Single tier mash efficiency problems

[Dennis_W]

Ok here is my situation. I have a DIY single tier converted keg setup with a single pump. Boil kettle, direct fired mash tun, and HLT. My brew days go something like this.... Put water in Mash tun and heat to 165, add grains and temperature drops to 153, stir good and then stir a few more times holding my temp., in the HLT i start to heat water and then fly sparge with 178 degree water for 30 min. Boil. My efficiency is consistently around 60% and I really want to get it up to 75%. What am i doing wrong? Not enough stirring? Should i heat up my mash tun to 170 then sarge?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

And I get my numbers from a refractometer/hygrometer and beersmith.

 

[kh54s10]

Make sure the crush on your grain is good and try sparging a little slower. Maybe 45 minutes to an hour. (this is from reading, I batch sparge.)

 

[RoadKing]

30 minutes is definitely not long enough. Also make sure you maintain a couple inches over water over the grain bed.

 

[Dennis_W]

I'll shot for an hour on my brew today or tomorrow and report back.

 

[billl]

To effectively trouble shoot, you need to take some measurements. It doesn't do much good to make adjustments to your sparge process if you aren't getting good results in the mash first. Make sure to record volumes and gravity at each step.

 

[nmenninga]

How long are you holding 153? 1 hr minimum, i hope. Are you stirring that every 15 mins or so? Then letting it rest? You could be stirring too much. Another thing is try a mash-in, I do 15 mins at 130 for most beers, cleans up head a bit, and really improves efficiency.

 

[tootal]

+1 to what's said above. Is your malt milled properly. If it's coarse you're going to need to mash longer. Try a 90 minute mash if it is coarse. Raising it to 165 for ten minutes will make it easier to sparge. If you can do a step mash, doing a 131 degree protien rest always helps unless your using Marris Otter or some other well modified malt. Even then, it can't hurt if you have the time!

 

[Denny]

doing a 131 degree protien rest always helps unless your using Marris Otter or some other well modified malt. Even then, it can't hurt if you have the time!

These days, it's nearly impossible to find a malt that's not well modified. In general, a protein rest could do more harm than good.

 

[tootal]

Even a malt with a Soluble Nitrogen Ratio of 38-42 would see benefit from a 131 degree rest for 20 minutes. It does up your efficiency a tad. I just read about this in Greg Noonan's, "New Brewing Lager Beer". He made it clear that you don't NEED to do a protein rest but there are a few benefits, including the efficiency boost. I don't mean to argue it's just that I just read this a couple of days ago. I will say that we didn't do a protein rest with our Imperial Stout recently and we normally do, even with Marris Otter as our base. Our efficiency was definitely down from where it's normally at.

 

[Denny]

Even a malt with a Soluble Nitrogen Ratio of 38-42 would see benefit from a 131 degree rest for 20 minutes. It does up your efficiency a tad. I just read about this in Greg Noonan's, "New Brewing Lager Beer". He made it clear that you don't NEED to do a protein rest but there are a few benefits, including the efficiency boost. I don't mean to argue it's just that I just read this a couple of days ago. I will say that we didn't do a protein rest with our Imperial Stout recently and we normally do, even with Marris Otter as our base. Our efficiency was definitely down from where it's normally at.

I have ruined beers by doing a protein rest on well modified malt. I also get great efficiency and clear beer from a single infusion, so a protein rest isn't necessary for either of those. Have you tried looking for another way to increase your efficiency?

 

[kanzimonson]

If you're fly sparging, 1 pint per minute should be your target runoff rate. You can maybe speed it up in the last third but I'd rather take a little longer for better extract.

 

[tootal]

I have ruined beers by doing a protein rest on well modified malt. I also get great efficiency and clear beer from a single infusion, so a protein rest isn't necessary for either of those. Have you tried looking for another way to increase your efficiency?

What temp was your protein rest at? A 122 rest is not recommended for modified malts but a 131 doesn't hurt. Our efficiency is normally 75 percent before the boil and 86 percent in the fermenter. The protein rest definitely hasn't ruined any beers. Won a best of show with an Imperial Stout!

What was it about the beer that ruined it? An off flavor? Lack of head?

 

[nmenninga]

A long protein rest at 122 will pretty much eliminate your head. 130 for 15 mins does not have that effect, in my experience. It changes the character of the head a little, makes it less cumbersome, more professional and even looking. It improves my mash efficiency by around 5 percent.

If it makes you nervous, there are plenty of other things to adjust to improve efficiency. Milling your grain finer is a great way to improve efficiency. I improved by about 8% by switching from my corona mill to my kitchen aid mill. Sometimes I get a stuck sparge, though.

 

[Denny]

What temp was your protein rest at? A 122 rest is not recommended for modified malts but a 131 doesn't hurt. Our efficiency is normally 75 percent before the boil and 86 percent in the fermenter. The protein rest definitely hasn't ruined any beers. Won a best of show with an Imperial Stout!

What was it about the beer that ruined it? An off flavor? Lack of head?

It was a low temp protein rest with highly modified Munich malt. The beer had no head or body. If the only reason you do a protein rest is to increase efficiency, I'd rather look for the root cause of the problem and deal with that.