Beer Recipe Book

[USMCYoder]

Hey everyone,

So I been looking for some type of recipe book that I can put my beer recipes in, and update the notes while I am brewing the beer. I saw one on line about a month ago, but it seemed like "too much". Was wondering if anyone has used any or created a layout themselves.

Thanks for your time and good brewing

 

[jmo88]

I use my brewing software, Beer Alchemy. Keeps track of EVERYTHING. I love it. Also, I hear that Basic Brewing sells log books if you're a pen and paper guy.

 

[logan3825]

I made my own spreadsheet on Excel. Whenever I brew I print one out and put it in my 3 ring binder. I also keep handy charts in it for things like attenuation, ABV%, g/oz/lb, pitch rate, refractometer table, and anything else I think of. Basically any repetitive calculation.

 

[92greenyj]

I also Use my software these Days. and another vote for Beer Alchemy. But I still also use my good old fashioned college ruled notebook. Every batch gets all its details written down in a notebook. I have a fat 3" 3 ring binder that I keep my brewing log books in. works for me

 

[dedhedjed]

Beer Alchemy is great and +1 to creating your own spreadsheet...

 

[Revvy]

If you really want a hard copy book, the Basic Brewing Log Book is supposedly great. I use software but if I didn't I'd get this every year.

2011 Basic Brewing™ Brewer's Logbook ordering info.

 

[ArcaneXor]

I just save and comment on my recipes in BeerSmith. Excellent brewing software and recipe book in one.

 

[Jawbox0]

I create and save my recipes in QBrew... (free, but mediocre) but then I still print up the recipe and paste it into a notebook I use for brewing. When I'm actually making the beer I have a pen out and jot down notes, thoughts, etc which I try to incorporate back into the recipe.

If I enter a competition or arrange a tasting, the notes always get put into the notebook as well.

 

[USMCYoder]

Thanks everyone for the input. Currently I just been using QBrew for my recipes and writing notes on what ever I had close to me at the time. Might check out Beer Alchemy and see the difference.

+1 to Revvy for the book, it is kinda what I am looking for. If anything, it will give me ideas of what to print out so I know what to write down

 

[remilard]

I print out the recipe (not the instructions sheet thing) from beer smith which typically includes about 20% of a second page. I take notes on the rest of the second page. All this goes in a file with any competition scoresheets from beers made with that recipe.

 

[malkore]

I use free Beertools.com, email the recipe to myself, then delete it (you can only store one recipe online with the free version).
I then tweak the log sheet to my liking, and upload it to a document management system hosted by the company I work for (though you could easily put them in your own database or something).

 

[8link]

I use QBrew as well. Mediocre, yes but the best I've found that is both free and will run on debian.

 

[chapa]

I like beersmith, however I recently bought a "composition journal" so the pages won't tear out, and I put a clear book wrap on it, so it doesn't get wet while I'm brewing. I wrote all of my recipes in there(since I was only 10 in when I bought it) and just write EVERYTHING down during every brew. Of course I still have beersmith open, for any calculations, but I feel that the actual book will be nice to have in the long run, and will be kind of cool to have physical brew logs Just seems more personalized

 

[dvdanny]

I use QBrew as well. Mediocre, yes but the best I've found that is both free and will run on debian.

I use beersmith for almost that reason. It runs fine with Wine in Ubuntu. I also use the comments in beersmith to keep track of my brews. I used to have notebook but it fell apart. I'm considering buying an Engineering notebook from bookfactory.com with "Beer" printed on it so I don't mix it up with my actual engineering notebooks, that would be interesting...

here's a link
http://www.bookfactory.com/engineering-notebooks/engineering-notebooks.html

It's hardbound at you can proudly display it on your bookshelf.

 

[logan3825]

If you want to make your own sheet you can do a search for brewing spreadsheets to give you an idea of where to start. I have done several revisions since the first sheet I made. I also take fewer notes since my first batches as some of the stuff I took notes on has become part of my general procedure. I suspect if or when I go to all grain I will make further revisions.

 

[brettwasbtd]

I print out the brewsheets from Radical Brewing I save the sheet and put it in the case when I bottle the beer. I plan on getting a binder to store them in, and possibly scanning them onto the computer for digital saving . They have a good amount of room for notes

 

[Heckle]

I use a medium sized spiral notebook.

 

[munche]

Worth noting that Beer Alchemy is for Mac, so you're SOL if you use a PC.

Personally, I found all of the software I tried lacking when it came to actually keeping records of your specific brews. They were more like keeping recipes with a notes field.

I use BrewTarget to keep my recipes, it does the calculations and stuff that I need and I develop my recipes there.

When it comes time to brew though, I go old school and pen and paper it.

I print out the brew sheets from here:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/

(All Grain/Partial Mash/Extract Recipe Template)

and then I put them into a simple 3 ring binder. Working good so far.

 

[92greenyj]

Worth noting that Beer Alchemy is for Mac, so you're SOL if you use a PC.

Personally, I found all of the software I tried lacking when it came to actually keeping records of your specific brews. They were more like keeping recipes with a notes field.

I use BrewTarget to keep my recipes, it does the calculations and stuff that I need and I develop my recipes there.

When it comes time to brew though, I go old school and pen and paper it.

I print out the brew sheets from here:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/

(All Grain/Partial Mash/Extract Recipe Template)

and then I put them into a simple 3 ring binder. Working good so far.

True, and I did forget to mention that. Beer Alchemy is a bit more advanced than that. It gives you notes fields for every step of the process. Do something special for the mash? enter everything you did in the mash notes section. Something different for fermentation? enter that in the fermentation section. All this will be printed with the recipe when you print it out. So in addition to my college ruled notebook log books, I also have a 3 ring binder that the finished printed recipes from Beer Alchemy go into.

 

[grathan]

Since I brew out in the garage I like using a notepad app on the cellphone. It's quick and simple and always right there on my hip.

 

[fc36]

Be careful with BeerSmith. Always make backups and/or keep a paper copy logbook. I had to step away from brewing for a while, as in a year and a half, because of a ****ty job that had me travelling between 4-5 nights a week. Anyways, when I went to review my recipes a few weeks ago and brew up a batch of my favorite NZ pale ale that I had developed, lo and behold all my recipes were gone with all my notes on my past brews. I'm not sure what happened, but my laptop and/or BeerSmith seem to have conspired against me. Luckily, I have an amazing memory and I did my best to recreate the brew with what I thought were the same if not similar ingredients. We got it into the fermentor on Sunday night and the yeasties are happily chomping away, so we'll see how it turns out.

 

[grathan]

Since I brew out in the garage I like using a notepad app on the cellphone. It's quick and simple and always right there on my hip.

Ok, so the phone got runned over by a forktruck and I lost all my notes from 2010. Though in a file cabinet next to me is a folder called homebrew which has batches with detailed notes from 1997 on beer I don't even remember making.

I'd still like to use portable notes, nothing quite like being at the homebrew shop and trying to remember which yeast it was that you liked, or trying to explain a beer you made to another brewer, but have no recollection.

 

[logan3825]

I use both. Sheets and a binder for brewday.(electronics don't like water much) Beersmith for making recipes.

 

[HopSong]

1. Radical Brewing sheet
2. Brewers Friend.. close second

Write specific notes on back of either

3. Composition notebook.. all have their strong points