What brewhouse efficiency do You get?

Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
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Aleman
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Post by Aleman » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:05 pm

Hogarth wrote:if you add sugars to the boiler, should you include these in your calculations or leave them out?
For Mash efficiency no, for brew house efficiency yes :D

My mash efficiency varies between 68% (No Sparge) through to around 80% Fly sparging and up to 94% for decoction/Cereal mashing

Brew house efficiency is generally around 70-75%

Oh and I'm not including the 26% efficiency I got with the Effin Stubborn CAP :twisted:

babalu87

Post by babalu87 » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:09 pm

I tightened the crush on my grain mill from .041 to .037 and my efficiency went from around 75% to 84%

I had to slow the first part of the batch sparge run-off a little bit but other than that it was all systems go.
I know this, the mill is staying where its at and I will adjust everything else accordingly.

russt1969

Post by russt1969 » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:37 pm

I added a couple more layers of insulation and my efficiency went from 75% to 94%. Well happy 8)

stevezx7r

Post by stevezx7r » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:04 pm

I have no idea how to calculate my efficiency (probably due to the fact that I haven't looked into it) but, my beer tastes and looks good so I'm not too bothered. :wink:

brewzone

Post by brewzone » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:21 pm

I reckon now I've got My brewery roughly how I want it it is time for Me to start repeating a recipe a couple of times to see if I can squeeze nearer the 75%+ mark from it.

/BZ

brewzone

Post by brewzone » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:15 pm

Just done the efficiency calculations again.

13.5 kgs pale = 13.5*300/45=90

I collected 45 litres at 1.067 (post boil)

So 67/90*100=74.44%

That's better

tomU

Post by tomU » Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:21 am

Only done the 1 all grain. calculated 67% - pleased enough with that.

adm

Post by adm » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:39 pm

OK - so how do you calculate the efficiencies? What's the formula?

adm

Post by adm » Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:27 pm

Aaaaaahhh......I see!

Thanks Daab - you're a fount of wisdom for a beginner like me.

So - given that I used:

5.5Kg MO
0.15Kg Crystal

and ended up with 23 l

The Total Potential Gravity is:

5.5 x 300/23 = 71.74
plus
0.15 x 240/23 = 1.56

for a total of 73.30

Then......with an OG reading of 1054, I get an efficiency of around 74%

It al becomes clear - hopefully the beer does too!

Cheers,

Alasdair

prolix

Post by prolix » Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:41 pm

I work on 74% for reciepes when batch sparging averaged 85% for fly sparging but too lazy for that, pour in the liquor stir open the taps to full, works for me

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Oggy' Bar
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Post by Oggy' Bar » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:05 am

Dont't give a 5hit....beer tastes good though....Just had 16 mates round and they all concur. :wink:

Redbloke

Post by Redbloke » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:32 am

Oggy' Bar wrote:Dont't give a 5hit....beer tastes good though....Just had 16 mates round and they all concur. :wink:
... respect :wink:


How much of an effect does grain quality have on efficiency? If it has a big effect then most of us are at the mercy of our LHBS :?

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Aleman
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Post by Aleman » Sat Jun 21, 2008 9:47 am

Redbloke wrote:How much of an effect does grain quality have on efficiency?
The quality of malt that we get through LHBS has improved immeasurably over the years ( . . . With the possible exception of 'Youngs' . . . I won't touch it with a barge pole). . . . What matters more is the crush, I had to return a sack of Pilsner malt a few years ago, due to someone playing with the mill settings at the wholesaler . . . As someone said earlier in the thread, just a tweak on the mill settings can have a big increase in efficiency. . . . I've got my own mill now, but have to work through all the crushed malt (a Years supply) I bought just before She bought me the mill :evil:

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clogwog
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Post by clogwog » Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:05 am

I have my own mill, and use a setting of either 1 or 1.2 mm.
With this I achieve a minimum of 85% efficiency into the kettle.
Brewhouse efficiency is around 75%.

I find it helps if I run any wheat through first at a smaller setting of .8mm. I also run specialty grains through once, and then add the wheat and specialty grains to my main grain bill. All of that is then run through the mill together.

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gr_baker
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Post by gr_baker » Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:42 pm

used to be 63% when I sparged no matter how long I took. A few months ago I decided to switch to double mashing just to save a bit of time and my mash efficiency has lept to 73%.

Russell.

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