Comments on: 5 Ways to Improve your All Grain Beer Efficiency

By: John

John — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:27:49 +0000

It’s best to have a filter of grain hulls in BIAB as well, because when you lift the bag from the brew pot you’ll also remove wort that’s been soaked up and trapped by the grains.

The bag will typically contain around 4kg of malt plus at least the same amount of water at approximately 70C, so you will want it to drain as quickly as possible to avoid scalding your hands. You’ll also reduce wort wastage that way.

By: Dmitri

Dmitri — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:24:46 +0000

You should try to keep the grain husk intact even for BIAB brews. Breaking it down too much will also cause tannin extraction

By: David Fricks

David Fricks — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:42:47 +0000

Hi Stone,
I never tried BIAB, but I’m sure it’s still possible to get something similar to a stuck sparge. If you grind your grains into powder, you will likely end up with a solid mass, or dough ball that won’t allow the wort to flow through the grain. You may also have issues with cloudy beer because the bag might not be fine enough mesh to properly clear the wart durring vorlaufing.

I had a hell of a time with my last tripple getting stuck. I’m not sure if it was the flaked oats causing the issue, or that I switched from HERMS to Direct Fire RMS. I’m using a 10gal Blickman with a Blichmann BoilerMaker with Button Louver False Bottom. This is only my second mash in the Blichmann, so it could also be the false bottom. Anyone have any tips or theories on this?

By: Stone

Stone — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:59:32 +0000

You said “Grains should be finely crushed, but the milling should leave the hulls largely intact to act as a filter bed”

Assuming BIAB with a fine mesh bag, and because the grain bed is not used for filtering, can grains be pulverized to near flour? If so, what are the issues with using a home food processor to open the grain?

By: Improving Mash Efficiency « Ship Wreck Brewing Company

Improving Mash Efficiency « Ship Wreck Brewing Company — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:31:12 +0000

[...] 5 Ways to Improve your All Grain Beer Efficiency: By Brad Smith @ beersmith.com [...]

By: Wheat Grinders

Wheat Grinders — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:21:31 +0000

Above all the steps you have been mentioned are really good to improve all grain beer efficiency and with those simple five steps it can be done easily. Wheat Grinders

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:27:50 +0000

You are correct – I should have said 168 and not 178F. I will edit the post and make it 168F.

Brad

By: 7

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:01:49 +0000

Aren’t you going to start extracting tannins above 170?

By: BadKarma

BadKarma — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:22:49 +0000

Another suggestion to aid in preventing a stuck sparge, I always toss in a handful rice hulls. Never had a stuck sparge and always get great results.

Great site and articles Brad, keep it up.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:39:15 +0000

I have a cylindrical mash tun and have a developed technique to increase efficiency. All of your 5 points are very valid though I would suggest one more: establish a consistent grain bed. This is essential to ensure that sparge water flows evenly through the grain bed. Too fast of a flow can create water channels. Too slow can compact the grain bed and also create water channels to form. The goal is to rinse the grain column evenly. For me, this takes attention over 40-60 minutes but dramatically increases my efficiency. If I’m not in the mood for this, I just add more grain initially to compensate for the lack of efficiency!
I keep my hot liquor tank at 180′F and start my sparge with adding 1/2 gallon of sparge water to the mash tun.
I then collect about a 1/2 to 3/4 gallons from the mash tun and bring it up to a boil.
After, I pour the boil back into the mash tun and stir to distribute the heat. For my 5 gallon batches, I do this once more to bring the grain bed up to about 170′F. VERY IMPORTANT, each time I pour the hot mash liquid back to the tun, I stir the grain bed to circulate the heat and to establish a consistent grain bed.
When you pour out of the mash tun, the grain becomes compressed. Ideally, you want the grain bed consistently in solution so the sparge water flows through it rather than re-routing through compressed areas.
After stirring each time, I allow about 10 minutes for heat transfer and grain bed settling.
Patience and attention to the grain bed is a huge factor for efficiency!
Keep posting, I enjoy reading your blog!