No replies yet? Sorry about that.
Beer Alchemy is the only software product I use. My Mac is at home, but I will try to go off memory. The first thing you need to do is make a mash profile. You do this from one of the tabs in the menu within the body of the program. "Profile" just rings a bell, so I am going to run with it. You will see the profile tab listed next to calculators, inventory, ingredients, styles, etc. In case I am wrong by calling the tab "profile", just click through them and one will make sense. They have a couple preloaded profiles in there that assume typical volume and efficiency settings, but I just deleted those and built one based on my systems parameters. I use all-grain batch, 25 qts preboil volume, 22 qts post boil, 20 qts to fermenter, zero water added to dilute, 20 qts of finished beer (because I use a liquid starter that is usually between 1 and 2 quarts, so I am able to rack a full 20 quarts after fermentation. You also can set you profile with a boil time (mine is 75 minutes) and most importantly, your efficiency (mine is 80%). You can also preload a mash temp, which is fine if you really like 154 F w/ a mash out, but I find it is kind of a stupid option because almost every recipe I make has a different mash schedule, so I have to hand pick it batch to batch anyway. This is a bit tangent to your question, but it is worth noting that if you have a recipe that calls for a 153 mash, but that profile does not exist, you can add it yourself. Just keep clicking and you'll get it figured out.
On to scaling the recipe.
When you open the BA program, the screen appears as three columns. The first column is just for organization and folders; similar to how your itunes library is oriented. Once you built your profile, click the add recipe tab at the bottom of the second column. As the blank recipe screen opens, name your beer, choose a style if applicable, and before you start building your recipe, click the process tab (next to stats, volumes, process, notes) and make sure your "Insert profile name here" profile was selected as the default. I mentioned deleting their preloaded profiles because that ensures your profile is always selected. Now go back to the ingredients selection and build your recipe, based on what I am assuming is your 5 gallon profile. Because your profile assumes your desired efficiency, your gravity will be accurate from the recipe. Backing up a bit to the the stats, volumes, process, notes tabs; make sure that everything looks good. Mash temp, carbonation, etc. Now save your recipe.
If I am going to scale, it would only be to scale down, because I am maxed out at a 5 gallon batch. Even so, I'll explain it both ways. Lets say you want to double your batch size. Open BA, go to second column. Click once on the recipe you want to scale. Personally, I really do not like mucking around with scaling an original recipe that I am happy with, so pay attention to this next part. If by chance you find yourself mucking up an original recipe, just "X" out of the recipe without saving, and it will return to its default.
You obviously see the scale recipe tabs. Lets say you want to double the recipe. I believe you would scale it by 100.00% (effectively doubling it). That might actually be a default. See that it is entered as 100%, and click the scale recipe button. More important; also be sure to check off the scale volumes button. This way (using my profile as an example), your pre boil volume goes from 25 qts to 50 qts, while your grain goes from 10 lbs to 20 lbs. The post boil volume is a different issue, and I have to assume that BA is smart enough not to double the evaporation rate. I would like to think (using my example) the new post boil volume would be 47 qts, not 44 qts, but I can't say for sure. I think it is hard to believe the programmers overlooked this, so I will assume that post boil will scale correctly. You should see the recipe jump. Try this first, and if nothing happened, than it treated 100% as a multiple of 1, so the scaling should be done as 200%. Sorry! If it did work, and you click the scale button again, it would once again double - essentially 4 times larger than your original recipe. A word of warning, I understand that the results of scaling a recipe that large are not completely linear, so some tweaks will probably be needed.
I wish I had it in front of me to confirm; oh well. To scale a recipe down, maybe from 5 gallons to 2.5 gallons, you enter a scale of .50% which is the same property as diving by two. Again, be sure to select scale volumes.
Have a go at that, and let me know how it works out for you. Remember, customize a profile for your system first, then have at it.
Joe
