Beersmith strike temp calculation

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smizak

smizak

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Do any of you guys have any trouble with the calculation of strike water temps in Beersmith? They are drastically different from different online calculators, and I question their accuracy. I normally add my strike water overly hot and stir till it reachs my desired strike temp, thus conditioning the tun. Beersmith doesn't seem to have a way to calculate the temp in this fashion, as I'm not pre-heating the tun to any specific temperature.

Thanx in advance
 
I find beersmith is low on strike temp calculations. There are inputs for mash tun specific heat and weight. Tweaking those may get it closer to reality.
 
I use beersmith and hit my target to the degree every time. Here's how...

1) Deactivate the checkbox that says "Adjust Temp for equipment"

2) Make a note of the first description [in the mash profile] that says something like "Add x.xx quarts of water at yyy.y F"

3) Heat the necessary amount of water to well above yyy.y (like 20 degrees or so) and put it in your mashtun.

4) Stir the water and let it sit until it comes down to yyy.y temperature.

5) Dough-In

The starting temperature of your grain before dough-in can also affect the resulting temp. If it's outside of 60-70 F use the strike/infusion calculator to do the calculations and update the step with the resulting values.
 
JVD_X said:
I use beersmith and hit my target to the degree every time. Here's how...

1) Deactivate the checkbox that says "Adjust Temp for equipment"

2) Make a note of the first description [in the mash profile] that says something like "Add x.xx quarts of water at yyy.y F"

3) Heat the necessary amount of water to well above yyy.y (like 20 degrees or so) and put it in your mashtun.

4) Stir the water and let it sit until it comes down to yyy.y temperature.

5) Dough-In

The starting temperature of your grain before dough-in can also affect the resulting temp. If it's outside of 60-70 F use the strike/infusion calculator to do the calculations and update the step with the resulting values.
Click to expand...
If you edit your mash profiles you can set your grain temperature.
 
Beersmith has been spot on for me. You have to make sure you have entered your equipment info and all the mash info in correctly.

I don't pre-heat my tun and it hits the temp. right on. However, because the tun was not pre-heated, I do see a drop in temp. over the 1st 15-20 min. and have to compensate with hot water some.
 
I use the method of heating the strike water to unadjusted target temp + 15, letting it sit in the tun for a few minutes, then let it cool down and dough in.
 
JVD_X said:
I use beersmith and hit my target to the degree every time. Here's how...

1) Deactivate the checkbox that says "Adjust Temp for equipment"

2) Make a note of the first description [in the mash profile] that says something like "Add x.xx quarts of water at yyy.y F"

3) Heat the necessary amount of water to well above yyy.y (like 20 degrees or so) and put it in your mashtun.

4) Stir the water and let it sit until it comes down to yyy.y temperature.

5) Dough-In

The starting temperature of your grain before dough-in can also affect the resulting temp. If it's outside of 60-70 F use the strike/infusion calculator to do the calculations and update the step with the resulting values.
Click to expand...

That sounds right, but the strike temp is still 3 degrees lower on average than other calculators. That's significant. Hmm...
 
I preheat my tun with 180* water until my strike water is up to temp (about 20 minutes). Then in BS I set my tun temp to 100* and the grain to what ever it really is.
This gives me the right temp every time.
 
I heat my strike water to around 175 and put it in the MLT. When it cools down to about 2 degrees warmer than Beersmith calls for then I put in the grain. This usually hits my temp just about right.
 
+1 on the heat & wait method. That was from an experience like yours - I used the BS temp (adjusted for equip) on a 10gal cooler. Never hit the mash temp after dough in.
 
Amiaji said:
I heat my strike water to around 175 and put it in the MLT. When it cools down to about 2 degrees warmer than Beersmith calls for then I put in the grain. This usually hits my temp just about right.
Click to expand...

I will do the same next time. Trusted the Beersmith number this weekend, under shot my mash temp by two degrees. Grrrghh.......
 
JVD_X said:
I use beersmith and hit my target to the degree every time. Here's how...

1) Deactivate the checkbox that says "Adjust Temp for equipment"

2) Make a note of the first description [in the mash profile] that says something like "Add x.xx quarts of water at yyy.y F"

3) Heat the necessary amount of water to well above yyy.y (like 20 degrees or so) and put it in your mashtun.

4) Stir the water and let it sit until it comes down to yyy.y temperature.

5) Dough-In

The starting temperature of your grain before dough-in can also affect the resulting temp. If it's outside of 60-70 F use the strike/infusion calculator to do the calculations and update the step with the resulting values.
Click to expand...


+1. The most reliable method I have found so far.

Another equally reliable way to reliably hit strike temps is to pre-heat the tun with hot water, drain it, and then add the strike water at +2 or 3 degrees, wait for it to cool to target, then dough in. In both cases, the key is to disable "Adjust Temp for Equipment".
 
Weird.

I did that and the temp it gave me was still lower than most other calculators(Green Bay Rackers, etc....), and my mash temp was still off. I think I may just overshoot next time and stir like a mother to try and get the temp down. My tun space is tight so I don't have much room to add ice or cold water, or hot water for that matter.

I don't know why I want the Beersmith calculator to work for me so bad, maybe because everything else about it is so dead on. I may just use another strike calculator, it worked before.
 

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