My ?profile? is a BIAB profile, estimated BH efficiency was 70% and estimated mash efficiency was 76.1%. Somehow BeerSmith computed this mash efficiency ? where and how?
BeerSmith calculates mash efficiency from your batch size PLUS your losses post boil (Brewhouse Efficiency). If the Brewhouse Efficiency says 70%, then you're telling BeerSmith that you expect 70% of all available sugars are going into the fermenter. To maintain gravity, the only way to account for this is a corresponding change in mash efficiency.
My notion was that I wanted 5.7 gallon batch size. On the design view the estimated pre-boil volume was 9.1 gallon. Using the Water tab I was instructed to add 9.88 gallon of water. After the boil and cool down I still had about 8.6 gallon of wort before adding the honey. Way too much wort for what was supposed to be a 5.7 gallon batch size. What happened ? how did I flub the water amount?
Does the equipment profile match your actual equipment? As I see it, the 9.88 gallons matches the total preboil volume in a regular sparged mash. I get 8.99 gallons mash water from the 5 gallon BIAB profile. Does the boiloff and trub loss in the profile match your real world performance?
The grain bill was 9.63 pounds and 8# 4 oz of honey. Added together it came to the 18.1 pounds of grains. Am I to assume that in the Design view the honey accounts for the essential equivalent of the same amount of grain? Is that true?
Somewhere, you have a math issue. Either there is more grain than you list, or more honey. I get 17.88 lbs, regardless of whether I select a mead or beer recipe type.
The Go-Ferm amount was computed to be 29.1 g. On balance, my other recipes call for about 15g ? with BeerSmith doing the calculations and using the ?automatic? calculation. My own worksheet which has embodied the original Advanced Nutrients in Meadmaking paper published by Travis Blount-Elliott looks like the amount of Go-Ferm should be in the single digits. Go-Ferm is inexpensive for the home brewer but the question still is how come this recipe had double the amount or Go-Ferm that was recommended for other recipes and almost four time the amount recommended ty the Travis Blount-Elliott equations?
Here we have the issue with mixed fermentations. As an all grain recipe, more goferm will be calculated for both honey and malt. As a Mead recipe, I see the goferm amount is 7.1 gm because it's only calculating for the honey.
In doing a braggot, I wouldn't recommend the full BIAB method. I'd match the water to a slightly thin mash and perhaps add a bit more after conversion. I'd then use an old extract trick of displacement by putting the sealed bucket of honey into the kettle (burner off) and adding water to the preboil volume. Once you've removed the honey container, the remaining volume is ready for boiling and adding the honey later to establish the right volume and gravity.
BeerSmith is handling mead one way and beer another. Braggot is sort of left in a mudbog of mediocrity. As bakers say, "all purpose flour serves no purpose."
