Beersmith manual recipe entry

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Brew Matt

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When manually entering someone elses recipe into Beersmith2, it will automatically include default brew pot ('equipment') in the entry screen. I am making the assumption that this default brewing vessel shown forms part of the recipe, and therefore will be the constant for when scaling the recipe to suit the actual brewing vessel that will be used.

Is this correct? If so, surely you do not have to create a new brewing vessel to match that of the original recipe creator?

I have watched the relevent Beersmith recipe entry video, but this is not covered. Assistance appreciated.
 
A little confused by the question, but I would say no. At least, I have never had to make a new profile, I've always just adapted it to mine.
 
Simply select your equipment and set the efficiency and batch volume to those of the original recipe (an American recipe may be 5 gal, enter it as 5 Gal and Beersmith will set the value to 18.93L), enter all fermentables and hops from the recipe into your recipe in Beersmith2 (if entering a recipe in pounds and ounces and your Beersmith2 is set to metric, just enter the amount in lbs and ozs, for example 4lb 3oz and Beersmith2 will convert to metric). Now check the percentages of fermentables from the original recipe and set these to the same percentages in your recipe in Beersmith2 using the grain pct tool. Next scale the recipe to your desired batch volume and efficiency using the scale recipe tool then adjust gravity using the adj gravity tool.

Be sure to enter hop amounts and time as they are in the original recipe. Check the IBU's for each hop addition and adjust hop amounts in your recipe (your hops may not be the same crop or AA value as the ones in the original recipe) until you have the same IBU value for each hop addition as the original recipe. For aroma/later additions 15 min or less stick with the grams per litre from the original recipe.

Set mash/sparge volumes for your system. So long as the recipe matches grainbill percentages, gravity and IBU's contributions for each bittering (such as 60 min) and flavour (30 min) addition and time then you are as close as you will ever be to brewing another brewers beer. Different brewer, equipment, water etc will never produce the exact same beer, the only way to make an exact replica of a beer is to buy the brewery. .

Not sure if this addesses the OP but hope so.

Screwy
 
Screwtop said:
Simply select your equipment and set the efficiency and batch volume to those of the original recipe (an American recipe may be 5 gal, enter it as 5 Gal and Beersmith will set the value to 18.93L), enter all fermentables and hops from the recipe into your recipe in Beersmith2 (if entering a recipe in pounds and ounces and your Beersmith2 is set to metric, just enter the amount in lbs and ozs, for example 4lb 3oz and Beersmith2 will convert to metric). Now check the percentages of fermentables from the original recipe and set these to the same percentages in your recipe in Beersmith2 using the grain pct tool. Next scale the recipe to your desired batch volume and efficiency using the scale recipe tool then adjust gravity using the adj gravity tool.

Be sure to enter hop amounts and time as they are in the original recipe. Check the IBU's for each hop addition and adjust hop amounts in your recipe (your hops may not be the same crop or AA value as the ones in the original recipe) until you have the same IBU value for each hop addition as the original recipe. For aroma/later additions 15 min or less stick with the grams per litre from the original recipe.

Set mash/sparge volumes for your system. So long as the recipe matches grainbill percentages, gravity and IBU's contributions for each bittering (such as 60 min) and flavour (30 min) addition and time then you are as close as you will ever be to brewing another brewers beer. Different brewer, equipment, water etc will never produce the exact same beer, the only way to make an exact replica of a beer is to buy the brewery. .

Not sure if this addesses the OP but hope so.

Screwy
Thanks, will try & report back. Just trying to get used to the design of the program.
 
Anyone know (when entering ingredients for a new recipe) if it is possible to have the order that the ingredients are entered maintained, at least while entering the ingredients, to make verifcation easier (before commiting the recipe)? I have tried changing the sort order to the sequential number field (instead of the "AMT" field), but as adding ingredients they are stll getting slotted into order based on AMT.

Also, I would have thought grain producers such as Thomas Fawcett would have every grain they produce available in beersmith format, or at least have the details on their website. Now I am sure I am missing something here, as it would only take them a few minutes to do this (I have applied all the relevent add-ons, which did add a lot of new ingredients).

I have manually created Chocolate Malt Pale (600.0 EBC) Grain Thomas Fawcett, but there are addition fields important to Beersmith that I have been unable to locate online (so far) to set this up correctly the first time.
 
Ask your supplier for a copy of the COA for the malt.
My latest batch was

TF Pale Choc
Extract Coarse EBC dry basis 71.6
Moisture% 4.0
Colour °EBC 688
Total Protein 11.25

These should be what you need for entry into Beersmith.
 
felten said:
Which details did you need? Pale choc is on their website here http://www.fawcett-maltsters.co.uk/specif.htm

I believe 273 L/Kg MIAG 2 equates to 70.7% yield, and the difference between MIAG 2 and 7 is 2.1% coarse/fine difference.
Thanks for this link - I thought they would have to have information like this online.

NigeP62 said:
Ask your supplier for a copy of the COA for the malt.
My latest batch was

TF Pale Choc
Extract Coarse EBC dry basis 71.6
Moisture% 4.0
Colour °EBC 688
Total Protein 11.25

These should be what you need for entry into Beersmith.
With slight variances from batch to batch, do you create a new malt entry for each new batch you purchase, or change the existing entry so you dont end up with a large number entries for the same malt (that you will probably never use again)?
 
Generally change the existing entry whenever I get new stock of specialties.
For base malts leave the default unless I notice large differences.
As a retailer I make the information available for any customer that is interested as good retailers do.
 
NigeP62 said:
Generally change the existing entry whenever I get new stock of specialties.
For base malts leave the default unless I notice large differences.
As a retailer I make the information available for any customer that is interested as good retailers do.
Do you change the entry for changes in AA for hop pellets as well?

What is the general procedure for working with changes in AA without changing the beer being produced?
 
In general I would say to keep your late additions the same, and adjust the bittering addition to suit.
 
Brew Matt said:
Do you change the entry for changes in AA for hop pellets as well?
Much more important than changing values for grain in my personal opinion. Have never changed grain values from default and don't think I ever will. Happy to be convinced otherwise, though.
AA values on the other hand can vary wildly from year to year or supplier and can have a real impact on the end product if not considered.
 
Always keep AA% of hops up to date.
As Florian says, they can vary quite a lot and it really will make a much bigger difference than most of the grain values.
For grain the important one to keep an eye on would be colour, if it is really important to you that you get an exactly colour, otherwise the defaults or original entry in your software will be good enough.
 
So, does everyone end up with a lot of multiple entries for the same hops with varying AA's, or do you just modify the one entry?

I am guessing multiple entries is the way to go. For Beersmith to compensate for hops with a lower AA, I am assuming it would increase the hop quantity slightly?

Doing this in a spreadsheet would be fun (not).
 
Yes, multiple listings will keep your recipe bitterness accurate.

I use the older ones first by including the date in the description

Cheers
 
No need for multiple hop entries.
Existing recipes keep the original AA unless you change it in the actual recipe.
 
I am entering someone elses recipe into Beersmith, and the IBU's being calculated are slightly higher than that given in the original recipe.

I have the AA's and the quantity correct. Does this suggest I have entered something incorrectly in equipment settings? (this is before doing any equipment recipe conversion)? The recipe should be correct.

Am I best leaving the hop quantities as is, or reducing these slightly to get target IBU's?

If yes to getting target IBU for each hop quantity, is there an automated way to get Beersmith to adjust the qty to get the desired IBU?

example from recipe: "25.00 gm Amraillo Gold [8.9%] (80 min) Hops 22.1 IBU". Entered in Beersmith, this is calculating IBU to be 24.2.
 
Remember how in primary school you had to learn how to count backwards? This is why.

Automated way to knock 2 IBU off a recipe...
 
Brew Matt said:
I am entering someone elses recipe into Beersmith, and the IBU's being calculated are slightly higher than that given in the original recipe.

I have the AA's and the quantity correct. Does this suggest I have entered something incorrectly in equipment settings? (this is before doing any equipment recipe conversion)? The recipe should be correct.

Am I best leaving the hop quantities as is, or reducing these slightly to get target IBU's?

If yes to getting target IBU for each hop quantity, is there an automated way to get Beersmith to adjust the qty to get the desired IBU?

example from recipe: "25.00 gm Amraillo Gold [8.9%] (80 min) Hops 22.1 IBU". Entered in Beersmith, this is calculating IBU to be 24.2.
From within the recipe select the hop you want to adjust and then click the decrease amount button to the right of the ingredient box, keep clicking until you reach the desired ibu.
Depending on your options setup you can decrease/increase amounts by .25 g if you want to.

Should you adjust them? Probably not, it's more than likely that the difference is because of the hop utilization formula being used is different between the 2 programs/recipes.
Different equipment does make a difference however if all your quantities are the same, your boil off volumes are the same ect then the differences should be minimal.
It's then just a case of adjusting quantities to match the other recipes specs.


Andrew
 
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