So I’ve been plagued by low efficiency… Low to mid 60%… at this point I’m pretty sure it’s due to the crush of grains from my LHBS. Their mill is self-serve, but locked at .04. Does anyone have any ideas to get a little more crush on the grain to try and boost efficiency? I was thinking about taking a portion of the grain bill (half?) and giving it a quick pulse in the Ninja blender. Obviously I don’t want to make flour, but just enough to beat it up a little more.
Does anyone have any thought on this or other ideas? I’ll be investing in a grain mill soon and will have more control over my crush, but until SWMBO let’s me drop the cash I have to work with what I have.
I used to “crush” 100% of my malt in a blender when I didn’t have my own mill. It worked great, got normal efficiency in the mid 70s. Just do about 3/4 cup at a time or else only the bottom 2 inches will turn to flour but the rest will sit still. You need to strike a balance with this method between most of it flying all over the place and most of it sitting still. You want to figure out what amount is kind of halfway in between, then do that repeatedly. Only pulse for 5-10 seconds, that should be all you need.
At one time I thought I was getting 85% efficiency (which is insanely high), but I wasn’t accounting for the shrinkage in volume when the wort was cooled from boiling to 68F (about 4%).
First thing is to check all of your volumes, and be sure to look at your dead volumes (wort remaining in the BK and wort chiller). Factor in your losses (and gains) due to the wort’s temperature. If you’re making more wort than your accounting for then your efficiency will be artificially low.
+1 on add more grain. I had the same problem. I just know that I will get 65-70% efficiency. I target the high end of the style OG, add grain for 70% and either hit it dead on or come to a lower og still in the style. But i hit it dead on most of the time now. I would rather have consistency then high efficiency
In an experiment at Experimental Brewing, we found 2 months made no difference. My personal experience is that 5 months is fine. Briess quotes 2 years for their pre crushed malt.
If the problem is with wort production you can use the chart from Braukaiser - http://braukaiser.com/wiki/images/3/3c/First_wort_gravity.gif to see what your mash efficiency is. It should approach 90% if all your ducks are in a row. If is less then it’s either your grind or your mash process. If it’s good, then its your system and how you handle the runnings afterwards. Mash efficiency matters, overall efficiency is less important… just add more grain.
I know I’m a little later to reply to this, but my efficiency woes were due to pH. Once I aligned the pH of the wort to approximately 5.5 my numbers came way up. I also double vorloff the first runnings and sparge water.
I know I’m a little later to reply to this, but my efficiency woes were due to pH. Once I aligned the pH of the wort to approximately 5.5 my numbers came way up. I also double vorloff the first runnings and sparge water.
