# Brewmate Question



## ArcLight (20/6/12)

I apologize if this is not the correct forum, I searched and didn't see where this would go.

My question is:
using BrewMate - I enter the grain bill, and final water volume. But where does it show me the amount of strike water i need for the Mash, and the temperature? Also, where does it show the sparge water needed?

Is there somewhere people have posed some questions/answers pertaining to Brewmate? The official website doesn't have much.
Its nice looking software, that is easy to use. I'd like to read any documentation there is.


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## chunckious (20/6/12)

On the right is a button - Brew day.


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## jyo (20/6/12)

Click on the 'brew day' button, mate.  


Cheers.


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## Bribie G (20/6/12)

Did anyone mention the Brew Day button yet? B) 

There are all sorts of little lurks and perks in BrewMate. One that I like is the "lock ingredients" option so that if need to increase the volume (say from 24 to 25L ) it doesn't re-scale all the ingredients which can be a total pain to fix. 

Also if you need to enter new items (for example a new yeast coming on the market) make sure you enter all the required fields or the program may go haywire and calculate weird results. 

Great program, can't wait for a version that supports step mashes.


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## Truman42 (20/6/12)

Bribie G said:


> Did anyone mention the Brew Day button yet? B)
> 
> There are all sorts of little lurks and perks in BrewMate. One that I like is the "lock ingredients" option so that if need to increase the volume (say from 24 to 25L ) it doesn't re-scale all the ingredients which can be a total pain to fix.
> 
> ...




+1 for step mashes, would make this program more awesomer. I have to put my steps in the brew day notes and use my iphone timer for my mash, then switch to the boiltimer. Also just a manual timer would be good so you can set it to countdown flameout additions before whirlpooling, and whirlpool time etc. Stop watch is sort of useless so this should be a manual timer instead.


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## Nick JD (20/6/12)

I reckon the program's awesomeness is that it's simple.


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## Truman42 (20/6/12)

Nick JD said:


> I reckon the program's awesomeness is that it's simple.




Too true, especially compared to other programs. My dad can even use it and hes older than Bribie and not very tech savvy, unlike Bribie (Who now drives a smart phone)..


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## ArcLight (20/6/12)

OK, I am dense, I do not see a button anywhere "Brew Day" (version 1.22)

Under teh Calendar Button there is a Brew day check Box that is checked.
But no button to push.


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## Bribie G (20/6/12)

Mine looks like this:


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## bignath (20/6/12)

here 'tis...




EDIT: clearly Bribie is faster with 'paint' than i am.....


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## ArcLight (20/6/12)

Hmm, mine doesnt have that button! (Brew day)

I will try reloading it!

- Rats - didn't help.
I went to the website, I see that button on their screen shot, but I don't have it.
I reinstalled it.
Didnt help


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## ArcLight (20/6/12)

I uploaded an image


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## Goose (20/6/12)

anybody had a crack at BrewTarget ?

http://brewtarget.sourceforge.net/

doesnt seem to get much credence around here if I search, though at first glance it looks similar to brewmate albiet more complex with a few more variables for configuration of specific equipment . I am wading through both right now and running them side by side to see which suits. Leaning toward Brewmate as I type....


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## punkin (20/6/12)

Does it have V1.22 at the top of the page?
may need updating.
It may be one of your settings too.


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## chunckious (20/6/12)

Thats like waking up and the sun not being there. :wacko:


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## bum (20/6/12)

Happens to me for 6 months of the year, Chunkious.


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## bum (20/6/12)

Goose said:


> anybody had a crack at BrewTarget ?
> 
> http://brewtarget.sourceforge.net/
> 
> doesnt seem to get much credence around here if I search, though at first glance it looks similar to brewmate albiet more complex with a few more variables for configuration of specific equipment . I am wading through both right now and running them side by side to see which suits. Leaning toward Brewmate as I type....


Just downloaded it. Linux native! Nice.

Looks a bit homemade but we'll see how it runs.


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## nala (20/6/12)

Goose said:


> anybody had a crack at BrewTarget ?
> 
> http://brewtarget.sourceforge.net/
> 
> doesnt seem to get much credence around here if I search, though at first glance it looks similar to brewmate albiet more complex with a few more variables for configuration of specific equipment . I am wading through both right now and running them side by side to see which suits. Leaning toward Brewmate as I type....



No good to me......all in a foreign language : US gallons and ounces.


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## chunckious (20/6/12)

bum said:


> Just downloaded it. Linux native! Nice.
> 
> Looks a bit homemade but we'll see how it runs.



Cool. Bum's gonna it a crack.


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## Bribie G (20/6/12)

OP, you could try pm-ing the developer, He's randyrob on this forum. Been a bit quiet lately, maybe just very busy, but hopefully he'll be able to sort it.


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## kymba (20/6/12)

nala said:


> No good to me......all in a foreign language : US gallons and ounces.


tools > options > units


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## dicko (20/6/12)

Bribie G said:


> OP, you could try pm-ing the developer, He's randyrob on this forum. Been a bit quiet lately, maybe just very busy, but hopefully he'll be able to sort it.



I sent him an email re the balance figures with no reply as yet and that was about a month ago  

Cheers


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## bum (20/6/12)

kymba said:


> tools > options > units


Yep, "SI units" rather than "metric", of course. Can't have an American admitting metric works better so let's call the same thing by the name no-one really knows and we won't feel so foolish.


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## mikec (20/6/12)

That's freaky dude.
I had a play around on my PC but couldn't break it.

Brewmate needs Microsoft .NET framework installed. So maybe try re-installing or updating that. I'm running v4.


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## GuyQLD (20/6/12)

I tried brewtarget before brewmate and I have to say that I love the way that it manages your recipes, it is a bit harder to set up though. Brewmate is a lot easier to use and also looks a lot better. Although i don't seem to be able to get different yeasts to give different final gravity unless i change each one specifically where brewtarget did this for me. Brewmate has more useful calcs though.


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## Bribie G (20/6/12)

Yes I was going to suggest the .NET approach, AFAIK BrewMate is written in VB.NET and this could be the problem as it's only going to perform as well as the .NET platform installed on your machine. Bum would know a bit more, it's 7 years since I got my Bachelors so that's an aeon in IT time.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (20/6/12)

+1 for stepped mashes in Brewmate.

I've not yet got Brewmate working in Linux - just can't get the .NET framework working adequately for brewmate to work.

I've tried Brewtarget, but I do like the simplicity of Brewmate, and I've already got it installed at work (windows 7), so kinda stuck with the file format.

Goomba


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## Jay Cee (20/6/12)

Anyone else get errors when updating a Brewmate recipe and trying to save/overwrite? I have been playing around with it so I can introduce it to others as a free tool, and while it's dead simple to use, I occasionally get an error screen/exception, which won't allow saving the updated ingredient. 

This is happening on Windows 7, with two separate downloads on two computers (32 bit & 64 bit). 

Any fixes ? I'll do a screenshot next time I see it.


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## bum (20/6/12)

Bribie G said:


> Bum would know a bit more


Nah, the only .NET I've had to deal with so far is using it in PowerShell. They try to keep us as platform agnostic as they can, so if we want particularly in depth knowledge of certain environments then we need to seek that out ourselves. I have only just finished the first half of my degree this week anyway so I'm far from expert in anything.

Way OT - sorry all.


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## Bribie G (20/6/12)

(* Bum if you need any coaching in Modula 2 give me a yell

RdeVjun's pretty good as well *)


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## bum (20/6/12)

Thanks. I've just finished with shifted polynomial divison (CRC checks) so I should be good on that front - I hope. If I was going down a comp sci path I'd need more but I'm mostly doing business applications and a little sys admin for the rest of my degree.


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## Bribie G (20/6/12)

Yeah I hated that low level stuff, assembly language really did my head in.


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## Diggles (20/6/12)

Truman said:


> +1 for step mashes, would make this program more awesomer. I have to put my steps in the brew day notes and use my iphone timer for my mash, then switch to the boiltimer. Also just a manual timer would be good so you can set it to countdown flameout additions before whirlpooling, and whirlpool time etc. Stop watch is sort of useless so this should be a manual timer instead.




Iphone has an App called "Brew Timer" which tells you time remaining and time to next brew.

Diggles


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## punkin (24/6/12)

Bribie G said:


> OP, you could try pm-ing the developer, He's randyrob on this forum. Been a bit quiet lately, maybe just very busy, but hopefully he'll be able to sort it.




I emailed him from the Brewmate site after giving a donation with a thank you message and he replied not long after. I'm a big fan of it, suits me down to a tee so i figured it was worth to me whatever Beersmith woulda cost me.

The best way to contact him i'd imagine...

http://www.brewmate.net/contact


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## RdeVjun (24/6/12)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> +1 for stepped mashes in Brewmate.
> 
> I've not yet got Brewmate working in Linux - just can't get the .NET framework working adequately for brewmate to work.
> 
> ...


I could be mistaken but I thought I'd seen someone with it working under Mono but have not been able to do so myself, that seems to be the status quo. Would be just grand if it did though...

:icon_offtopic: 
A bit OT: Which uni, bum? TBH, I haven't coded in years and am rather glad of it! FWIW, if I'd gone down that route with a developer career then I'd probably be out of a job at the end of this month (in the state public sector at least) as Can Do Campbell has binned most of the temp/ casual/ contractor positions. With IT roles in that sector seldom do the positions have tenure (i.e. permanent), that's just the nature of the industry, but thankfully my sysadmin is under the radar and safe, for now at least... next up will be privatization.


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## bum (24/6/12)

RdeVjun said:


> :icon_offtopic:
> A bit OT: Which uni, bum? TBH, I haven't coded in years and am rather glad of it! FWIW, if I'd gone down that route with a developer career then I'd probably be out of a job at the end of this month


I'll keep it brief for those following the OP. I'm at RMIT City (Melbourne). I'm probably enjoying the programming the most (Java mostly, starting C next semester) but am not heading in that direction work-wise as I know how difficult that is in this country.


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## ArcLight (25/6/12)

Rob (the designer of BrewMate) help me out (thanks Rob!) so I can see Brew day.

My question is now about figuring out water quantities and temperatures.
I set the default method to All Grain

On the Brew Day pop up window.
1. I want to use a mash ratio of 1.25 Q/Lb
By default a number like 0.79 comes up (Water Grain Ration Q/lb)

I can change that to 1.25, but then the strike ratio goes way up to 17 gallons for a 13.75 lb grain bill
I estimate around 17 quarts at 1.25 Q/Lb.
Also, the sparge water (in gallons) always remains at 0.

I must be doing something wrong.


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## bignath (25/6/12)

ArcLight said:


> Rob (the designer of BrewMate) help me out (thanks Rob!) so I can see Brew day.
> 
> My question is now about figuring out water quantities and temperatures.
> I set the default method to All Grain
> ...



Are you in Australia? (or other country that uses metric)...

Dont use imperial measurements so i cant help, and would guess that by using them, or asking questions based on them on an aussie forum, may limit the amount of help available.

Stoked you got the brewday button issue sorted. It will be something simple now im sure of it. Something in the setup of the program preferences.

Hope you sort it mate, its a cracker of a program!


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## ArcLight (25/6/12)

>>Are you in Australia? (or other country that uses metric)...

Of course not, I live in a civilized country :chug: <- just kidding!


>>Dont use imperial measurements so i cant help, and would guess that by using them, or asking questions based on them on an aussie forum, may limit the amount of help available.

Actually - I just tried it with metric and it works. Perhaps the Imperial measurements have a bug?
In any case, thank you Big Nath for responding, and causing me to try this.
I don't mind using metric at all.


I'm all set to try my first BIAB when I get back from vacation.
Im going to try the mash, and sparge in a separate pot method, so the all grain setting are actually more useful for now than teh BIAB setting.


OT: I visited Australia in 1995 in December for 2 weeks and loved it. The city parks in Sydney and Melbourne were beautiful, as were the cities and country side. I'd love to go back. I still remember downing quite a few Castlemains XXXX (fourex). Growing up I hated beer because ... all I ever drank were really crappy lagers. If only people wee exposed to good beer at ages 18-21 they might appreciate it more, instead of being scared off.


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## camstans (9/3/13)

Where is the sparge water???


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## stm (9/3/13)

In BIAB mode, there is no sparge water.


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## Crusty (9/3/13)

camstans said:


> Where is the sparge water???


No need to sparge. You have set this up with a L/G ratio of 6.82, that's where your sparge water is if you want to do one.
I do a 90min sacc rest & a mash out with no sparge & hit 80-82% efficiency.
Sparging's a waste of time with Biab in my opinion, you don't need to do one.


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## BeerNess (11/3/13)

If you want to show mash and sparge volumes go into Settings -> Default Settlings and change BIAB to All-Grain then open the brew day sheet again and it will have that information instead.


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## Rowy (11/3/13)

Crusty said:


> No need to sparge. You have set this up with a L/G ratio of 6.82, that's where your sparge water is if you want to do one.
> I do a 90min sacc rest & a mash out with no sparge & hit 80-82% efficiency.
> Sparging's a waste of time with Biab in my opinion, you don't need to do one.


Crusty. Could you explain your process a bit further to me. I can only crack about 65%. I mashin then rest for 90 mins then raise to 78c for mashout and then lift bag and drain. I then do a sparge of the grain with some water I have kept back from the original strike water volume. Eg 10 litres from 64 litres. (42litre batch)


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## Crusty (12/3/13)

Rowy said:


> Crusty. Could you explain your process a bit further to me. I can only crack about 65%. I mashin then rest for 90 mins then raise to 78c for mashout and then lift bag and drain. I then do a sparge of the grain with some water I have kept back from the original strike water volume. Eg 10 litres from 64 litres. (42litre batch)


Exactly what I am doing except the sparge.
What brewing software are you using?
There's only two things I can see that will affect your low efficiency.
1: How are you crushing your grain, mill gap?
2. You are measuring your efficiency incorrectly.
I think your mash will benefit from leaving that 10 extra litres in with the grain for the 90mins & simply doing a mash out & forget the sparge.


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