Keeping Track Of Your Brews - Labelling & Notes

[Whistlingjack]

I use a logsheet on paper to record the brewday, a chart to monitor the fermentation and lagering and a laminated card to label the fermenters and kegs.

I can write the details of the brew on the hardcopy and maybe later I will enter the data on the PC.

The laminated labels allow me to write in whiteboard marker, and so are reusable.

WJ

 

[PistolPatch]

Would any of you guys be able/happy to uplink templates of your Excel or Access files? I'd love to have a squiz.

The only one I have to offer is (sorry guys, have had a few cracks at posting the spreadsheet but still haven't worked out how to with this new AHB skin??? The Excel file I've been trying to upload can be found though in Post #1 of the link that follows.) Phrak and Adamt added some automation to it but we all then got side-tracked :blink: The later automated versions of this spreadsheet (with a few bugs) can be found in the first 50 posts of this thread In hindsight, the work that those guys put in was pretty damn good - even better that I thought at the time.

Although it's in the BIAB thread, it can easily be adapted for any sort of brewing.

Cheers
Pat

 

[TidalPete]

Pat,

Templetes, Excel, Access??? :blink:
Too old & computer ignorant for all this. Flat out jiggling ProMash & Word & using my felt pen here. :lol:
Keep in touch mate. :icon_cheers:

TP :beer:

 

[Whistlingjack]

Sorry, copyrighted...

WJ

 

[PistolPatch]

Yeah, I know, Pete. Sometimes the computer stuff can get out of hand.

You do alright on the computer though mate. But we need an old bugger like you to give us their paper system. Stephen's was tops. Have you got a hand-written system for us?

Cheers Pete!

PS. I washed my mobile phone and my old computer blew up (keep meaning to fire it up again) so I have lost all contacts from the last few years. (The mobile phone software only backed up pics - lol on the former and thank goodness on the latter!)

 

[Doogiechap]

I use beersmith as well

Have a recipes folder that has all my recipes in it
The brew log has all the beers I have brewed with the date brewed and any changes from the original recipe. I also use this section to record fermentation times and temps and what the beers are labeled as.

I have five kegs and most of the time they have different styles in them so keeping track is pretty easy

I use white electrical tape and permanent marker to mark the kegs, cubes and fermenters. Always seem to have plenty of the white electrical tape

Kabooby

My format has been pretty much like Kabooby's albeit a pretty slap dash effort with the recipe folder. I started messing around with excel to make the brewday calcs easier with batch size variations and no brainer AA% adjustments but have recently purchased a copy of Beer Alchemy and have found the notes options very handy/ conducive to writing more info tat I have been inclined in the past. Hey Kabooby I have heaps of white electrical tape around too...... Sound or lighting bloke ?

 

[PistolPatch]

Sorry Pete,

Forgot to ask. Have you got a link to GMK's fridge magnets? They sound good.

Spot ya,
Pat

 

[KoNG]

Beersmith and some letterbox numbers for me...!

 

[TidalPete]

Forgot to ask. Have you got a link to GMK's fridge magnets? They sound good.

There you go Pat ---- Linky
Starts at page 3. They are probably all long gone as it was quite a while ago but there's nothing to stop you making up your own from some old fridge magnets & thin white plastic.

Here's a quick pic of GMK's magnets & how I label the kegs



TP :beer:

 

[warra48]

I use an Excel spreadsheet for all recipes, dates, gravities etc in a numbered serial.
As I only have three fermenters I just write whats in the fermenter on a sheet of paper with the number and leave it on top of the fermenter.
I definetley recommend a spreadsheet though.

Pato

This is exactly what I do. I use a spreadsheet, and all my brews are numbered, and I keep full details of malts, hops, yeast, gravities, boil time etc etc. The brew number gets written on the bottle caps in texta once bottled. When a brew is all consumed, it is taken out of the spreadsheet, and goes into my archive spreadsheet. Each brew contains ongoing tasting notes and observations on what to do better next time. Any recipes, or other items of interest, I find on the forums or elsewhere are copied and pasted into a Word program. Any items of special interest I will also copy and save the link, or put it into my favourites folder.