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What influences Est. Mash Efficiency?

SmartBertl

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Hello all,

As of three batches ago, BeerSmith now reports my Est. Mash Efficiency to be 16.5% higher than it has been on other batches in the past. Even recreating old batches from scratch returns this inflated value.

What variables go into determining Est. Mash Efficiency? I've tried tweaking my equipment, completely different grain bills, different Mash profiles.

Old estimate: 70%
New estimate: 86.5%

Actual efficiency ranges from 75-79%

Thanks for any insights you can provide!
 
In BeerSmith, the estimated mash efficiency is calculated using the Brew House Efficiency and the process losses from your equipment profile (mash tun dead space, loss to trub and chiller).

If you have had an actual change lately, it may stem from a change in the grind of the grist, better lauter efficiency, or less volume losses in your process. 

From a process perspective, first make sure that your volumes are close to the targets you set in your equipment profile, i.e you are attaining the target volume in the fermenter, trub loss matches what you set in the equipment profile, boil off rate is accurate, etc.  After that, see where your actual brew house efficiency comes in at and adjust the equipment profile to reflect this number (or better yet the average over a few brew sessions).  This should set the mash efficiency calculated by the software to better match your targets.
 
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