redtangent
Active Member
I apologize in advance if this has been answered 10 times, but I couldn't find a clear answer when I searched.
Currently using a Kal clone electric brew setup, 3 x 16 gallon kettles. The MLT has about 2 gallons of deadspace under the false bottom. My current method adds 2 extra gallons to what BeerSmith recommends and subtract that volume from the sparge water. My thinking being that if i leave 2 gallons of water under the false bottom that the grain can't mix with i'll have a thicker mash then intended. My issue has been lower then expected brewhouse and mash effeciency, on the order of 65% brewhouse and 70% mash. I realize I can just add more grain to make up for the loss to hit my target OG, but it seems like maybe there is just a better way to compensate for the false bottom. My concern is the small sparge volume is hurting me. My latest batch called for 25 lbs of grain, 33 qt (8.25 gal) of strike water and 19.25 qt (4.8 gal) of sparge water. So I really mashed with 10.25 gal of water and sparged with 2.8 gal.
If it matters, I do use EZ Water calc to adjust my really soft water and pH and verify my mash pH with an electronic pH meter, so I don't think that's the cause of my lower efficiency.
Any help is appreciated.
-Steve
Currently using a Kal clone electric brew setup, 3 x 16 gallon kettles. The MLT has about 2 gallons of deadspace under the false bottom. My current method adds 2 extra gallons to what BeerSmith recommends and subtract that volume from the sparge water. My thinking being that if i leave 2 gallons of water under the false bottom that the grain can't mix with i'll have a thicker mash then intended. My issue has been lower then expected brewhouse and mash effeciency, on the order of 65% brewhouse and 70% mash. I realize I can just add more grain to make up for the loss to hit my target OG, but it seems like maybe there is just a better way to compensate for the false bottom. My concern is the small sparge volume is hurting me. My latest batch called for 25 lbs of grain, 33 qt (8.25 gal) of strike water and 19.25 qt (4.8 gal) of sparge water. So I really mashed with 10.25 gal of water and sparged with 2.8 gal.
If it matters, I do use EZ Water calc to adjust my really soft water and pH and verify my mash pH with an electronic pH meter, so I don't think that's the cause of my lower efficiency.
Any help is appreciated.
-Steve