ChrisfromAbby
Well-Known Member
I've been using beermith for a few years now and like it for recipe formation but I've had issues with it I've never really resolved.
One is that the calculations for mash water and sparging never match and frankly it kind of annoyed me that I was unable to simply run a test to set up the heat capacity and what have you to get it dialed in properly. That's what I used to set up my own spread sheet and it astounds me that Brad wouldn't include such a simple formula in his software.
Anyhow, I've given up on that particular issue my own spreadsheet works so well.
What I've noticed of late though is that my achieved efficiency is WAY better than what beersmith expects.
For example, today I had to add 2.9L of water to my brew kettle prior to boiling to get the pre-boil gravity to where it was supposed to be. This is a 23L batch. BS says my mash efficiency was 165%
If I do the math myself;
11lbs of grain x 1.037 pts = 407 pts
407pts in 28L (7.4 gallons) = 1.055
I ended up with 1.056 in 28L
BS says I should have 1.050 in 26.6 (7.03 gal)
Should I just set my mash efficiency at 100%?
But why does it say 165%?
Chris
One is that the calculations for mash water and sparging never match and frankly it kind of annoyed me that I was unable to simply run a test to set up the heat capacity and what have you to get it dialed in properly. That's what I used to set up my own spread sheet and it astounds me that Brad wouldn't include such a simple formula in his software.
Anyhow, I've given up on that particular issue my own spreadsheet works so well.
What I've noticed of late though is that my achieved efficiency is WAY better than what beersmith expects.
For example, today I had to add 2.9L of water to my brew kettle prior to boiling to get the pre-boil gravity to where it was supposed to be. This is a 23L batch. BS says my mash efficiency was 165%
If I do the math myself;
11lbs of grain x 1.037 pts = 407 pts
407pts in 28L (7.4 gallons) = 1.055
I ended up with 1.056 in 28L
BS says I should have 1.050 in 26.6 (7.03 gal)
Should I just set my mash efficiency at 100%?
But why does it say 165%?
Chris