mash efficiency

grainy one

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I used 12# of grain, 3.5 gal in mash at 152. ph of 5.1 at the end of 60 min mash. sparge with 3 more gal, boiled and got 4 gal of .062. Is it me, or is this low? I know .062 is strong but thought it would be higher like .072
 
Did you take volumn and gravity readings of you 1st and sparge runnings? Could be possible your conversion was low and the mash wasnt finished.
 
1.st running were at .072 and I stopped sparge at .009 .5.25 gal wort in all .
 
Plugged 12# of 2-row into the recipe editor and set batch size to 4 gallons.

At 65% efficiency, it comes up with 1.072
At 56% efficiency, it comes up with 1.061

I'd check to make sure the mill gap is around 0.038". Crush is very important. You may also need to calibrate thermometers. A pH of 5.1 is a little low, I shoot for 5.4.
 
thanks Larry. I'll have to do some checking on that mill gap, it's not mine. as for the ph. I've been changing my water and knew something bad might happen. funny thing is, this low efficiency has happened with three different water profiles now. I'm betting its in the grain . same base malt on all three.
Variables ,variables , so many variables.
 
if you have a tougher shelled grain and are having efficiency issues, do a longer mash or a step mash starting with 90, 120, 145, 152 or your call. it will defiantly help, also do a full 60 minute rest then a full 60 minute fly sparge, works even better
 
thanks everyone, definitely going to do a step mash next. now I just have to figure out what to do with all the extra beer I'll get.
 
I batch sparge. I mash for at least 60 minutes, sometimes up to two hours. I noticed my efficiency is higher when I let the sparge water sit for 30 minutes. If I only let it sit for 15 minutes, this hurts my efficiency. I usually get at least 72% to the kettle efficiency. Check how much deadspace you have - that hurts efficiency too.
 
If your brewhouse efficiency was below 60%, I almost guarantee you the grain wasn't milled enough. Next time check to see if you have a lot of uncracked grains. You shouldn't have any.
 

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