Beersmith And Biab

[Bribie G]

I put this thread here because I didn't want to inflate the airlocked BIAB thread with what is just a casual enquiry:

Only 28 more sleeps until I get my AG gear together and go SHOPPING :super:

On my wish list is BeerSmith, but as I'm going BIAB does the program offer much assistance to BIABBers re initial water requirements, calculations of what your final pre boil volume is going to be, etc?

I haven't downloaded the trial yet as I'm not ready to use it so don't want to waste evaluation days, thus don't know too much about Beersmith yet. Would the program be more geared towards traditional three vessel brewing? Of course I realise that it will be perfectly applicable when it comes to recipes, grain volume, IBU etc etc but I'm wondering if current BIABBers are using it and if there are any shortcomings for BIAB as opposed to 'traditional' AG brewers??

 

[daemon]

As a newbie to BIAB, I would say yes. Considering the small initial outlay, the program comes in very handy when brewing. There's nothing unique about what it does as all the info already exists out there on the Internet, you just get the benefit of having everything handy in the one location. It's not often that I fork out money for software (I run Linux and Open Office at home) but I certainly believe that Beer Smith has been worth every single cent so far.

Like yourself however I'm trying to maximise my ability to use the software, as you could probably see from the big BIAB thread. As I understand the mash process and details better I'm sure I'll be able to translate that into using Beer Smith more effectively.

 

[wambesi]

Big yes, no matter what way you brew with (yeah I BIAB) it makes life easier.

I have not regretted it once since going AG, not only does it do the calc, but you get your inventory looked after, conversion tools and a stack more.
It may take a few brews to get to know your system and work out your amounts but once you know these and set up beersmith it's awesome.

 

[buttersd70]

Would the program be more geared towards traditional three vessel brewing?

Bribie
as you know, I don't biab....but, I have done some wierd and wonderful things in beersmith. I've done a few No Sparge brews, using beersmith to calculate it....and this is not dissimilar to biab, iirc (just without the actual bag :lol: ). The preset and example settings are geared to the 'traditional', but it's easy enough to tweak it to your own requirements.

 

[katzke]

It can be setup to work with BIAB with one small exception. It will not allow you to adjust the amount of water the grain will absorb. Hope that is fixed in some future update. So you have to remember to use a bit less water to start with or you will end up with extra.

There are a few things you need to watch but can not remember what all I have done. I have not checked for updates but the version I have does seem to be setup for traditional mashing. When I use some of the tools it keeps trying to figure sparge water and such. Not hard to make the adjustments but something to watch for in getting calculations. It could be I have some setting wrong.

Like anything it takes some getting used to. The setup is not bad but remember to do it. I read where some one on the forum ran through the setup and go stuck in Imperial measurements. Easy to change if you need to but much easier to follow the setup and get it the first time.