GirthySquirt
Member
Main Question: Can I lower my brew-house efficiency purposefully to enable using a massive grain bill and get more flavor in my final product? Can low brew-house efficiency actually improve beer flavor, body, and mouthfeel in some scenarios because low efficiency implies more grain is being used, which actually contributes more flavor and other molecules beyond sugar to the beer compared to if less grain and higher efficiency was used? More grain being used implies more original "grainy-flavored" precursor molecules available to donate into the wort, as well as more protein and other adjunct molecules beyond just our typical five or so fermentable sugars that could be desirable in a finished beer.
If brew-house efficiency looks at sugar as the main focus, what about efficiencies for these other important flavor and body-oriented molecules (is there a protein efficiency that could be measured)? What about a "flavor" contribution/efficiency? Are all these different molecule efficiencies somehow inexplicably intertwined, or is sugar extraction not the entire story for how our lone-number "brew-house efficiency" parameter effects flavor and final product.
Experiment: Imagine two scenarios that each make a 5% ABV beer for a 5 gallon home-brewed batch:
1. You have one brew-day/grain bill that is 14lbs of Pilsner malt with 45% brew-house efficiency with an OG of 1.048.
2. You have a second brew-day/grain bill that is 7lbs of Pilsner malt with 90% brew-house efficiency with an OG of 1.048.
Assuming brew-house efficiency is a principally a measure of sugars in the fermenter water (using a hydrometer-based measurement - which perhaps is not always the best assumption, especially for a scenario like this) and you really could get these exact efficiencies and starting gravities for both these grain bills, both beers hypothetically ferment out (with the same yeast) to roughly the same final gravity of about 1.010 with a nice Kölsch yeast and about 5% ABV. Will there be perceivable differences between the beers? Will the more-grain beer have more flavor or will they be imperceptibly the same? Are there any side-by-side experiments anyone knows of where brew-house efficiency (and the corresponding grain bill) are being varied to obtain two starting worts of comparable starting gravity to ferment?
As brewer's we often think of "brewhouse efficiency" (and sugar) as our target - how can I absolutely maximize what percent of sugar I get out of my grain bill and into my fermenter. What about proteins or other precursors? Logically, at first it seems like high brew-house efficiency may indicate high amounts of protein for example, but perhaps this is not strictly true; we have some saccharification efficiency from our beta/alpha enzymes but is protein extraction efficiency directly related to this sugar extraction efficiency? What if protein is easily donated to the wort, and we capture 100% of the protein we put in every time? Does more grain always mean more protein and more body if we add more grain? Even if we don't have 100% protein efficiency, it seems logical to also expect that no matter what, more input grain yields more output protein if every other efficiency factor remains roughly the same. Flavor contribution (where no enzymatic process is necessary to release the flavor molecules) is another potential controversy, as it seems highly intuitive that more grain should yield more flavor contribution, yet hardly anyone seems to be advocating using as much grain as you can to improve flavor.
In summary: I have made a number of beers on my Anvil Foundry system where if I am lazy I can get around 55% brew-house efficiency going spargeless doing no work and using a larger grain gill, or I can pull out all the stops and get roughly 77% brew-house efficiency with sparging, recirculation, long-mashing, and heavy stirring/grain agitation. When I anticipate going all-out I make my grain bill smaller to achieve a similar final product with regards to ABV, but I have noticed my higher-efficiency beers I brew do not have as much body or flavor to them as their lazy, low-efficiency counterparts, leading me to wonder about efficiency effects. Anecdotally, many local brewers I have talked to in the USA are always chasing extremely high brew-house efficiency - I'm talking 90% and greater. Coincidentally, many american beers are light-bodied and less flavorful in some regards to their European and other counterparts. Could low efficiency be another key player to great flavor, or are other processing parameters really the star of the show elevating a beer from flavorful greatness to true excellence?
TLDR: Can I tank my brew-house efficiency purposefully to enable using a massive grain bill and get more flavor?
Any input and experience with this is greatly appreciated!
If brew-house efficiency looks at sugar as the main focus, what about efficiencies for these other important flavor and body-oriented molecules (is there a protein efficiency that could be measured)? What about a "flavor" contribution/efficiency? Are all these different molecule efficiencies somehow inexplicably intertwined, or is sugar extraction not the entire story for how our lone-number "brew-house efficiency" parameter effects flavor and final product.
Experiment: Imagine two scenarios that each make a 5% ABV beer for a 5 gallon home-brewed batch:
1. You have one brew-day/grain bill that is 14lbs of Pilsner malt with 45% brew-house efficiency with an OG of 1.048.
2. You have a second brew-day/grain bill that is 7lbs of Pilsner malt with 90% brew-house efficiency with an OG of 1.048.
Assuming brew-house efficiency is a principally a measure of sugars in the fermenter water (using a hydrometer-based measurement - which perhaps is not always the best assumption, especially for a scenario like this) and you really could get these exact efficiencies and starting gravities for both these grain bills, both beers hypothetically ferment out (with the same yeast) to roughly the same final gravity of about 1.010 with a nice Kölsch yeast and about 5% ABV. Will there be perceivable differences between the beers? Will the more-grain beer have more flavor or will they be imperceptibly the same? Are there any side-by-side experiments anyone knows of where brew-house efficiency (and the corresponding grain bill) are being varied to obtain two starting worts of comparable starting gravity to ferment?
As brewer's we often think of "brewhouse efficiency" (and sugar) as our target - how can I absolutely maximize what percent of sugar I get out of my grain bill and into my fermenter. What about proteins or other precursors? Logically, at first it seems like high brew-house efficiency may indicate high amounts of protein for example, but perhaps this is not strictly true; we have some saccharification efficiency from our beta/alpha enzymes but is protein extraction efficiency directly related to this sugar extraction efficiency? What if protein is easily donated to the wort, and we capture 100% of the protein we put in every time? Does more grain always mean more protein and more body if we add more grain? Even if we don't have 100% protein efficiency, it seems logical to also expect that no matter what, more input grain yields more output protein if every other efficiency factor remains roughly the same. Flavor contribution (where no enzymatic process is necessary to release the flavor molecules) is another potential controversy, as it seems highly intuitive that more grain should yield more flavor contribution, yet hardly anyone seems to be advocating using as much grain as you can to improve flavor.
In summary: I have made a number of beers on my Anvil Foundry system where if I am lazy I can get around 55% brew-house efficiency going spargeless doing no work and using a larger grain gill, or I can pull out all the stops and get roughly 77% brew-house efficiency with sparging, recirculation, long-mashing, and heavy stirring/grain agitation. When I anticipate going all-out I make my grain bill smaller to achieve a similar final product with regards to ABV, but I have noticed my higher-efficiency beers I brew do not have as much body or flavor to them as their lazy, low-efficiency counterparts, leading me to wonder about efficiency effects. Anecdotally, many local brewers I have talked to in the USA are always chasing extremely high brew-house efficiency - I'm talking 90% and greater. Coincidentally, many american beers are light-bodied and less flavorful in some regards to their European and other counterparts. Could low efficiency be another key player to great flavor, or are other processing parameters really the star of the show elevating a beer from flavorful greatness to true excellence?
TLDR: Can I tank my brew-house efficiency purposefully to enable using a massive grain bill and get more flavor?
Any input and experience with this is greatly appreciated!
Last edited: