Efficiency, HELP!

[tommolad]

Hello all,

I'm sure I'll sound like a complete muppet, but I've just finished my first all grain brew today and found some big problems.
I've done exactly as my book said, but found found that after the boil I only had 18 litres of wort, not the 23 litres I was expecting.
Does anyone know where I might have gone wrong?
I'm guessing this is due to "efficiency",how do I work this out?

Thanks,

Tom

[WishboneBrewery]

You need to provide a bit more info for anyone to answer properly.
Total Grain weight, Mash Liquor volume, Sparge Volumes, Boil length, the recipe, total amount of hops, and knowing what equipment you are brewing with etc?

[Graham]

Hello all,

I'm sure I'll sound like a complete muppet, but I've just finished my first all grain brew today and found some big problems.
I've done exactly as my book said, but found found that after the boil I only had 18 litres of wort, not the 23 litres I was expecting.
Does anyone know where I might have gone wrong?
I'm guessing this is due to "efficiency",how do I work this out?

Thanks,

Tom

Might be nothing to do with efficiency. Depends upon what your "big problems" were.

18 litres at what gravity? Chances are that the wort is more concentrated. If you dilute it down to target gravity, it will probably be closer to your target volume.

[Eric]

If you were using a 5 gallon (23 litre) boiler, allowing for losses due to evaporation, hops, hop filter it would be expected that you would end up with about 18 litres. It would then be usual to add water to make your 23 litres. In time you will learn and devise a number of improvements/changes that will improve matters.
Don't think for one minute you've lost the plot, the fun and promise is but starting. Well done.

[tommolad]

Ah that might be the problem, in which case I blame the book.
It says 12 litres of mash liquor, which is the amount I used, and then instead of specifying the amount of sparge liquor needed it simply says "collect until you have reached near your final volume (23 litres, I assume) or until the gravity of the spargings fall below 1005. So i collected until I had 23 litres. the gravity of my wort was just about bang on what the book said it should be. Obviously I should've known to collect more spargings to offset the evaporation, but then I would have been diluting my wort wouldn't I, as my spargings were about to fall below 1005? So is my problem to do with mashing and sparging?

Thanks again all

[Eric]

Not sure it's either. I think it's called brewing.

[tommolad]

But it was supposed to be a 23 litre batch, so I must have ballsed up somewhere, right?

[Graham]

Ah that might be the problem, in which case I blame the book.
It says 12 litres of mash liquor, which is the amount I used, and then instead of specifying the amount of sparge liquor needed it simply says "collect until you have reached near your final volume (23 litres, I assume) or until the gravity of the spargings fall below 1005. So i collected until I had 23 litres. the gravity of my wort was just about bang on what the book said it should be. Obviously I should've known to collect more spargings to offset the evaporation, but then I would have been diluting my wort wouldn't I, as my spargings were about to fall below 1005? So is my problem to do with mashing and sparging?
Thanks again all

There really is no need to collect more than target volume and then boil it down; it demands a degree of brewing precision that is rarely attained and is pointless. There are several good reasons for ending up with less than your target volume after the boil. If your gravity and volume were more or less bang on before the boil, then you have lost nothing but water during the boil. You can restore things back to volume by adding water, either to the boiler or to the fermenter. You need to know the gravity and volume before you can calculate how much water to add though.

[Graham]

But it was supposed to be a 23 litre batch, so I must have ballsed up somewhere, right?

No! Not necessarily. You would be expected to make some adjustments to bring it to target gravity after the boil. You apparently hit the targets bang on before the boil, so your mash efficiency meets the efficiency the recipe was designed for. You will just end up with a stronger beer if you did not adjust.

[Eric]

And that's from the bloke who probably wrote the book you have followed.

[Graham]

And that's from the bloke who probably wrote the book you have followed.

[tommolad]

Graham Wheeler? I bow down to your superior knowledge.

[Eric]

If you go back to your boiler you may well be able to squeeze out a test jar full of boiled wort. Drop in your hydrometer and measure the gravity. Take off the leading 1 and move the decimal point 3 to the right then multiply that by your final volume (in this case 18). Now if you divide your answer by 23, move back the decimal point 3 to the left and reinstate the leading 1 you will get your final FG for 23 litres. Alternatively, remove the 1 and move the decimal point 3 right on the target OG and divide that into that initial answer to give the volume that would produce the recipe's target OG.
You could of course sterilise your hydrometer and drop it in your FV for the reading.

[tommolad]

Right, I'll crunch out the numbers and have a look, thanks Eric.

[Brotherton Lad]

Tommolad,
Can you confirm you're adjusting your gravity readings of the spargings for temperature? If the 1005 is a hot reading then you'll be leaving sugars in the grain.