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Mash Efficiency

Dodes

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Hi,
I've tried to search for the topic regarding the "Mash Efficiency" in BS but haven't found nothing relevant so I'm sorry if it has been discussed already.

In BS, in Session tab of the receipt, there is a "Mash Efficiency" tab. But what it compute is NOT a mash efficiency only but "mash efficiency + lautern efficiency" as the help text on the text control with label "Meas Post Mash Gravity" says "Gravity of wort as measured after mash and boil top up, but before sugar/extract additions". This is wrong I think, because the mash efficiency should measure *ONLY* the mash efficiency and no other stuff like lautering.

I would propose, that "Mash Efficiency" would take the reading after the mashing but before the lautering. The total water and grain for mashing is specified for receipt and using [1] it is easily computed. Then I would add/(replace "Volume and Gravity in Boiler" with) lautern efficiency computation so I can measure it too.

With these changes I could perfectly measure mash, lautern and brewhouse efficiency.

What do you think?

Thank You

[1] - http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Understanding_Efficiency
 
I'm honestly not sure how to measure mash efficiency without lautering as the sugars are still in the grains at that point and also the wort would still be in the mash tun.  So on what basis would you estimate the mash efficiency?  The gravity of the mash itself won't tell you much...

Generally mash efficiency is post-mash - i.e. you have lautered the wort and separated it from the grains and then you take a gravity reading.

Brad
 
Thank you for the reply.

Probably there was a confusion on my part, related to naming the term. What I mean by "mash efficiency" is really "conversion efficiency". That is "the ratio between the gravity points of the wort in the kettle and the maximum potential (laboratory extract) of the grain" [1].

If this value would be computed by BS, I then can tell instantly if my conversion is complete or not.

Thank You

[1] - http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Understanding_Efficiency#Existing_Definitions
 
If you want to know if conversion is complete, do an iodine test:

http://www.winning-homebrew.com/starch-conversion-test.html
 
Iodine test don't tell you % of your conversion. In many cases iodine test is waste of time/iodine.
 
Dodes said:
Probably there was a confusion on my part, related to naming the term. What I mean by "mash efficiency" is really "conversion efficiency". That is "the ratio between the gravity points of the wort in the kettle and the maximum potential (laboratory extract) of the grain".

If this value would be computed by BS, I then can tell instantly if my conversion is complete or not.

It sounds like you're looking for a calculation based on mash thickness? Kai has the chart that's a good, fast reference for wort gravity targets based on mash thickness and conversion. It's based on a perfect alignment of milling, temperature, time, plus water chemistry & volume. It's based on 100% pale malt.

Sadly, reality always changes results. Commercially, I do use a target mash gravity (measured during recirculation), but there's a range of between optimum and real world results. In my case, there are sometimes big differences between recipes, even though they are all at the same liquor to grist ratio. I think adding that into BeerSmith would present a pseudo-accurate target that would cause needless consternation.

Unlike a homebrewer, I'm targeting certain specs for consistency and cost, so the mash gravity is just a metric for my brewers to know it's time to move to the next step. Realistically, the actual target is when the gravity doesn't continue to rise for a few minutes. Although the sum is that conversion is complete, it's also telling us that the wort has hit even saturation and composition. The actual number is just academic.

To be honest, even when that conversion gravity looks low, I still get it back in the sparge. I'm a lot more interested in the gravity curve during sparge. At the end of the day, I still measure mash efficiency in the kettle.
 
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