What kind of effeciency are people getting on this setup with high gravity brews? I did a 5 gal batch of Christmas ale:
.5 lb German carafa III
.81 lb Special Roast
.81 Victory
13.33 Brewers Malt (is this the same as American 2 row?)
.2 lb turbinado sugar
It was supposed to give 1.08 to 1.082 OG, and I only got 1.065 after temp adjustment. I used 5 gal for 60 min mash at 154 deg and 2.5 more gal of 170 deg for batch sparge which resulted in 6.2 gal of wort collected. According to the Brewer's Friend, this is only a 56% brewhouse efficiency.
My proceedure was to heat the 5 gals, dump in cooler, then add grain and stirred for 2-3 mins. Then I left it there and tried shaking the cooler every 20 mins or so, but this was problematic as wort tried to leak out the top when I shook. I drained off 3 gals, then added about 2.5 more, strirred, left for 10 mins then collected 3.2 gal. I maybe could have collected another pint if I had waited 30 mins for drainings, tipped the cooler over, etc - that is what was left at the end anyway.
So should I be satisfied with my efficiency with this equipment, or is the LHBS shorting me on grain, or do I need a finer mash, or should I just use more grain to compensate?