What do you use for a brewing log?

I've kept a journal of my brewing exploits to date, but I'm finding more and more that going back through it is a pain in the ass to duplicate something or recall information. Specifically, trying to find when something was mixed, when it was racked, when it was bottled, and when it was finished and tasted.

I think going to a one or two page brewing sheet per batch might be an easier way to do things rather than using the hard binded notebook i've got.

What do you guys use for logging your brews? I've seen some online where people give examples, but i dont think i've found anything that really fits what I want to gather. If I came up with enough data and people were interested, i'd consider having a few hundred of these printed into a hard bound book and splitting cost with anyone that might want to go in in with me to a printing company.

what kind of data do you gather, how do you lay it out, how do you store it long term?

I have a little notebook where all my brewing information is kept. I keep the dates of brewing, racking, bottling and tasting, the ingredients, times of additions, and particulars of the ingredients (%AA etc., this may not be applicable to ciders), info about the mash and sparge (volume, temperatures, times), the amount of wort collected, the mash efficiency, OG, SG at racking, FG, tasting notes at brewing, racking, bottling, and tasting, and the amount of beer I get into bottles.

Beersmith. My first brewing notebook, in which I took copious notes, disintegrated with time and the vapors of the hobby.

I've just been keeping a journal, of sorts, for each batch in a TextEdit File. Once a batch is done (All the way up until the last bottle is consumed) I just back it up in my archives. I've found that typing it is quicker than hand writing it. I can search my archives for keywords, (ie: brew) and then look at the title of each doc for reference.

I figure that if I ever lose my archives, I've got enough knowledge in my noodle to at least brew 'something' for a buzz.

James spencer has a nice one. It's called Brewers Logbook, he sells it at basic brewing radio.com I got one from him and use it every week. Made by brewers so it is just what you need

Beersmith, google docs and a document/file storage facility from my employers.

Google docs, after getting a refractometer I repurposed More Beer's excel spreadsheet.

I like being able to add, update, review and search from any web enabled device.

I tried my beersmith, my iphone notes, ical, excel spreadsheets, word doc, stickies, all failed me. The best solution I have to date is set up a blog on blogger.com. Very easy, free, and it is always accessible. Edit your posts when you have new notes, even take pics of the brews if you want. And you can show your buddies if they ever want to try one of your recipes.

Now, beersmith. Before? Spiral notebook and pen.

I've recently thrown together an excel spread sheet. I'm not sure if it can be uploaded or PMed, but I'll try to get it to you an you can see if you like it

One of these:
Composition book - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KevinM said:

Beersmith, google docs and a document/file storage facility from my employers.

Click to expand...

How the he'll is the beersmith log supposed to work? Does anyone know?

It look like a confusing pile of recipie copies to me but, I never really tried using it. I use hand written notes on BS2 process step sheet that I print out.
Got a wad of those and a hard copy of a brix conversion chart shoved into a spiral notebook.
I am expecting an Apocalyptic loss of info in my future.

RJS said:

James spencer has a nice one. It's called Brewers Logbook, he sells it at basic brewing radio.com

Click to expand...

I use the same. Playing around with Beer Alchemy now though, so that may be my future record.

I use my 'Book of Brew' that my wife made for me. It's just a 1 inch binder with dividers and loose leaf paper. When I have two projects running and the notes for one go past the page and crowd the other I just add paper. Far superior to the chaos that was a spiral notebook rife with blank 'buffer' pages, recipes and notes in 'parts' pages apart etc.

I have it on Google Docs, I've never tried linking through this before, so I hope it works!

Brew Log

You should be able to download it and use it if you click:
File -> Download Original

Let me know what you think. I have designed it to be filled in electronically, but it can also be easily printed as well.

Any ideas or advice on how to improve it are welcome. I have designed this for ciders, meads, and wines. I am not currently brewing any beer, but if I do some day, I'll most likely have to change it drastically.

I put together a Excel-based single page brew log page that gets printed up and filled out before/during after each batch. If follows along versions that can be found on this site (I believe I copied brewkaiser's). It goes into a 3-ring notebook.

My plan is to link this up with recipes I store in either BeerAlchemy or BeerTools Pro. The recipes have a batch record where I will reference the brew log and anything that was different about that particular batch.

broadbill said:

I put together a Excel-based single page brew log page that gets printed up and filled out before/during after each batch. If follows along versions that can be found on this site (I believe I copied brewkaiser's). It goes into a 3-ring notebook.

My plan is to link this up with recipes I store in either BeerAlchemy or BeerTools Pro. The recipes have a batch record where I will reference the brew log and anything that was different about that particular batch.

Click to expand...

can you link it? I'd like to see this, I might be able to get some ideas from it or see anything I am missing!

Thanks

My Brew Log is homemade. I type up each recipe and leave space to record dates and gravities:

cravej said:

My Brew Log is homemade. I type up each recipe and leave space to record dates and gravities:

Click to expand...

Cool, thanks! Maybe I should add a temperature field... I forgot about that!

I use an online version of Microsoft OneNote... essentially an online notebook. I make a section for each batch where I copy the recipe, and then make a page for notes on the brewing/fermentation process and a page for storage /tasting notes. All searchable. There is an iPhone ap so I can enter notes on the fly or access from any computer. "Evernote," at Remember Everything | Evernote Corporation, is similar and also free. The Microsoft version costs $15 / year but I use it for work, too.

Also you can share your notebook by adding email addresses and sending link to those with whom you want to share. Cool if you colaborate.

Microsoft Word.....'nuff said

cswest said:

Google docs, after getting a refractometer I repurposed More Beer's excel spreadsheet.

I like being able to add, update, review and search from any web enabled device.

Click to expand...

I changed the sharing settings on this one so others could view it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Ai5AgbHA5T4udGZhY01qYldFbVF5cGVIclJIeU5IaXc&hl=en_US

A program called Evernote. The nice thing about Evernote is that you can sync between your desktop, and 2 other devices (one of them is my Android smartphone). I copy the recipe I'm working with into Evernote, read it on my phone while I'm working, then go back and add notes to Evernote associated with that particular recipe.

Evernote. Awesome idea. I use it religiously on my phone and desktop. I don't know why I didn't think of it first...

Excel spreadsheet. Simple and customizeable. Add columns for whatever data you want to capture. Probably better, fancier tools available, but it works for me.