cooler and batch sparge a couple of times.

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81% brewhouse efficiency. I use a Robobrew. I was getting 74% until I started to mash 90 min.

In my original post I said 55-75 but I meant 55-65. I’m probably not super careful with pre boil quantity so that is going to change my consistency for sure. Thanks for the feedback.

Ya I get between 65-75% Brewhouse efficiency, depending on what I’m brewing. I do full volume mashes with BIAB, I have a few different equipment profiles in Beersmith since efficiency takes a hit on my short and shoddy brew days (30min mash/30min boil) and on higher gravity beers.


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Mine is normally between 72% - 75% depending on batch size/grain weight

Typically in the 75%-77% range.

I BIAB and get 75% to 82%. Water chem greatly helped as does mash length, grain crush and a small sparge for 10-12 g batches.

Having control over your crush size will be one of the biggest contributors in helping you stabilize your efficiency. Before I invested in a mill, I was getting the grain crushed wherever there was a mill to sort me out.

This lead to a wide swing of grain between not really crushed and pulverized dust. Getting a high efficiency in my opinion doesn't matter as much as you want to be able to predict it consistently.

If you have physical access to a mill, a quick check to see the gap size without a feeler gauge is by using a debit or credit card, hotel door card, etc. (they are almost always 0.030" thick) with a piece of printer paper (it's roughly 0.005" thickness) folded over the card to make 0.040". Passing it between the rollers with a slight drag will give you piece of mind that you're in the ballpark. Also make a quick check that the rollers are parallel and haven't shifted from harder grains like from rye or wheat.

Mill gap size is a matter of personal preference and finding the sweet spot in the brewery. Too small of a gap creates finer grist, that lends to a stuck sparge and unpredictable efficiency which nobody likes. Too large, and efficiency will suffer also.

I hope this helps you get your efficiency nailed down!

Thanks! I’ve been wanting to invest in a milk for a while now. It’s probably time!

I’ve been getting grain crushed at various places, efficiency all over the place. Ever place really.

The most consistent has been noble grape burnside however now I live by the rotary and likely will frequent oxford more.

Or buy a mill


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That’s my story too. I’m in Sydney so I get everything shipped in crushed. Or I stock up when I’m in Halifax. A mill and buying by the bag is making more sense all the time.

I'd buy a mill and get bulk grains if you can, especially given your location. As other folks mentioned for me it was more about consistency rather than a higher overall BH efficiency.

Buying by the bag is even better when you get in on a buik buy. It makes grain much cheaper, Typically for a 5g batch I'm paying 6-8 dollars in grain