Poor efficiency in all grain brewing can tend drive us as home brewers to go to great lengths to get better efficiency numbers. In an effort to make better beer I also have endeavored to raise my efficiency. As I travel down the path to better efficiency, I have found that there are key steps that I now take as a general rule to making better beer.

Milling/Grain Crush

The most common problem we as home brewers encounter is the milling process or grain crush. Most of us don’t have our own barley mill so we are relegated to using the one at the local HB store, which may or may not be serviced very often and sees daily wear and tear. This can be remedied usually by asking the HB store to run the grains through the mill more than once. The other option is to purchase your own barley mill. This does incur an extra investment in equipment and should be evaluated by each brewer. I personally own a “Barley Crusher” and have been happy with its performance.

PH/Acid Rest

The PH of the Mash and Sparge can also make a difference in your efficiency. Most of today’s grains are well modified and doesn’t need a protein rest. However the acidity or alkalinity of the water you use could impact your efficiency. The optimal PH for most beer is 5.2 – 5.4. This can be accomplished by the addition of an acid rest before you start the sacrification rest, or by the addition of buffers (usually Gypsum and or Calcium chloride). An alternative that I use is called Buffer 5.2. Made by Five Star Chemicals. http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/brew/fivetwo.pdf. You should note that this maters most on lighter beers, darker beers usually are not as affected by the PH. I however use the 5.2 in all my beers dark and light respectively.

Mash Out

The Mash Out performs two functions; the first is to bring the temp of the grist up to sparge temperatures., and the second function is that the warmer the liquid is, the easier it is to extract the sugars out of the spent grains. Think of hot and cold tea, it is easier to liquefy sugar in hot tea than it is in cold tea. It can still be done, but it takes a lot longer.

Number of Batch Sparge Rounds

Splitting the number of batch sparge rounds into multiple rounds helps to flush the sugars with clean water. Usually two equal rounds of are adequate. This means that there will be three running’s. The first running is the wort. The second running is the first batch sparge. And the last running is the second batch sparge. Most home brewers use batch sparge over Fly sparge because it is easier. I will have a topic about this at a later date.

Size of Grain Bill

Grain bill size as it relates to raising your efficiency is actually quite simple. The larger the grain bill, the more water it will take to rinse. If you have the capacity to add an extra gallon in your boil volume, you can boil the wort for 2 hours instead of 1 which should add about 1.15 gallons to your sparge water. Which should help the efficiency with large grain bills.

If you have any questions or would like more information please feel free to comment and I will help in any way I can.

Cheers

Preston