Priceless BiabCalc

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pricelessbrewing

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I only have a 30qt pot, and have found difficulties with the current BIAB calculators. Either they only allow full volume, or they include a mandatory sparging amount. I prefer to choose how much I want to sparge, but I liked the original biab water calculator so I modified it a bit.


First I reorganized the spreadsheet, moving constants and variables to a seperate section. Shortened most of the text, as I believe in concise notes myself. Then I added sparging calculations, and added a dropdown menu. Did a quick check if full volume mash would fit in the single pot.

Have to go to work now, but when I get back I'll correct height of water for different temps, as right now it assumes 68 but that's off by about 3% at mash temp and 4%~ at boil.

If there's any errors, or questions let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Et2EF6VQ7VkMRzjvKvio0Cn4wspfDHK62Oi9CLxM2QA/edit?usp=sharing
 
This is disappointing if you violated the BIABacus's Goodwill Copyright Claim!

You stated in your spreadsheet this which says, "* This was created from many great tips & formulas from users found on homebrewtalk.com and BIABrewer.info "
 
I figured it would be more of an issue if I took it out though. There aren't any formulas or info that couldn't be found elsewhere or figured out quickly.

Would it be better if I changed it to say influenced by basic biab etc etc and inserted a link to it?
 
Contacted Biabbrewing.com via their website, alerting them to the shared google sheet and the modifications I made and the new formulas not included. Addressed the comments at the bottom in particular.
I also changed the name to seperate the two spreadsheets further. It's called BIAB Sparge Calculator for now.


For now I'll change it to
"This spreadsheet would not be possible if not for the great tips at Homebrewtalk.com, BiabBrewing.com and the inspiration for this the Official BiabBrewing.com calculator.
Biab-brewing-water-calculator which can be found at https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx...EBF9B!176&app=Excel&authkey=!AH1uAzeCHztEvio&
 
Thanks for clarifying that up.

I see now that biabbrewing.com, Derrick, has listed BIABrewer.info as partial credit or inspiration for his spreadsheet.
 
No problems, thanks for the headsup.
I basically was sick of trying to looking up multiple calculators to see mash volume, sparge volume, strike temps, and whether or not a mash volume would fit my 30QT pot after adding grains. So I adjusted the best calculator I could find.

Does it look accurate to you? Any feedback? Suggested features?
Sidenote: Do BIAB use step mashes often? Would it be something good to add, or just clutter it up more?
Maybe a row for My mash temp is currently X, but It's supposed to be Y. Add Z amount of boiling water, and a check to make sure you won't go over your pot volume.
 
So how can I download and use it? If I click on the link it's 100% protected and read-only...
 
Same as Derrik's original calculator, click File, Download. You can then open it in your preferred spreadsheet program, or open a new google Doc and upload it.
 
Everything in the Menu bar except Data is grayed out...

Never mind. It was my own fault forgetting how Google Doc works, as I rarely use it. I'm good now. Thanks!
 
File shouldn't be grayed out, but here's what I'm talking about. I'll leave this here in case anyone else forgets :p

Please leave feedback!

save file.jpg
 
UPDATED!!!!Enabled editing. No need to download it now. Just don't F it up please.
Calculated volumetric expansion of water at various temperatures. Should be correct within .1% or so, probably less.

Reorganized a bit, added dropdown cells for unit selection (Gallons/liters, F/C, Inches/CM)
Reformatted background colors.

https://docs.google.com/a/emich.edu...9ESkDV32l1g3WrpaENGRQ3XIE/edit#gid=1133611287

To Do- Mash temp correct with addition of boiling water, and with 120 degree water which is roughly how hot my water comes out of the faucet.

Any feature requests or Issues using it please let me know.

Just found out you can protect ranges. I'll do that when I back from dinner. Let's see if it'll survive 4 hours without tampering.
 
Hello, I like it, but I prefer to set a mash grain to water ratio. Could you set it up so that you calculate the strike water volume needed based on grain to water ratio, and then calculate the temps and sparge water for the sparge?
 
Yea that shouldn't be a problem. I'll add a drop down for "Fixed grain/water ratio, fixed mash volume, or custom sparge" and simplify by getting rid of the now redundant 1g-4g sparge volumes since custom offers the same functionality.

Should have it done tonight sometime.
 
Okay this should be good. Renamed it "Priceless BIAB Calculator" Can't keep calling it "Basic biab water calculator with sparging"
https://docs.google.com/a/emich.edu...6nCSPBUzgUotV_bvFORc/edit?pli=1#gid=633996997

New features:
Optional input of Mash thickness.
Calculated Mash thickness if it is not an input.
Removed Dedicated cells for Will mash fit? Yes/no and incorporated into Volume of mash with grains, at 68F and at mash temp. Will now change from a volume, into a warning of "Will not fit!" or "Won't FIT!" Can't remember which I put.
Everything except red drop down cells, and pink user input cells are protected. Shouldn't be able to "break" it accidentally unless you actually type into the dropdown cells... Don't do that please.

Unhide the cells that show the thermal expansion coefficient of water at various brewing related temps as well as the cells showing the calculations for the drop downs. I think it was from engineers toolbox?

As always, let me know if you have any issues, complains, requests, questions or general inquiries.
 
Another update!
Have an online version now, so more than one person can use it at a time, and updates will go out automatically rather than having to check the googldoc and downloading the new version.
Found a couple errors in calculations for preboil and post boil, should be more accurate now.

http://pricelessbrewing.github.io/
 
Thanks for doing the work on this and then porting your spreadsheet to a web based version- pretty nice really.
Can you let me know how you get from spreadsheet to web interface? I have a spreadsheet that would be nice to put in web form for myself.

Thanks-
 
Thanks, I'll be in touch to see how I can help. I had a reddit user help with the layout and did the functions and java myself.
 
Another update for those people that care enough to follow along.

10/8.
Added Mash thickness as an option instead of custom sparge volume. Only supports Imperial with hops in oz currently.
The relevant page can be found at Pricelessbrewing.github.io/Mash/Imperial


Side note: I'm on page 3 of google search for "brew in a bag calculator" and page 2-3 for "biab calculator". Hoping to make it to page 1 soon!

I've had a lot of viewers, and site traffic but little feedback. Let me know what you think!
Note that mash thickness is currently Qt/Lb, and not Gallon/Lb, as that seems to be what most recipes and calculators list it as. Although personally I have to mentally convert to gallons/lb then back and forth.
 
I think a lot of people are just used to saying, 1.25/lb is a thick mash, 1.5/lb is thinner, 1.75/lb is thin.

They often use the ratio as a guide to preventing stuck sparges, or as a way to know if their recipe will fit their equipment.

I've heard some experts say that mash thickness doesn't have a lot to do with quality of the final beer, as long as it converts fully.
 
Thanks guys! I'll work on the metric and Imperial (hops in grams) versions of the mash thickness tomorrow and write up a short "About" page.

I'll probably end up making a seperate, quicker version, of the "will it fit".

Question: Should I auto calculate the sparging volume if someone enters one that's too small and the mash will exceed the maximum size of the kettle?

IE kettle size = 7 gallons, mash volume is 8, so I'd take say 1.2G to sparge with.

Or should I just trust that the user will pay attention to the mash volume?


Been trying to find a good source of what the hop absorption rate is for pellets, but can't find anything conclusive. Any suggestions or citations?
 
Thanks Old Dirty.

Another update coming soon, mostly on the back side. Getting rid of the Reset calculator button, as it's kinda pointless since you can just reload the website.

Going to combine the Mash and Sparge calculators eventually, but one of them must be set to 0 or you'll break it. (Basically adding the two together, with a multiplier so A+B=C, but if A or B = 0 then A=C or B=C depending on which one you're doing.

Will probably do the same thing with the hops in grams/oz.

Apparently the transition from spreadsheet to website broke the thermal expansion math. Right now they're set a bit at the higher end, assuming mash temp, and strike temp at 158 and 164 respectively. While the intention, and the original, had that thermal expansion calculated from the entered temperatures. Better to be short a half inch, than to risk boilover or mash extending over your pot.

Also looks like I need to take a quick look at the min sparge suggestions and the max mash thickness calculations. 1) they're negative, and 2) they're not right. lol
 
Fixed the minimum sparge volume, and maximum mash thickness. Thermal expansion should be working again for variable temperatures.

Metric has been ignored for awhile, I'll work on it between classes later.
 
Mark,
Love the site and use the calculator all of the time! Any chance of making this show my brewing defaults instead of yours? Maybe setting it up so we have user accounts that the info could be saved to.
Just a suggestion,
Thanks
 
cas3439 said:
Mark,
Love the site and use the calculator all of the time! Any chance of making this show my brewing defaults instead of yours? Maybe setting it up so we have user accounts that the info could be saved to.
Just a suggestion,
Thanks
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback, let me know if you have any other requests!

I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but not entirely sure how to implement it. I'll probably look into it a bit more after the semester ends in april, but for the time being I don't know how to do so.
 
Your calculator works the greatest--used it four times now and been toppin off the buckets perfectly--Thanks for a great brew tool------
 
Np. Thank for using it, and letting me know. Please give me any feedback you have ad I'll see if it's something I can do.
 
I use it every boil anymore last couple years I got to where I'd just ballpark my water volume and was pretty happy as long a my bucket topped off at 5 Gal. or more--I hit my mark every time since I started using your calculator it's the greatest I've never used beersmith it made my computer run slow so didn't bother buying it--you did good-Thanks again
 
@pricelessbrewing: What do you assume for the displacement/lb for grain, and where did you find that information? Thanks.

Brew on :mug:
 
doug293cz said:
@pricelessbrewing: What do you assume for the displacement/lb for grain, and where did you find that information? Thanks.

Brew on :mug:
Click to expand...

Hey Doug, the grain displacement should be 0.08 gal/lb. I don't have the references in front of me, but I believe that is the same volume used in green bay rackers "will it fit?", beersmith, and the biabacus if memory serves.
 
pricelessbrewing said:
Hey Doug, the grain displacement should be 0.08 gal/lb. I don't have the references in front of me, but I believe that is the same volume used in green bay rackers "will it fit?", beersmith, and the biabacus if memory serves.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That's the number I have seen in several places, but none of them give a reference.

Brew on :mug:
 
Another small update: realized I never changed the minimum sparge volume to check if it's negative or not. Got that fixed now in the default calculator.
 
Just did an "in hindsight" check of your calculator. A couple weeks ago I brewed an 11 gallon batch of Vienna lager, with a 21lb grain bill. No sparge, 3oz hops, 60 min boil, 20g BK (18" dia.). No kettle trub--I pour it all in. I had 1 gallon of fermenter trub. I used 1.625 g/hr. boiloff that I had previously determined empirically. I shot for 11g in the fermenters and 10g packaged. I hit it. Your calc results called for 14.4 gallons water at 68F. I had used 14.25.

Pretty damn close!
 

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