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Water additions -- possibly a dumb question but ??

mr_beer

Grandmaster Brewer
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I rely on BS for its ability to accurately predict items like grain absorption and water volume. That reliance seems to be well placed based on my observation and use.

BIAB profile selected (large pot essentially) for a particular recipe.

Add water action selected
“Match a Target Profile” selected

Various salt/other additions are suggested.

What puzzles me is that there are essentially two additions for each item and one is labeled mash and the other is labeled sparge.

Since this is BIAB my understanding is that there essentially is no sparge with the possible exception of bag squeezing at the end of the mash operation.

My question is do I add together the additions suggested since mash and sparge are the same operations or do I ignore the sparge additions suggested in the add water operation?
 
The first thing to check is that your mash profile is indeed checked off as 'BIAB Mash with Full Boil'. Having run BIAB mashes, I have never had the water agent recommendations show with a sparge addition when using a BIAB profile.

If the mash profile does have the check box filled for a BIAB mash, then export the recipe as a .bsmx file and post it so that we can take a look at what is happening and make specific recommendations, corrections, or figure out the bug causing the water agents to be split.
 
The mash profile looks OK -- I must be doing or have done something wrong here.

The recipe is attached.
 

Attachments

  • MashQuestion01.bsmx
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My observation is that we all expect software to have any changes 'flow through' the system automatically. Think about EXCEL -- change a value the rest of the worksheet changes accordingly.

It seems that sometimes when I change something ion BS it does not automatically update the recipe -- old values remain and have to be deleted and then redone. Could this be one of those cases?
 
Each recipe is an archive within itself by design. If it wasn't all of your recipes would be impacted by changes you make in profiles. Not a good thing if you decide to rebrew a beer you really liked. While the recipe would appear to be the same ingredient wise, the process would be different so the beer would be too.

If you checked the BIAB box in the mash profile after finishing the water profile, it could well be what you're running into here. If this is the case, it's an easy fix. Delete the water additions and then recalculate them.
 
Yup -- that worked but I do not understand the "archive within itself by design"

Could you provide some reference or explanation?
 
Yup -- that worked but I do not understand the "archive within itself by design"

Could you provide some reference or explanation?
Beersmith saves recipes in their original form and doesn't change them when you make changes in various program settings. Archive = historic record. By design = purposely.
 
I sort of understood that part. How do I see the 'original' or archive recipe?

Is there a way to save a 'changed' recipe as a new original or archive?
 
The original recipe will be wherever you saved it, by default it will be in the "my recipes" folder. I added folders for different styles to "my recipes" and save to them.
If you change a recipe, it will replace the original. If you want to save both, use the "save" and then the "save as" buttons and rename the new one when prompted before making changes. You can just change the version# or give it a different name.
 
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On the original question your water addition needs will change as you change the recipe. For example, adding some grain means more water in the mash and more water salts needed. I don't "auto update" your salt additions as many brewers prefer to control that (otherwise they would constantly change).

So my best advice is to complete building the recipe first. Then as the last step before brewing make your water adjustments on the water profile tab and finally do your mash pH adjustments.
 
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