I brewed, I took numbers...

[Lurchalicious]

So I brewed my "eye brow raiser" yesterday. The belgian type thing that I talked about with the viking pilsner.

I took measurements.  Need a small help with some of the data as Beersmith on the mash page says my measured efficiency was 91.1%... However the main "design" tab says my measured efficiency was 64.4% ..

Mill at stock setting, measured at .5mm with my feeler gauge.  only used light sprays of water turned into the grain and set for 6 hours.  most hulls intact.  Wonderful aroma from the grain. drill set at half speed gearing.  I dont know the actual speed, but my hulls came out looking decent and were not pulverized.

#1 - 15L for a mash temp of 64c  - 90 min rest.  Checked at 60 and 30 min.  each time I had to add a small amount of boiling water to bring my temp up, gave a stir and re-checked my temp.  averaged around 64 each time.  this checking has made my desicion for a RIMS system concrete.

#2- 2.5L top up @ 75c for 5 min rest -> vorlauf/drain
#3-14.2L sparge @75c for 15 min - vorlauf/drain

only reached about 26L - 5L @ 65c were added for 5 min.  drained to achieve pre-poil volume of 28L

1st runnings - 1.071 SG corrected (1.059@51c)
2nd running - 1.022 SG corrected (1.012 @ 49c)
final running - 1.015 SG corrected (1.003@52c)

approx 29-30L total @ 1.039 SG pre-boil, corrected (1.021@63)

after the boil I recirculated, then used my plate chiller.  I was getting 15-16c out of the plate chiller with the faucet water after a few mins.  I re adjusted my valves and had the wort at 18c into the fermenter.  It happened rather fast and I forgot to get a measurement post boil .

thoughts?

[molc]

Measured Efficiency is factoring in losses to your BK and MT I think, which is why it's lower. It should match the number you've set in your profile (house efficiency?)

91% is very high - much higher than I'd expect for mash efficiency... I aim for about 70-75%, simply to avoid over sparging. I like to leave a bit in the grain and get the best of the malt, though that's probably just gut feeling rather than scientific...

Looking at everything, it looks like an efficient mash though - for that volume I usually use about 5-6kg of malt to achieve the same.

[Lurchalicious]

Measured Efficiency is factoring in losses to your BK and MT I think, which is why it's lower. It should match the number you've set in your profile (house efficiency?)

91% is very high - much higher than I'd expect for mash efficiency... I aim for about 70-75%, simply to avoid over sparging. I like to leave a bit in the grain and get the best of the malt, though that's probably just gut feeling rather than scientific...

Looking at everything, it looks like an efficient mash though - for that volume I usually use about 5-6kg of malt to achieve the same.

Thanks for the feedback!   I'll have to check my equipment profile to make sure my dead space is set correctly.

Is boil off rate a standard or does it change by the equipment?  I'm using a standard profile for keggles in beersmith.

My uneducated guess, that while water boils at 100c, the surface area exposed could increase or decrease the rate of evaporation?

[molc]

Evaporation rate depends on kettle dimensions and boil intensity, as well as ventilation. Mine is 13.6% constant, but that took a while to dial in.
Measure your levels carefully each batch and you can calibrate through trial and error. Basically you just want to build a software model of how you brew. I don't stress too much it's accuracy, as long as the pre boil and post boil figures match up.