Some people do not like wort grant. The argument is that it oxidize the wort.
That’s my concern with a grant.
I just stumbled upon another possibility for my lower than expected efficiency that I thought may have been attributed to recirculation speed.
In the Blichmann BrewEasy system instructions they recommend an orifice placed between the MLT valve and drain line to control runoff speed via gravity. They also recommend ’raking’ the top 1/3 of the mash bed every 15 minutes during the mash without disturbing the bottom 2/3 of the mash bed. Both of these steps are used to ensure channeling is not occurring in the recirculated mash. That seems to corroborate my recirculation concern. Channeling during recirculation was my concern all along.
I don’t have a BrewEasy but the principle that I am using is the same: recirculated infusion mash. While they use an orifice, I am using a flow control valve and rotameter to measure and control recirculation.
The mash bed shouldn’t care if gravity is pulling on the liquid, siphon is pulling on the liquid, or a pump is pulling on the liquid if the flow is restricted with an orifice or a valve.
I do not rake my bed but it’s easy enough to do so I may try it.
Another issue that may be occurring is mash bed temp. This addresses Denny’s conversion efficiency question. I have been relying on the RIMS PID display to monitor temp. I will use an actual mash bed temp measurement next brew. I may find I have been mashing at a different temp than the display tells me. I may have to increase or decrease the PID SV to maintain an actual mash bed temp.
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