Brewing Spreadsheet

New member, long time lurker.

I use a Mac so I was never able to use ProMash or any other brewing software. Over the past year or two I've developed and refined this Excel Spreadsheet to do all my brewing calculations and recipe formulations. I thought I'd share it and see what everyone thinks. If enough people like it I could make some walkthroughs that demonstrate how to use it (I know from experience how difficult it can be to figure out someone else's spreadsheet).

Note: There are macros in the spreadsheet so don't be alarmed by Excel's macro warning. There are three macros, they just reset all the data in the spreadsheet and print the beer summary pages. If you don't like them, just select "Disable Macros" when it opens. I also included an OpenOffice version of the spreadsheet for those who don't have Excel. The macros in the OpenOffice version don't work, I don't know why.

Open office can be downloaded for free from here: http://www.openoffice.org/


Downloads are free, just scroll down and select the "File Factory basic service"

Matt's Brew Builder - Excel version:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/a0177a9/n/Brew_Builder_3_excel_xls

Matt's Brew Builder - OpenOffice version:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/a18g8f4/n/Brew_Builder_3_OpenOffice_ods


Feedback is appreciated, let me know what you think of it. I can make directions, improve the spreadsheet, or add new features if enough people like it. At worst, it's a free alternative to brewing software (maybe).

oops, should have put this in "Brewing Software". Sorry.

OK, some quick minor feedback from a geek that lives by spreadsheets. FWIW I used open office to test because I was using my Mac when I came across your post.

In your formulas, anywhere you have a value referenced on other lines it should be a named range so that lines can be added/inserted/deleted without compromising the spreadsheet's other calculations. For instance I used a big belgian as a test recipe to see what it would do and there weren't enough grain lines to handle the bill. Adding lines was a mess because the calcs include direct references to cells so I had to correct all the formulas after autofill.

On the Mash tab the bottom formula says volume in quarts but delivers the answer in gallons.

It would be nice if the brew builder would scale when you change the custom volume in the scaling tab so you could scale water to go with your scaled recipe.

Most thorough of the spreadsheets I have seen though - good work!

I'll have to figure out how to do that cell reference thing. I didn't even know Excel could do that, but that would solve the fixed number of grains. I should also do that with the grain data so that anyone could add grains/adjuncts to the list.

I just noticed the step mashing typo. whoops!

I have tried to figure out a way to make the recipe scaling automatically change the recipe but have not yet succeeded.

I'm almost embarrassed at how sloppy it is but I've only learned Excel by playing around with it since I was 13, no formal training.

Thanks for the feedback :rockin:

Cell reference is easy - highlight the cell and type over the cell reference (B5) with your reference name (VOL) and hit enter. You can then use VOL in place of B5 in formulas. You can also use the same to reference a whole range of values by highlighting them and doing the same thing...

I wouldn't call it sloppy at all - everyone needs a fresh eye to look at things sometimes...

Anyone still have this? Looks like the link is broken. Thanks

I would like to have a copy as well

Dead link