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You might also try the longer mashing to get your efficiency up. You might not be getting a good conversion. I highly recommend the overnight mash. I tried it on my second or third batch and my efficiencies are in the high 70s to low 80s. It's amazing. Also, it cuts your brew day down to a brew morning. I grind my grains in a cheap victoria mill with a cordless drill attachment (about 10# in 5 minutes), heat my strike water, dough in and go to bed. It's ready to sparge in the morning.
Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
25 posts • Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
@ guitar lord....you might also want to check the crush of your grains if your efficiency is lacking. Not sure if you're doing your own crushing or having your LHBS do it for you. another thing in comparing your sparge to Stihler's, is it sounds like he's "fly sparging", whereas you are probably batch sparging. Two different process.
That being said, I now have 5 AG batches under my belt, and it takes about 5-6 hours(all day for me as well). I like AG because it's much easier to "tweak" batches to your liking, and for me, it's just a lot more fun...
Happy Brewing!
Bob
That being said, I now have 5 AG batches under my belt, and it takes about 5-6 hours(all day for me as well). I like AG because it's much easier to "tweak" batches to your liking, and for me, it's just a lot more fun...
Happy Brewing!
Bob
http://bobshomebrew.blogspot.com/
Friar Tuck......."This is grain, which any fool can eat. But for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption. Let us give praise to our maker and glory to his bounty, by learning about.....beer."
Friar Tuck......."This is grain, which any fool can eat. But for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption. Let us give praise to our maker and glory to his bounty, by learning about.....beer."
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bobthehabsfan - Keg
- Posts: 54
- Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:15 pm
- Location: MI
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
4 ag brews now. the wife got me a beer kit for my birthday in november so I brewed the 1 extract beer that came with the kit, then I got a grain ingrediant kit. now I'm doing a lot of research and trying to build my own recipes and looking to build a HERMS to do large volume brewing. i think its great, though my efficiency is only 73% but I'm working on ways to improve it, going to set up a fly sparge on my mash tun soon
- bigl21601
- Pint
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:18 pm
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
I've been brewing all grain in earnest since November. Since then I've brewed 11 batches. I can't believe it took me so long to make the switch from extract. i had all the equipment too!
The transition itself was not difficult for me, but I will be honest and say that it was with much hesitation. I'm glad I made the step. I have a deeper appreciation of how beer is actually brewed and the versatility is unbeatable.
The transition itself was not difficult for me, but I will be honest and say that it was with much hesitation. I'm glad I made the step. I have a deeper appreciation of how beer is actually brewed and the versatility is unbeatable.
- Josh
- 12 ouncer
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 2:51 pm
Re:
GuitarLord5000 wrote: My efficiency is hovering right around the 60% range right now. I'd like to be able to get that up to around 70 or 75%.
You might also try the longer mashing to get your efficiency up. You might not be getting a good conversion. I highly recommend the overnight mash. I tried it on my second or third batch and my efficiencies are in the high 70s to low 80s. It's amazing. Also, it cuts your brew day down to a brew morning. I grind my grains in a cheap victoria mill with a cordless drill attachment (about 10# in 5 minutes), heat my strike water, dough in and go to bed. It's ready to sparge in the morning.
- Josh
- 12 ouncer
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 2:51 pm
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
Wow, this is an old-ish thread. Man, a lot can happen in a year!
First off, I did get my efficiency up to right at 73%. The tips here did not lead me astray. Here's what I did:
1. Began adding my grains to the strike water (while stirring), instead of the other way around. When adding the strike water to my grains, I wasn't able to stir the mash up like I wanted to. What I ended up with was a large chunk of grain on the bottom of my cooler tun that didn't get converted. This single step raised my efficiency about ten percent!
2. Dialed in my grain crush. I had entirely too large a crush on the grain.
3. Slowed down my sparge. I was rinsing the grain bed so quickly, I was leaving too many sugars behind.
No offense, but besides shortening your brew day, I really don't see the upshot to the overnight mash, so long as you are reaching full conversion. Once your mash if fully converted, you're pretty much done. No amount of extra time should make the mash more fermentable. This is particularly true if you are using a cooler tun (which I do). After 3 or 4 hours in my tun, my mash is no longer within the temperature range for conversion.
Personally, I would want to get that sweet wort boiling as soon as conversion is finished. Grain is pretty nasty stuff, and I wouldn't want to give any nasties time to take up residence in my soon-to-be beer.
But, as they say, Your Mileage May Vary.
Cheers,
Dave
First off, I did get my efficiency up to right at 73%. The tips here did not lead me astray. Here's what I did:
1. Began adding my grains to the strike water (while stirring), instead of the other way around. When adding the strike water to my grains, I wasn't able to stir the mash up like I wanted to. What I ended up with was a large chunk of grain on the bottom of my cooler tun that didn't get converted. This single step raised my efficiency about ten percent!
2. Dialed in my grain crush. I had entirely too large a crush on the grain.
3. Slowed down my sparge. I was rinsing the grain bed so quickly, I was leaving too many sugars behind.
I highly recommend the overnight mash.
No offense, but besides shortening your brew day, I really don't see the upshot to the overnight mash, so long as you are reaching full conversion. Once your mash if fully converted, you're pretty much done. No amount of extra time should make the mash more fermentable. This is particularly true if you are using a cooler tun (which I do). After 3 or 4 hours in my tun, my mash is no longer within the temperature range for conversion.
Personally, I would want to get that sweet wort boiling as soon as conversion is finished. Grain is pretty nasty stuff, and I wouldn't want to give any nasties time to take up residence in my soon-to-be beer.
But, as they say, Your Mileage May Vary.
Cheers,
Dave
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GuitarLord5000 - Brewing Master
- Posts: 550
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:07 am
- Location: Carencro, Louisiana
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
I just started all-grain brewing and I love it. It was not much of a transition, just a few more hours work with mash and steeping. I have to spend a little more time organizing my brew area. Other than that, all grain recipes are not that much work.
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hereticzero - Pint
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:21 pm
- Location: Nebraska, USA
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
A couple of noob questions while reading through this thread...
1) What does efficiency mean in regard to mashing?
2) What is the difference between strike water and sparge?
1) What does efficiency mean in regard to mashing?
2) What is the difference between strike water and sparge?
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Spyder - 12 ouncer
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:23 pm
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
- 1. Rather than quoting John Palmer I'll just point you to this page.
2. Strike water is the water you mix with your grains to mash in. Sparge water is the 170°F water you rinse your grain after mashing. This also stops the enzyme production. This page, also in "How To Brew", will explain it better along with reference back to question 1.
On Tap - Oak Aged Bourbon Porter, Barleywine, and Chipotle Smoked Porter
Primary - Mead
The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.
Primary - Mead
The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.
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Wild - Brewing Master
- Posts: 326
- Joined: Wed Nov 08, 2006 1:22 pm
- Location: Surprise, AZ
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
I am going to try my first partial grain kit today. The only trouble I have is the mad dash to the local beer supply store. YIPES!!! I'm 100 miles away. 
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wyo wino - Brewing Master
- Posts: 393
- Joined: Sun May 04, 2008 7:32 pm
- Location: Powell, WY
Re: Who are the all-grain brewers here? Who wants to be?
Only in Wyoming do we call 100 miles a mad "dash"...
Good luck on the drive. The roads down here where terrible when I got off work around 2am.
___________________________________
Primary:
Heidi's Wedding Wit
On Tap:
1. >empty tap!<
2. Amber #8
3. >empty tap!<
4. SMaSH IPA (Chinook, German Pale)
Primary:
Heidi's Wedding Wit
On Tap:
1. >empty tap!<
2. Amber #8
3. >empty tap!<
4. SMaSH IPA (Chinook, German Pale)
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curlyfat - Brewing Master
- Posts: 438
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:47 am
- Location: Casper, WY
25 posts • Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
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