Beersmith driving me insane and makes me want to drink....Hopefully?

[nyrangers955]

I've only brewed a few all grain batches and found a recipe in a book I wanted to try. Unfortunatly, they dont give you alot of the mash info needed. Im trying to work with beersmith to get a more detailed recipe. Could you guys let me know if Im on the right track??
Beersmith is confusing if you havent worked with it alot and driving me crazy.....

Im really focused on the mash and making sure i have it entered correct and will end with the correct amount of water.

Pict is what Im using to input. beersmith info is below. Using a 10 gallon mash tun, want to fly sparge and boiling in a 10 gallon pot.

Recipe: American Barley Wine
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Barleywine
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.56 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.100 SG
Estimated Color: 12.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 68.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
22 lbs 1.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 95.9 %
14.1 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 3.8 %
1.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 3 0.3 %
2.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 64.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5 3.9 IBUs
3.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 6 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 23 lbs 0.1 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 28.76 qt of water at 164.8 F 153.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.90gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:

 

[kh54s10]

The first thing I note is that you want to fly sparge but you have Beersmith set for a 2 step batch sparge????

Check the numbers you want about 1.25 to 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain in your mash. You will then need enough water to fly sparge to get to your pre-boil volume.

I don't fly sparge because you also have to worry about the PH.

Make sure you have your equipment profile set so that you end up with the correct volumes. It took me several batches to fine tune the profile.

 

[evrose]

I can't help, but you're not alone regarding Beersmith. I find it highly overrated, and not particularly user friendly or intuitive. Blah.

 

[Dave37]

That info for your sparge seems very straight forward. Beersmith will actually be able to gauge very accurately (within +\- 1*)what you should heat your strike water to if you accurately input the data of your cooler MLT. Be sure to measure how much deadspace you have in your MLT and kettle as well and beersmith will also calculate your water volumes needed very accurately. The only problem ive had with beersmith is actually not even its fault. Ive just had problems getting a consistent amount of boil off. If you know how much liquid you boil off on average on your burner/stove you should be fine.

For a barley wine i would stick to a slightly thicker mash. Set your mash settings in the Mash tab to fly sparge medium body and you should get something that gives you a temperature u need to get your strike water to for a 152-154* mash. Will probably say, heat strike water to 165-167* because when transferring said water to ur cooler it will cool by 10-15*

You said youve brewed AG before so im probably reiterating stuff you already know. Just make sure you set your mash setting to fly sparge medium body and you should get very close to what youre looking for.

Hope some of this rambling helps.

Cheers
Dave

 

[brycelarson]

yeah, go to the "mash" tab at the top of your recipe. Then you'll pull down and choose your body and it'll do great for you.

 

[nyrangers955]

Great! Thanks for all the Info...its starting to make more sense.

 

[brycelarson]

Great! Thanks for all the Info...its starting to make more sense.

It's a pretty quick learning curve. Be sure to keep good records - the software only calculates based on the quality of the info you put into it. Stuff like dead space and boil off rates will need to be adjusted a bit. Once you have those dialed in it'll provide great guidance on your creations.

 

[duboman]

While I will admit it's a little difficult at first it is great software once you get the hang of it. Keep in mind that anything you enter and calculated directly relates to your equipment profile including all losses being accounted for and specifically your rate of boil off. If any of these figures is off, all calculations pertaining to volumes will be off.

It takes a few batches and good note taking to dial in the profile but once done everything goes very well. Just make sure that each recipe you put in uses the proper profile setup.

 

[highgravitybacon]

I can't help, but you're not alone regarding Beersmith. I find it highly overrated, and not particularly user friendly or intuitive. Blah.

Yes. Tried it and hated it. I use BrewTarget. Simple, easy to use. Free. Beersmith looks like an entire office of tabs threw up on the screen. It has awesome stuff, like the inventory and hop age tool. But the whole thing is cumbersome and bloated.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Brewing software, I wonder how the monks did it back in the day.