Record And History Keeping Methods-Or Lack Of

Haven't seen this specifically addressed before anywhere, figured AG would be the best place to put it, to get the widest response.

I figure this may help some of us try to get better organized, as we all want to keep good records, but as it's a secondary type of task, it probably doesn't get the attention it deserves.

How do you keep track of brew info, such as exact ingredients used, temps and times, pre-, post- and final G's, flavors, smells, incidents, remedies, etc.?

As in do you just use a spiral wound notepad, legal pads, odd pieces of cardboard or envelopes torn and flattened, ink on the back of your hand, odd scraps of paper laying all about but then dutifully transfered into Word documents and saved in a 'Brewing Files' folder in Windows like a monk 'wing it' and commit it to memory, read the stains on your clothes, ..............just how do you manage to keep accurate, complete, ORGANIZED info, that can accessed easily and quickly later on?

Many of us have pretty detailed spreadsheets that we keep track of pertinent data. A fairly recent thread had a link to all of them.

EDIT: Not sure if this is THE one I was looking for or not...but it has some good links in it.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=18294

I use Recipator. After I input all the data I view it then copy it into a WORD.DOC. The format copies well and is adjustable/tweakable.

When I enter data later on the format also grows to accommodate all input.

I have a spiral notebook that I use on brew day, but I also keep track of details (not as many as I should) in BeerSmith.

The guy who has the SYSTEM down is Kai; he's like plotting out his temperature (and I think PH) over the course of the mash... all kinds of details (in German, of course ).

I want to sit down with Palmer, Daniels, and all the other resouces and try and develop my own spreadsheet. I've seen the ones that people have put together, but I know that just going through the process of building the spreadsheet myself will help tremendously in how well I understand where the numbers are coming from. But, that's a project for a rainy Saturday, which today is not.

Previously I kept track of everything on in a word template. But since I switched to Beer Smith, I just keep the laptop out there when I brew and enter my notes into there. It tracks a lot of things, and then I enter the rest manually. I can't imagine needing to track more than this.

Here's an example with the notes at the bottom. I was keeping track of times to see exactly how long things take me. In this case 3.5 hrs + ~ 30 mins cleanup.

AHS Blue Moon
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 3/30/2007
Style: Bavarian Weizen (Weissbier) Brewer: Clint Sparkman
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 6.13 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 % Equipment: BREWTREE- 5 Gallon recipe
Actual Efficiency: 71.4 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
5 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.0 %
3 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 30.0 %
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
1 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
0.50 oz Cascade [6.90%] (45 min) Hops 10.6 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [6.90%] (10 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
5.00 gm Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
5.00 gm Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
10.00 gm Coriander Seed (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast-Wheat

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.051 SG (1.040-1.056 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.012 SG (1.010-1.014 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Color: 3.6 SRM (2.0-9.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 14.8 IBU (10.0-20.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 0.7 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.1 % (4.3-5.6 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 5.5 %
Actual Calories: 229 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Double Infusion, Medium Body Mash Tun Weight: 32.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 10.00 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 3.18 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Protein Rest Add 2.50 gal of water at 131.1 F 122.0 F 30 min
Saccrification Add 1.75 gal of water at 208.0 F 154.0 F 30 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 2 min 168.0 F 10 min


Mash Notes
Double step infusion - for medium body beers requiring a protein rest. Used primarily in beers high in unmodified grains or adjuncts.
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.4-2.8 vols)
Estimated Pressure: 11.2 PSI Kegging Temperature: 40.0 F
Pressure Used: Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F


Notes
9:00 started
added 3 ml lactic acid + 1/2 Tbs 5.2 buffer to strike water
9:25 mashed-in, hit temp
9:50 added infusion (1.75 gal boiling). temp too low (145'), direct heated to 152'
10:40 started 1st sparge. drained + 2 batch sparges w/ 2 gals ea.
added 5 ml lactic acid + 1/2 Tbs 5.2 to sparge water.
11:15 - 1st hop addition; 11:45 - spices; 11:50 - 2nd hop
12:00 start cooling

I use BeerSmith for the recipe, and I make a few remarks in the notes section.

My "brew mentor" (old retired guy) uses a typed recipe and hand-written notes.

I have been using Promash

Born Brewing Co. said:

I have been using Promash

Click to expand...

I am just starting, but from everything I have been reading seems its pretty important to have a good system or database to keep track. I purchased ProMash as it covers all calculations and you can input all your recipes and save them. Its quite an extensive program.....and is fairly cheap to purchase.