Priceless BiabCalc

MaxStout said:

Just did an "in hindsight" check of your calculator. A couple weeks ago I brewed an 11 gallon batch of Vienna lager, with a 21lb grain bill. No sparge, 3oz hops, 60 min boil, 20g BK (18" dia.). No kettle trub--I pour it all in. I had 1 gallon of fermenter trub. I used 1.625 g/hr. boiloff that I had previously determined empirically. I shot for 11g in the fermenters and 10g packaged. I hit it. Your calc results called for 14.4 gallons water at 68F. I had used 14.25.

Pretty damn close!

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Sounds good. In my experience, fermentation trub is roughly 9.1% of the volume into the fermenter, so 11G would end up as 10 packaged. How do you handle the wort absorption by the grains? Squeeze it vs let it drain naturally?

pricelessbrewing said:

Sounds good. In my experience, fermentation trub is roughly 9.1% of the volume into the fermenter, so 11G would end up as 10 packaged. How do you handle the wort absorption by the grains? Squeeze it vs let it drain naturally?

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I hoisted it up after the mash and let it "drip-dry" while I brought the kettle to a boil. I squeezed it gently, but not very aggressively. I've found the by the time the boil starts, squeezing only yields a few more ounces, so I don't bother with it much.

Downloaded as ODS so it will be compatible with some of my home computers that don't have M$ office. I tried running it on Excel at work as an ODS file and it doesn't work.

I downloaded an Excel version to try and it was fine. I'm sure the ODS version will work fine on Open Office, but I just wanted to warn that Excel doesn't handle this kind of ODS file properly.

Guess I need to update the original post.

I've moved away from the excel file, the latest versions are up on my blog at pricelessbrewing.Github.io/BiabCalc

pricelessbrewing said:

Guess I need to update the original post.

I've moved away from the excel file, the latest versions are up on my blog at pricelessbrewing.Github.io/BiabCalc

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That would be nice.

I'd still like a downloadable version to take on my laptop when I don't' have internet. This will probably work most of the time though.

I'm checking it out and I'll let you know what I think soon!

Works nice. I'd prefer to have a print button that outputs a report page to print that is more condensed. I think everything should fit nicely on a single sheet. The web page printout does get it done though, albeit on two pages (3 if I don't suppress the first page when printing.)

Yeah that's on the to do list. Let me know if you have any other feedback Homer.

Currently its: us some check boxes to combine the different calculators us/metric, full volume/mash thickness, biab/mashtun,
reorganize
Make an android app
Add a print feature
Add user saved settings via saved cookies. This will make your defaults the equipment defaults so you should just have to change the grain/hop/mash temp

In the meanwhile you could screens hot then print the cropped image that contains just the info you want.

I do like both screens. The Input screen is just spaced out too much for printing. It works well for on the screen though. And I like the info on the General area and the Volumes and Height. Good stuff.

Cookies would be a really nice feature to have. I have a variety of kettles, though, so unless it saved all of them and I had a drop-down to pick from, I'd just have to remember my kettle dimensions. No big deal.

Mash Thickness is a nice option. I simply added/subtracted sparge water to get the mash thickness I wanted, but it would be nice to have that automated.

An android app would probably allow me to not even care about an Excel spreadsheet. I highly doubt I'd ever be figuring up a brew and not have cell coverage. I guess I could also set up a hotspot on my phone to get my laptop online too, I only need to get that set up.

It works pretty well on your phone too. I usually use it on my phone, just have to scroll a bit. Sometimes I'll take a screen shot of the results page so if my browser app crashes I don't have to enter it again.

Probably won't be able to do a drop down menu for kettles but maybe generate a userid that you could save and enter to fill in the info automatically.

Another tiny update, guess I never changed the # of figures for the gallon heights.

Switched from the js method toprecision, to toFixed, which is a little easier to deal with when you're switching from 1x.xx to x.xx as toprecision would handle these differently (which was why if your volume was above 10 gallons, it had 2 decimals but below 10 gallons it had 3 decimals).

tl;dr Now everything should have 2 deicmal places in the results section. Hopefully next weekend I'll be able to finally merge all the different types, 1 calculator for Imperial vs Metric, and incorporate a "mash tun" loss, as well as an infusion calculator for those people that want to do a step mash.

@Wilserbrewer

Gonna try BIAB in a keggle will this calculator work ? I used this calculator all through the winter with my 12.5 gallon and got to really rely on it---

You'll have to determine your numbers, and I know a lot of veggies parent straight walled cylinders so the height numbers might be off slightly. Otherwise I don't see why not.

Ya I was just running some #'s through the calculator I'll miss being able to just take a measurement--I'm gonna try using a keg this season it'll take a few boils to get use to--I cut the top off one the other day and waiting on a new valve--plan on Thursday or Friday boil--it'll be my first batch since back the first of May--

pricelessbrewing said:

You'll have to determine your numbers, and I know a lot of veggies parent straight walled cylinders so the height numbers might be off slightly. Otherwise I don't see why not.

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"keggles aren't" => "veggies parent"? I like your calculator Priceless, but I think I'll pass on your autocorrect.

Brew on

doug293cz said:

"keggles aren't" => "veggies parent"? I like your calculator Priceless, but I think I'll pass on your autocorrect.

Brew on

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correct. Dang phone.

Has anyone used the Priceless BIAB Calculator with this pot:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FTLY1K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I got this recently, and was going to try using the basket (along with a BIAB bag) but am not sure how to subtract the volume of the basket from the total volume of the pot when entering the info into the calculator. Any ideas?

Just enter the volume of the pot, however your effeciency will suffer from using the basket as the grains will not have as much room to spread out which will clump them up more and slow down the conversion rate.

Obviously if you use the basket, the mash volume height would not be accurate anymore unless you figured out the height between the bottom of the pot and the bottom of the basket.

Nice bit of work had added it to my collection of tools.

Long time update finally completed, formatting aside, still working on it...

Implimented u/Doug293cz wonderful batch sparge simulations that he sent me.

He did a great job! The calculator can know estimate your lauter and mash efficiencies based on the grain bill, your water volumes, and the sparge volume.

Currently uses an average grain potential of 36 points/lb/gal which is typical for most brews in my experience, however grain bills with significant adjuncts, or non-barley or a high percentage of specialty malts will vary. I've connected with Olan at brewunited.com and I'll be using his grain database to create a recipe formulation tool that hopefully will still be EASY to use, and as ACCURATE as possible.

IBU calculations will be coming, based on a modification of Tinseth that will account for some discrepencies that arrise due to large variances in wort gravity throughout the boil. This is particularly common in extended boil times (high abv brews), or large percentage boil off rates (small batches). :rockin:

The numbers listed for the lauter efficiency is what can be expected by a well done batch sparge, being sure to stir thoroughly to mix the sugars throughout the second runnings. If you're fly sparging, your numbers are likely going to be different, and if they're lower you're probably getting significant channeling and I would recommend saving yourself the time and doing a much quicker batch sparge.

Why does just moving kettle losses up and down effect brew house number's so much?

Any loss of wort, whether it's left in the grain, kettle, on the floor, whatever, reduces your efficiency. If you think the change in efficiency might be in error, post the actual numbers here (best would be a screen grab of the two cases), and the math nerds can do a sanity check on them.

Brew on

bcltoys said:

Why does just moving kettle losses up and down effect brew house number's so much?

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Because you are pouring that portion down the drain losing fermentables.

Losing 5-10% to the kettle will reduce brew house efficiency by that amount.

Another update released today, Details listed on my blog

pricelessbrewing said:

Another update released today, Details listed on my blog

Click to expand...

Nice update!

Small update (not worthy of a blog post) for you brewers here using Imperial units, but I update the mash calculator to support metric and Imperial units with hops as grams, which I've switched to using due to mostly increased precision.

Now that doesn't mean a ton for most users, unless you're using metric, but I learned a bit more about how radios work, and how to change the unit labels, which should help me implement another couple features I've been hoping to work on soon.

Small annoyance: The output variables don't get calculate anew immediately, they get changed when the input variables are changed by user input. Selecting different units changes the unit labels, but doesn't trigger a new calculation.

Goodbye metric version, hello all in one.

pricelessbrewing said:

Small update

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Thanks for the update Mark.
Two points if you don't mind,
1 - There are options of imperial, Metric and Imperial. There is no difference between imperial and Imperial, or at least I couldn't see any. Why then?
2 - I live in Metric world, but my recipes are mostly in I(i)mperial. Would it be asking for too much if I suggested a feature, like choosing I(i)mperial, filling in the form, then choosing Metric and voila, everything turns Metric? Now if I do so, everything that I filled in would be reset to defaults.

GQT said:

Thanks for the update Mark.
Two points if you don't mind,
1 - There are options of imperial, Metric and Imperial. There is no difference between imperial and Imperial, or at least I couldn't see any. Why then?
2 - I live in Metric world, but my recipes are mostly in I(i)mperial. Would it be asking for too much if I suggested a feature, like choosing I(i)mperial, filling in the form, then choosing Metric and voila, everything turns Metric? Now if I do so, everything that I filled in would be reset to defaults.

Click to expand...

1. The options as Imperial (the "i" is a typo), Metric, and Imperial (hops as grams). Might not be showing on mobile? What type of device did you view it on?

2.Good thinking, totally possible. Will need some thinking over, and some spare time again, maybe completed around the end of april?

pricelessbrewing said:

(hops as grams)

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Ooops, perhaps I just didn't look as deep as that.
Re: end of april - come on, I'm beginning a new brew in a couple of hours!!

Well have a good brew, in the mean while you'll have to convert the recipe by hand the old fashioned way!

GQT said:

Ooops, perhaps I just didn't look as deep as that.
Re: end of april - come on, I'm beginning a new brew in a couple of hours!!

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Alright so I figured out how to do it, and have gotten started. Might finish it up tomorrow.

Didn't take as long as expected. Remember to change an input variable after changing the units, otherwise the outputs will still be in the previous units. Adding a zero after a number counts as changing the input.

http://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/TestingL

Something weird is going on in the metric calculations and is giving a lauter efficiency 2.5-3% higher than it should be.

pricelessbrewing said:

Might finish it up tomorrow.

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Mark you're magic.
I found some mold on the walls in the brewery so instead of brewing I'm scrubbing and spraying chlorine. Will brew tmrw if still alive.
Might even be lucky to test a new calculator!

GL with the mold!

@pricelessbrewing - hi Mark, looks like you've been busy recently
The calculator looks like no change/update, or should I purge my cache and cookies and reload the page to see anything new?
Not sure maybe I did smth wrong, but the calculator suddenly suggested me 2L more water than I would normally use on such beer; I was prudent enough to keep it at hand but not mix it in, and right I was - I never had to use it and finished exactly at my target volume.
I played with the numbers next day and every time I was getting suggestions to use more water than the previous version would ask for.
Also, always wanted to ask, what is the difference between mash gravity and preboil gravity?
Not sure about the middle column calculations yet, didn't pay attention on a brew day but noticed that there were some values that would not get readjusted when I change my numbers.
Was I doing something wrong?

Utoh, that's not good.

there should be radios (click to check buttons), to choose your units, in the top left.

Would you be able to take a screenshot of the page, and I'll take a look. Might be an error in the inputs, or in the calculations.

The difference between input mash, and input preboil is negligible for a full volume mash, but if you're sparging there will be a difference.

pricelessbrewing said:

there should be radios (click to check buttons), to choose your units, in the top left.

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There are radios, but if I say enter the whole recipe in Imperial, and then choose a Metric radio, the recipe will not be recalculated, rather it will be reset to defaults.

Will make a screenshot when back home!

but what surprises me the most is that 2L extra water...

Re. sparging: I used to put aside some 4-5L of water and pour it through grain in suspended bag/basket at mashout. Did it because the previous version by default suggested this sort of sparging. Now it doesn't (minimum sparging volume is set to 0). However I still do it the way I used to.

Gotcha.

If you convert a recipe via the metric radio, you have to change one of the input variables in order to recalculate the output numbers on the right.

For example you could change the batch volume from "20.0" to "20.00".

I'm working on a way to make that happen automatically, but at the moment it's required.

As far as the 2L extra, I'm not sure. The numbers look to be calculating correctly, it's possible I have a wrong conversion somewhere or I missed converting something.

pricelessbrewing said:

"20.0" to "20.00"

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Yes but for example the recipe is 6 gallons; I input all values and have the entire form filled in in Imperial.
OK, then I choose Metric, and oooooops, it is all back to 20L and all other values are back to Metric defaults, already too late to change anything.
So I have to keep a calculator at hand, and manually convert g into l, f into c, and lb into kg, and fill it in anew.
Or, should I change the value before choosing Metric radio?

wooops looks like I didn't push the latest update when I fixed it locally.

Thanks for catching that!

Should be good now, I hope.

It may seem redundant, but one thing I have found myself wanting lately is a place to enter a recipe name. I do enter everything on BF, but I also print out each priceless calc that I input and a lot of my notes are scribbled on these pages and most often, then input into BF later that day (or the next) when more relaxed...just a thought

How about adding a place for entering the name of the beer you're brewing. I always like to print out the info I get from the biab calculator, but then I have to write the name of the beer on it to keep things straight. Not a big deal, but it would be nice.

Edit - I see the post before me suggested the same thing. I'm always a couple months behind...