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BeerSmith 2 Extract Questions

BigMikeT34

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I downloaded the trial version of BS 2.52 the other day, and after playing with it for only a few minutes I activated it. I’ve already tweaked some of my recipes to bring them closer in line to BJCP2008 styles. Great program!

I’m having a few difficulties, and I’m sure it’s user error and would welcome any coaching you can give.

QUESTION 1 – extract brewing – Steeping Grains

For steeping, I have always used 1 gal of water for each pound of grain for 30 minutes with a target temperature of 154 degrees. I remove the grains, dump the wort into my big boil pot, and then “sparge” the grains in a colander/grain bag with 2 qts of water at 170 for each pound. Maybe this over-kill for simple steep, but it has always worked for me. How do I put this into BS2? I tried modifying some of the mashing profiles and doing a “Partial Mash”, but it always comes up with too much sparge water and would over-rinse the grains? In a perfect world I’d like to solve for the heat loss due to the 68 degree grains and hit the 154 “step”steep target.

QUESTION 2 – extract brewing – Water

I’ve gone by the rule of shooting for a final batch size of 5.5 gals so I have a true bottling/kegging vol of 5.0 gals – I figure if I’m brewing for a 5 gallon keg, I want a 5 gallon keg :) This assumes: a full boil, 15% evaporation, 2 qt trub loss, and some grain absorption during the steep. BS2 seems to solve for this, but in playing with it, when I add or subtract 9 pounds of LME, the pre-boil volume doesn’t seem to change? Is there an adjustment I need to do to account for the LME volume and reduce the pre-boil water?

QUESTION 3 – extract brewing – additional steps

I’d like to print off the Brew Sheet and have a nice sequential checklist to follow. For example, I usually soak my Irish Moss before putting it in. Is there a way to add additional sequential steps other than the notes?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!
 
Hi,
  1 - Start with a simple single infusion mash profile and modify the water to grain ratio for the first step (though one gallon per pound of grain is a lot of water - 1.25-1.5 quarts per pound is more typical).  BeerSmith will adjust the sparge water amount to meet your target boil volume automatically.  If you want to override that you would need to add top-up-water into the kettle to lower the amount of sparge water needed or adjust your boil volume.

  2- The pre-boil volume is calculated backwards from the batch volume - basically it is the batch volume plus all of the losses before that like trub loss, boil off, shrinkage, etc... that is why it won't change for a given amount of grain added.  Currently it does not account for the LME volume (though I probably need to add that in for a future update).

  3 - Currently you can't modify the brew sheet unless you create a custom report template.  There are a number of threads here (including one stickied) that describe creating custom reports.

Brad
 
Thanks Brad, this is great information!

I knew it was user error.

Thanks again,

Mike
 
Sorry, one more clarification.

I just read the article Steeping Grains for Extract Beer Brewing and it states, "the grains are added to 1.5 or 2 gallons of plain water before the extracts are added."

I've also read in other places o use 1.25-1.5 quarts per pound as Brad also recommends.

Any suggestions on the best water to grain ratio?

Thanks!

 
BigMikeT34 said:
Sorry, one more clarification.

I just read the article Steeping Grains for Extract Beer Brewing and it states, "the grains are added to 1.5 or 2 gallons of plain water before the extracts are added."

I've also read in other places o use 1.25-1.5 quarts per pound as Brad also recommends.

Any suggestions on the best water to grain ratio?

Thanks!

Should be 1.25-1.5 QUARTS to lb of grain
 
BeerSmith said:
  2- The pre-boil volume is calculated backwards from the batch volume - basically it is the batch volume plus all of the losses before that like trub loss, boil off, shrinkage, etc... that is why it won't change for a given amount of grain added.  Currently it does not account for the LME volume (though I probably need to add that in for a future update).

Yes, yes, 1000 times, yes. I forgot to account for this on my last batch and ended up fairly far off the mark as I had waaaaaay too much water. It seems a fairly simple calculation for the software to perform. I'd very much appreciate this added. Of course, I'll probably have moved on the all-grain as soon as you do. ;)

Thanks for an awesome tool, Brad.
 
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