Designed A Brewing Session Log Sheet

[Thirsty Boy]

OK,

So for many a brew I have been recording my brew session roughly on the back of my pro-mash recipe printout. I finally got a round to assembling a form so I don't have to do it all by hand every time.

I thought that you guys could give me some feedback about what I might have forgotten and that it might even prove useful as a template for some other people if I have gotten it roughly right.

Anyway, here it is. Tell me what you think. MS word format.

View attachment Brewing_Session_Log.doc

Thirsty

 

[Jerry]

Looks god TB

Have something similar that I scribble on during brew day.

I then transfer that information to Beersmith and an XL spreadsheet the next day to give me a more permanent record.

Scott

 

[Jazman]

i f i want to keep notes i use promash new session part and keep notes as with mash temps ect

 

[justsomeguy]

Looks good !

About the only thing I can think of is the gravity of each sparge. Since I batch sparge I like to record the gravity of each running. Gives me a better idea whether I'm going to hit the same numbers when I rebrew a recipe.

gary

 

[Peter Wadey]

OK,

So for many a brew I have been recording my brew session roughly on the back of my pro-mash recipe printout. I finally got a round to assembling a form so I don't have to do it all by hand every time.

I thought that you guys could give me some feedback about what I might have forgotten and that it might even prove useful as a template for some other people if I have gotten it roughly right.

Anyway, here it is. Tell me what you think. MS word format.

View attachment 18031

Thirsty

Dan,
About the only thing I noticed was that all your adjustments are done post boil.
If you want to make it a bit more generic, perhaps allow for pre-boil adjustments as well.
Peter

 

[simonab]

Hi Thirsty

Looks good - some ideas:

If you're going to the trouble of adding water additives, then then it would be worth recording the starting water pH and the Mash pH (you should add the water additives into the mash, not the water since the grain changes pH).

Also the one I designed a few years ago (sorry only have a hard copy at home) I drew simple time Vs temp chart for the actual mash schedule - that way all you have to do is plot temp recordings on the chart as you go. This makes it easy to see the mash step rises etc and plot decoctions as well if you're into that.

Cheers
Simon

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Thanks Guys,

made a few minor adjustments. Here they are.

View attachment Brewing_Session_Log_v1.1.doc

Justsomeguy - I am actually planning on mainly doing only "single" batch sparges so hopefully the pre-boil gravity is going to be exactly the same as teh batch gravity, but I left the ability to do more than one batch on the sheet for if/when I do double or BIG beer batches when I will need to drain twice to cope with M/tun volumes. BUT, when I do do that I will be wanting gravity readings for each batch, so now they're in there.

Peter - Good point. Similarly to the above point, I am really really trying to get my process to the point where it is exactly hte same every time, so I had planned for only post boil adjustments... but I might need pre-boil ones anyway, so in it goes.

Simon - I like the time vs temp chart idea... I like it a lot. Haven't included it yet, but I'm working on one. I think I'll try it out with the chart & with the "fill the gaps" version, see which one I like. It would actually be interesting to "pre-plot" the mash schedule and then to see how the actual mash compares with it.... actually, thats just what I am going to do. Should be a great tool for fine tuning processes and my understanding of how my system works.

As for the water additions etc... I have to say that while I have been (semi)regularly taking mash pH readings, so far they have all turned out to be close enough to the 5.2 level that I haven't felt the need to adjust the water pH. I am mainly adding a little of either Gypsum of Calcium Chloride to get a bit of Calcium into the water for yeast health (advised to do this by G&G) and as a little bit of flavour enhancement. To be honest, I'd probably just toss them into the boil rather than the mash, but its easier to remember to do it at the start. I have me a bottle of lactic acid which I will probably use to ruin a batch when I find the need to adjust pH levels. That said, Mash pH and a spot to record adjustments has been included.

Cheers

Thirsty

 

[Thirsty Boy]

This time tidied up a bit and including the time/temp chart for the mash... pretty happy with it now, try it out on Monday.

View attachment Brewing_Session_Log_v1.2.doc


Thanks everyone

TB

 

[Jabin]

Hey guys,

sorry to be reviving an old thread, but I was looking around for a log sheet and came across this, I have modified the log sheet above to better suit my brewing habits (I BIAB, so some of the information wasn't really applicable). Anyway, I'll leave this here in case anyone else finds it useful or wants to further modify it.

Also, a bit off topic, but i'm moving to Brisbane in a few weeks, and am looking forward to getting involved with some other brewers!

View attachment Brewing_Session_Log_v1.3.doc

 

[markws]

Dear All,

Attached is similar styled document i have been working. Unfortunately it is not 100% complete, but people are welcome to modify the doc to suit there needs.

I beleive that Jamil Z is planning to create a brewing app for the iphone/itouch which will hopefully make life easier, however i do not have any futher details on this venture.

cheers

MWS

View attachment log_v1.doc

 

[chris.taylor.98]

... and adding to the "me too" brigade.

Here is a website that I am involved in developing that also attempts to keep track of:

- Brewing day results
- Fermentation observations (complete with graph of progress)
- Tasting notes.

Also has a few convenient features such as automatic adjustment of refractometer readings.

Its also a recipe calculator as well.

Have a look and let us know what you think.

Here is a link to an example log.

Click on the Observations tab (half way down the page) to see the fermentation brewing log.

Brewday button shows all the brew day calculations including a mashing calculator, batch sparge calculator and a yeast calculator.

Also records of the actual brewing day recipe with adjustments for brewing system loses. Good for tracking variations to ingredients and amounts on the day.

The Brewday Print show the whole thing in one convenient screen that can be printed for use on brewing day.

.. anyway this is all a works in progress.

Other items in the pipeline are support for Can Kits as ingredients, support for BIAB process and very soon hop bitterness adjustments for no chill brewing method.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

nice enough bit of work - a good tool for people who dont have and don't want to get one of the bits of brewing software. Its a little clunky looking on Firefox.. or at least it is on my PC.

I like the fermentation log and graph.

You might want to look at (and it might be there and I failed to notice) at a brewday log sheet along the lines of the one I posted originally and a few other versions that have appeared here. I have no PC in my brewery an dont want to have one. So I need a bit of paper - preferably one that has all my targets and additions etc on it, so I can use it as both a record sheet and a checklist. I write in what I plan to do or add, then tick it off when I have done it, or write in what I actually did or added.

---

Ok, I looked a bit closer and you do have that. Its format is not one that I would like to use though. Bit too much info on there. Do you really need the recipe info? You know what your recipe is. If you change the amounts on your actual brewday... well the info on the printed sheet about expected gravities etc will then automatically be incorrect, so you have to re-print it anyway. The areas for input are a little ill defined. Perhaps they could be a different colour. As could variable information. Form details in black - auto generated content in blue (things like hop amounts and times, expected gravities etc)) and a nice well defined box, check box, space to scribble your notes in. Or something like that.

Also, I think keeping it to one page is the best solution. I keep my brewday record on one side of an A4 - and my Fermentation log (attached below) is on the back. Then my entire record for a given brew is one bit of paper. Less of an issue if you intend to plug the info back into a PC at a later stage (I dont) but less bit of paper are easier to manage in your brewery.

Anyway - me rabbiting on about how I would do it is pointless, you can see in my sheet how I would do it. For me, its about simple, clear and easy to use in my actual brewery .. if I want fancy that can come later when I am sitting at the PC.

At any rate, I like the website and can see how good its going to end up.

Here's my Fermetation Log sheet. One of these days I'll get around to including a graph - I like fermentation graphs. This lives on my ferm fridge door while the beer is fermenting.

View attachment Fermentation_Log_v1.0.doc

Cheers

TB

 

[chris.taylor.98]

nice enough bit of work - a good tool for people who dont have and don't want to get one of the bits of brewing software. Its a little clunky looking on Firefox.. or at least it is on my PC.

I like the fermentation log and graph.

You might want to look at (and it might be there and I failed to notice) at a brewday log sheet along the lines of the one I posted originally and a few other versions that have appeared here. I have no PC in my brewery an dont want to have one. So I need a bit of paper - preferably one that has all my targets and additions etc on it, so I can use it as both a record sheet and a checklist. I write in what I plan to do or add, then tick it off when I have done it, or write in what I actually did or added.

---

Ok, I looked a bit closer and you do have that. Its format is not one that I would like to use though. Bit too much info on there. Do you really need the recipe info? You know what your recipe is. If you change the amounts on your actual brewday... well the info on the printed sheet about expected gravities etc will then automatically be incorrect, so you have to re-print it anyway. The areas for input are a little ill defined. Perhaps they could be a different colour. As could variable information. Form details in black - auto generated content in blue (things like hop amounts and times, expected gravities etc)) and a nice well defined box, check box, space to scribble your notes in. Or something like that.

Also, I think keeping it to one page is the best solution. I keep my brewday record on one side of an A4 - and my Fermentation log (attached below) is on the back. Then my entire record for a given brew is one bit of paper. Less of an issue if you intend to plug the info back into a PC at a later stage (I dont) but less bit of paper are easier to manage in your brewery.

Anyway - me rabbiting on about how I would do it is pointless, you can see in my sheet how I would do it. For me, its about simple, clear and easy to use in my actual brewery .. if I want fancy that can come later when I am sitting at the PC.

At any rate, I like the website and can see how good its going to end up.

Here's my Fermetation Log sheet. One of these days I'll get around to including a graph - I like fermentation graphs. This lives on my ferm fridge door while the beer is fermenting.

View attachment 34792

Cheers

TB

Thanks for the detailed input TB ...

Yes lots of clunk factor there .. you can probably guess that none of as are web designers as our day jobs (any aspiring web designers up for a challenge?)

Also agree with way too much information, and really appreciate the detailed analysis.

The reason for the recipe information is two fold:

i) The idea is that you pick a recipe from the recipe list (can be one you entered or someone else) and press the brew button. From here a complete copy of the recipe is created and attached to the brewlog.

As part of this process you can select a brewery that you are brewing on. The brewery contains all the loses ( mash tun, evaporation rate, boiler lose etc ) and the brewday recipe is calculated for your brewery's normal capacity to the fermenter as well as compensating for any loses. The water volumes are selected to try and match the boiling times, and maximize efficiency of the batch sparging process.

This means you end up with weights to try and match the volume to the fermenter that you are targeting, rather that just a ubiquitous 23 ltrs.

ii) The second reason is that if the original one recipe is modified you still have a copy of what was done on the brew day.
But more likely, if there are any variations on the brewday you can record them against the log.

As for the brewday print sheet, this was a first cut, and I can see that we will need to provide options for different brewers ( ie less detail, more details, include recipe, don't include etc ), and also agree that the input parts should be better defined. Items like your spreadsheet are very useful insights as to what others want to see.

Cheers

Chris

 

[///]

Hey Fella's

Attached is an older copy of what we use at work. (newer one has a few more lines for malt and for hop additions and is moved around a bit, few more SG's on the ferm sheet).

We have hop amounts worked out in grams per litre as we work on varying brew lengths, ie. if the original recipe says 725 of X hop @ 15 AA for 1250 litre batch, that equals 0.58 gms/l no matter if we change to 600l or 2000l. Also allows for a stuff up, if we are 50l short we can change the hoping in a flash. (ie. 0.58 X 1200 = target hoping)

The brew card is stepped out as we go thru the process, and the ferms sheet offers a daily record as well as the other packaging information (as we have double batch FV,s the brewlength is important) . I think we are up to about 220 batches using this system.

Hope this adds to the general info mix.

Scotty

View attachment Fermentation_Sheet.xls

View attachment Brew_Card_Rev_1.3_5_Islands.xls