How’s your efficiency?

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MikeMorrison
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How’s your efficiency?

Post by MikeMorrison » Wed May 01, 2019 4:18 pm

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.
Fermenting: Sticke Altbier, Amarillo Saison, DDH Amarillo IPA with Verdant Yeast
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LiverDance
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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by LiverDance » Wed May 01, 2019 4:20 pm

I'm guessing that you are talking brewhouse efficiency. I typically get 72% on a full volume mash for a 25L batch.
"Twenty years ago — a time, by the way, that hops such as Simcoe and Citra were already being developed, but weren’t about to find immediate popularity — there wasn’t a brewer on earth who would have gone to the annual Hop Growers of American convention and said, “I’m going to have a beer that we make 4,000 barrels of, one time a year. It flies off the shelf at damn near $20 a six-pack, and you know what it smells like? It smells like your cat ate your weed and then pissed in the Christmas tree.” - Bell’s Brewery Director of Operations John Mallet on the scent of their popular Hopslam.

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by mdentremont » Wed May 01, 2019 4:33 pm

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.

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by Buccaneer » Wed May 01, 2019 7:12 pm

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

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by McGruff » Sat May 04, 2019 7:59 am

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

MikeMorrison
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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by MikeMorrison » Sat May 04, 2019 2:13 pm

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.
Fermenting: Sticke Altbier, Amarillo Saison, DDH Amarillo IPA with Verdant Yeast
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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by wcturnedec » Mon May 06, 2019 12:31 pm

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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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by jacinthebox » Mon May 06, 2019 2:15 pm

Mine is normally between 72% - 75% depending on batch size/grain weight
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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by mckay75 » Mon May 06, 2019 3:17 pm

Typically in the 75%-77% range.

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by Woody » Mon May 06, 2019 7:31 pm

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.

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by D.Pepper » Tue May 07, 2019 7:35 am

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!

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by MikeMorrison » Tue May 07, 2019 9:22 am

Thanks! I’ve been wanting to invest in a milk for a while now. It’s probably time!
Fermenting: Sticke Altbier, Amarillo Saison, DDH Amarillo IPA with Verdant Yeast
On Tap: Good Morning Spider Hop Harvest IPA

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by oceanic_brew » Tue May 07, 2019 10:24 am

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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MikeMorrison
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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by MikeMorrison » Tue May 07, 2019 10:55 am

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.
Fermenting: Sticke Altbier, Amarillo Saison, DDH Amarillo IPA with Verdant Yeast
On Tap: Good Morning Spider Hop Harvest IPA

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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by wcturnedec » Tue May 07, 2019 11:27 am

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.
On tap: APA, Dubbel, Dark Mild
Fermenting: Brett Saison 2022, Schwarzbier, APA, Sour Brown,
Coming up: American Wheat (Fruited), Vienna Lager, Dortmunder
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Re: How’s your efficiency?

Post by danlatimer » Fri May 10, 2019 3:33 pm

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

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