Crazy efficiency with the Brew Monk

[MattGuk]

So, after a 4 month hiatus, I decided to get a brew on today.
Thought my day had been mapped out for me, when weighing my grains, my scales packed up and had to go and get some more ( not a good start ).
All gone nice and smooth and looking at my notes, the last time a brewed this particular beer ( a golden ale ) I got a BHE of 77%, which is good for one of these systems.
However, I used just 4.27KG if grain for a 24L batch, and looking at my hydro, pre boil gravity is at 1.048, BF calculated 1.037.
One thing, I opted for a fine crush this time around, and my sparge was REALLY slow, but would a slow sparge really have that effect on efficiency?
Anybody had crazy efficiency with these all in ones?

 

[Agentgonzo]

So, after a 4 month hiatus, I decided to get a brew on today.
Thought my day had been mapped out for me, when weighing my grains, my scales packed up and had to go and get some more ( not a good start ).
All gone nice and smooth and looking at my notes, the last time a brewed this particular beer ( a golden ale ) I got a BHE of 77%, which is good for one of these systems.
However, I used just 4.27KG if grain for a 24L batch, and looking at my hydro, pre boil gravity is at 1.048, BF calculated 1.037.
One thing, I opted for a fine crush this time around, and my sparge was REALLY slow, but would a slow sparge really have that effect on efficiency?
Anybody had crazy efficiency with these all in ones?

That seems too high and over 100 BHE. maybe check the gravity again?
If you made a stronger wort then diluted down with water after the boil to go into the fermenter then there's a chance it wasn't mixed fully?

 

[MattGuk]

That's exactly what I thought, waaaaay to high, impossible even, I'm just transferring to the fermenter so I'll keep you posted, but hydro and refrac ready pretty much the same, and that was after a bloody good mix around lol

 

[MattGuk]

Just transferred and double checked, mustn't have been full mixed, however, I did end up with 1.045 with is about 82%, which is still quite a bit higher than I normally get lol

 

[MashBag]

A finer crush could improve the efficiency.
What was 'finer' (in mm) and what was it before?

Were they the same grains?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Gravity is fairly meaningless without volume when efficiency considered.
Both gravity and volume need to be corrected for temperature.
Mash efficiency is what to look at.
Bhe depends a lot on trub loss / decant and boil off.
crush, stirring, salts,pH, temperature, mash duration, grain freshness and sparging technique all affect mash efficiency. I'm Bound to have forgotten other factors.

 

[Sadfield]

pre boil gravity is at 1.048, BF calculated 1.037.

I find pre-boil wort can be a bugger for stratifying, and gravity measurements from tap at the bottom of my kettle will be much higher.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I find pre-boil wort can be a bugger for stratifying, and gravity measurements from tap at the bottom of my kettle will be much higher.

I totally agree: I've started stirring the kettle with a 'top to bottom' action before taking gravity samples because of this.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I find pre-boil wort can be a bugger for stratifying, and gravity measurements from tap at the bottom of my kettle will be much higher.

Yep fallen for that too be before and had a few heart attacks!

 

[Caramel Ox]

I find pre-boil wort can be a bugger for stratifying, and gravity measurements from tap at the bottom of my kettle will be much higher.

This really gets me, especially as I try to have less contact and just leave it. Even during the heat up to boil it doesn’t mix.

Nobody stirs their fermenter though? Can the gravity readings be trusted?

 

[Agentgonzo]

This really gets me, especially as I try to have less contact and just leave it. Even during the heat up to boil it doesn’t mix.

Nobody stirs their fermenter though? Can the gravity readings be trusted?

Pre boil wort is in the kettle for under an hour. Fermenting wort in is the fermenter for over a week.

Plus. The fermentation in the fermenter stirs it constantly from the bottom up. And pouring the wort into the fermenter mixes it pretty nicely

 

[foxy]

So, after a 4 month hiatus, I decided to get a brew on today.
Thought my day had been mapped out for me, when weighing my grains, my scales packed up and had to go and get some more ( not a good start ).
All gone nice and smooth and looking at my notes, the last time a brewed this particular beer ( a golden ale ) I got a BHE of 77%, which is good for one of these systems.
However, I used just 4.27KG if grain for a 24L batch, and looking at my hydro, pre boil gravity is at 1.048, BF calculated 1.037.
One thing, I opted for a fine crush this time around, and my sparge was REALLY slow, but would a slow sparge really have that effect on efficiency?
Anybody had crazy efficiency with these all in ones?

Best way to check your pre boil gravity is a few minutes into the actual boil. The wort is thoroughly mixed at this stage.

 

[The Baron]

I never take any samples from the bottom tap pre-boil or post-boil.
I have also been there too
Isn't it amazing how clever we think we are at times (knowing which enzymes do this and that)and do basic mistakes no matter how much experience

 

[MashBag]

I never take any samples from the bottom tap pre-boil or post-boil.

It's not only me that dunks a glass in the top then?

 

[Sadfield]

I pipette a bit off the top when it's reaching boiling, but got caught out in the very early days before buying a refractometer. A bit of a head scratcher the first time.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Nobody stirs their fermenter though? Can the gravity readings be trusted?

That’s a bit different: the kettle will stratify because the sugar content has quite a different density to water. After fermentation the sugar (should) be almost all converted to alcohol which won’t stratify because it’s a much lighter molecule.