Understanding Efficiency

Efficiency is a commonly discussed subject among all grain brewers. But with the abundance of definitions for it, it easily becomes a matter of comparing apples with oranges. This article tries to shed some light on the various efficiency definitions that are in place and how they are defined (sometimes differently, depending on the author).

Palmer: Mentions brewing efficiency as the percentage of the maximum potential (labratory extract) of the grain

Daniels: Defines Mash efficiency as the ratio between total gravity of wort (GU * volume) and the total potential of the grains

Narziss: Defines Sudhausausbeute (brew house efficiency) as the ratio between the amount of extract that made it into the boil kettle vs. the amount of grain that was used.

BYO Wizard: Defines brewhouse efficiency the same as Narziss does. He also defines brewhouse yield as the ratio between the brewhouse efficiency and the weighted average of the grains laboratory yields.

Beersmith: