Mid-boil musings

[GDubs]

BIAB brewer here averaging +/-75% efficiency with the following process for a 6g batch
-mash with 5g x 1hr
-moderate “squeeze”
-place bag in bottling bucket on a grate above kettle
-rinse by ladeling 175F water over the grains until i reach pre-boil volume in the kettle
-from there its all pretty standard

As I’m sitting here, watching my boil, I saw there was some sparge water (now wort?) left in my bucket so i took a gravity reading to see how much sugar i was leaving behind. The gravity reading on the sample was 1.014 with early boil gravity suggesting i should hit 75%.
Relax and have and have another homebrew, or work on my sparging process a little?

Cheers
GDubs

 

[Sandy Feet]

Relax and have a homebrew is my vote.

 

[Megary]

I’d say relax as well. 75% is solid.

Curious…why are you sparging in the first place? Can you not full-volume mash?

 

[Sandy Feet]

It is also a hell of a lot better than I am getting. I follow my own advice above. My beer may not be perfect, but I enjoy the hell out of it My neighbors and friends did too this weekend. If the damn thing cleared up, it would be ideal, but that takes time, and it is only 3 weeks old.

 

[GDubs]

I’d say relax as well. 75% is solid.

Curious…why are you sparging in the first place? Can you not full-volume mash?

I have a 10g kettle so i could do a full volume mash for anything i am likely to brew… I think I just got it stuck in my head early on that I wanted to get every bit of sugar I could out of the grain and that struck me as the best way to do it.

 

[Craigerrr]

Definitely relax, repeatability is more important than degree of efficiency

 

[Megary]

I have a 10g kettle so i could do a full volume mash for anything i am likely to brew… I think I just got it stuck in my head early on that I wanted to get every bit of sugar I could out of the grain and that struck me as the best way to do it.

I got you. I BIAB as well: small batches, 8 gallon pot, 3 gallons into the fermenter. I very much enjoy mashing at full-volume because it simplifies brew day. Squeeze the grain a little bit to hit pre-boil volume and I’m good to go. No separate pot of hot water, buckets, etc. I also find that I get a better grain rinse with more water in the pot. In other words, if I were to mash with less than full volume and sparge to get there, I would probably end up with the same gravity had I just mashed with full volume to begin with.

I will freely admit that I’m not handling the amount of grain as you are and I don’t have to deal with the weight and unruliness of that size bag. I’d say whatever makes your day easier, because like @Craigerrr says, all you are trying to do is be consistent in order to properly design recipes. There are no medals for a few extra points in efficiency.

All that said, the more things you try, the more you learn. There is no harm in seeing if you can chase down a few extra points here and there (we have all done it)… as long as it doesn’t make brewday a drag.

Cheers!

 

[Zambi]

I suppose I should start measuring...
Or maybe not (what you don't know, doesn't hurt )
10 litre batches, 10 litre pot.
Living life at the edge.
I'm fine.
Got things set up at 73% efficiency, so yeah, relax

 

[Sandy Feet]

We are all different too. My mid boiling musings are "Do I play the 80s playlist or the everything playlist"?

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I have a 10g kettle so i could do a full volume mash for anything i am likely to brew… I think I just got it stuck in my head early on that I wanted to get every bit of sugar I could out of the grain and that struck me as the best way to do it.

I don't see any problem with that. I wouldn't go to extremes to get every last bit of sugar but a pour-over sparge is simple and easy and you do get more sugars than if you didn't. I mash in a picnic cooler and do a single batch sparge. I could do a second sparge but don't think I get enough extra sugars to make it worth it.

 

[GDubs]

I got you. I BIAB as well: small batches, 8 gallon pot, 3 gallons into the fermenter. I very much enjoy mashing at full-volume because it simplifies brew day. Squeeze the grain a little bit to hit pre-boil volume and I’m good to go. No separate pot of hot water, buckets, etc. I also find that I get a better grain rinse with more water in the pot. In other words, if I were to mash with less than full volume and sparge to get there, I would probably end up with the same gravity had I just mashed with full volume to begin with.

I will freely admit that I’m not handling the amount of grain as you are and I don’t have to deal with the weight and unruliness of that size bag. I’d say whatever makes your day easier, because like @Craigerrr says, all you are trying to do is be consistent in order to properly design recipes. There are no medals for a few extra points in efficiency.

All that said, the more things you try, the more you learn. There is no harm in seeing if you can chase down a few extra points here and there (we have all done it)… as long as it doesn’t make brewday a drag.

Cheers!

I did a full volume mash today for the first time and my efficiency dropped significantly (53%). I went back and double checked my last 10 brew sessions with my regular process and I had been averaging 71%.
For what it is worth, I shaved some time off my brew day but i think i will continue to sparge my grain bag.

 

[Megary]

Sorry to hear that. Very strange. I don’t see how that can be, but you have to do what works best for your set up. If I put less water in the kettle, my efficiency would definitely suffer. I know this because I’ve tested it.

 

[Herm brews]

My process is BIAB, and I do full volume mash in my 5.5 gallon kettle. Consistently, my brewhouse efficiency is between 75-80%. After mashing, I press and squeeze the bag over another kettle, usually gaining about 3 cups of wort. Lately, those extra cups of wort put my pre boil volume just slightly over projection. I have tried dunk and pour over sparging, but found no noticeable gains from doing so.