On Sat, Jan 17, 2004 at 04:56:48PM +0100, Mikkel wrote: > Alligevel endte vi iføle Beer Calc på en effektivitet på 75%. > Hvilke elementer er styrende for effektiviteten? Hvad er højest mulige > (vel ikke 100% selvom teorien siger det)?
In my humble opinion, the mash efficiency is about the least interesting number in the whole beercalc. Who cares if you get the last drop of juice out of your grains? Adding an extra 500g of malt is so cheap that for a home brewer it should not even be a consideration. Besides, it will probably improve the taste of your beer! Things are different for the commercial discount-breweries (and I include both Carlsberg and Tuborg). They are operating in great volumes, and on a market with tight competition, also on price. 10% up or down in the grain bill can be a matter of life and death for them. If anything, the mash efficiency is relevant in knowing how much malts to use next time you formulate your own receipe. For that purpose, it does not matter if your effiency is high or low, as long as it is more or less the same every time you brew. In other words, as long as you take various steps to improve your efficiency, you will be getting more unpredictable brews. Personally, I don't pay any attention to that number. Admittedly I am in the more anarchistic end of the home brewer spectrum, I don't muchly care if my beer ends up at 4.5 or 6 % alc, as long as it tastes fine. I expect other members of this list will jump in with various technicalities. Best regards Heikki -- Heikki Levanto LSD - Levanto Software Development <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
