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I searched the forums and I even read through a similar incident of this happening, but it didn't completely answer my question.
I need to preface my problem with a little history so this will make some sense:
The last few batches i've done have ended up with horrible efficiency numbers. And as a result, my beers have been very light and thin. As a result, i adjusted my recipes to use an efficiency of 65%. I recently spoke with a local homebrewer, and we realized the major mistake I had been making. I had been batch sparging with strike water that was only 152º! I don't know where I had gotten that number, but obviously it was extremely too low. So, on this last batch, i corrected the mistake and added water that was 185º.
My pre-boil efficiency this time came out to be 78%, and I was super pleased! Now, i realize that this number will drop a bit once i adjust future recipes for a higher efficiency. I'm thinking 70-72% is probably where i really will end up being...which is great with me!
While my pre-boil efficiency was great and what i was hoping, my conversion efficiency number that I had taken before it was a bit puzzling. It was 110.5%. I'm not sure if this is even possible? I calculated it using the total amount of water that I used for mash/sparge/etc. I also took my wort reading from a well-mixed sample from all collected wort.
I do have one theory that i think it could be, though:
Once the runoff stream stopped, I had 6.5 gallons in the kettle, just as i expected. I assumed that i had run off all of the wort from the grain. Well, come to find out later on...my sparge actually had gotten stuck. I still had about .5 gallon of wort still in the MLT. So, I think i had a "concentrated" amount of wort in the kettle, as opposed to the full volume that I was supposed to have. That would skew my percentage up...correct?
Does that make sense? Is that possible?
Thanks in advance for any insight anyone can give!
I need to preface my problem with a little history so this will make some sense:
The last few batches i've done have ended up with horrible efficiency numbers. And as a result, my beers have been very light and thin. As a result, i adjusted my recipes to use an efficiency of 65%. I recently spoke with a local homebrewer, and we realized the major mistake I had been making. I had been batch sparging with strike water that was only 152º! I don't know where I had gotten that number, but obviously it was extremely too low. So, on this last batch, i corrected the mistake and added water that was 185º.
My pre-boil efficiency this time came out to be 78%, and I was super pleased! Now, i realize that this number will drop a bit once i adjust future recipes for a higher efficiency. I'm thinking 70-72% is probably where i really will end up being...which is great with me!
While my pre-boil efficiency was great and what i was hoping, my conversion efficiency number that I had taken before it was a bit puzzling. It was 110.5%. I'm not sure if this is even possible? I calculated it using the total amount of water that I used for mash/sparge/etc. I also took my wort reading from a well-mixed sample from all collected wort.
I do have one theory that i think it could be, though:
Once the runoff stream stopped, I had 6.5 gallons in the kettle, just as i expected. I assumed that i had run off all of the wort from the grain. Well, come to find out later on...my sparge actually had gotten stuck. I still had about .5 gallon of wort still in the MLT. So, I think i had a "concentrated" amount of wort in the kettle, as opposed to the full volume that I was supposed to have. That would skew my percentage up...correct?
Does that make sense? Is that possible?
Thanks in advance for any insight anyone can give!