So I am now 3 batches into my new all brew system and I figured I would try to come up with my efficiency. I found this explanation of efficiency on the HBD Efficiency web page. These are listed in opposite the order that they were brewed, so the Yeti was the first all brew I tried. The Ed at the local brew store said that this was an aggressive first brew so it should not be surprising that I only had 37% efficiency on that one.
JC IPA
8lb. Durst Pilsner (3628 g) 56 pts
2lb. Briess 2-row (907 g) 14.8 pts
1lb. Durst Wheat (453 g) 7.8 pts
0.5lb. corn sugar to boil (226 g) 4
82.6
Potential 1.082
Actual 1.045
Eff 54.8%
Pilsner
4.0 lbs (1,800g) 2 row pale malt 29.6 pts
2lbs 10oz (1,200 g) 6 row pale malt 18.2 pts
2lbs (907g) flaked maze ?
Potential 1.048
Actual 1.030
Eff 62.5%
Yeti
15.25 lbs American 2 row malt 112.85 pts
1 lb- Crystal Malt 6.8 pts
12oz- Chocolate Malt 4.5 pts
12oz- Black Patent Malt 4.35 pts
10oz- Roasted Barley 3.48 pts
8oz- Wheat Malt 3.9 pts
8oz- Flaked Rye ?
135
Potential 1.135
Actual 1.050
Eff 37%
Avg Eff 51%
Overall I would say that I need to work on efficiency for the future, but it looks as though I am in the ball park of many brewers that are new to all grain so I am not going to complain. After all, if I started out perfect, where would I have to go?
Nice blog.
Hey, as long as the final product tastes great, I’m not too concerned about near-perfect efficiency.
Happy brewing,
Bad Ben
Thanks!
In the end that is all that matters and I have been very happy with the brews that I’ve had so no complaints here. I glad to get some responses and I added your brew blog to my regular rounds.
The mash efficiency is only a matter of cost (economics). It won’t affect taste IMO.
Are you batch sparging or continuous sparging (aka fly-sparging)?
My first two batchs (Imperial Stout and Pilsner) were batch sparges, but in the last one I used a fly sparge.
I came up with an excel spreadsheet to help workout the math on adjusting to my efficiency. It’s not too hard to do.