Beersmith question - estimated gravity

[Redpiper]

I just upgraded from QBrew to Beersmith so I can get the best hop utilization info among other things. I'm transferring over my past recipes and notice that BS gives me much lower estimated O.G.s. The QBrew numbers have always checked out in practice. I'm wondering why B.S. is low. The number B.S. gives is very close to the QBrew number if I only count the extract. Am I missing something in B.S. to get it to count the sugars from the specialty grains?

Thanks.

 

[djsethall]

You will need to check our efficiency. With extract brewing the sugars are all there in the extract. With all grain you have to do the conversion from starch to sugar. BS starts with a 75% efficiency as a default. Run a few batches, figure your efficiency using the tool provided and go with that. You also need to make sure the brew type is set to either extract, partial mash or all grain. Hope this helps

 

[Redpiper]

It does some. The QBrew default efficiency for steeping is 50% which is dead on what I've been getting. When I click on my grains in BS I see "Dry Yield Fine Grain" which is at 75%. But wouldn't this give me a higher OG vs. lower? Is there a different setting I should be looking for?

Sorry if this isn't the best place to ask this. I figure a lot of the readers hear use BS though.

 

[djsethall]

I use BS exlusively. I just dont do extract. If you are steeping your grains and have brewing software, why not go the small extra step to partial mash?

 

[weirdboy]

You probably need to change the recipe type for each if they are PM or AG. By default i think each recipe is assumed to be extract. Do you get little exclamation points next to some of the grains?

Although I will note that there is one steeping grain in the db which is inadvertently marked as "must mash". I want to say it's special b but can't remember.

 

[Redpiper]

Actually, I think I am partial mashing. I place grains in 155-160 degree water for 30-45 minutes and I sparge with the same (using nylon grain bag). I use less than a gallon per pound and then sparge with 1/2 gallon per pound.

In any case, when I switch BS to Partial Mash and 55% efficiency, I get the OG's from my past recipes. I will test this with all of the remaining recipes that I'm adding.

Yes, I had the exclamation mark next to the Victory grain when it was on Extract.

Thanks for the help. Already like what I can learn and understand with this program and I'm just getting started.