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Batch Size Vs. Actual Batch Size

Hebby5

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Jul 23, 2011
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Hey everyone,

I notice that on the main page of Beersmith that you have a open field for your Batch size.  I typically brew 5 Gallon batches.  I do keep track of my different hydrometer readings and the efficiency calculations that Beersmith does for you.  If you click the button for Brewhouse efficiency and look at the popup and specifically the area called "Efficiency into the fermenter".  There also lists an area for "Actual Batch Volume".  So, I like to fill up my fermenter to about 5.5 Gallons as I know that I will have some losses to the trub & yeast cake that forms. 

My question is that should I enter on the main screen 5.5 G or 5G. 

Thoughts?

Chris
 
Having only brewed 3 All-grain batches with BeerSmith, I certainly don't have the solution: maybe another way to rephrase the issue.  I would like to start with a profile default entry that states  "I want 'x gallons' or 'Y 12 oz bottles' until stated otherwise. I have been very LUCKY with my gravity measurements, but my last two batches have yielded 42, then 60 12 oz bottles. Is there something in Beersmith2 that I am failing to enter. All the jargon with "estimated", "measured", and "actual" is somewhat confusing. Maybe I need Beersmith for Dummies.
 
Oh, there is a March Equipment post by Pat that explains it. Bottling volume minus fermentation loss entries.
 
I think the main Batch Volume field is the driver for most calculations, so that is the target for the day.  After the brew, you use the 'actual' fields to enter what really happened, and then adjust your estimates again for the next brew. 

I personally don't think BeerSmith is meant to figure out too many weird scenarios, but instead is designed to take our best assumptions as a snapshot and it then estimates the next brew outcome. 

And then we adjust the inputs, and recalibrate until we're close enough that we're getting the beer we want each time. 

The difference of 18 bottles (216 ounces?) is one-third of a five-gallon batch, so clearly something very different occurred.  Assuming you caught that difference, you'd enter that into BSmith and BSmith would then give better estimates the next time.  Think of it as a moving average, until you reach such a point that the variance is not important. 
 
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