Yup I get routinely around 80-83% brew house. That's around 5lt/kg thin mash with small sparge and squeezing me bags
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Brewhouse efficiency way lower than mash efficiency
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Yup I get routinely around 80-83% brew house. That's around 5lt/kg thin mash with small sparge and squeezing me bags
I am going to have a look back and see what my %Efficiencies are but I usually work to 2-5 to 3 L/kg.
As for squeezing your bags - be careful. You may need them again!
too right!I've always mashed pretty thin
What ever works for you I say.
I find it easy to incorporate the grains in and stir when nice and thin and it doesnt impact efficiency.
Ok, consensus is squeezing is fine. A recent brew had me a bit wort short, so I squeezed the grain in the mash pipe to get another quart out. No ill effects noted.
So help me reconcile thinner mashes with higher gravity beers, considering my 30 liter system has only so much space in it. How do I get something like 1.075 on only 13 pounds of grain? (I have fit 13.5 pounds in it, but was constantly on danger of overtopping the mash pipe).
Sure, dme/lme, but ignore those options. Just Grain. (Maybe this calls for a new thread...)
So help me reconcile thinner mashes with higher gravity beers, considering my 30 liter system has only so much space in it. How do I get something like 1.075 on only 13 pounds of grain? (I have fit 13.5 pounds in it, but was constantly on danger of overtopping the mash pipe).
Sure, dme/lme, but ignore those options. Just Grain. (Maybe this calls for a new thread...)
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This is all gold to me!
Water to grain ratio was one thing that I was suspecting that was getting me off track. Pre boil volume was another one.
Your tips and sources make so much sense now, I am so looking forward to my next brew!
Can't wait to squeeze that bag. Wait.... That came out weird
Edit:
Btw I am -kind of- on the same boat, my kettle can fit 15.5L and my 30L fermenter can fit aprox 22L wort safely
I personally try to hit a 1.090+ post boil volume, and then I dilute it as much as I can, in order to meet my targeted OG.
Water to grain ratio was one thing that I was suspecting that was getting me off track. Pre boil volume was another one.
Your tips and sources make so much sense now, I am so looking forward to my next brew!
Can't wait to squeeze that bag. Wait.... That came out weird
Edit:
Btw I am -kind of- on the same boat, my kettle can fit 15.5L and my 30L fermenter can fit aprox 22L wort safely
I personally try to hit a 1.090+ post boil volume, and then I dilute it as much as I can, in order to meet my targeted OG.
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Yeah Disclaimer no one elses bags were squeezed in the production of this beer.
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You can't extract tannins via mechanical effort. The molecules are too small. Higher temperatures and pH are needed to get tannins out.
I full volume mash and it's nearly always pretty thin. Works for me, 75 - 80% efficiency post boil. Some step mashing approaches will give you higher efficiency and will start with some pretty thick mashes. So no right answer. Try a few different approaches and see what works for you.
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I suspect not as well. The only way that "don't squeeze" thing could work is if you're going on the theory that somehow there are tannins in the wort in the bag or pipe and squeezing will somehow force them out. My suspicion is that "don't squeeze" is just beer lore.
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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.
I am having my brewday this weekend and I am considering trying this. I feel like there is not much gain for me, since my recipe calls for a 90 minute boil so I think that ~6L will be lost during boiling evaporation by each kettle that boils! I am going to explain what I have in mind and if you spot anything odd feel free to mention it:
To remind you, I have a 17L kettle as well as a 9L one. I also have a smaller one (I believe it is 4-5L) which I haven't used so far.
Also, I am huge fan of putting my main kettle in the oven in order to maintain its mash temperature.
So, what I think I will try is:
1. I will fill up my main kettle with as much water I can in order to be able to accommodate the grain volume but at the same time being as closer to full as possible. Not sure how to achieve that though, but I will try the following: my recipe has 4.4kg of grain. The grain absorption should be ~3L. I think that I should say "4.4 - 3 = 1.4" and hope that this 1.4 represents the actual volume that the grain will need in order to get into the kettle (3L will be absorbed so this is not considered as taking up space in the kettle). Once the mash is done in the main kettle, I will raise the bag, and let it drain on a colander placed above the main kettle. As per later comments on this post, I will also squeeze the bag
2. I will fill up my 9L kettle with 4-5L and get it to 77 degrees Celsius. I will also do the same with my 3rd kettle (4-5L) and get it ready for future step. I will transfer the bag inside that 4-5L (hoping again that there will be enough room there) and let it sit in there for lets say 5 minutes (?) to absorb more water. After that I will return the grain on the colander on the main kettle and let it drain. As per later comments on this post, I will also squeeze the bag
3. Since my main kettle is 17L to the top, I am able to put 15.5L in there as so to have a safe boil (no boil overs). If that volume is not in there, I will add from my secondary, where the sparge happened.
4. I will move the colander with the grain on top of my secondary kettle and I will slowly pour water from my 3rd kettle on top of the bag. I will let it drain and at the same time I will (if needed) add some water in my 3rd kettle, in order to have ~2L. Once the bag is drained, I will squeeze it (still above my secondary kettle).
5. Lastly, I will put the bag in the 3rd kettle and let is sit there for aprox 5 mins (?). After that, a final drain and squeeze above that 3rd kettle and at that point, I believe that if the grain could talk would scream "mercy. spare me. enough, I gave you everything I had".
At that point, I am hoping to have ~15.5L in my main kettle, ~8L in my secondary kettle and ~2L in my 3rd kettle. If one of the volumes is lower on main or secondary kettle, I will fill it up with water of my 3rd kettle. There is no point on boiling my 3rd kettle, it does not have enough volume to maintain a 90 minute boil. So if all these happen, I will end up with ~10L in my main kettle and ~2L in my secondary.
I don't know if i said something wrong, but if not, is all of this worth if for 2L extra wort (from my secondary kettle)?
Perhaps, but at first the grain will be dry, meaning it will take up more volume than you think, at least initially.
Step 2 might be a few minutes longer, like 10. Step 5 might not be needed, or you can pour the water over the colander with grain instead of soaking it.
