Yet Another Brewing Spreadsheet

[Walker]

Hey folks....

There might already be something like this out there, but putting together my own helped me understand things a lot better. So... if I have repeated the work of someone else, I DON'T CARE.

The following is a spreadsheet I put together to help me calculate the volumes and temperatures of water for a single-step infusion mash with a single batch sparge.

I tried to describe everything going on in the spreadsheet, but if you think you might want to use this and are not clear on something, go ahead and shoot me a PM and I'll see if I can set you straight.

I have no immediate intentions of adding or removing anything from this spreadsheet because there are lots of free resources out there to help you calculate color and bitterness and gravity and all that jazz. This is really just for helping you get your water in order.

(See most recent postings for the latest version of the spreadsheet)

 

[RichBrewer]

That is a cool spread sheet Walker. I'm going to play with it a bit.

One question though. Where is the area for hydrometer readings???

 

[Walker]

One question though. Where is the area for hydrometer readings???

Bend over and I'll show you. :rockin:

 

[RichBrewer]

Bend over and I'll show you. :rockin:

You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that!

 

[dibby33]

Oh oh, Mods are rutting again...

 

[EdWort]

Walker-san needs a refractor for Christmas.

 

[the_bird]

This is really cool, Walker, a lot easier than doing the calculations by hand each time. Thanks!

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Bend over and I'll show you. :rockin:

Yes! The universal answer!!! There is not a question which cannot be adequately answered by this reply.

Good spreadsheet too... or whatever, I didn't really look at it.

 

[Walker]

I made some changes to this after some feedback from a couple of people.

(See most recent postings for the latest version of the spreadsheet)

 

[Lazarus Long]

Thanks Walker-san.

I was bumbling around trying to make a spread sheet but your's is much better.

You saved me quite a lot of time.

Kudos from Charlotte.

 

[Walker]

I made some more changes to it, mostly for organization.

This one gives a quick summary of important info on a single page for printing and using during the session.

(See most recent postings for the latest version of the spreadsheet)

-walker

 

[Walker]

I have no idea if anyone is still using my spreadsheet, but I am, and I lost my webserver and nearly lost the spreadsheet with it. Luckily, I had a copy saved on a different computer.

I've made a number of clean-ups to it. I'm attaching it here for others to use, as well as to save my ass if I ever have a hard-drive meltdown again.

edit: there is a more recent version below...

View attachment BREWSHEET_Template.zip

 

[Walker]

Backing up my latest version. Changes:

• allows for top-off water addition instead of coercing you into over-sparging.
• allows you to specify a minimal boil time
• informs you that that to get "X" quarts into your fermenter, you need a recipe that makes "Y" quarts (accounting for losses between kettle and fermenter)

View attachment BREWSHEET_Template.zip

 

[Reelale]

Nice. thanks for posting/sharing.

 

[Walker]

thanks.

It's not the most user friendly thing in the world and was really created for my personal use, but I find it very helpful.

 

[greenchuck]

This is a great resource for a new AG brewer like myself. I'm going to throw my numbers in from my first batch that I did a few weeks ago and see how far I was off. I'll definitely use it for my next batch, cheers to you sir.

 

[Walker]

Just make sure you read the set-up instructions and fill in YOUR brew house numbers, or it will calculate wrong temps and volumes.

If anyone has any reliable data for wort absorption by pellet hops, I will add that in. The sheet assumes whole hops right now.

 

[BeerNewbie]

I'm new to AG, but why would you want plain "top off" water? If you have more room for water, why wouldn't you add it to the sparge, and use it to help extract the last of the sugars from the grains? Or am I not reading this right?

 

[Walker]

I'm new to AG, but why would you want plain "top off" water? If you have more room for water, why wouldn't you add it to the sparge, and use it to help extract the last of the sugars from the grains? Or am I not reading this right?

If you over-sparge your grains, you can extract tannins from the grain husks and it will leave an unpleasant flavor in the beer (the puckering dry sensation from many red wines or from tea).

Folks who fly-sparge and measure everything will monitor the pH and/or the gravity of what is running out of the mash tun and stop when a certain point is reached.

I don't measure pH or gravity of my runnings, but I try to limit myself to 3 quarts of water per pound of grain. For a low gravity beer, this will not leave me with enough wort in the kettle, so I add top-off water. You can top off in the kettle before before or during the boil, or top off in the fermenter after you are done.

 

[BeerNewbie]

Thanks - as you can tell, I have a lot to learn!