Are all the high efficiency numbers I read about real?

This has helped a lot, I wasn't doing it wrong but I seriously had questions about terminology.
 
UPDATE!!!! i switched my hardware from a 2 cooler (mash tun/HLT) system to a 3 stainless steel direct fire system. Today was my test run. I decided to also make it my first Lager as well. Well Damn if my efficiency did not go from 70% on the high end to an all time high of 80%. I recirculated my mash which was not easy cause i had to really ride the burner but the wort was clear as a bell. I also did my first Fly Sparge. All in All it was an amazing brew day. The wort tasted great. Yeast was pitched at around 50F cause it was cold and raining out today. and its fermenting at 55F. Now the hard part of waiting doing a Diacetyl rest something i have never done and then lager in my kegorator. Today was fun
 
Sounds like a success. Pitching at 50 and ferment at 55 is the way to go. For the d rest, I don't have a heating pad so I just pull the carboy out of the fermentation fridge, put a t shirt over it to block light and let it sit at room temp for a couple days.
 
Ron Reyes (Papa Piggy) said:
UPDATE!!!! i switched my hardware from a 2 cooler (mash tun/HLT) system to a 3 stainless steel direct fire system. Today was my test run. I decided to also make it my first Lager as well. Well Damn if my efficiency did not go from 70% on the high end to an all time high of 80%. I recirculated my mash which was not easy cause i had to really ride the burner but the wort was clear as a bell. I also did my first Fly Sparge. All in All it was an amazing brew day. The wort tasted great. Yeast was pitched at around 50F cause it was cold and raining out today. and its fermenting at 55F. Now the hard part of waiting doing a Diacetyl rest something i have never done and then lager in my kegorator. Today was fun
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Which efficiency? I average around 80% conversion in my Igloo 10 gal cooler for single infusions, around 85% if I step mash or decoct. Brew house drops to around 70% with losses to grain, hops and dead space. I'm designing a recirculating system around the plastic tun and expect clearer wort but I really don't expect a 10 point increase in efficiency....
 
Ron Reyes (Papa Piggy) said:
UPDATE!!!! i switched my hardware from a 2 cooler (mash tun/HLT) system to a 3 stainless steel direct fire system. Today was my test run. I decided to also make it my first Lager as well. Well Damn if my efficiency did not go from 70% on the high end to an all time high of 80%. I recirculated my mash which was not easy cause i had to really ride the burner but the wort was clear as a bell. I also did my first Fly Sparge. All in All it was an amazing brew day. The wort tasted great. Yeast was pitched at around 50F cause it was cold and raining out today. and its fermenting at 55F. Now the hard part of waiting doing a Diacetyl rest something i have never done and then lager in my kegorator. Today was fun
Click to expand...
As you dial in your system and dial in your pH don't be surprised by 90% or better. I have hit 95% mash efficiency on several occasion with a step mash. Brewing days like that can be addictive!
 
HighVoltageMan! said:
As you dial in your system and dial in your pH don't be surprised by 90% or better. I have hit 95% mash efficiency on several occasion with a step mash. Brewing days like that can be addictive!
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yes this was also the first time my PH was monitored and was good. cant wait till next brew day. Im just running out of keg space. lol what a problem to have.
 
As you use the new equipment, take notes and compare with past batches. You want to dial in a consistent % efficiency, so your numbers match what you had planned. It doesn't really matter if that % is 80 or 90, or even 60. If you are only doing 5 gallon batches the price difference is going to be maybe $2 in extra grain. Not something to worry too much about. I remember reading something on a different forum years ago someone said they got 100% efficiency once and the beer tasted horrible, because to get all the starches converted and all the sugars out of the grain, they also pulled all the tannins out. I'd take 80% efficiency over astringent, tannin laden beer any day.
 
Hogarthe said:
As you use the new equipment, take notes and compare with past batches. You want to dial in a consistent % efficiency, so your numbers match what you had planned. It doesn't really matter if that % is 80 or 90, or even 60. If you are only doing 5 gallon batches the price difference is going to be maybe $2 in extra grain. Not something to worry too much about. I remember reading something on a different forum years ago someone said they got 100% efficiency once and the beer tasted horrible, because to get all the starches converted and all the sugars out of the grain, they also pulled all the tannins out. I'd take 80% efficiency over astringent, tannin laden beer any day.
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good beer is the goal for sure. its just nice to see improvement. the wort tasted amazing so hopefuly no extra tannins.
 
I must agree, it is not all about getting the highest efficiency, or even aspiring to the highest efficiency. The real goal is consistency! I am quite happy with 70% efficiency (or 68, or 78), I switched to all grain 5 or 6 batches ago, haven't quite dialed it in yet but getting there....
 
Craigerrr said:
I must agree, it is not all about getting the highest efficiency, or even aspiring to the highest efficiency. The real goal is consistency! I am quite happy with 70% efficiency (or 68, or 78), I switched to all grain 5 or 6 batches ago, haven't quite dialed it in yet but getting there....
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As you get closer to getting it "dialed in", your efficiency will land pretty close each time, whether it's 75% each time or 90%, it really doesn't matter. It will change a little when your using a different base grain or even a different lot, that's to be expected. But if you can buy in bulk and use that same grain from the same lot in multiply brews, the efficiency numbers will stay within a percent or 2. This is an indication that you can replicate a beer through your process and that is one of the most difficult aspect of brewing, consistency.
 
I tend to end up around 72-74% Brew House these days so it works for me.
 
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