First time BIAB efficiency... what should I am for?

[ScottM]

My end goal will be to hit around 85%, which I believe to be the norm.

For my first time though... what should I shoot for? Should I consider around 70% and getting anything more as gravy... or should I just go all in and brew for 85%?

My method is going to be BIAB with a buffalo boiler so I don't think there is TOO much to go wrong... but at the same time I would rather my efforts ended up with a full batch of beer with a little more expense than 3/4 of a batch after all that work.

Obviously loads of you guys have been in this situation before so it would be great to hear what first time efficiencies are generally like

Cheers :

 

[danb]

im not sure how it works out but my 3 biab brews I set at 70% and ended up with the correct o.g but a litre over in the fv. not sure what this equates to or how to work it out from there but go for 70 maybe 75 and see what happens, I don't think it will make a massive difference on the first brew or so till everything is known.

 

[ScottM]

Yeah that sounds like good advice. I've been thinking about it for the last few minutes and if I aim for 70% and 19L (corny keg) and then go over.... it'll just mean bottling a few. If I aimed for 80%+ and 19L and shot under then I wouldn't even fill my corny.

So.... 70% it is :)

Oh, if your target was 20L @ 1.040 and you hit 21L @ 1.040 then that would suggest an OG of 1.042 (ish) at 20L.

40 = 70%
42 = 73.5%

This would suggest, to me anyway, that you have an efficiency of 73.5% but that you are over estimating the boil loss/trub loss/other loss and that you could drop your total volume by 1L.

Nothing wrong with 1L more beer though eh

 

[calumscott]

Hi Scott,

I'm getting BHE of between 65 and 70% for sensible beers at the moment which I think is pretty acceptable for BIAB. A good bit lower for "big" beer.

I'm not that sure that I'd want to be more efficient either if I'm honest, all my beers seem to have a really nice rich, sweet, malty backbone to them and I think I would worry about drying them out too much now!!

 

[ScottM]

Hi Scott,

I'm getting BHE of between 65 and 70% for sensible beers at the moment which I think is pretty acceptable for BIAB. A good bit lower for "big" beer.

I'm not that sure that I'd want to be more efficient either if I'm honest, all my beers seem to have a really nice rich, sweet, malty backbone to them and I think I would worry about drying them out too much now!!

Cheers mate :)

Lager though.... I've got to go for it... dry as I can get it

Having said that.... a BHE between 65 and 70 is really good... is it not? From what I've read that's way higher than the normal efficiency that I'm measuring (predicted possible OG vs actual OG) given that the BHE takes a lot more things into account?

 

[calumscott]

I think it is pretty good.

A lot of the american BIABers seem to get more but I don't know how much of that is yankee bravado! :lol:

The trick with BIAB is to ask Rob to mill your grain fine, he'll do it happily. There's no such thing as a stuck mash with BIAB so you can use a finer grist to get better efficiency.

The beers when I forgot to ask and/or distracted Rob when he was milling have both come up short on efficiency even with a 2 hour + mash.

 

[ScottM]

I think it is pretty good.

A lot of the american BIABers seem to get more but I don't know how much of that is yankee bravado! :lol:

The trick with BIAB is to ask Rob to mill your grain fine, he'll do it happily. There's no such thing as a stuck mash with BIAB so you can use a finer grist to get better efficiency.

The beers when I forgot to ask and/or distracted Rob when he was milling have both come up short on efficiency even with a 2 hour + mash.

Ahh good tip, cheers mate.

I'm ordering up a sack of 25kg. Is there any downfall with getting it milled fine? It won't go off or anything will it? Just have that idea in my head of it not keeping fresh.

Cheers

 

[calumscott]

No, it won't go off.

In truth, you'll find BIAB brewing so easy that you'll rip through it in no time so the chances of it ever going off are practically zero! :lol:

Worth getting one of those big blue food drums with the band-clamp lid if you are ordering by the sack - keeps the mice out. Get them on ebay for next to nothing, I got some for the MIL's dog food. (food for the MIL's dogs, we don't feed the MIL on dog food... )

 

[ScottM]

No, it won't go off.

In truth, you'll find BIAB brewing so easy that you'll rip through it in no time so the chances of it ever going off are practically zero! :lol:

Worth getting one of those big blue food drums with the band-clamp lid if you are ordering by the sack - keeps the mice out. Get them on ebay for next to nothing, I got some for the MIL's dog food. (food for the MIL's dogs, we don't feed the MIL on dog food... )

Nice save

Cheers again :

 

[ScottM]

Is £20 the going rate for these blue bin things? Cheapest I can find for 25kg/50L ones :)

 

[calumscott]

I think that sounds about right. :thumb: I got two smaller ones delivered for about 17 quid I think...

 

[ScottM]

Sorted, got one of them and got a couple of cereal storage containers for the smaller quantities of grain :)

Cheers :thumb:

 

[Duxuk]

My first BIAB I got over 70% with an OG of 1053. Since then I've done 3 at 1046/7 OG and got mid 80s % efficiency. I use a stockpot so there is nothing left in the bottom of a boiler below the level of the tap. I've heard you shouldn't squeeze the mash bag because it can release tannins, just jiggle it and don't worry about the last bit. Better to lose a couple of points of effficiency if it helps the quality. Since I use a second voile as a hop filter I am also carefull not to squeeze this. That way it retains a lot of break material which could have ended up in the wort.
I have discovered that it is ESSENTIAL to use irish moss or similar. My first AG is struggling to clear as I'd forgotten to buy anything to clear it. The subsequent brews are clearing nicely

 

[ScottM]

Thanks for the pointers :thumb:

I've had Irish Moss for a while so will definitely continue using it :)

 

[ScottM]

I was aiming for 19L of 1.044 and I ended up with 17L of 1.052. I believe that's an efficiency of 74% (estimate was 70%). Not bad for my first go

Liquored it back to 20L @ 1.044, so I got a litre more than expected

 

[rpt]

Your efficiency will depend on what gravity you are brewing. And what do you mean by efficiency? I use the BIABacus spreadsheet and use its auto calculations. If you look on the biabrewer.info website you can read all about their criticism of the term "efficiency".

 

[ScottM]

Just calculating the potential yield of the grain vs what I actually achieved. xkg of grain will contain x% sugar, I was looking to achieve around 70% extraction.... I managed 74%.