Hi,
I've recently followed Leedsbrew's Black Chocolate Stout recipe, but have suffered a pretty appalling efficiency.
I had a similar issue on the last brew (AG#3, Big Kenny) but it wasn't quite so severe. I had put it down to sparging too quickly and at a low temp (I moved the sparge water off the hob so may have lost a few degrees).
This time I was sure to keep the sparge water on the hob at a stable 76C, and sparged slowly.
The only thing I thuoght it could be is the liquor/grist ratio, I think I've been using 3litres to a kilo whereas previously I'd been using 2.5l to a kilo. Could this cause a problem?
I'd also wondered about sparging, with the high ratio I have not had much water left to sparge with. If I run out and don't think it's done can I continue to sparge with the wort? Should I prepare more liquor and keep sparging until it's running clear?
Any help appreciated, I was over 30 points down on the stout so it's likely to be a poor 6% :shock: Hopefully still tasty though!
I've recently followed Leedsbrew's Black Chocolate Stout recipe, but have suffered a pretty appalling efficiency.
I had a similar issue on the last brew (AG#3, Big Kenny) but it wasn't quite so severe. I had put it down to sparging too quickly and at a low temp (I moved the sparge water off the hob so may have lost a few degrees).
This time I was sure to keep the sparge water on the hob at a stable 76C, and sparged slowly.
The only thing I thuoght it could be is the liquor/grist ratio, I think I've been using 3litres to a kilo whereas previously I'd been using 2.5l to a kilo. Could this cause a problem?
I'd also wondered about sparging, with the high ratio I have not had much water left to sparge with. If I run out and don't think it's done can I continue to sparge with the wort? Should I prepare more liquor and keep sparging until it's running clear?
Any help appreciated, I was over 30 points down on the stout so it's likely to be a poor 6% :shock: Hopefully still tasty though!