Percentage conversion

If I have a recipe that is only in percentage, how do I convert to know how many pounds of each grain?
Beersmith has a 'Grain Pct' but you need to add the grain first but when you add the grain, don't you need to know how much to add?
I feel very dumb, even dumber than normal.

Start by guessing at the rough amounts of each grain you think will get you the expected gravity, being sure to keep the correct percentages. Then scale the amounts of each grain up or down proportionally until you get your OG.

afr0byte said:

Start by guessing at the rough amounts of each grain you think will get you the expected gravity, being sure to keep the correct percentages. Then scale the amounts of each grain up or down proportionally until you get your OG.

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Yep. That's how I scale on my spreadsheet/recipe-formulator thing. Takes some manipulating but you'll get it.

There's also the option of solving the equation with the Excel solver. E.g. for a 95% 2-row and 5% crystal 60 batch, 6 gallons, 1.050 OG (50 gravity points per gallon). 6*50 = .95(37*.8*x)+.05(34*.8*y) ... where .8 (80%) is your efficiency, x=lbs 2-row, y=lbs c60.

EDIT: It's probably easier to split it into this, though: .95*300 = 37*.8*x and .05*300 = 74*.8*y....so x ~= 9.6 and y ~= .55

Here's the percentages:
84% 2 row
4% each of 4 different specialty grains
OG 1.061, FG 1.015
This is for 5 gallons.

So, how's this look
10.75 lbs 2 row
3/4 lb of each of the 4 specialty grains. That's just about 1.064 so a little high but close.
This would be done BIAB.

Thanks for all the info.

That'll probably work as intended, I'd imagine.

Beer-lord said:

If I have a recipe that is only in percentage, how do I convert to know how many pounds of each grain?
Beersmith has a 'Grain Pct' but you need to add the grain first but when you add the grain, don't you need to know how much to add?
I feel very dumb, even dumber than normal.

Click to expand...

In beersmith: open a new recipe with your brew system, and efficiency. Add grain percentages as pounds. Example 84% 2 row becomes 84 pounds, 3.5% is 3.5 pounds, etc. Do this with all the percentages. Don't worry about the gravity till your done entering all grains. NOW go up to the adjust gravity tab and enter your desired OG. This will adjust your grain bill. It really is easy and it is why I prefer recipes in percentages.

It's odd but using Beersmith 2, Brewmate and Brewtarget I get a good deal of varying amounts to make it to 1.061. From 1.059 to 1.071. I still feel like an idiot for having troubling understanding this.

Her is another method to try from the beersmith video.

http://beersmith.com/building-a-recipe-using-grain-percentages/

Thanks, that's the one I started with. It states 1.062 so I'm going with that one. It's just another learning experience for me. Been brewing a long time and kept bypassing any recipes with percentages which is just dumb.

Beer-lord said:

Thanks, that's the one I started with. It states 1.062 so I'm going with that one. It's just another learning experience for me. Been brewing a long time and kept bypassing any recipes with percentages which is just dumb.

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Your welcome, it's funny because I convert all recipes to percent first. I might have different efficiency than the recipe and I do 11 gallon batches.