Setting Up Beer Smith

We're about to do our second AG, and I'm switching to Beer Smith at the same time, so I have some questions about setting it up.

We have keggles and a 70 qt MLT and use an immersion chiller.

On the equipment tab under "Mash Tun":

"Mash Tun Weight" I simply weighed the MLT (19lbs). Does that sound right?

"Mash Tun Material" is Plastic, and I left the "Specific Heat" at 0.300.

On the equipment tab under "Boiler":

I have "Calculate Boil Volume Automatically" checked and have a final volume of 10.25 gal (which I hope to yield two nicely filled 5 gal kegs after accounting for sediment and dry hop loss). "Lost to Boil Trub and Chiller" I set to 0.25 gal. Sound right?

On the Recipe View window under "Mash Profile" should I use "Adjust Temp for Equipment" or not? From the results it seems to me that I don't check this if I intend to pre-heat the MLT and I do check it if I'm not preheating. Since I think preheating will make things more repeatable, should I leave this unchecked?

Also, when I check and uncheck "Adjust Temp for Equipment" in "Mash Profile" why does the order of my hops in the "Ingredients" list box change? Is there some way to force it to show the hops in order of time in boil, for example?

Once I have a Measured OG, is there a way to get Beer Smith to tell me what my efficiency was so I can keep track of it and set it for future recipes?

Any other tips, tricks and pitfalls regarding this software you want to throw my way would be great.

I really like the "Brew Sheet" it produces. Seems like that will be very helpful.

Moonpile said:

1. "Mash Tun Weight" I simply weighed the MLT (19lbs). Does that sound right?

2. "Mash Tun Material" is Plastic, and I left the "Specific Heat" at 0.300.

On the equipment tab under "Boiler":

3. I have "Calculate Boil Volume Automatically" checked and have a final volume of 10.25 gal (which I hope to yield two nicely filled 5 gal kegs after accounting for sediment and dry hop loss). "Lost to Boil Trub and Chiller" I set to 0.25 gal. Sound right?

4. On the Recipe View window under "Mash Profile" should I use "Adjust Temp for Equipment" or not? From the results it seems to me that I don't check this if I intend to pre-heat the MLT and I do check it if I'm not preheating. Since I think preheating will make things more repeatable, should I leave this unchecked?

5. Also, when I check and uncheck "Adjust Temp for Equipment" in "Mash Profile" why does the order of my hops in the "Ingredients" list box change? Is there some way to force it to show the hops in order of time in boil, for example?

6. Once I have a Measured OG, is there a way to get Beer Smith to tell me what my efficiency was so I can keep track of it and set it for future recipes?

I really like the "Brew Sheet" it produces. Seems like that will be very helpful.

Click to expand...

Lets see...
1. Yes - It should be a good starting point
2. Yes - another good start. If your strike temps come in low, adjust this up a bit and if they come in high adjust it down a bit.
3. Sounds OK as long as the losses are accurate. 1/4 gal loss to trub sounds a little on the low side to me.
4. You should check this unless you have pre-heated your mash tun to a temp near your strike temp
5. The hops are ordered by IBU contribution. If you want a better ordering, just go to the brewsheet and you will see all ingredients listed by the time they are added.
6. Click on the "Brewhouse Efficiency" button within any open recipe. This will give you a tool where you can input measurements from your actual session to get your actual efficiency. Make sure you measure volumes as well as the gravities.

We have lots more stuff available on the support page:
http://www.beersmith.com/support.htm

Cheers!
Brad