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alex57
Joined: 21 Jun 2021 Posts: 13
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Link Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 9:06 pm Post subject: 10th batch complete |
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Quick report after brewing my 10th batch with the electric brewery.
1) First, thanks a lot Kal for all the instructions and parts. I love my electric brewery!
2) For the mash kettle, I pinched a few small holes in the last 10 inches of the return hose. It makes the flow less "circular" and I think it helps with sparging.
3) I made a couple additional smaller hoses (~1.5-2 feet) that I use between coil and mash kettle, pump and wort chiller, etc. Less "clutter" and easier to setup.
4) When heating mash kettle, I run the HLT +4-5F higher than mash temperature. This reduces heating time by a lot and I simply drop HLT to +2F after mash kettle reaches the mash temperature (this allows for heat loss in the tubes, etc).
5) Overall, I observe 92-96% efficiency which is absolutely fantastic (the higher expected OG, the lower the efficiency). Moreover, the efficiency is very stable for similar grain bills and after the first few batches I hit expected OG every single time.
6) I use air compressor to clean water from HERMS coil, chiller, pumps, etc. Initially, I was not able to drain the water completely and had bad smell from chiller and HERMS coil. With air compressor pumping air through coil, chiller, pumps, I don't have this problem anymore.
Hope this might be useful for others!
Best,
Alex
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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alex57
Joined: 21 Jun 2021 Posts: 13
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Link Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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kal wrote: | That's great Alex! Your mash efficiencies mirror my 95%. Makes a batch of beer require about 1/2 the grain of a typical BIAB setup. Cheers!
Kal |
I never did BIAB actually. Previously I had 20 gal orange picnic cooler for mashing and I was at 70-80%. And it was very hard to hit the numbers. I used to have a very custom spreadsheet I built over years to estimate water vol/temp based on grain bill, outside temp, etc. I was usually close (within plus/minus 0.003). But it wasn’t a repeatable process. More luck than science and I definitely use less grain nowadays
BTW, do you also see efficiency drop for OG above 1.070 or so? Not really surprising except it’s very visible: 95-96% for OG less than 1.070 and then 92-93% above 1.070. Granted I had only 2 batches with high OG so not a lot of data and still learning.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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alex57
Joined: 21 Jun 2021 Posts: 13
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Link Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2022 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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kal wrote: | alex57 wrote: | I never did BIAB actually. |
Sorry, I just meant in general. Not necessarily you!
Quote: | BTW, do you also see efficiency drop for OG above 1.070 or so? |
On any setup (BIAB to 3 vessel) mash efficiency will always drop as ABV goes up. That's normal. Take a look at my recipes on this site and notice how the stated mash efficiency goes from 95% on most beers below 8% ABV to about 86-88% for the 11-12% ABV beers. Completely normal as you're rinsing more sugars with less water.
Recipes: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/recipes
Kal |
Thanks, yeah I know it’s normal. I was just curious if numbers look the same for your setup. I plan to do a 12% barley wine soon so now I know what to plan for
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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