Note taking question

I being a newer brewer I often read on this forum that people will refer to their notes on a particular recipe or brew day. Is there a common template or standardized way of taking notes when brewing, maybe a link or www site that has some good pointers. Now that I'm doing all grain and getting more advanced as the days go on I want to be able to refer to notes in a better approach. Thanks!

I have a small brewing notebook. Each batch gets a page, and on that page I'll write down the following info:

-Batch number (this later gets written in sharpie on the bottle cap)
-Date
-Style
-Yeast (strain, a few notes about starter, whether yeast was washed, etc.)
-Ingredients and amounts
-Mash data (grain temp, intended mash temp, strike temp, mash duration, water volumes, preboil volume and gravity)
-Boil duration
-Fermentation temperature
-Original gravity
-Final gravity
-ABV
-Dry hopping dates
-Bottling date
-Anything else I might want to remember later, such as, if problems arose, if I did something differently, or if it was my first time using new equipment.

I make tasting notes on the same page, and write things down like comments on how the beer's taste is developing over time.

I'm sure other people take notes on other things depending on their equipment and setup. It depends on what is most helpful for you!

I just print off the recipe from BeerSmith. Usually I just jot down pre-and post boil gravities, and those get added to the efficiency fields. However, if something gets screwed up, I'll type it up in the notes section of the recipe.

@ supermoth- thanks ill try to duplicate what you have done, looks like it might wort

@ mongrel- that's what I basically do now and wanted alttitle more direction but thanks

Mobeers said:

@ supermoth- thanks ill try to duplicate what you have done, looks like it might wort

Click to expand...

Nice typo!

Ive just been jotting notes on my recipe sheet from Norther Brewer, however when I start all grain, I planned on printing out the recipe from Beer Smith and then writing on them instead. Ive been laminating those recipe sheets after bottling and then putting them in a big binder i have with alot of different sheets of info from yeast starters, to keg pressures to IBU ratings for hops, BJCP ratings for beer styles, etc. I like having a binder with laminated sheets better then just a notepad as i can a bit messy when brewing.

Other then just jotting down notes, I think the next most important thing is keeping them all in the same place where u can easy look back to previous batches and notes in case u want to try something that worked before. Everything will be readily available at your fingertips, u don't have to worry about stepping away from a boiling kettle of wort or an autosiphon or anything like that.

Pratzie said:

Ive just been jotting notes on my recipe sheet from Norther Brewer, however when I start all grain, I planned on printing out the recipe from Beer Smith and then writing on them instead. Ive been laminating those recipe sheets after bottling and then putting them in a big binder i have with alot of different sheets of info from yeast starters, to keg pressures to IBU ratings for hops, BJCP ratings for beer styles, etc. I like having a binder with laminated sheets better then just a notepad as i can a bit messy when brewing.

Other then just jotting down notes, I think the next most important thing is keeping them all in the same place where u can easy look back to previous batches and notes in case u want to try something that worked before. Everything will be readily available at your fingertips, u don't have to worry about stepping away from a boiling kettle of wort or an autosiphon or anything like that.

Click to expand...

Pretty much word for word what I have and do.

@ supermoth- I planned that typo, lol. Not really but now that you pointed it out it works. My fingers are to big for the iPhone.

I print my brewsheet out from Beersmith, but I've also modified a spreadsheet brew log that has all of that information as well as more places to record gravities, temperatures, times, etc. If I remember to use it, it's basically a written diary of the brewing process for that particular batch. I can't remember whose template I took it from. There are several places online who offer brewing log sheets for download.

I usually have Beersmith open when I brew, I bring the laptop out to the garage with me. Can't wait for the android app, that'll make things a lot easier.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...12751&osCsid=e707baf9a30feb98bfa8be84397a8f69

These notepads are from AHS and have all the basic info needed. You can write detailed notes on the back.

If you get into the finer points of all-grain brewing, there are a few more things you might want to note to ensure consistency or to identify problems/processes you'd like to change.

This stuff includes:

Grain temp/strike temp
Strike volume/Mash thickness
Sparge volume
Mash steps/volumes/decoctions
Any water adjustments
Mash pH
Preboil volume/preboil gravity/
post-boil volume/gravity
etc etc etc

As far as I know, nobody makes a crazy notepad like that, but it would be cool to have all that data if you wanted to reproduce a batch. For just getting started, though, the posts above are really quite adequate and probably less intimidating for starting out.

Man, all this new stuff to contimate as I continue my all grain experience. I'm horrible with computers but someone with some skills should compile this info and make a program or template, shouldn't be to hard. There is one available from a LHBS online but I can't remember the link, it's on my home PC.

Mobeers said:

Man, all this new stuff to contimate as I continue my all grain experience. I'm horrible with computers but someone with some skills should compile this info and make a program or template, shouldn't be to hard. There is one available from a LHBS online but I can't remember the link, it's on my home PC.

Click to expand...

Beersmith will do everything you need it to, I highly recommend it.

I used beersmith sheets for the first 3-4 brews. now i just keep my little blue brew bible next to me. i write down basic recipe, hop addition times, mashing time and temps. tasting notes go in the beersmith recipe for the next time i brew so i can compare version 1.2 with 1.3, et cetera.