Changes in mash and boil setup not changing stats

[askanes]

Hi All,

I've been using BS for a while now and I'm starting to look at making adjustments to make my brew days a bit shorter. I've seen a lot of Youtube brewers moving to 30-40 minute mashes and 30 minute boils so I thought, maybe I'll give it a try for myself. I know this come with an efficiency penalty when it comes to utilization but I'm ok with that. the problem is that when I change my mash or boil times from 60 to 30 minutes, there's no changes at all to my OG, ABV, IBUs or any other stats at all. Why doesn't BS seem to take this into account?

 

[BOB357]

The data is available to reasonably predict outcomes at different saccharification rest temperatures, as long as the mash has ample diastatic power and sufficient time for full conversion to take place. Unfortunately, there isn't enough data available to model outcomes with any accuracy once you get into marginal rest times.

 

[Oginme]

Hi All,

I've been using BS for a while now and I'm starting to look at making adjustments to make my brew days a bit shorter. I've seen a lot of Youtube brewers moving to 30-40 minute mashes and 30 minute boils so I thought, maybe I'll give it a try for myself. I know this come with an efficiency penalty when it comes to utilization but I'm ok with that. the problem is that when I change my mash or boil times from 60 to 30 minutes, there's no changes at all to my OG, ABV, IBUs or any other stats at all. Why doesn't BS seem to take this into account?

The reason that there is no apparent change is because the program relies on Brew House Efficiency (BHE) to calculate how much of the sugar from the malt bill makes it to the fermenter. If you change the mash time, or boil time, the program does not figure that into the calculation, so it uses the same BHE on the same malt bill to give you the same OG, which leads to the same FG estimation and the same ABV.

The program is predictive calculations given the input from the user. It is not truly modeling the process at all, just calculating the endpoint based upon your input for the equipment profile, mash profile, and fermentables bill.

As for the IBU calculation, this too is based upon a simple model. You would need to change the addition times of the hops to have the program recalculate a new IBU value.

 

[McMullan]

I'd be a bit wary of "YouTube brewers", tbh. It's quite shocking what gets claimed on that platform. Differentiating themselves by going against established standard practice seems to be a common strategy, just for the sake of it, not for the sake of progress as such. Note the mash step isn't simply about conversion to fermentable sugars. Many other things are being extracted too during the mash. Barley worts are surpringly complex media. Time is a key parameter. I think I'd rather listen to BeerSmith podcasts - with real brewers and real experts - than some chancers on YouTube. If time on brew day was so limited for me, I think I'd just brew extract.

 

[FatherSonBrew]

It is my understanding and experience that most of the Mash conversion is accomplished within a 30 minute period, but there are some factors that influences the mash conversion process in general. Water Chemistry, Temperature, Mashing PH value and the general diastatic power of grains, as mentioned above.
I would give it a try. Your not the first for sure.
To speed up the brewing process there are other items, I am sure you have considered. Clean equipment day before and sanitize on the day of brew. Water and salts can be prepped the day or hours before brew. Stage all other brewing utensils, hops, adjuncts and test equipment required to support your particular brewing process, including the fermenter setup. At end of your brew you can power clean and soak equipment and utensils until you have time to clean appropriately. Don't skip this last step, it just creates more work and can damage your equipment.
I am not sure about other home brewers, but finding the time to brew has always been difficult for us. Even now when I am retired. My son and I usually brew on holidays, which on the average is about every 3 months. Now that I am retired, I set up equipment and prep the process to point of Mash in or a bit later until my son can meet up with me to finish the brew. So we are brewing a little bit more now, but still not drinking that much. Our Church Family and Neighbors seem to be very happy with this new circumstance. Cheers!

 

[KB]

I've run into similar problems. Make changes, nothing in the recipe seems to change. The following has worked for me. After making changes, save the recipe, then reopen the recipe.