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BeerSmith2 'Equipment Profile' set-up for new all-grainers.

just an aside here..

as a beginner I had trouble finding a cheap pot.

64 qt spigot and cover <$200.00

look here -> http://www.provantage.com/bayou-classic-1064~7BAYC001.htm
 
Just to jump this a bit... Did Sig ever get his 'push-button config' completed? I'd like to see if I actually got mine correct as compared to his...

Mouse
 
Pat said:

The good news is that if you have read and really studied the above rather than skimmed through it, you will be well on the road to driving BeerSmith2 safely and letting it take you places that 'skimmers' will never reach or only reach by a possibly painful accident :argh:.
I'm happy to answer questions in this thread as long as I am sure you haven't skimmed ;).
Cheers,
Pat
​
Click to expand...


Awesome post Pat! Thanks a lott!
R, Slurk​
 
Just a note:
I posted a new video on setting up an equipment profile today - it might help:
  http://beersmith.com/video

Working also on bringing all of the other videos up to date.

Brad
 
Thanks so much Pat!  I just did my first all-grain batch yesterday using a recipe on BeerSmith 2, not to mention trying to learn how to use the latter at the same time.  I love the relative ease of use of the app, but the equations are what I need to get more confidence. 

Cheers!

Barr
 
I advice all friends here : Doing all these measurements gives you practice at taking readings and will make you realise faster that variances between readings and single brews are not uncommon.
 
Just found this, very helpful!  I always wondered why my target readings were always under...
 
It's a shame BS don't point you to this post in there equipment wizard when you first open BS for the first time. It would help new comers understand what they should be entering, answering there questions. I've been on BS for two weeks before I found this post. Nice work you guys.
 
Nice work.  Will dedicate the focus this deserves later when not at work :)
Started using BeerSmith a couple of months ago for BIAB and just completed first 20l Braumeister brew on weekend so loving this sort of thing!  Thanks again.
 
Great post, but confused about one aspect:

In the post you defined mash efficiency as  'efficiency into boiler' and total efficiency as 'efficiency into fermenter.'  Then you gave the following equation:

BeerSmith2 'Brewhouse Efficiency' = 'Mash Efficiency'-('Loss to Trub and Chiller'/('Loss to Trub and Chiller'+'Batch Volume')*'Mash Efficiency')

My question is where does boil off and cooling shrinkage come in?  It does not appear to be accounted for.

I am looking into this because my total efficiency is close to right, but by mash efficiency seems to be a bit low every time.

Thanks,
Scott
 
The brewhouse efficiency looks like it is tied to the mash number you enter. On the other hand if you entered brewhouse efficiency to figure out mash efficiency, then perhaps it could be off. It looks like it uses %4 loss for boil-off which may or may not match your system.
 
Ok, here is a weird one.  I have a recipe that came out where the Measured Mash Efficiency is 85.4% (from the Mash tab) and the Measured Efficiency (from the Design tab) is 94.7%,  How does that happen?
 
ScottVoak said:
My question is where does boil off and cooling shrinkage come in?  It does not appear to be accounted for.
Click to expand...

Efficiency is about sugar content, not water. As boil off occurs, there is a corresponding rise in gravity because sugar isn't lost. Shrinkage isn't concentrating sugars, evaporation is.

Your Brewhouse (total) efficiency is the percentage of total available sugar (locked in the grain) that makes it to the fermenter. If you put your brewhouse efficiency at 90%, you're saying that with mash efficiency and all accumulated losses, 90% of the total available sugar gets into the fermenter.

As you increase your loss to trub in the equipment profile, you'll see a corresponding rise or fall in mash efficiency. The predicted gravity won't change because BeerSmith is using Brewhouse efficiency to predict it. So, with more loss, the total available sugar can only come from an increase in mash efficiency.
 
Oops, my bad. I thought you were referencing the OP's attached spreadsheet formulas for converting mash eff to Tot Eff. If BrewFun hasn't made things clear, you can export a recipe file and post it here to take a look.
 
I think I get the idea for the efficiency calculations, but the attached recipe shows a brew house efficiency higher than the mash efficiency. I know I just have something input wrong, but I can't find it.
 

Attachments

  • Southern Brown.bsmx
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Your looking at Tot Efficiency %78? That number doesn't ever change unless you change your equipment profile or something. Honestly I have ignored it up until just now. I think it estimates your mash eff or something.

In this particular recipe your mash eff was %87.1 and the Measured Efficiency was %81.3 which seems reasonable no?



In the Selectable Fields on the Design tab, make certain Mash Eff and Measured Efficiency are shown if we are not in agreement.
 
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