Brewhouse efficiency way lower than mash efficiency

[Hawkbox]

Hmm are you sure?

 

[dmtaylor]

I am buying my grains milled, I do not have a mill yet. As for the dilution, I can't always avoid it. My kettle is only 17L (to the top) so I only have room form 15.5L pre-boil volume. If I want to end up with more than a 10L batch, I have to dilute it. Alternative is to use DME but I prefer not to do so

I will gladly sparge with more water, I was not sure about the ratio I should maintain. You see, I have 2.7kg of grain here and I think I am supposed to use at least x2.5 as strike water. Because I am not sure, I always use a bit more, so instead of 7L, I used 9L as strike water. I could definitely use those extra 2L for sparging, as long as the x2.5 grain to strike ration is correct.

As for the sparging itself, I have a secondary 9L kettle which I use. I drain and then place the grain on a colander above the main kettle. I then slowly drop as much of the sparge water I feel I can, so as for the remaining to be able to accommodate the grain bag. I probably end up with 3L in the secondary kettle, where I place the grain bag and I leave it there for about 5 mins.

Well, you need to get your own mill. That will improve efficiency in a big way.

I have about the same setup as yours, and I sparge through a colander same as you do. My main kettle is 17L and I likewise have a 9L kettle for sparging. But then I also use other kitchen kettles and pots to make up the extra volume. I have brewed up to 6 gallons of beer on my kitchen stove, multiple times. So I have not needed to do a concentrated boil or dilute. Here is one example from a few years ago. Just do a partial boil in each pot.

So I still think you can try different things to work out a solution that can work for your homebrewery. Cheers.

 

[Hawkbox]

Where there is a will there is a way.

 

[kkourmousis]

Here is one example from a few years ago. Just do a partial boil in each pot.

That looks neat! I am using only 1 kettle because I put it in the oven for the mash, in order to maintain the temperature. Your setup looks better though. As soon as I get catch my rhythm with 1 kettle, I probably go the same way you went.

It was great to see that others have found the same ways to surpass equipment limitations (kitchen stove)

 

[NorthWest Small Batch Brewing]

I find BIAB gets better efficiency because you can use a finer grind and not worry about it getting stuck, also find that less water in mash gives better efficiency. For example I rarely go over 3 to 3.5gals water to say 10-12lb grain mash. Take a reading and dilute at end to hit your numbers. I know people that don't even sparge when they do brew in a bag (shocking ! but true).

 

[dmtaylor]

I know people that don't even sparge when they do brew in a bag (shocking ! but true).

I know people that don't squeeze when they BIAB and manage 88% brewhouse efficiency on average.

 

[Hawkbox]

I MIAB and I don't sparge most of the time, I just hoist the bag with a lift and let it drip.

 

[kkourmousis]

I know people that don't squeeze when they BIAB and manage 88% brewhouse efficiency on average.

I thought you are not supposed to squeeze because of tannins

 

[GFHomebrew]

I know people that don't squeeze when they BIAB and manage 88% brewhouse efficiency on average.

I'd say their fudging their figures 88% brew house my best is 87% that's with a sparge to Catch remaining sugars left in the mash .
Either that or their milling their grain to powder.

I'm glad to know either way

 

[dmtaylor]

I'd say their fudging their figures 88% brew house my best is 87% that's with a sparge to Catch remaining sugars left in the mash .
Either that or their milling their grain to powder.

I'm glad to know either way

No fudging. Just a fine crush -- not powder but a fine crush -- plus a full sparge by setting the grain bag into a large colander then sparging by slowly pouring 50% of the water over the grain bag. It's basically a manually performed fly sparge. Perhaps the key point is that the brewer (me) is only making 2 gallons or less on the average batch. If this were 5 gallons, it would be too much of a pain to fly sparge manually like this.

 

[Donoroto]

I thought you are not supposed to squeeze because of tannins

I thought that as well. Comments anyone?

 

[Megary]

I thought that as well. Comments anyone?

I don't believe you can squeeze tannins out of a brew bag. I'm pretty sure that myth has been debunked.

I think sparging with overly hot water that has a pH far too high is the biggest risk of tannin extraction. In other words, it's not a big risk.

 

[Craigerrr]

I don't believe you can squeeze tannins out of a brew bag. I'm pretty sure that myth has been debunked.

I think sparging with overly hot water that has a pH far too high is the biggest risk of tannin extraction. In other words, it's not a big risk.

I agree, some say "squeeze it like it owes you money"

 

[Sunfire96]

Whether or not I squeeze is dependent on if I've reached my target preboil volume or not

 

[Megary]

Whether or not I squeeze is dependent on if I've reached my target preboil volume or not

This.

Squeezing any longer is just pride.

 

[Hawkbox]

I thought you are not supposed to squeeze because of tannins

Squeeze it like it owes you money. Don't worry about tannins.

 

[AHarper]

I thought that as well. Comments anyone?

Eat more roughage...

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I find BIAB gets better efficiency because you can use a finer grind and not worry about it getting stuck, also find that less water in mash gives better efficiency. For example I rarely go over 3 to 3.5gals water to say 10-12lb grain mash. Take a reading and dilute at end to hit your numbers. I know people that don't even sparge when they do brew in a bag (shocking ! but true).

I can get better efficiency with a thinner mash. I started doing this after reading various posts (BF and others). It was a few years back so I don't remember the exact improvement, but it was enough for me to keep doing it. The below is from:
http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/inde...g_Efficiency#conversion_and_lauter_efficiency. It refers to traditional batch sparging but, I can't imagine the findings would be that much different for BIAB.

 

[Herm brews]

I always “squeeze” the bag after the mash. First, I hold the bag above the kettle to drain as much as possible, then transfer the bag to a colander over another pot. Using the backside of my brewing spoon, I press the bag to squeeze out wort until it stops dripping. On a recent brew, I recovered ~24 ounces of wort using the squeeze.

 

[Megary]

I can get better efficiency with a thinner mash. I started doing this after reading various posts (BF and others). It was a few years back so I don't remember the exact improvement, but it was enough for me to keep doing it. The below is from:
http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/inde...g_Efficiency#conversion_and_lauter_efficiency. It refers to traditional batch sparging but, I can't imagine the findings would be that much different for BIAB.

View attachment 15250

As a BIAB brewer, I agree with all of this. I have found thinner mashes definitely lead to better conversion. I know I can get about 80% for a standard-ish beer every time if I wanted to. But since I Full Volume Mash...thinner mashes also mean longer boil times.

For recipe design simplicity, I prefer 60 minute boil times so that means I'll remain content with 72-75% conversion. It's the repeatability that matters anyway, not the number.