Mead versus Est ABV

[mr_beer]

I am puzzled.

Attached is a recipe "xxMead" which is Mr. Smith's recipe that I got from the cloud and fiddled with to localize it to my environment.

On the Design tap it shows an ABV of 15%.  I increased the Honey to 30 poiunds the Ext. ABV did not change.  Increased it to 40 pounds and the Est ABV did not change. 

The OG changes but nothing related to Est ABV.  If I increase the fermentation a lot I expect that the Est. ABV will change correspondingly. 

Am I using this tool improperly??

There must be something I am missing here.

[Oginme]

Yes,  what you are missing is that with the release of BS3 the program uses the maximum alcohol tolerance of the yeast as a cap to how much a given wort/must can ferment.  If you want to work around this limitation (which is published by the yeast manufacturers), then you can edit the yeast and increase the max alcohol tolerance for that yeast in the recipe.  your results, however, can only be validated by actual readings on your brew.

[mr_beer]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

Apparently the program was changed but it was not important to change the documentation.

The program is great with lots of capabilities.  It is a shame that the documentation is so sparce and often non-existent on many program options.

I would give the program an A- but give the documentation a D.

[dtapke]

What documentation would need to change? it seems the issue is that you're not familiar with the ingredients you chose. That yeast has an alcohol tolerance of 14%, therefore achieving an estimated ABV higher that 15% would be impossible. The program reflected that.

It sounds more like an issue of the user not understanding how fermentation works, the program cannot account for the user being unaware of what they're doing, and no documentation can account for that either. The program does not teach one how to brew, it expects that a user is competent and understands the dynamics of brewing...

[dtapke]

sorry my short temper there....

the issue is, if they upped fermentation to levels beyond what the yeast can handle then everyone would want to know why their beer/mead/cider fermentation stopped right? like, "i made this mead recipe for 25% alcohol, why did it only ferment to 15% ABV?"

so by limiting the recipe to the ability of the ingredients, he's effectively prevented this level of stupid, yet instead brought on a whole other level of problems with people saying "why can't i make a recipe that's 50% ABV?"

[mr_beer]

Thank you for you reply dtapke.  Since you are a BeerSmith Grandmaster Brewer I am sure you understand a lot about fermentation. 

I have commented repeatedly in my prior posts regarding the [lack of] good documentation.  The BS3 documentation is so bad that I started writing my own user manual ? it is on revision 19 at this time. 

My background is in software/hardware development that helped lead several companies to great growth.  So I believe I speak with the voice of experience.  My thesis is that all software starts out trying to solve a business/process problem.  Initially it is tailored to the "expert".  As the software becomes better, the documentation improves and more people start to use it who are not experts.  Eventually the software will embody the business/process characteristics to assist the novice in usage and understanding the problem space. 

If along the way the documentation and software fail to account for the change in the experience level of the user community, then the support burden will continue to grow, costs will spiral out of control and growth will be self-limited.

In my opinion, BS has the opportunity to essentially capture the market but absent good documentation growth will be limited.

[Oginme]

If you read the documentation on the version release, the limit on the %ABV based upon yeast tolerance is right there listed on the documented updates from BS2

[mr_beer]

I do not want to get into some type of back/forth contest. 

My point is that good documentation is essential to growth/usage of the software.

Reading the small print of what changed between releases is truly what the "experts" will do.  The general community will not read that info and in fact may not have it. 

Users want documentation that is complete and tells they how to use the product and what the various options are. 

Open up the BS3 Help menu.  Do a search for "Est ABV" and it has something to do with custom reports. 

[dtapke]

Seems there's lots of info when searching the forum, there's also info when searching for "alcohol"

given the vast differences from system to system, batch to batch, nobody could write all encompassing documentation to cover every aspect and variation. And as Oginme stated, its right there in the BS3 version documentation as well (yeast tolerance) Which just goes to show, even if you provide documentation, not everyone reads it.

I'm an Auto Mechanic by trade (15 years or so) do you know how many people ask us about things that are right there in their owners manual? You know, the one thats still in plastic wrap in their glove box?

[dtapke]

and AFAIK "grandmaster" status is just dependent on the number of posts in the forum. That said, i brew twice a month on a 1bbl system and have been brewing for 12 years, so yeah, I have a pretty decent grasp on brewing i guess. still an idiot though

[BOB357]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

Apparently the program was changed but it was not important to change the documentation.

The program is great with lots of capabilities.  It is a shame that the documentation is so sparce and often non-existent on many program options.

I would give the program an A- but give the documentation a D.

Would you complain any less if Beersmith predicted an ABV that was unattainable with a particular yeast? Nuff said.

[mr_beer]

To answer your question ...

I would expect that if there were any internal inconsistency regarding ingredients or profiles that BS would advise the user -- popup window text, red blinking text, something.  After all the program "knows" there is an issue and it should not be a guessing game to determine what it is.

It is obvious to me that the BS "defenders" and aficionados seem to be blind to product improvements that would be quite easy.  And that in turn leads to my thesis that as the market expands less skillful and knowledgeable users will need help with the underlying process.  That is how the market will expand and sales will grow.

As you said "Nuff said".  This thread probably should be closed

[dtapke]

I'm sure Brad would gladly take a donation of your time to write the hundreds of hours of code to make that happen. Or a donation of your time to provide better Documentation.

Or you know, take charge with that attitude! make yourself a better program! Take the lead in the market!

alas, its obvious to me that BS "haters" seem blind to what it takes to make particular changes to a program. And that in turn leads to my thesis that haters gonna hate, especially when all they have to do is feign knowledge behind a computer screen.

-sorry dude, i'm no "BS defender" but i've used a couple other programs and BS is the best by far.

Is it perfect? Nope.
Can i do better? Nope.
Can most people with a modicum of intelligence figure out what they need to figure out to make the program work properly? Yep.
If, God forbid, they cannot; do they generally get a very quick response on the forum dedicated to helping them figure it out? Yep.

[jomebrew]

Software is hard and pleasing everyone is rare. I've in the industry for over 30 years.

Anyway, checkout starting 2:35 into this video tutorial http://beersmith.com/creating-a-mead-recipe-in-beersmith-3/

[mr_beer]

Thank you for your link -- I have viewed it many times.  Everyone on this thread, with the exception of your comment, seems a shade snarky or defensive on the topic of improvement.

I have communicated with Mr. Smith on this topic and his responses to date have been non-committal.  It is his product, his company and his budget.  He understands where he wants to take the product and the audience it will serve.

Regarding software, development and refinement is not rocket science.  If fact with modern tools, it is not even very hard.  Like you, I have extensive experience, both as a developer and in a management capacity.  So I believe I speak with the voice of experience. 

Restating my prior post, my thesis is that all software starts out trying to solve a business/process problem.  Initially it is tailored to the "expert".  As the software becomes better, the documentation improves and more people start to use it who are not experts.  Eventually the software will embody the business/process characteristics to assist the novice in usage and understanding the problem space.

What is difficult is determining the objectives of the software itself, the target audience and of course the budget and time frame as the product evolves.  Those items interact and help explain how and why the various features are implemented.   

My evaluation is that at this point BS3 has great capability but expects the user to be an "expert" or close to it.  The transition for the future could be to change the product so it is more usable to the novice user and expand the market.  Trust me when I say that there are more novice users than "expert" users in any market space.