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smitty8202

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Curious as to how people keep track of their brews. I know there is a lot of software or internet sites to keep track of your recipes or brews but i am interested to see old fashioned pen and paper. Post pics if you got em cause everyone likes pics.
 
Sorry no pen and paper here. Too easy to lose. I use the beer alchemy app on my iPhone as it holds ingredients, recipes, each iteration of the recipes and the small differences between each batch. If I was going to paper and pen style is probably get a Brewers logbook from basic brewing radio.
 
I'm a scientist by profession so I'm used to keeping pen and paper lab notebook. So here is a page from my beer lab notebook.

QLldu8Xl.jpg
 
I'm a scientist by profession so I'm used to keeping pen and paper lab notebook. So here is a page from my beer lab notebook.

QLldu8Xl.jpg

recipes in BeerSmith.
Notes from brewday on pen and paper, then snap a photo and enter in Evernote.

Evernote has a whole bunch of additional information - like periodic gravity measurements during fermentation, taste notes, recipe ideas etc.

I like electronic records that are accessible anywhere. But on brew day, hard to beat pen and paper for quick records. (Plus taking quick photos with my phone for future records/comparison)

Scannable Document 8 on Mar 31, 2016, 10_48_17.jpg


screenshot.png
 
Recipes in Brewer's Friend app, and a leather-bound journal for brewday, fermentation, packaging, and tasting notes.
 
I print out my Beersmith recipe and Brew steps, I then write any notes on the last page. I keep them in a loose leaf binder. I am up to 2 of them so far. Doing #90 right now - a red wheat.

I do a similar thing. I create my recipes in Beersmith, print it out on brew day and write notes on the print out while brewing. I keep it attached to a clipboard so it doesn't blow away, but also I have it hanging near my fermenters after brew day. When I am down in the basements where my fermenters are and I am taking a gravity sample or something, I add to the notes. Once I have kegged the beer, I then file the paperwork into a binder. I also try to find time to type my notes into my brew log for each recipe in Beersmith, so this way I have them both electronically and hard copy. My IT days have taught me to have multiple backups.

I some times will even scan my recipe print out/notes and save them in Evernote. Although, I may move over to MS OneNote since I have a 365 subscription and EverNote is only limiting me to two devices and so much data each month... The jury is still out on this one.
 
is this self made or from a website or other source?

That was just a PDF of an Excel sheet.

I do most of my recipie design in Beer Tools, but never set up equipment profiles in it. I also couldn't find a good way for adjusting hops for AA without changing the recipe base in BT and a couple other issues with the program.

I'm prone to missing steps/additions (missed mashing out ~5 times before I made the checklist) while distracted so the checklist helps and sometimes I have a friend or two run most of a brew and they require the step by step directions. I had a process P&ID for others to use that matched the steps on the checklist, although I've made some changes to reduce the DO and they are not reflected on the P&ID currently

View attachment Bad Decisions Brew Hot Side Process P&ID.pdf

View attachment Bad Decisions Three Deep Belgian Triple A-1 08-16-16.pdf
 
I print out my Beersmith recipe and Brew steps, I then write any notes on the last page. I keep them in a loose leaf binder. I am up to 2 of them so far. Doing #90 right now - a red wheat.

Yep, this.

I was keeping an excel file, but I find the binder method more appealing.
I still use the excel file for my ciders...
 
I used to print out the recipe...until it got wet once. Now I use a dry erase board hanging on the wall. I write out the dough in temp and water volume, and the hop additions before brew day. During the brew, I write the actual measured numbers, and then transfer those numbers back to beersmith after brew day.
 
Here's the inside.

Yep, I use something very similar....I use an "At-A-Glance" day planner. Picked it up at Amazon for about 14 bucks. Plenty of room to write notes AND you simply put your brew-day on the date in the planner. You can always look back for references.
 
My wife bought me this for my birthday last year. I think it's from Uncommon Goods. I really love it.

Ooh, just got this in the mail this past weekend. I like it so far. Easier to write in than the Basic Brewing logbook, although it's not as detailed.
 
I simply do a running thread here, adding new posts as I go through the concept, the recipe, the brew, the fermenting etc...right through the tasting and development as I work my way through the batch...noting anything noteworthy etc.

My notes aren't detailed down to the microgram, millisecond or DNA sequence, but they don't need to be, in my opinion; I'm brewing beer, bot building the Mars Rover.
 
I used to print out the recipe...until it got wet once. Now I use a dry erase board hanging on the wall. I write out the dough in temp and water volume, and the hop additions before brew day. During the brew, I write the actual measured numbers, and then transfer those numbers back to beersmith after brew day.
Same. I write the vitals - gravity, efficiency, dates on a white board I keep near the fermentation chamber in conjunction with Brewer's Friend to keep a proper log of the brews as a whole.
 
I use a combination of MS OneNote, Excel, and Beersmith. OneNote serves as the "notebook" where everything gets stored and organized. I keep different tabs for various styles, and then individual pages for each brew day.

On the brew day pages I insert a screenshot of the recipe from Beersmith, an excel file that contains the brew log, as well as a copy of the Bru N Water calculations and any other notes or photos I want to save.

The brew log is a multi-tab excel sheet that has tabs for the brew day, fermentation info, bottling day info, tasting notes, and then a "quick glance" summary of the overall process. So, it's a living document that gets added to right until the last beer from a batch gets consumed.

Onenote syncs to the cloud automatically (no file->save operations ever required), and I can pull up all of the same info using the app on my iPhone, including opening the embedded Excel spreadsheets. I don't know what I'd do without all of this, it's so handy. Attached pics show a page from the OneNote book on PC, the same page shown on the phone app, and a portion of the brew day tab of the brew log.

onenote pc.JPG


onenote phone.PNG


excel log.JPG
 
I do a similar thing. I create my recipes in Beersmith, print it out on brew day and write notes on the print out while brewing. I keep it attached to a clipboard so it doesn't blow away, but also I have it hanging near my fermenters after brew day. When I am down in the basements where my fermenters are and I am taking a gravity sample or something, I add to the notes. Once I have kegged the beer, I then file the paperwork into a binder. I also try to find time to type my notes into my brew log for each recipe in Beersmith, so this way I have them both electronically and hard copy. My IT days have taught me to have multiple backups.

I some times will even scan my recipe print out/notes and save them in Evernote. Although, I may move over to MS OneNote since I have a 365 subscription and EverNote is only limiting me to two devices and so much data each month... The jury is still out on this one.

This is exactly what I do except I use Brewer's Friend. Just print my recipe and take notes on that copy. So far I have just stored them on my clip board. Brewer's friend also includes a beer log that I input data to from my printout. Each brew gets a unique reference number that I can review to see my numbers for any past batch I've done.

image.jpg
 
BeerSmith for recipes. Then I create a duplicate of the recipe and fill in brewday, assistant brewer etc and then use the print out on brewday, Take notes about brew day on the bottom/margins/back. Then during down periods I enter them into their fields or the notes section (track 1st/2nd runnings/Pre-boil gravity so i know if i need to add some time to my boil before I start my hops schedule if I'm a bit light) typically will enter all that info during the boil and then once I've pitched the yeast I move it to the Log folder w/in BeerSmith. I keep basic notes on the fermenters (recipe/date/yeast/OG/target FG/target temp) via chalkboard labels on my bucket lids.
 
I use a combination of MS OneNote, Excel, and Beersmith. OneNote serves as the "notebook" where everything gets stored and organized. I keep different tabs for various styles, and then individual pages for each brew day.

On the brew day pages I insert a screenshot of the recipe from Beersmith, an excel file that contains the brew log, as well as a copy of the Bru N Water calculations and any other notes or photos I want to save.

The brew log is a multi-tab excel sheet that has tabs for the brew day, fermentation info, bottling day info, tasting notes, and then a "quick glance" summary of the overall process. So, it's a living document that gets added to right until the last beer from a batch gets consumed.

Onenote syncs to the cloud automatically (no file->save operations ever required), and I can pull up all of the same info using the app on my iPhone, including opening the embedded Excel spreadsheets. I don't know what I'd do without all of this, it's so handy. Attached pics show a page from the OneNote book on PC, the same page shown on the phone app, and a portion of the brew day tab of the brew log.

I need to figure out the One Note thing,,,,
 
I use a combination of MS OneNote, Excel, and Beersmith. OneNote serves as the "notebook" where everything gets stored and organized. I keep different tabs for various styles, and then individual pages for each brew day.

On the brew day pages I insert a screenshot of the recipe from Beersmith, an excel file that contains the brew log, as well as a copy of the Bru N Water calculations and any other notes or photos I want to save.

The brew log is a multi-tab excel sheet that has tabs for the brew day, fermentation info, bottling day info, tasting notes, and then a "quick glance" summary of the overall process. So, it's a living document that gets added to right until the last beer from a batch gets consumed.

Onenote syncs to the cloud automatically (no file->save operations ever required), and I can pull up all of the same info using the app on my iPhone, including opening the embedded Excel spreadsheets. I don't know what I'd do without all of this, it's so handy. Attached pics show a page from the OneNote book on PC, the same page shown on the phone app, and a portion of the brew day tab of the brew log.

I like this better than the way I've been tracking my renaming recipes with revision numbers... may need to start doing this.
 
I need to figure out the One Note thing,,,,

I like this better than the way I've been tracking my renaming recipes with revision numbers... may need to start doing this.

Just FYI--if you want to dip your toes in to OneNote but don't have a license for the full OneNote software (part of Microsoft Office suite), you can sign up for a Microsoft account and use the web based version. If you have Windows 10, there is also an "app" version available for free in the store. iOS and Android also have free apps.

The app versions are great for reading material and doing basic edits, but they do not have some of the more advanced features of the full version.

Another more basic task for which OneNote is useful is maintaining a shopping list for your brewing. I keep a tab in that notebook for that. Anytime I run out of something or think of something I need (spigots, DME, caps, etc.) I add it to the shopping list. Doesn't matter whether I use my work laptop, my tablet, my phone, my home PC, my Uncle Steve's PC, whatever. As long as there is an internet connection, there will be a way to get to my notebook and write down whatever I want, which automatically syncs to all devices, so the next time I'm on the road and at the homebrew store, the list will be accessible using my phone.
 
I made a simple spreadsheet to balance out the grain/hops and use that as a log. I can change a recipe and re-balance so I don't end up with un-needed grains. This summer schedule is mostly wheat based for 2 week grain to glass. More hops equals more aging.

 
I use a spreadsheet I got from beer and BBQ by Larry on YouTube. Dude is an engineer and his spreadsheet is amazing. Calculates absolutely everything plus he has a tutorial for it on youtube
 
I have a binder that I need to organize. Maybe tonight... My plan is to have tabs for different brews. Right now it is a mess of things binded, other things in side pockets and loose paper of varying sizes. Most everything is dated. For brewday I have a template that stays the same besides ingredients, mash temp, etc.

I probably should make a spreadsheet and inventory everything.
 
I use the brew log sheets that I originally created with the intentions of have a bound book created, until I saw the price.

I just print them and put them n a binder now.

Dropbox link is in my sig if anyone wants to use them.
 
I use a spreadsheet I got from beer and BBQ by Larry on YouTube. Dude is an engineer and his spreadsheet is amazing. Calculates absolutely everything plus he has a tutorial for it on youtube

Thanks. I have an updated version due to be released this week along with a YouTube video update.
 
I use Brewers Friend to create the recipes, but I keep a running log using Open Office word. I type a heck of a lot better than I write (yes I do make some long-winded posts here) and I think better typing than writing. I started out using the memo app on my galaxy tablet but there's a word limit...so now it's the laptop. I keep it in the garage anyway because that's where my mama chair is with my tunes and only steps away from the kegerator.
 
Not strictly what the OP was looking for, but I just keep everything in Brewsmith. If I do a recipe more than once I just cut and paste a copy of it. I keep all the recipes in chronological order.
 
I started with Beer Tools, now I'm transitioning to beersmith. I print recipes from both. I have a brew day log that I made up. Section for starter, and then the steps with gravity readings, ph, amount of water for strike and Sparge. Then I also have a fermentation log. My recipes are stored on Dropbox as a native Beertools file and also as a PDF that I can access anywhere.

I like Beersmith for the ease of access with Beersmith app on ipad or phone.

So each brewday has about 3 pages.

It's fun to look back on the history of your own brewing.
 
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