A Guide To All-grain Brewing In A Bag

[Coodgee]

PP, I've taken your spreadsheet and automated some of the calcs.

1. I've made the % of grain calc automatically based on the values entered into the kg section.
2. added a bitterness (IBU) calculator to the Hop list (had to change the formatting around a bit).
3. Created a simple % alc calculator based on FG and SG.
4. Efficency diff calculator.
5. added a total grist volume calculator


see what you think.

View attachment BIAB_Master_Ale_Checklist.xls

 

[Adamt]

YARRRRRRRGhhh just spent 30minutes doing EXACTLY the same things. *bangs head on wall*

Mine looks a little different has an OG, FG calculator in it, needs grain potential, grain mass, brew volume, efficiency to calculate.

IBUs are calculated using Tinseth's method, which seems quite different (lower) than Beersmith/Promash.

Anything in red is calculated by the spreadsheet and shouldnt be edited!

If I was smart I would've checked the thread before making my own, sorry Coodgee!

View attachment BIAB_Checklist_vAdam.xls

 

[PistolPatch]

Unbeleivable! Have sent both Adam and Coodgee a PM. Wouldn't be worried about both of you having a bash as there'll be merits to both that can be combined into a final. On way out the door but here's a few thoughts on testing their skills further...

Percentages are always the common ground in recipes, so how difficult would it be to make it so that just percentages of grain and ABV were put in? i.e. the kgs were calculated automatically?

Could the same be done with the hops easily? i.e. you just put in the IBUs you want and the AA rating of your hops and then the spreadsheet calculates the grams.

This doesn't mean that what has been done so far should be deleted as it is as important as the above. Having two methods would be brilliant though I reckon. (One section could just be out of the print area and jumped to in the cases where it is needed).

I think this would be great to allow quick adjustments for different efficiencies etc. Or, another example, say in the case of full-strentth versus mid-strenght black beer, the brewer could simply whack in what ABV they wanted.

Hopefully there'll be some discussion on why the bittereness levels in Adam's sheet don't match BeerSmith and an easy adjustment can be made if necessary too.

One final thought, I can move the far right column, "Notes,' to the left to allow a little more room if that helps.

Have to go right now but I'm totally impressed. You guys have made it easier for me to use than BeerSmith already!!!

 

[PistolPatch]

Some Quick News: Adam is going to have a bash at the time function in the spreadsheet tonight so relax Tim!* The Kilcenny Clone is now ready. Will filter and keg that tomorrow or Saturday and then take it and the 2 black beers to Ross's on Sunday so some experienced brewers can give some feedback.

Jimmy: I was trying to work out the same thing from the All In one thread but it got too hard! I could pretty easily whack a list of brewers who have used the method into say, Post#4** as long as they let me know. I think it would be a great idea if people had a way of getting a second opinion on BIAB.

The brewers' list will take a while to grow though as probably only a few people each week on AHB move into AG. Of these people, many will be trained/educated in or feel more comfortable with traditional methods so BIAB may be of no interest.

Hopefully through the pioneers here, we might find that most styles work with the method and build up a bit of a track record. If so, I'm sure many others will find it far easier to try all-grain and also really enjoy the method. I probably should put a list of benefits into the guide but will wait until we have a few more successful brews under our belt. I certainly find a BIAB brew very easy and relaxing.

I also reckon that the computer geniuses here are going to turn that spreadsheet into a very valuable tool.

Cheers,
Pat

* If no one here has any ideas on the IBU variation Adam got, I'll see if I can find anything out on Sunday.
** Might make Post#4 a sort of a general news/update post.

 

[Adamt]

I'm having to employ a little bit of Visual Basic to get the reverse calculations done on the hop mass, percentages and etc. and I'll look at the timing stuff a bit later on!

 

[Coodgee]

Adam what constant are you using to calculate IBUs? If you are using 1.34 that is for ounces and quarts. the metric constant is 10.

 

[Zizzle]

Quick request guys, can you please check that the spreadsheet also works in OpenOffice?

Not all of us fork money over to the evil empire.

Last I heard OOo does have some VBA support, but dunno how good it is.

 

[Adamt]

The formula I used was bottom formula on Rooftop Brew IBU Calculator.

Supposedly it is more accurate than other methods for full volume wort boils.

I'll test it on OO on my dad's pc later on tonight when some more of the VB is down.

-Adam

 

[Coodgee]

this could turn into an open source brewing software tool

though excel would be a poor solution for a "like-a-bought-one" application.

what excel are you using adamT?

if you want to go with VB we/you/I might as well do it all on a form.

 

[Adamt]

Yeah, this is completely going off the BIAB topic, but oh well lol.

I was actually thinking today of making an actual AHB Recipe Calculator but all the programming experience i have is with ANSI C, Fortran, Java, IRC, and a tiny bit of VB (which im picking up as i go), with nothing specifically related to spiffy, user-friendly GUIs.

I'm almost finished tweaking with the spreadsheet, once i finalise the code and locked cells it will serve as a fairly basic calculator for gravity, IBU and batch volume which I might post in another non-BIAB-exclusive thread; and then we can get back to the task at hand, brewing in a bag!

 

[Coodgee]

I'm just an "excel guru" which equals VB hack. I program by way of google some one has always had the same problem and asked about it.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I'm having to employ a little bit of Visual Basic to get the reverse calculations done on the hop mass, percentages and etc. and I'll look at the timing stuff a bit later on!

And all these blokes on here giving "VB" sh*t :lol:

Pat, as for my predictions of a very weak beer: I ran a complete half run with regards to grain, hops everything of a recipe I was given and it's supposed to be kind of "weak" anyway, but it seems if all goes well the alcohol content will be down ever so slightly and the bitterness up, also ever so slightly...****** ProMash, where have you been all my life?

Ragged on ProMash the other night, loving it now :lol: h34r:

PZ.

 

[Adamt]

Righto, I have split the spreadsheet into two sheets in the same file and it is attached.

The first sheet is now solely a recipe calculator, the following variables can be adjusted and the rest will be calculated:

-Grain mass (need potential)
-Hop mass
-Hop IBU

It will also calculate expected OG, expected FG (this is an absolute *********** guess not based on grain yield or anything) and required boil/brew volumes, efficiencies and a couple of other things. Couldn't be bothered implementing specified grain percentages, will take too long to code.

I realise this is completely redundant if you have any sort of brewing software, but what the heck!

Sheet 2 contains the timetable for which the brew day can be adjusted, and expected times for certain parts of the brew day can be added and subsequent times will be adjusted.

If I get really bored over the summer I might play around and make some decent user-friendly software.

..

Now, back to the BIAB!

View attachment BIAB_Checklist_vAdam2.xls

 

[Coodgee]

we should pool our resources guys. open source AHB brewing software is the start of something big.

we devide it up into littel bits and come together to produce the ultimute brewing software. as far as software goes it's a piece of piss. it's just a glorified simple calculator. discussion at the ahb meetup at carbrook to ensue, after all it is pistol peet's master plan.

 

[Coodgee]

p.s. open source is for stinking hippies and honest folk.

 

[Adamt]

Who's paying me for my airfares? I'm a poor uni student!

 

[Phrak]

OK brewers, I've had a bit of a play around with the spreadsheet over night, and have attached my copy.

Major changes:
* Added Colours and formatting. PINK = Mandatory field, YELLOW = Optional Field
* Split the sheet into 2 more sections
* Added Yeast attenuation calcs
* Based Expected FG on expected attenuation
* Continued Adam's Planned Time calculations down the rest of the column, and;
* Changed the minutes column to be the approx time each step will take, and;


Minor Changes
* Linked the Actual OG & FG to those recorded in the Fermentation Schedule sheet
* Added unit formatting to Grain & Hop Section totals
* Added Comments to columns to understand how to use them

View attachment BIAB_Checklist_v3_Tim.xls

 

[PistolPatch]

Crikey! How good is that? Once again, in a rush...

I should have mentioned before that Phrak and I have had several conversations, some up to 40 minutes - lol, in the last week as to how people can contribute to the spreadsheet but Coodgee and Adam took us completely by surprise!

My intention was to have Phrak take on this side of things - co-ordinate contributions etc. Not only is he extremely experienced in this field but he is available on the phone at the same lunatic hours as myself so ideas I have or receive from others can be easily passed on. He also already knows any ideas I have to date.

Phrak had to work (or pretend to) all last night so took the opportunity to add a fair whack to Adam's version. Some sections still have to be finalised but it's looking pretty damn good I reckon.

I'll leave it to Phrak now to say what else needs to be done and how to manage contributions. As mentioned, I'll pass on your ideas to him. This will have the added bonus of preventing me writing my usual too long a posts here which I think is best for everyone

I'm sure that you guys will come up with a spreadsheet that will suit other all-grain brewing methods which will be worthy of a whole new thread as well. I'll pass on any ideas I have on this too.

Thanks so much to you computer wizards. I'll now get back to working on the guide instead of posting here!

A thousand beers to you :beerbang:

 

[AndrewQLD]

OK brewers, I've had a bit of a play around with the spreadsheet over night, and have attached my copy.

Major changes:
* Added Colours and formatting. PINK = Mandatory field, YELLOW = Optional Field
* Split the sheet into 2 more sections
* Added Yeast attenuation calcs
* Based Expected FG on expected attenuation
* Continued Adam's Planned Time calculations down the rest of the column, and;
* Changed the minutes column to be the approx time each step will take, and;


Minor Changes
* Linked the Actual OG & FG to those recorded in the Fermentation Schedule sheet
* Added unit formatting to Grain & Hop Section totals
* Added Comments to columns to understand how to use them

Nice and neat guys, excellent work.
Crickey a new AG brewing method with its own dedicated software. How easy can it get for first time AGers

Well done all involved

 

[Adamt]

Oooooooooooooooh! Pretty colours! I've added a priming calculator and now my programming seems to be flowing a bit better which means I could probably reduce the code in the recipe sheet by a half, but as they say in the classics; stiff ****!

I should really stop doing this and do some actual work :S

View attachment BIAB_Checklist_v4.xls