stratslinger
Well-Known Member
I've been using BrewTarget for quite a while now, and recently decided to grab a demo of BrewSmith and see if that might be worth a closer look.
So far, I really like a lot of features I'm seeing - it definitely is a lot more fully featured than BrewTarget. However, I just did my first brew planned entirely from BrewSmith yesterday, and what I don't like is that it apparently handles efficiency in a completely different manner, and I'm kind of stumped as to figuring out how to account for it.
When using BrewTarget and the Brewhouse Efficiency Calculator found here, I've been able to figure out I get about 73% brewhouse efficiency, very consistently. If I scale any recipe I find, or build one in BrewTarget using a 73% efficiency figure, then it just works - at worst I miss my OG my a point or two, which is just fine by me come brew day.
So, I plugged that same 73% into BrewSmith and built an IPA recipe which I brewed yesterday. At the end of the day, I was dismayed to find I had missed my target OG by 8 points! I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong, so I checked that efficiency calculator above and, sure enough, it told me I hit my typical 73% efficiency for the day. I then plugged the exact same grain bill into BrewTarget (granted, I should have done this first - hindsight and all that). BrewTarget predicted 2 points over the OG I actually wound up with.
Now, I know I've got my boil off rates set to the same and I'm the same equipment in both applications, and I've got efficiencies set to the same value, so what gives? Why does BrewSmith's efficiency calculator apparently disagree by 8 points with these other two, and can I fix it? I really like the features I'm seeing, and I'd like to get the app tweaked so that its output is reliable for me and my process.
The grain bill, by the way, is:
12lbs 2-row
12oz crystal 40l
12oz victory
12 oz flaked barley
Brewsmith predicts, @73% efficiency: 1.062
BrewTarget predicts, @73% efficiency: 1.056
brewersfriend calculator tells me that my 1.054 OG gives me 72.83% brewhouse efficiency
So far, I really like a lot of features I'm seeing - it definitely is a lot more fully featured than BrewTarget. However, I just did my first brew planned entirely from BrewSmith yesterday, and what I don't like is that it apparently handles efficiency in a completely different manner, and I'm kind of stumped as to figuring out how to account for it.
When using BrewTarget and the Brewhouse Efficiency Calculator found here, I've been able to figure out I get about 73% brewhouse efficiency, very consistently. If I scale any recipe I find, or build one in BrewTarget using a 73% efficiency figure, then it just works - at worst I miss my OG my a point or two, which is just fine by me come brew day.
So, I plugged that same 73% into BrewSmith and built an IPA recipe which I brewed yesterday. At the end of the day, I was dismayed to find I had missed my target OG by 8 points! I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong, so I checked that efficiency calculator above and, sure enough, it told me I hit my typical 73% efficiency for the day. I then plugged the exact same grain bill into BrewTarget (granted, I should have done this first - hindsight and all that). BrewTarget predicted 2 points over the OG I actually wound up with.
Now, I know I've got my boil off rates set to the same and I'm the same equipment in both applications, and I've got efficiencies set to the same value, so what gives? Why does BrewSmith's efficiency calculator apparently disagree by 8 points with these other two, and can I fix it? I really like the features I'm seeing, and I'd like to get the app tweaked so that its output is reliable for me and my process.
The grain bill, by the way, is:
12lbs 2-row
12oz crystal 40l
12oz victory
12 oz flaked barley
Brewsmith predicts, @73% efficiency: 1.062
BrewTarget predicts, @73% efficiency: 1.056
brewersfriend calculator tells me that my 1.054 OG gives me 72.83% brewhouse efficiency