Another iPhone app- BIABCalc (Free)

[jamesnsw]

I made a free iPhone app based on my Brew in a Bag calculator. I found for BIAB, I needed the reverse of what most calculators did, so I made it, first for web, and then for iPhone.

Given the volume of your mash tun and the amount of grain, it calculates how much water to heat up. Before, I would always heat up too much water, and it would overflow when I put the grain in, making a mess. Now, the grain raises the level to exactly the right level.

It also calculates the strike temp, to help you hit your mash temps.

Check it out on the App Store and let me know what you think!

 

[OhCrap]

I made a free iPhone app based on my Brew in a Bag calculator. I found for BIAB, I needed the reverse of what most calculators did, so I made it, first for web, and then for iPhone.

Given the volume of your mash tun and the amount of grain, it calculates how much water to heat up. Before, I would always heat up too much water, and it would overflow when I put the grain in, making a mess. Now, the grain raises the level to exactly the right level.

It also calculates the strike temp, to help you hit your mash temps.

Check it out on the App Store and let me know what you think!

Downloaded, it looks great & I'll try it out this weekend. It would be great if it was in litres & centigrade aswell but that's only a small thing

Edit: I ran the numbers against this w/ends planned recipe and damn close .1•f deference. Makes the calcs easy to do (other than converting to metric ). Good job

 

[spannaflicka]

Cheers +1 on the metric units. Again cheers

 

[CS223]

Nice calculator, the sliders are pita though, it takes a number of tries to get spot on. Maybe go to keyed in entry or a +/- button to increment the values.

 

[jamesnsw]

Nice calculator, the sliders are pita though, it takes a number of tries to get spot on. Maybe go to keyed in entry or a +/- button to increment the values.

Agreed- I have some ideas to make this a bit better. Stay tuned!

 

[jamesnsw]

Downloaded, it looks great & I'll try it out this weekend. It would be great if it was in litres & centigrade aswell but that's only a small thing

Edit: I ran the numbers against this w/ends planned recipe and damn close .1•f deference. Makes the calcs easy to do (other than converting to metric ). Good job

Thanks! Metric is on the todo list.

 

[jamesnsw]

Anyone use this over the weekend? Any feedback on accuracy?

 

[cswest]

I'm going to use this for my first 5 gallon BIAB batch on June 30th for a club brew. I've been playing around with it and I agree that getting the sliders to the exact number you're trying to enter is difficult. Other than that it looks good, thanks for the app!

 

[jamesnsw]

I'm working on adding metric- are any of you interested in beta testing that? I'd like to make sure that I get units and conversions done right. PM me your email address if you're interested.

 

[OhCrap]

Gave it a quick test. Sent email regarding conversions.

 

[jamesnsw]

Gave it a quick test. Sent email regarding conversions.

Thanks for the response! I'll get you another version soon.

 

[HopSong]

Any thoughts on building for the iPad?

Duh, I should have checked the App Store first... Now I have to see what version of iOS I have on my iPad..

I need a teenager around the house.. tech is/has passed me by.

 

[jamesnsw]

BIABCalc 2.0 is out now, with better slider control and, yes, metric!

Let me know how it's working for you. For better slider control, simply move your finger vertically away from the slider for fine tuning. This is similar to what you get in the Music app.

Check it out- BIABCalc 2.0.

 

[HopSong]

OOPS.. shuda gone directly to the App store to view the requirements.. Thought it was for the iPhone only.. There it was.. plain as the schnoz o my face.. iPad.

Thanks...

 

[jamesnsw]

OOPS.. shuda gone directly to the App store to view the requirements.. Thought it was for the iPhone only.. There it was.. plain as the schnoz o my face.. iPad.

Thanks...

Great! I hope you find it useful!

 

[HopSong]

Great! I hope you find it useful!

Got it on the iPad.. and it came defaulted to Metric.. being old and technically challenged, I don't see how to change it to 'merican measures.. I'm sure it's a "duh" once I see it..

 

[jamesnsw]

Got it on the iPad.. and it came defaulted to Metric.. being old and technically challenged, I don't see how to change it to 'merican measures.. I'm sure it's a "duh" once I see it..

Hit the Info button, and then it's at the bottom of that page. It's hidden enough that I won't give you a hard time .

Also, thanks for pointing that out. All my beta testers this round wanted metric, so they didn't complain. Most users want US though, so I'll submit an update that fixes this.

 

[HopSong]

Sorry, on my app (iPad) I hit Info and a drop down pops up describing the different volumes etc.. but nothing about converting.. Even if I touch any of the "i"s.. I'm given def's.. but nothing about conversion..

Forgot to add.. when I hit "Info" what I mentioned above is "About".. but to the left side of the dropdown I see BIABcalc.. at the bottom of that is a slider for US/Metric. No matter which way I slide it .. I get Metric

Geez, I'm a pain.

 

[FlyDoctor]

Love it! Any chance of having us gallons instead of quarts? At least as an option? My sight glass (and probably others) is calibrated with gallons.

Thanks!

 

[BlakeL]

You should add the ability to set the desired batch size.

 

[bad67z]

Love it! Any chance of having us gallons instead of quarts? At least as an option? My sight glass (and probably others) is calibrated with gallons.

Thanks!

Maybe I misunderstood your request but most use quarts because gallons are to large of a scale when figuring water to grist ratio.

 

[Uziyahu]

Any plans for an Android version?

 

[jamesnsw]

Sorry, on my app (iPad) I hit Info and a drop down pops up describing the different volumes etc.. but nothing about converting.. Even if I touch any of the "i"s.. I'm given def's.. but nothing about conversion..

Forgot to add.. when I hit "Info" what I mentioned above is "About".. but to the left side of the dropdown I see BIABcalc.. at the bottom of that is a slider for US/Metric. No matter which way I slide it .. I get Metric

Geez, I'm a pain.

This isn't set up as a converter, per se. It will convert your values that you have, but that's not what it's purpose.

As far as switching, I see what's going on now- I don't have an iPad, so I didn't realize that this was happening differently there.

Try this-
Hit Info, and click on US in the bar at the bottom.
Hit the home button to exit the app.
Double tap the home button to bring up the running apps.
Press and hold the BIABCalc icon until it wiggles.
Hit the X to quit the background process.
Relaunch BIABCalc. It should now be on US.

Sorry for this!

 

[jamesnsw]

You should add the ability to set the desired batch size.

Can you elaborate on this?

 

[jamesnsw]

Any plans for an Android version?

No, unless someone else volunteers to do the coding.

 

[BlakeL]

Can you elaborate on this?

I do 1 gallon BIAB batches in a 2.5 gallon pot. It would be nice if you factored this in along with the boil time to determine how much water i'll need. For my last batch I used 1.8 gallons with about 3 lbs of grain and ended up with just a little over a gallon after the boil.

 

[jamesnsw]

I do 1 gallon BIAB batches in a 2.5 gallon pot. It would be nice if you factored this in along with the boil time to determine how much water i'll need. For my last batch I used 1.8 gallons with about 3 lbs of grain and ended up with just a little over a gallon after the boil.

Ok, I see. I'll keep this in mind, but I think there are other tools that do this. My goal for this app is to fill in the cracks on a calculation I was doing all the time, but couldn't find anywhere.

 

[HopSong]

This isn't set up as a converter, per se. It will convert your values that you have, but that's not what it's purpose.

As far as switching, I see what's going on now- I don't have an iPad, so I didn't realize that this was happening differently there.

Try this-
Hit Info, and click on US in the bar at the bottom.
Hit the home button to exit the app.
Double tap the home button to bring up the running apps.
Press and hold the BIABCalc icon until it wiggles.
Hit the X to quit the background process.
Relaunch BIABCalc. It should now be on US.

Sorry for this!

You da bomb.. worked.. Now, IF I can just remember this to go back to metric.. if I ever do..

 

[jamesnsw]

You da bomb.. worked.. Now, IF I can just remember this to go back to metric.. if I ever do..

I'm working on an update to fix this right now... it should hit the App store in about 10 days.

 

[OhCrap]

Fair play to you, I gave it a good test today and no glitches that I could find. USA 2 metric and back all perfect. I'm doing a BIAB on sat so I'll report back after that