Well Sunday was my first BIAB day. Operationally, not too bad.....I mashed in a boiler, a few issues with heat control, may have got up to 70C at one point. Probably the best I can say is that I averaged 65C, with a large error bar #-o
Anyway, used the Calculator from this site, and all seemed well. I hit the right volumes (as best as I could measure), and the preboil gravity was spot on. However, I am now very confused as to my efficiency....I keep my recipes on hopville.com, and that predicted an OG of 1056 into the fermenter. I hit 1045....giving me an efficiency of 56%..according to that site. However, the Calculator seems to work on the assumption that the efficiency is much higher. I know that different people calculate efficiency at different points (mash and final or brewhouse), so I can live with the difference.
However, does anyone have any suggestions as to up the brewhouse efficiency on my brew, if I only get 56% out??
Recipe reads 2kg Maris Otter, 0.2kg crystal, 0.1 chocolate malt, 0.1 oats. 9 l brew length/final volume.
I presume that if I keep hitting 56%, I'm going to have up the grain bill to get the ABV I want....which is going to alter the volume I'm working on, so any other ideas would be greatfully appreciated!
Post #2 made 15 years ago
Congratulations on your first all-grain Paul 
. It's always a pretty exciting event and one that often leads to more questions 
.
Your gravity figure looks fine so I can see no efficiency problems.
I think the problem here is just a definition one. I wrote a post on this earlier today here. You'll see there that I never used the term, "Brewhouse Efficiency."
On the first page of 'The Calculator,' it asks for your, "End of Boil Efficiency." This terminology has been used very deliberately as it totally avoids any misinterpretation. It is not, however, 'Brewhouse Efficiency.'
Other software uses the term, "Brewhouse Efficiency," but this term usually applies further down the process line and its definition is often vague. Some software authors mean Brewhouse Efficiency = 'Efficiency into Fermenter,' some mean, 'Efficiency into Packaging,' and many brewers will even think it is their, 'Efficiency into the Kettle.'
So, the expression, 'Brewhouse Efficiency,' has become very abused. The simple term, 'efficiency,' even more so.
This makes it very confusing for all brewers, let alone new ones.
There is a whole thread here devoted to converting recipes to suit your equipment. A read/scan through that will show you that a lack of common definitions is what makes recipe conversion often quite complicated and laborious.
So, no need to doubt yourself Paul. All looks good! If you are using other software, you need to really study and play with it, to determine the definitions used and this can be very hard.
It takes a while to get your head around this area so feel free to ask questions here or in the recipe conversion thread I linked above.
For now though, all I can see is a job well done
. It's always a pretty exciting event and one that often leads to more questions .Your gravity figure looks fine so I can see no efficiency problems.
I think the problem here is just a definition one. I wrote a post on this earlier today here. You'll see there that I never used the term, "Brewhouse Efficiency."
On the first page of 'The Calculator,' it asks for your, "End of Boil Efficiency." This terminology has been used very deliberately as it totally avoids any misinterpretation. It is not, however, 'Brewhouse Efficiency.'
Other software uses the term, "Brewhouse Efficiency," but this term usually applies further down the process line and its definition is often vague. Some software authors mean Brewhouse Efficiency = 'Efficiency into Fermenter,' some mean, 'Efficiency into Packaging,' and many brewers will even think it is their, 'Efficiency into the Kettle.'
So, the expression, 'Brewhouse Efficiency,' has become very abused. The simple term, 'efficiency,' even more so.
This makes it very confusing for all brewers, let alone new ones.
There is a whole thread here devoted to converting recipes to suit your equipment. A read/scan through that will show you that a lack of common definitions is what makes recipe conversion often quite complicated and laborious.
So, no need to doubt yourself Paul. All looks good! If you are using other software, you need to really study and play with it, to determine the definitions used and this can be very hard.
It takes a while to get your head around this area so feel free to ask questions here or in the recipe conversion thread I linked above.
For now though, all I can see is a job well done
Last edited by PistolPatch on 08 Mar 2011, 21:21, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #3 made 15 years ago
Thanks a lot for that.....very helpful, and the example you gave to work through makes a lot of sense. Going back to my recipe looks like I was almost a kilo short of grain to get the ABV I wanted (was trying for c. 5.0% as the brew was for a 50th birthday!). The software I used quotes 'mash efficiency' but it is, in fact, the equivalent of your 'Efficiency into packaging' c. 55%
It also explains that when I transpose AG recipes from books, hopville comes up with differing gravities.....and why I have been designing recipes on Hopville and always getting a lower OG when using extract and steeped grains.
So two things learned- How to use The Calculator, AND how to tweak the online software!
Result.
It also explains that when I transpose AG recipes from books, hopville comes up with differing gravities.....and why I have been designing recipes on Hopville and always getting a lower OG when using extract and steeped grains.
So two things learned- How to use The Calculator, AND how to tweak the online software!
Result.
Post #4 made 15 years ago
Good on you Paul!
These terminology discrepancies are a constant PITA. Most of what I have written here in the last two days relates to this and I just noticed another two threads with the same problem
.
I think you'll find your beer will taste great despite the lost kilo
. (The mash temperature going up to 70 might add some more body to the beer for example.) I have often brewed a recipe several times at different OG's (sometimes creating beers as low as 2.5% ABV) and they are always 
.
Any crap beers I have brewed have never been the result of abusing or stretching a recipe.
Make sure you let us know how it goes Paul
These terminology discrepancies are a constant PITA. Most of what I have written here in the last two days relates to this and I just noticed another two threads with the same problem
.I think you'll find your beer will taste great despite the lost kilo
. (The mash temperature going up to 70 might add some more body to the beer for example.) I have often brewed a recipe several times at different OG's (sometimes creating beers as low as 2.5% ABV) and they are always .Any crap beers I have brewed have never been the result of abusing or stretching a recipe.
Make sure you let us know how it goes Paul
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Post #5 made 15 years ago
Mmm, interesting
Fermentation looks good, nice 'seal' of trub and what not. However, by 6 days nearly all my extract brews have finished. After the last 6 days, I'm down from 1045 to 1028.
Probably suggests that the higher temperatures I mashed at drew out a lot of non-fermentable sugar? Will keep my eye on it over the next three days - 1028 seems a bit risky for kegging
Fermentation looks good, nice 'seal' of trub and what not. However, by 6 days nearly all my extract brews have finished. After the last 6 days, I'm down from 1045 to 1028.
Probably suggests that the higher temperatures I mashed at drew out a lot of non-fermentable sugar? Will keep my eye on it over the next three days - 1028 seems a bit risky for kegging
