Brewtarget and Mash Wizard problems

[Zepth]

So this is making me go mad. Absolutely mad. I'll get right to the point. Brewtarget seems worthy of being given a fair chance. My last batch missed my mash temp quite a bit. "User error perhaps, I'll try again later." Then again today. Both times I scrambled and with a quick boiling water infusion managed to get my temps right within 15 minutes. Hopefully not ruined, currently relaxing with homebrew.

So I tinkered with the software a bit more after this second problem. If I select any form of single infusion mash, being the default profile or create one it gives me 18.5L @ 85 degrees C. Target temp 65.5. But then going through the "Mash Des" button and moving the slider to 18.5 L it gives a strike water temp of 73. That's a noteworthy difference. The other catch is that using the "Mash wiz" button will set the initial infusion to 73 (regardless of previous number) and add the sparge water.

Is something strange going on that I don't know about? Or did I just screw things up and now admitting it?

Thanks.

 

[mikfire]

So this is making me go mad. Absolutely mad. I'll get right to the point. Brewtarget seems worthy of being given a fair chance. My last batch missed my mash temp quite a bit. "User error perhaps, I'll try again later." Then again today. Both times I scrambled and with a quick boiling water infusion managed to get my temps right within 15 minutes. Hopefully not ruined, currently relaxing with homebrew.

So I tinkered with the software a bit more after this second problem. If I select any form of single infusion mash, being the default profile or create one it gives me 18.5L @ 85 degrees C. Target temp 65.5. But then going through the "Mash Des" button and moving the slider to 18.5 L it gives a strike water temp of 73. That's a noteworthy difference. The other catch is that using the "Mash wiz" button will set the initial infusion to 73 (regardless of previous number) and add the sparge water.

Is something strange going on that I don't know about? Or did I just screw things up and now admitting it?

Thanks.

Well. As much fun as it is to blame the user, give me a bit of time and let me dig into this.

I will claim that the saved mashes are ... ummm ... well, I don't use them. I never found they saved any effort over creating the mash for each recipe. I also found them fairly confusing. The manual does say you should punch the mash wizard after loading a saved mash.

As soon as I figure out what the new way should look like, I really am going to rewrite that entire funtionality. I have said this for years, but I just can't quite figure out what they should be.

Mik

 

[jtratcliff]

I usually hit my temps pretty closely, but I almost always re-run the mash wizard each time I brew a batch because I tinker with the recipe a little.

Is it the mash wizard or your equipment profile, do you think? I know I had to tweak a few thing in the equipment to get my BIAB numbers dialed in correctly. If something is wrong with the equipment assumptions (or initial grain temps) you may not be giving the Mash Wizard the right info to work with.

 

[Zepth]

I have input all my equipment and starting temperatures into the software before trying it the first time. I think what I may try out next time is using an online calculator like Brewersfriend (my old calculator of choice) to get strike water specs then just "add mash step" with that info and leave it alone. Failing that I'll do what I heard some people commenting on a similar problem with beersmith and just overheat strike water, put into tun and wait for it to fall to desired strike temp and eliminate the heat loss to tun.

 

[mikfire]

I have input all my equipment and starting temperatures into the software before trying it the first time. I think what I may try out next time is using an online calculator like Brewersfriend (my old calculator of choice) to get strike water specs then just "add mash step" with that info and leave it alone. Failing that I'll do what I heard some people commenting on a similar problem with beersmith and just overheat strike water, put into tun and wait for it to fall to desired strike temp and eliminate the heat loss to tun.

Would you mind opening a ticket at https://launchpad.net/brewtarget and including the XML export of the recipe? It will help me figure out if I need to fix code or if I need to fix the manual.

Thanks,
Mik

 

[Zepth]

Solved!

Short answer: User error.

Long answer: Had specific heat capacity set in one equipment profile and not the other. In addition I had selected the profile then modified the contents to insure accuracy. Then promptly continued the brew. After a bit of experimenting it turns out the correct protocol is to re-select your equipment profile. Or set it up properly to begin with. With doing things in a logical order I hit my mash temp bang on this time around.

Side note is that I find it odd in that changing a grain in the fermentables tab will immediately update everything from OG to IBU but not change the mash. Not disastrous, but strange that changing some things update certain other aspects but not others. I suppose it may be because the mash tab is calculated then added as a step. If it were programmed as a variable using the tun starting temp and desired thickness maybe it could? Probably not the ideal place to mention this, but since we're on the topic.

Thanks for the help, and in conclusion:

As much fun as it is to blame the user...

Sometimes the most accurate answer.