more beersmith ?'s

i just started using beersmith. started a rye pale on dec 19th and its telling me i should bottle jan 2ed. i had intended on letting it sit in the primary for a full 30 days.

so i guess my question is, is this normal for beersmith? i cant seem to edit the bottling date or final date.

i hate learning new software. this one seems pretty simple for the most part tho.

You probably selected a normal/default fermentation profile (or didn't make any selection at all). You can go into those settings and tweak it as needed.

Personally, I mostly ignore that aspect. I know when I brewed a batch and then let it go until I get around to kegging it (after it finishes). I usually put in the notes when I kegged it and such.

yeah..thats it. thanks alot.

Yeah I am actually not a huge fan of the way fermentation profiles are handled in Beersmith 2. It is a pain in the butt, and it doesn't put the appropriate information on the recipe sheet anymore. It just says crap like "ale, two stage" and you have to dig into the actual fermentation profile to see what you did for an old recipe.


Also, the calendar in Beersmith has always been, and continues to be, useless IMO. I find that it is easier to add stuff to my google calendar to track what I want to do and when.

Check this link out it will show you how to change the fermentation times for primary secondary bottles and kegs.

weirdboy said:

Yeah I am actually not a huge fan of the way fermentation profiles are handled in Beersmith 2. It is a pain in the butt, and it doesn't put the appropriate information on the recipe sheet anymore. It just says crap like "ale, two stage" and you have to dig into the actual fermentation profile to see what you did for an old recipe.


Also, the calendar in Beersmith has always been, and continues to be, useless IMO. I find that it is easier to add stuff to my google calendar to track what I want to do and when.

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You can make your own fermentation profiles and just use those. I've done that, but I also don't follow them to the letter. IMO, it's pretty much pointless to have the info on the brew-day sheet. Most of the time that gets wet, stuff written on it (then entered into the recipe on the computer) and then tossed out.

Check this link out it will show you how to change the fermentation times for primary secondary bottles and kegs. Here's the link.

http://beersmith.com/fermentation-profiles-in-beersmith-2/

If u go into fermentation profile an click on a profile. Then copy and paste it and then change the name to whatever u want that profile to be. Then u can go into that profile and change the times temps and anything else in the profiles.

The problem I have is that I cannot do individual fermentation stages on each beer separately and show the number of days on the particular recipe review. The diagram shows the 30 day mark but not the actual number of days for each step.

I have another Beersmith question.

If you are doing a recipe that calls for a First Wort Hop, how do you calculate that into Beersmith? I see they have an option of first wort hop but it calculates it as a 60 minute boil. Wouldn't the hops lose some acid during the mashing process?

histo320 said:

I have another Beersmith question.

If you are doing a recipe that calls for a First Wort Hop, how do you calculate that into Beersmith? I see they have an option of first wort hop but it calculates it as a 60 minute boil. Wouldn't the hops lose some acid during the mashing process?

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Well, not if you're using First Wort hop. I mean, you put the hops in the wort, not the mash, and boil for 60 minutes. They still will provide IBUs.

Are you maybe thinking of mash hops?

I meant to say adding to the wort, not mash. My mistake.

I saw a recipe for for Zombiedust that called for a First Wart Hop and the IBU was only about 18.1 with Citra. I put it in on Beersmith and it gave me a ridiculous IBU which would be way to bitter for any human to drink.

I just put in .75 oz of Citra at 60, I figure that would basically be the same as a first wort hop.

histo320 said:

I meant to say adding to the wort, not mash. My mistake.

I saw a recipe for for Zombiedust that called for a First Wart Hop and the IBU was only about 18.1 with Citra. I put it in on Beersmith and it gave me a ridiculous IBU which would be way to bitter for any human to drink.

I just put in .75 oz of Citra at 60, I figure that would basically be the same as a first wort hop.

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No, FWH goes into the wort during the first runnings and "steeps" until the wort is brought to a boil. It still gives the IBUs of the longer boil, but since the hops steep before the boil in the hot (150-170 degree) wort, it gives a smoother bitterness and not harsh. Some people calculate the IBUs of FWH as a 20 minute addition, but I feel that it still provides a typical amount of bitterness but in a less harsh way.

Adding hops at 60 minutes does provide bitterness, but it's not the same at all as FWH.

Try it yourself! Make one batch with tradition 60 minute hops and one with appropriate FWH. Then see if you like the differences.

histo320 said:

I saw a recipe for for Zombiedust that called for a First Wart Hop and the IBU was only about 18.1 with Citra. I put it in on Beersmith and it gave me a ridiculous IBU which would be way to bitter for any human to drink.

Click to expand...

Hmmm, not sure... is that possible??

Don't know about Beersmith 2, but on 1.4 under tools/options/bitterness you can plug in an adjustment for FWH. It is preset to +10%, meaning it will multiply the FWH weight by 1.1 for the IBU calculations. FWIW Promash has a similar entry, but it defaults to -10%.

-a.