Kit And Extract Beer Spreadsheet

[Tubs bar]

Thanks for putting onto your spread sheet Ian.

 

[gvhorwitz]

This is a great tool. I'm putting in information for a Cooper's Lager. Is it really a lager? I heard an ale yeast is included in the kit.
The reason I'm asking is what style of beer should I put in cell H3?

Any help is appreciated.

Greg

 

[carniebrew]

You're right, it's not really a lager if you use the kit yeast, 'coz it's an "all purpose" ale yeast. If you replaced the kit yeast (like most do) with something like 2 packs of Saflager 34/70, and fermented at 10C, then you could make a lager out of it.

No reason you can't choose "Australian Lager" or "Australian Premium Lager" in H3 though, it's just about colour, ABV and IBU, it won't care what yeast you use.

 

[Nth Qlder xxxx]

Hi everyone,

I've just put my second lot of Mangroves Jack Larger on bottled my first batch hope I do ok any tips or tricks will be great. I clean with bleach average temp of fermenter is 18-22 deg I'm using 25 litre drum but am about to use a 50 litre as we'll left the first batch in fermenter for 11 days will do the same with second didn't get very much bubbling in airlock well fingers crossed...

 

[Alex.Tas]

1. Don't worry about airlock activity, it's not an accurate indicator of active fermentation

2. I hope you rinse after bleach. Maybe look into some brewing sterilisers. Cost a little more but generally safer. If your brew shop sells it I recommend starsan. It's a few bucks but diluted as recommended it will last ages.

3. Depending on what you are making, try and drop your temps a bit and keep it a constant temp. It will ensure a more predicable fermentation. Do a search for temperature control, heaps of good pages on here.

4. Make sure you download the spread sheet. Really helped my kit brews.

5. Read as much as you can, and ask lots of questions. No one starts out knowing everything

6. Plan to be kicked out of brewing in the kitchen by your missus soon. Plan around this, and you will be a winner.

 

[Nth Qlder xxxx]

Thanks Alex,

Will look into the cleaners. Do you have to check specific gravity or just leave in fermenter for plenty of time...

 

[gsouth82]

You should always check specific gravity. This will tell you when fermentation is finished. If you get your head around the spreadsheet you'll notice the OG and FG fields (original gravity and final gravity). This will give you a guideline on what your expected FG should be. You'll know when fermentation is finished and your ready to bottle when the specific gravity is the same over 2 or 3 days and is close to what the spreadsheet has predicted. Measuring your gravity is the only reliable way to check the progress of fermentation.
Welcome and good luck!

 

[Nth Qlder xxxx]

Ok will do might be able to bottle quicker meaning more beer sounds good to me... Cheers mate...

 

[btg]

I'm interested in a simple toucan stout but instead of putting 2 cans of Coopers Irish Stout in a 23 litre fermenter, I thought I could get a similar beer if I put 1 can in half the volume - 11.5 litres (I got a Coopers Craft Brew kit with the smaller fermenter for father's day).

However when I put the figures in Ian's spreadsheet I get wildly different IBU levels

2 cans (3.4kg) Coopers Irish Stout in 23 Litres (nothing else) - 30.4 IBU
1 can (1.7 kg) in 11.5 litres - 60.8 IBU

Am I doing something wrong here?

 

[BrosysBrews]

I'm interested in a simple toucan stout but instead of putting 2 cans of Coopers Irish Stout in a 23 litre fermenter, I thought I could get a similar beer if I put 1 can in half the volume - 11.5 litres (I got a Coopers Craft Brew kit with the smaller fermenter for father's day).

However when I put the figures in Ian's spreadsheet I get wildly different IBU levels

2 cans (3.4kg) Coopers Irish Stout in 23 Litres (nothing else) - 30.4 IBU
1 can (1.7 kg) in 11.5 litres - 60.8 IBU

Am I doing something wrong here?

It is 60.8 with 23L if you put it in as 2 cans rather then 3.4kgs for 1 can. It would be as the IBU does not change if you change the qty in Kgs.

 

[carniebrew]

I'm interested in a simple toucan stout but instead of putting 2 cans of Coopers Irish Stout in a 23 litre fermenter, I thought I could get a similar beer if I put 1 can in half the volume - 11.5 litres (I got a Coopers Craft Brew kit with the smaller fermenter for father's day).

However when I put the figures in Ian's spreadsheet I get wildly different IBU levels

2 cans (3.4kg) Coopers Irish Stout in 23 Litres (nothing else) - 30.4 IBU
1 can (1.7 kg) in 11.5 litres - 60.8 IBU

Am I doing something wrong here?

I'm guessing you've overwritten the formula that's in cell c6. It's the number that comes up automatically when you choose the kit can in cell B6. Did you type 3.4 in there yourself?

If so, you need to put the formula back, which is:
=IF(ISBLANK($B6),0,VLOOKUP($B6,KITS!$A$3:$D$152,4,FALSE))

And instead of trying to put 3.4kg in that cell, instead just add the can of Coopers Irish Stout twice in the two rows available for kits, that will give you the 60.8 IBU you're after. It should look like this:

 

[Ruddager]

Quick question - how accurate is the spreadsheet for a mini-mash with >1kg of grains? (wrt OG)

 

[ianh]

The spreadsheet uses an efficiency factor for steeping grains, you would need to change that for mashing..

 

[Ruddager]

Oh ok, yes, there it is on the grains page

Does that get saved as part of a recipe or will I need to put it back again next time I steep? Also, what's a good number to use for mini-mashing? I suppose the best thing would be to work out how to measure and calculate my result too so that I can use that number again next time.

 

[Alex.Tas]

if your batch size is around 23L it probably wont make too much of an impact as you are using less than 1 kilo. maybe use 70% or so.

depending how mathematically minded you are, you can check your sg of the mash liquor (remember to adjust for temp). if its lower than what you predicted you can lower your IBUs to compensate, or boil the liquor for a little longer (will give some small colour change). if its higher, you can either add more water and up your hops to compensate.

As im still trying to get my numbers down pat for my AG setup i find im making adjustments to the hopping schedule/boil volume after i check my post mash gravity. helps to keep my beers in balance.

 

[Ruddager]

Well, what I'm trying to do is an Oktoberfest style recipe, starting with Briess's 1.5kg munich LME and then mashing a whole pile of vienna and some victory (up to 2kg). I've played around with several volumes, from 15-20L to try and get the balance but that was before I was aware of efficiency. Perhaps I ought to start a discussion for this in the proper place ...

 

[Jim79]

Hi guys,
Can anyone tell me where the saved recipes end up? I can't seem to find them once I have saved.

Cheers,

 

[Liam_snorkel]

the "get recipe" button

 

[ianh]

There should be a Recipes worksheet. Fifth Tab along the bottom.

 

[Jim79]

Thanks for the replies guys, I may be doing something wrong. If I click on the get recipe button it only has a list of 4 recipes, not one that i have inputted. Do I just need to put in all my figures and then click save recipe, or do i need to do more.

Under the get recipe tab it doesn't show any of the brews that I have saved.

As I have said, I am very new to this so I apolagise for my questions.