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Krimbos

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Hey Guys, its been a while

Question -
I have always had trouble differentiating brew log values

MASH COMPLETE GRAVITY vs PRE BOIL GRAVITY - arent these the same?
BOIL COMPLETE GRAVITY vs BREW DAY COMPLETE GRAVITY - also the same?

WHat other values do you measure during the day.

I am a BIABagger these days

Also, please do not refer me to http://www.brewersfriend.com/2012/11/30/making-sense-of-efficiency-definitions/

I have read it many times. I must be missing something
 
Gday krimbos I just go by extract efficiency and brew house efficiency everything in between don't mean too much to me.
 
Conversion efficiency is important, it tells you how much sugar you got out of your grain compared to what you could get. Everything else just tallies losses to trub, dead space, etc. If you can think in terms of gravity points ((1-SG)*volume*1000), you can get a better idea of what the efficiencies mean. From a given mass of grain, you can theoretically get a given number of gravity points, analogous to a given amount of sugar extracted. You lose sugar due to grain absorption of wort, hop absorption of wort, trub absorption of wort and wort left in the kettle. Efficiency is the ratio of gravity points you actually have to the theoretical maximum at each step of the process. Unless you're troubleshooting losses in your process, I think Trialben got it right: All that's in between extract and brewhouse doesn't make much difference.
 
I think hes talking about the software not the process, and how its stated, you would really need to talk to the original creator on this one, LarryBrewer
 
I think hes talking about the software not the process, and how its stated, you would really need to talk to the original creator on this one, LarryBrewer

I think in this case, understanding the process is what helps understand the entries and what they mean. But the gravities shouldn't change between the mash tun and the kettle. It will change from the end of the boil to the fermentor - you're going from hot to cold and the liquid contracts but there shouldn't be a loss of gravity points, except for wort that didn't make it into the fermentor. The "Mash Complete" and "Pre-Boil" gravities would make sense if there were an allowance for added sugars between the processes but doing that with the current software changes your extract efficiency. I think you're right, you'd have to ask Larry.
 
Hey Guys, its been a while

Question -
I have always had trouble differentiating brew log values

MASH COMPLETE GRAVITY vs PRE BOIL GRAVITY - arent these the same?
BOIL COMPLETE GRAVITY vs BREW DAY COMPLETE GRAVITY - also the same?

WHat other values do you measure during the day.

I am a BIABagger these days

Also, please do not refer me to http://www.brewersfriend.com/2012/11/30/making-sense-of-efficiency-definitions/

I have read it many times. I must be missing something

Don't know if this will help but I struggled with this and conversed with Larry Brewer on this quite a bit (a few years ago).
MASH COMPLETE vs PREBOIL GRAVITY can be the same unless you choose to drain to kettle and take a reading from those first runnings and use it for calculations instead of all your mash water and sparge water combined.
The difference between BOIL COMPLETE vs BREW DAY COMPLETE is boil complete is what is in the kettle when you are finished boiling and brew day complete is what goes into the fermenter. So if you just dump the brew kettle into the fermenter it would be the same but if you leave some trub in the brew kettle that would be the difference. The gravity is the same for these 2 just a different volume sometimes.
Cheers, Krimbo good to hear from ya.
 
Don't know if this will help but I struggled with this and conversed with Larry Brewer on this quite a bit (a few years ago).
MASH COMPLETE vs PREBOIL GRAVITY can be the same unless you choose to drain to kettle and take a reading from those first runnings and use it for calculations instead of all your mash water and sparge water combined.
The difference between BOIL COMPLETE vs BREW DAY COMPLETE is boil complete is what is in the kettle when you are finished boiling and brew day complete is what goes into the fermenter. So if you just dump the brew kettle into the fermenter it would be the same but if you leave some trub in the brew kettle that would be the difference. The gravity is the same for these 2 just a different volume sometimes.
Cheers, Krimbo good to hear from ya.
On that note then, would that mean for mash complete I would have to lauter the entire volume of the mash tun to get that reading before sparging? I fly sparge so I never let the liquid fall below less than an inch above my grain bed which would make it rather impossible to get that reading. Should I just omit that step? Doing so will not let me see the conversion efficiency so Im lost.
 
Total mash volume + sparge volume - grain absorption = preboil volume / pre boil gravity? This should give you your conversion efficiency yes?
 
On that note then, would that mean for mash complete I would have to lauter the entire volume of the mash tun to get that reading before sparging? I fly sparge so I never let the liquid fall below less than an inch above my grain bed which would make it rather impossible to get that reading. Should I just omit that step? Doing so will not let me see the conversion efficiency so Im lost.

No, you could use the measurement option B: a blend of all runnings. Be sure to completely stir the wort collected before this sample is taken. The "frequently asked questions" section explains it in better terms than I can. Just slight misreadings in volume or gravity can throw this off quite a bit.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/faq/#brewsessions5
 
I think hes talking about the software not the process, and how its stated, you would really need to talk to the original creator on this one, LarryBrewer
OMB - I am sure there are many of us who wish we can talk to LarryBrewer!

The site has made some nice improvements, but I still long for the days when LB was active
 
I'm puzzled by the difference in Mash complete and pre-boil, too. I tend to ignore them and go by post-boil gravity to get OG. That doesn't change, no matter what the efficiency number is and I can edit my recipe's projected efficiency number to match up with the reality of what I actually got.
The post boil and brewhouse is easier to figure out. If you put your entire post-boil volume into the fermenter, they'll be the same. If you lost wort to trub. deadspace, etc, your brewhouse efficiency will be lower than your kettle efficiency. Again, gravity reading is the only number that's critical to making beer once it's post boil. Everything else is necessary for fine-tuning recipes to match process and ingredients and consistently get to the OG you want.
 
OMB - I am sure there are many of us who wish we can talk to LarryBrewer!

The site has made some nice improvements, but I still long for the days when LB was active
Definitely miss Larry, too. No Trophy Points back then....
 
I'm puzzled by the difference in Mash complete and pre-boil, too. I tend to ignore them and go by post-boil gravity to get OG. That doesn't change, no matter what the efficiency number is and I can edit my recipe's projected efficiency number to match up with the reality of what I actually got.
The post boil and brewhouse is easier to figure out. If you put your entire post-boil volume into the fermenter, they'll be the same. If you lost wort to trub. deadspace, etc, your brewhouse efficiency will be lower than your kettle efficiency. Again, gravity reading is the only number that's critical to making beer once it's post boil. Everything else is necessary for fine-tuning recipes to match process and ingredients and consistently get to the OG you want.
If you read and follow the diagram in FAQ on efficiency it will eventually soak in. Do you need efficiency reports to make good beer? I would say each to their own there. My measurements are not always perfect so my figures vary but it gives me a rough idea of conversion efficiency. With perfect measurements the math would always be correct. A basic hydrometer is not exactly digital readout. Neither is a stick or a sight glass. If you use first runnings it will always vary unless you drain the wort off grain the same every time. A small amount will change the outcome.
 
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If you read and follow the diagram in FAQ on efficiency it will eventually soak in.

I've gotten to the point that my efficiency is consistent and predictable and I can hit OG within a point or two every time. I just have to ignore some of what the log entries tell me about efficiency along the way. ;)
 

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