Calculating optimal mash water additions

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Bearcat Brewmeister

Pour, Drink, Pee, Repeat
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I just finished work on a free Excel tool that assists in finding mash water additions to create water that is optimal for the style of beer you want to make. I posted it with a small explanation in the software forum (Link) and am cross posting here to let everyone know about it. I am looking to get constructive feedback to improve the tool, so any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
 
Nice work! Now I won't have to print out any more of Palmer's sheets and grab the pen and ruler.

EDIT: I have one suggestion. Add the Ca, Na, Cl, HCO3, etc. after each of corresponding names.
 
Hey your macro's in this spreadsheet are not signed. My PC security system flagged this as a security risk. Can you correct this?

Other than this it looks good. I wasn't able to run any macros though...

From Help:

About macro security
About security levels and what they mean

The following information summarizes how macro virus protection works under each setting on the Security Level tab in the Security dialog box (Tools menu, Macro submenu) under different conditions. Under all settings, if antivirus software that works with Microsoft Office XP is installed and the file contains macros, the file is scanned for known viruses before it is opened.

High

Unsigned macros
Macros are automatically disabled, and the file is opened.

Signed macros

The source of the macro and the status of the signature determine how signed macros are handled.

A trusted source. Signature is valid.

Macros are automatically enabled, and the file is opened.

An unknown author. Signature is valid.

A dialog box is displayed with information about the certificate. Macros can be enabled only if the user chooses to trust the author and certification authority. A network administrator can lock the list of trusted sources and prevent the user from adding the developer to the list and enabling the macros.

Any author. Signature is invalid, possibly because of a virus.

User is warned of a possible virus. Macros are automatically disabled.

Any author. Signature validation is not possible because public key is missing or incompatible encryption methods were used.

User is warned that signature validation is not possible. Macros are automatically disabled.

Any author. The signature was made after the certificate had expired or had been revoked.

User is warned that the signature has expired or been revoked. Macros are automatically disabled.​
Medium

Unsigned macros
User is prompted to enable or disable macros.

Signed macros

The source of the macro and the status of the signature determine how signed macros are handled.

A trusted source. Signature is valid.

Macros are automatically enabled, and the file is opened.

An unknown author. Signature is valid.

A dialog box is displayed with information about the certificate. The user is prompted to enable or disable macros. The user can choose to trust the developer and certification authority.

Any author. Signature is invalid, possibly because of a virus.

User is warned of a possible virus. Macros are automatically disabled.

Any author. Signature validation is not possible because public key is missing or incompatible encryption methods were used.

User is warned that signature validation is not possible. User is prompted to enable or disable macros.

Any author. The signature was made after the certificate had expired or had been revoked.

User is warned that the signature has expired or been revoked. User is prompted to enable or disable macros.​
Low

When security it set to low, all macros are treated equally regardless of origin or certificate status. With low security, you receive no prompt or signature validation and macros are automatically enabled. Use this setting only if you are certain that all macros in your files are from trusted sources.
About digital signatures

Microsoft Office XP uses Microsoft Authenticode technology to enable you to digitally sign a file or a macro project. The certificate used to create this signature confirms that the macro or document originated from the signer, and the signature confirms that it has not been altered. When you set the macro security level, you can run macros based on whether they are digitally signed by a developer on your list of trusted sources.

After you have installed your digital certificate, you can sign files and macro projects.​

Signing macros

You should sign macros only after your solution has been tested and is ready for distribution, because whenever code in a signed macro project is modified in any way, its digital signature is removed. However, if you have the proper digital certificate on your computer, the macro project will automatically be re-signed when saved. If you want to prevent users of your solution from accidentally modifying your macro project and invalidating your signature, lock the macro project before signing it. Your digital signature says only that you guarantee that this project is safe. It does not prove that you wrote the project. So locking your macro project doesn't prevent another user from replacing the digital signature with another signature. Corporate administrators might re-sign templates and add-ins so that they can control exactly what users may run on their computers.

If you create an add-in that adds code to a macro project, your code should determine if the project is digitally signed and notify the user of the consequences of modifying a signed project before continuing.​

Where to get certificates
 
Schlenkerla said:
Hey your macro's in this spreadsheet are not signed. My PC security system flagged this as a security risk. Can you correct this?

Other than this it looks good. I wasn't able to run any macros though...


Where to get certificates


Certificates are what the creator gets (not the user) by sending documentation to a certificate issuing authority and they verify that the code is not malicious (fee involved I assume - I have never gotten one before and I have written over 100 macros for work and personal use). I did not submit for a certificate since I am still testing and since this is a free tool, I may not do it anyway. I can send you the code in an email or a PM if you want to see it or have someone look over it to see if it is trust worthy. If you trust my code is not a virus, you can run the file by changing your security level. You have your security set to "High" most likely, which blocks unsigned macros. I usually set mine to Medium, which gives me the option to enable or disable macros, based on whether I trust the author or not. My employer (global Fortune 100 company) sets theirs to low by default and lets their antivirus programs catch any bugs (I think this is foolish, but not my problem - I override and set to medium).
 
I'll probably lower the setting so I can open it. I tried to find where to do this, but not too hard. I was starting up my brew session and was burning time online.

Thanks for the reply and sharing. It does look cool and simple to use.
 
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