Not hitting gravities

[BadNewsBrewery]

I've been brewing for years now, and AG for at least the past 4 or 5. I currently run a 3-vessle eHERMS setup with a keggle for the HLT, a 50' 1/2" SS coil for the HERMS, and a 10gal cooler MLT with a JayBird false bottom. It seems that no matter what I do, I max my efficency out at 72-73%, and that's only if I try really hard.

I don't own my own mill and get my grains crushed at the LHBS - there are two in the area, I've used both, and always ask them to run it through whichever mill gives the finest crush. Same basic results from each store.

I recirculate through the HERMS during mash, which is typically 60 minutes long. Target temperatures are either 151, or some times I'll do a two step mash at 145 and 152/153. Grain bill varies based on brew, but is typically comprised of a majority 2-row, pilsner, or maris otter. I typically mash at 1.3qt/lb to 1.5qt/lb, excluding the liquid within the deadspace. I fly sparge, and try to have it take as long as possible, between 30-60 minutes depending on my patience level.

I finished a 10gal batch last night on a wheat beer, pulled 13 gallons out of the MLT at 1.047 where beersmith projected 1.055... I boiled it down to 11 gallons, which beersmith projected would get me to 1.062 and I only got to 1.057 and a 73% efficency (beersmith is assuming 80% efficency).

My beer has always turned out tasty and drinkable and I can consistently make the same batches over and over, so I've normally just gone with the "RDWHAHB" mentality beacuse - hey - I'm making tasty beer... but I've been at this long enough, and I'm an engineer... so I want to figure out how to get my numbers up. What do I need to do to boost my numbers?

-Kevin

 

[cmoewes]

I would just adjust the settings in BeerSmith down to 73% and call it a day.

It's kind of old (and not necessarily scientific) but that's right in the range of people from this survey here

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/what-kind-efficiency-do-you-average-30104/

I'm sure you could tweak this or that and bring it up, but like you said it sounds like you have done most of the key things.

Have you checked your water chemistry? Maybe that's something you could look at to improve.

Do you sparge (or did you say you do a full volume recirc)? Do you bring your mash up to a mash out temp (168)? I think that can help to get all the sugars out of the MLT.

But how much effort will it take to get up to 80% and is it worth it vs. an extra pound of base malt

 

[Indian_villager]

Most brew shops will err on the side of caution and still crush a bit coarse. With my Corona mill I can hit 80+% efficiency without a stuck mash. Visit the ugly junk thread and get your party moving.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

Engineer here as well, I understand the struggle for maximizing numbers.

Have you found that a certain color of beer gets better efficiency? If so, then it is very likely a pH issue. For me, darker beers are better efficiency due to my water.

 

[peterj]

I would just adjust the settings in BeerSmith down to 73% and call it a day.

+1 to this. It's not like there's an efficiency goal that you have to hit or else you're not doing it right. It's going to vary between different people's set up and process. 73% is a pretty average and respectable efficiency. I would say 80% is pretty high. All that matters is that you know what efficiency your set up will get so that you can use BeerSmith to formulate your recipes and predict what you need. That's why the efficiency is adjustable.

However, if you want to get your efficiency up I think the answer is going to be to buy a grain mill. Grain crush is the biggest factor in efficiency, and like Indian_villager said most brew shops will crush a bit coarse.

In fact I'll go ahead and say that it's not water chemistry, pH, mashouts, or anything like that. It's the crush.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

I like the true engineering answer here - rather than raise the output, reduce the expectation!

But seriously, I may screw around with some of these ideas to see what I can get or ask them to double-mill the grains just to see if it has any impact... and if not, just adjust beersmith to 73% and roll with it.

pH / Water Chemistry - I have had my water sent out for analysis, pH of 8.0, good values otherwise, slightly low calcium. I use Five Star 5.2 pH buffer in my mash water and sparge water, and add gypsum to the mash water.

Sparge - I fly sparge, normally 30-60 minutes.

Mash Out - I normally get it up to 168-170 before I start the sparge.

Color - I have not noticed a distinct differential in my results as compared to the beer color, but I'll go over my data and pay more attention in the future.

Crush - the only part of the process I don't control. Time to buy a mill and start buying base grains by the sack.

Thanks, all. Gives me a little relief to know that I'm not screwing up something or forgetting some major *duh* step that would boost me up a little.

-Kevin

 

[Yooper]

I like the true engineering answer here - rather than raise the output, reduce the expectation!

But seriously, I may screw around with some of these ideas to see what I can get or ask them to double-mill the grains just to see if it has any impact... and if not, just adjust beersmith to 73% and roll with it.

pH / Water Chemistry - I have had my water sent out for analysis, pH of 8.0, good values otherwise, slightly low calcium. I use Five Star 5.2 pH buffer in my mash water and sparge water, and add gypsum to the mash water.

Sparge - I fly sparge, normally 30-60 minutes.

Mash Out - I normally get it up to 168-170 before I start the sparge.

Color - I have not noticed a distinct differential in my results as compared to the beer color, but I'll go over my data and pay more attention in the future.

Crush - the only part of the process I don't control. Time to buy a mill and start buying base grains by the sack.

Thanks, all. Gives me a little relief to know that I'm not screwing up something or forgetting some major *duh* step that would boost me up a little.

-Kevin

If you've got good water (and even if you don't!) ditch the 5.2 for sure. It doesn't do anything anyway in about 99.9% of the cases but it can cause some issues so it's best to get rid of that for sure. Use a brewing spreadsheet (bru'nwater or brewer's friend have good ones that are free), to target a mash pH of 5.3-5.5. Most people have to use some acid or acid malt to get there, so that is one thing to look at.

I get 75% in my system, crushing my own grain, so I'd say you're right in the ballpark and chasing efficiency for efficiency's sake isn't recommended but if you can tweak your mash pH (and make sure you acidify your sparge water if not using RO water), that would optimize your conversion.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Noted - I've never messed with Mash pH outside of the 5.2 on the assumption that it actually did anything (seems to get mixed reviews). I'll go with the mash-based pH adjustment, and do some research on how to best drop the pH of the sparge water without the 5.2 - Thanks, all!

 

[Tall_Yotie]

I have also heard that the 5.2 buffer really doesn't do much, and can add unwanted salts to the brew.
Crush can be the easiest to check but the hardest to control, as a good crush is a "looks like this picture" rather than a real measurement. Crush also is a knee-jerk reaction for a lot of folks for efficiency issues, and is legit, but may not always be the correct answer.
If you are an engineer, the water chemistry shouldn't be that difficult to figure out especially if you have a proper water report. Lots of calculators out there for determining your mash pH depending on your salts and beer color. Is a minor factor to efficiency, but a factor never the less.
Best of luck!