How do you crank out 85% efficiency batch sparging?

Got ya... My first guess was that you were brewing smaller batches so your losses automatically were a bigger percentage of your overall batch size.

 

I agree on spending the extra money, although I pay .99-1.20 locally for good pale malt, and that little extra isn't worth batting an eye at in the big picture.

That said- I always collect ALL of my runnings. When I sparge, I know how much I need to sparge with to get ALL of it for my pre boil volume. It's damn near drip dry- never gotten any tannins.

 

if that means taking a tried and true 5 gal and doubling it... then by definition we should be seeing the same thing twice.

 

Therer's a sweet spot in every system where the amout of grain per pre-boil volume produces a maximized mash eff.
There's a negative correlation between the grain bill's weight and mash eff. Larger grain bills leave more sugar behind than smaller grain bills given the same amount of pre-boil volume is collected.

A secondary consideration is the make-up of the grain bill.
Fer'instance...on a pound-per-pound basis...the dry yield of white wheat malt (86%) > Golden Promise (76%).

Bottom line:
Batches with < 80% mash eff should be dumped.

 

Why bother?

That said, crush finer, stir the mash well, sparge more, boil harder/longer.

 

Today I modified my normal process by using a larger amount of water during my mashout and essentially doing a single batch sparge. The mash efficiencies for the two batches I did today were 70% and 72%.

Usually I do 2 batches when I sparge: a relatively large mashout (though less volume than today) followed by a smaller second batch. I will definitely go back to this process, as today's evidence (albeit a tiny sample size) would suggest that a single batch leaves way too much sugar either stuck to the grains or pooled in my mash tun's dead space.

 

ALWAYS +1 whatever homebrew42 has to say. (@Homebrew42 Good to see you back again.) I have done it the same way for years, it may not be the best but it works for me:
1. "credit card" crush
2. 48qt rectangle cooler mash tun w/ ss braid (recently I switched to a 10gal cylinder with bazooka screen but no difference)
3. 2:1 mash 2:1 sparge for 5 gal 10# batches (more grain = less mash ratio, more sparge)
4. Boil as long as I have to... don't get ridiculous but if you collect an extra gallon boil it for 30min extra if that's your rate.
I consistently get around 85% but that's me. The best thing you can do is be consistent, then you make the same beer each time. Your worst fear should be getting 60% one brew then 80% the next, not "only" getting 78% of your potential. To get beyond where you are at, only if you are very consistent now, you could look at your ph balance and water chemistry.

 

^ this I believe is the answer to most mash efficiency issues. I used the LHBS crush for along time and got about 65-70% efficiency. Then I bought my own mill and set my gap (don't remember the gap) and jumped to 75%. Ultimately reset my gap to a credit card thickness (heard a lot of brewers using this method) and right away started getting 83-84% efficiency. Nothing else I did gave me these improvements. Doing slow sparges and 90 minute full boils helps that much more!

 

P.S. Some proment homebrewing authors would tell that brewing a beer with less grain and higher efficiency will yield a lower quality product vs brewing the same beer with lower efficiency and more grain.

The point is, what's wrong with 79%? What would you be gaining by sparging more and boiling longer to get up to 85%? You'd be spending more on fuel and taking more time to save $1 on grain and possible producing inferior beer.

 

I truly think efficiency is more a less a number that pertains to each individual brewer and their equipment. A certain amount of grain, water on my system will yield different results than an identical amount on another system that is making the same batch size but different equipment. For me, my efficiency is a number that let's me know when I've made a possible error in my process for a given recipe so I can correct it if need be. I think the magic is... are you producing a beer that has the fewest number of flaws, hitting all your water chemistry, PH points, temps and times that work for your system. I think it's a moot point to compare numbers but to simply say... "This is what I suggest you do to achieve the result you are wanting to achieve". I believe that's why so many of the popular homebrewers profess 'ranges' of target number instead of specifics while also suggesting "trial and error".
For me, My efficiency that I get with my crush allows me to use the water to grist ratio that I want and to be able to batch sparge with enough water so as to not go below 1.012 in my sparge PH to avoid possible tannin extraction, to hit my target numbers and do a full wort boil for 90 minutes. (FWIW, I choose a 90 minute boil because that is what Jamil Z uses and it works for me... Seems to work for him too )
So you see, my 'clothes' fit me nicely... but may very well look funny on somebody else if you get my meaning.

 

Obviously you must be suggesting brew house (not mash extraction), but I'm still not grasping how boiling longer would increase efficiency. I'd think that it would just concentrate the same amount of extracted sugars into a smaller volume of wort. If anything, wouldn't a smaller volume of wort allow for a lower brew house efficiency since fixed loss amounts (dead space / transfer losses) would then represent a higher percentage of the decreased batch size? Thanks in advance!

 

He was talking about sparging more, thus getting more sugars out of the mash tun. This also means having to boil more to get down to the same post-boil volume. The higher mash efficiency comes from the higher sparge water volume, not from the boil.

 

Sparge more to increase mash extraction at the expense of inflating the preboil volume and diluting the gravity, then compensate for those consequences by extending the boil time..... got ya thanks!

 

To OP...I'd say you're doing fine. I get 72-74% kettle efficiency (commonly referred to as mash efficiency). My understanding is that conversion efficiency is always 90%+, but that total mash/kettle efficiency should be between 65/75% for best beer results. Over 75-80 and one may start to get tannin extraction and the like.

Bottom line: if your 79% is making great beer! I wouldn't change a thing!

Happy brewing!

 

Do you stir you mash at the half way point ? I always do and then batch sparge and I have never been below 75%. I did hit 81% this week on a 10lb mash @ 1.3 liters water per lb.