Carbonation tool not intuitive

[Veldy]

I have been brewing for more than 25 years, but I haven't bottled a beer in over a decade.  I just decided to do so.  I opened up the carbonation tool and used 2.5 ounces of dextrose.  Well, looking at my recipe later I see it calls for 5 ounces.  Imagine my disappointment that my entire batch will be under carbonated. 

So, the 40 degree default means what?  Serving temp is all that's useful, so I'm rather confused by the keg or bottle storage temperature.  If for some reason it is supposed to be the conditioning temp then 40 degrees is a terrible default (all but the heartiest of lager yeasts are dormant at 40 degrees).

Please advise.  I think this tool could use an update.

 

[Oginme]

Answered the reason this makes sense on HBT. 

As for the 40F being the default, that is around temperature that a lot of people cold crash their carboys.  As with most of the stock profiles and tools on BeerSmith, they are there to give you a starting point to design your own.  As the user, it is up to you to alter them to fit your system.  Once you have moved the beer temperature to your bottling temp, the program will retain your set value the next time you open up the tool. 

As for not being intuitive, where is the number supposed to come from?  This is a stand alone tool within BeerSmith and not tied to any specific recipe.  Unfortunately, software has not (yet) advanced to the level of reading minds <g>.

 

[Veldy]

The amount of sugar needed to create 2.4 volumes of CO2 doesn't vary with temperature per se.  CO2 takes up almost the identical volume at 70degF as it does 40degF.  In fact, the cooler it is, the more CO2 you need to to accomplish a given volume.  So if the temp is intended to be used for priming sugar calculations at all (I don't believe it is...just for keg PSI calculations), it should increase the amount of sugar as temperature decreases.

 

[Oginme]

You are looking at a gas law and applying it to a DISSOLVED gas in a fluid. 

Henry's law describes the effect of concentration relating to partial pressure of the gas and concentration dissolved in a fluid as a function of temperature.

In terms of the tool giving a result for both kegging and bottling, both techniques work off the same principles.  This is why when you see a chart for carbonation using sugar, it is a function of the beer temperature AT THE TIME OF BOTTLING.  Any tool that does not give you a temperature input for the uncarbonated beer is just simplifying the equation. 

Really, if you think that the carbonation tool does not apply to you, then find another one.  The tool in BS has worked very well for me.  Maybe science works differently where you are.

I do want to thank you though, I has been too many years since I've done work with gas/liquid relationships and partial pressures and this has allowed me to brush the dust off of many of my ChemE books. 

 

[Veldy]

I think the tool should be made more user friendly.  Place radio buttons on the form that say "Bottle/Keg Condition" and "Force Carbonation".  Only use relevant controls and labels for the specific calculation.  There is no need for this hybrid screen.