Excel Based Brewing Software - BaB v6.2

[Holden Caulfield]

Recently, I posted a link to my Excel based brewing program in the "General" section and I thought I'd add the link to the "Brewing Software" section as well. The link below is to the latest update. Please give it a try and let me know what you think. It has been a labor of love and has made me a better brewer as it forced me to learn the science behind the numbers.

Some highlights of the program are...

1. It is Excel based so calculations are done locally, rather than through the internet, so it is fast
2. It builds recipes based on percentages of fermentables rather than pounds, then it calculates the pounds required to hit your target OG
3. Pounds and water quantities are calculated based on the target batch size packaged (what ends up in the keg or bottles) and your system, rather than pre-boil volumes, so all points and water losses are accounted for from start to finish
4. Scaling recipes is simple, just change the batch size; fermentables and water quantities are updated instantly
5. For Belgian beers, if adding sugars/syrups to the Primary, it determines the pounds, points, kettle volumes, and primary volume, to hit your target OG in the Primary, accounting for point losses, volume losses, and sugar and syrup additions impact on points and volume in the Primary. (I checked the Brewer's Friend recipe builder, which is great BTW, to see if it could do this and while it has a goal seek function and allows fermentables to be added late, when adding sugars/syrups to the Fermenter, it crashed the program)
6. It has a Step and Decoction planning tool that enables schedules with step water and decoctions quantities to be calculated making schedule adjustments painless. The schedule is dynamically graphed providing elapsed time and temperature changes
7. It can easily be adapted to BIAB, HERMs, and RIMs by adjusting the system parameters
8. Other features include, amongst others - water chemistry tool, ABV calculator with impact from bottle/keg conditioning, BJCP guidelines, pre-boil points adjustment recommendations

While the program works great, it does have a some gaps at this time, including...

1. While the malt database includes almost all types, many of the brands still need to be added as I built it from what was available at my LHBS. If you want any particular malt or brand portfolio added, just let me know and I can easily add them
2. There is no PH capability. The science behind this is quite tricky and very smart people have already created some amazing tools

As I mentioned, it has been a lot of fun working on this and it works great. Please give it a try and let me know what you think and request any enhancements. If you have questions on assumptions, approaches, and formulas, I am happy to share. My hope is that it provides you with as much value/fun as it has me.

It does have some simple macros that reset the worksheets - if concerned about security, just don't enable the macros, it works fine without. Enable them later when you feel comfortable doing so.

Here is the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pc1vjpqre9dzjhz/Buildabeer v6.2 - DB.xlsm?dl=0
Finally, below are some screenshots to give you an idea of what the program can do.

Thanks.

Regards,

KB

Brew Day Worksheet

Beer Vision Worksheet

Grain Bill and Hops Worksheet

Step and Decoction Planner