Track Iterations of Same Recipe

[jmd71]

I think it would be very helpful to be able to track separate iterations of the same recipe brewed multiple times in a simple way - maybe as subfolders of the original recipe?  I like to be able to track subtle changes to the original recipe, the different readings from each brew day, separate results & tasting notes, etc. all based off the same recipe.  However, short of copying the recipe & adding a date to the name or something, there is no real clean way to track each separate brew day without overwriting the previous readings, results, etc.

Any chance of this being incorporated?  I am thinking of keeping an handwritten log book because I can't track separate brew days of the same recipe cleanly...

[grathan]

I'm thinking the same thing. Beersmith is a mess.


I've lost all of my digital recipes last year, but a folder of handwritten brew notes from over 12 years ago still sits in my filing cabinet.


What about printing the recipe every time you brew it and storing that in a folder?

[jmd71]

Good point - you could print physically & to PDF to store online.  Just would be nice if it was incorporated smoothly into the user interface.  I currently just override the previous batches values & now really don't have any history.

[grathan]

Do you really want all your efforts stored in a .bsmx? What if they decide to stop making beersmith compatible with future oS, then all your work is lost anyways.

[atjsparty]

I agree this functionality would be beneficial.
I save every version I brew with the brew date (or at least month/year).  I.e. IPA - January 2013, vs the IPA - October 2012 I brewed.  Having a structured way to do this would be much easier.  There's the "Version" option on the Recipe screen, would be good if that actually saved a different file with each different version selected.

[jomebrew]

Why don't you just copy the recipe and add the date brewer or version number to the name?  Beersmith will probably not do it in a way perfect for everyone.  Copying the recipe allows you to have different version, brew date and modified notes and maybe ingredients and process too.  You are free to make your own folder and place copies in that folder.

For archival, I export to HTML and put it on my web site and also put a text copy on my Google Drive.  Both also make it east for sharing.

[Beer_Tigger]

I copy & rename by adding my brew number to the front i.e. "017 Mocha Porter".  Then I move it to a "Brewed" folder.  My recipe version sometimes contain ingredient substitutions as well, so this keeps them from "polluting" the original one.

[grathan]

Know what would be useful? Not having to click on 7 different tabs to see what makes a recipe different version to version. I mean like on the recipe screen that would have like a "summary" tab that just puts everything right there, mash temp, ingredients, ferm temps, notes, etc.. I don't wanna open 5 recipe versions with 7 tabs each to find the differences in the versions.

[Toy4Rick]

I just copy and paste for a new recipe, edit as I wish.  I leave the brew date at 1/1/2012 until I brew then update it.  This way I can sort by brew date and see all my brewing in order

I don't use the versioning as the brew date does what I need

Toy4Rick

[grathan]

I have been thinking about this lately. What about giving each recipe it's own folder? Then having the iterations shown by date in the file-name inside of the folder. These can still be sub-folders of other categories.

[ccbristo]

Could BeerSmith separate recipes from brew days?

I am thinking keep recipe design pretty much as it is, but when you have finalize a recipe, you generate a brew day. The brew day would create a snapshot of the recipe as it is designed, including the ingredients, equipment, water volumes, etc... The brew day would also be responsible for keeping track of the brew date, which recipe it was attached to, and tasting/brewing notes, and seems like it might be a logical place for things like timers.  You would then be free to go back and edit the original recipe and generate new brew days from it if you wanted to make adjustments. This would also create the possibility of comparing one brew day to another.  You could compare ingredients, mash temperatures, gravities, notes, whatever, as long as they were part of the brew day.

[kedro38]

Not sure if you are using this or not but I would suggest using the Brew Log.... I believe this will give you the functionality you are looking for. 

Using the Brew Log will allow every note, variation, change, etc. for that specific batch to be recorded separately for any other batch or recipe.  When you are going to start a batch just hit the "Copy to Log" button on the Home ribbon and make any notations or change to the Brew Log file.  When I like a change made I just update the original recipe copied to the log and update the version.