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Use of BeerSmith 3 when just batch recipe known

msnyder5160

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Will BeerSmith 3 software allow me to take what I know for a beer recipe, enter that in the software and the software tell me my various mash temps, strike, target and finish temps, water profile, etc?
 
You have to select your own mash profile. Strike and mash temps are included in that profile. The water profile also must be set and selected by the user. So no, just inputting a new recipe will not automatically select those variables for you.
 
You can certainly start with what you know. Batch size, ingredients, target gravity, color and IBU are hopefully part of that. You can also start with an equipment profile that's close to your own.

From there, you can select mash and fermentation profiles that match what the recipe is trying to create. BeerSmith will fill in the mash temperature and show the fermentation schedule.

From there, it's your option to go with it or make changes according to your situation. Honing your equipment profile is one of the first priorities for accuracy. There are a lot of moving parts in BeerSmith. So, the more you know about your equipment and fermentation, the more reliable BeerSmith's predictions will be.

Water profiles are a lot more advanced. You didn't say what your experience level is, but water is nearly its own specialty. BeerSmith has a lot of water profiles in it and a way to calculate mineral additions to achieve them. Or you can be quite specific.
 
I guess this app isn't for me then.  I am a novice, have done 5 EM batches - all good, but would like to move up to BIAB all-grain.  I have the grains needed for an American Pale Ale, but it doesn't go into mash temperature (strike temp, mash temp) or how long to mash.  I do have the hop schedule.  At this point, I am not going to worry about the water profile, save that for a later date.  Any help with figuring out a mash profile is greatly appreciated.
 
There is no app or spreadsheet out there that will tell you how to mash your grains.  This is very process and recipe specific to get the results that you want. 

If you are looking to brew an APA, then look at the guidelines for that style.  This will give you an idea of the starting and finishing gravity ranges to shoot for.  Customize your equipment profile to match your set up, enter in your ingredients to match your recipe.  Now set the style for APA. If the OG is high or low, you can click on the slider for OG and set it to where you want it to be and the program will adjust the grains accordingly. You can select from the different mash profiles (or create your own) seeing the effect each has on your OG and FG.  Stick with the one that seems to match what you want.   

Since this is your first all-grain, don't sweat getting the numbers right on and concentrate on taking the measurements to fill out the blanks on the 'session' tab.  The program will calculate your actual efficiency in the end and you can update your equipment profile with the actual numbers for losses, boil off, and efficiency for the next brew.

Likewise, the FG is a function of the yeast strain, grain bill, mash temperature, fermentation temperatures so don't sweat that much either.  You will eventually learn what mash temperatures will get you the ending gravity you want for a given grain bill and yeast strain and can adjust those parameters to get the software to better predict your results.

 
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