BrewR for Android

[broffi_1027]

Hey everyone, how's it going?

I have been experiencing some difficulties with the BrewR App on my android phone. Just did an update and have the newest version available. I've been having the problem of the OG, IBU's, SRM and FG's always showing in RED, indicating that the beers stylistic parameters are not correct. It does this for all my original recipes and the store bought brew kits from Northern Brewer I have punched in. At first I thought maybe I was entering the info in wrong, so that's why I entered about 4 or 5 different pre-made kits from Northern Brewer to see if it was error or the apps. The ABV is always way too low or way too high, never on mark. For instance, the Irish Red Ale I brew from time to time is usually always on mark, right around 4.92% when I do a hydro reading but when I type the recipe info into the app, it always says the ABV will be 2.84%. I find this extremely strange. I am entering the recipes in exactly as they are printed with the kits and as well as with my original recipes that have turned out great besides this app telling me the recipe is wrong. Maybe I am doing something wrong that I am not aware of? Any help or enlightenment on this will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and cheers!

 

[pivovar]

Have you looked at batch size / boil volume values? Do they correctly reflect what you are making? Also make sure you have the correct recipe type selected. E.g. Extract if you are making an extract kit.

 

[broffi_1027]

Yes, I make sure I select the right batch size and boil volume values. I also have selected the correct recipe type and selected Extract, Partial Mash, etc. I think I may try uninstalling the app and downloading it again. Maybe there is a glitch with my particular phone?

 

[pivovar]

Please post (or email me to feedr.dev at gmail dot com) the recipe or few that you're having a problem with.

 

[pivovar]

By the way you can use the "Share" option in the app (via Cloud sync or just as plain text if you haven't been using the sync).

 

[broffi_1027]

I uninstalled the app and re-downloaded it and is still having the same problem. Anyway, here is the recipe that is giving me the most problems. This is Northern Brewer's Irish Red Ale. It comes out great each time I brew, just doesn't add up correctly on the app.

Irish Red Ale, extract with specialty grains. 5 gallon batch.
SPECIALTY GRAIN
- 0.5 lbs Belgian Caramel Pils
- 0.25 lbs Briess Special Roast
- 0.125 lbs Belgian Biscuit
- 0.125 lbs English Chocolate Malt
FERMENTABLES
- 6 lbs Gold Malt syrup
HOPS & FLAVORINGS
- 1 oz Willamette (60 min)
- 1 oz US Goldings (30 min)
YEAST
- Dry Yeast Alternative: Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast. Optimum
temp: 57°-70° F.

60 minute boil with 2.5 gallon boil volume.

 

[pivovar]

I get perfect Irish Red Ale style match when I enter this recipe in BrewR as follows:

Irish Red Ale

Recipe specifics:

Style: Irish Red Ale
Batch size: 5.0 gal
Boil volume: 2.5 gal
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.012
Bitterness (IBU): 19.3
Color (SRM): 12.1
ABV: 4.7%

Grain/Sugars:

6.00 lb Light LME, 85.7%
0.50 lb CaraPils, 7.1%
0.25 lb Special Roast, 3.6%
0.12 lb Biscuit (Belgian), 1.8%
0.12 lb Chocolate Malt (British), 1.8%

Hops:

1.00 oz Willamette (AA 4.5%, Pellet) 60 min, 10.3 IBU
1.00 oz Kent Golding (AA 5.1%, Pellet) 30 min, 9.0 IBU

I suspect you might be selecting a wrong ingredient for the base malt "Gold Malt syrup". This is what's commonly known as Liquid Malt Extract (LME) with "golden" color (SRM is between 4-5) and should be selected accordingly.

 

[broffi_1027]

Ok thanks. I'll try switching that over and see if it helps. When I type it in it gives me an ABV of 2.7%.

I did punch in my Dunkelweizen recipe earlier and it came out perfect on the app.

Thanks for the help

 

[broffi_1027]

Ok, that was the problem. The Gold Malt Syrup was switched to Light LME on all the recipes that have that in it's grain bill and everything is perfect now. It was all user error. LOL I will be more patient next time and try other options.

Thanks for the help.

 

[clowboy]

Hi, when I use this app it does not have any calculations for the yeast used, whatever is entered it always has the same FG result and ABV. Is this only in the demo version or is it the same in the full version?

Thanks

 

[brewinginnc]

I have been using this app for a while and like it but have run into a problem. What formula are the ibu's calculated with? If it is rager i think they calculate about 70% what they should be. After brewing an ipa and porter that were formulated with this app they were too bitter.
To check i took the recipe for can you brew it dechutes obsidian stout and brewr is calculating 52.9 ibus. The recipe has them at 73.4.
Am i doing something wrong?

Thanks for any help

 

[Bizoune]

I'm in the same boat. Is it Rager or Tinseth? It would be nice if the app enabled the user to choose which one he wants to use.

 

[Titan88]

Also, is there an option for First Wort hop additions?

 

[tnorton]

I just got a new phone (T-Mobile LG Optimus F3Q) and installed the current version of BrewR. It did't see my old recipes until I moved them to the internal storage. When I try to move the app to the sd-card that option is greyed out. Can I move it? How can I put the recipes on the sd-card? Thanks, Tim

 

[nzgrover]

Just installed brewr on a new device. It's giving me very high OG figures for new 'all grain' recipes. I turned on the sync feature to copy recipes across from my old device, and they all seem fine. EG. With a dopplebock recipe that should have a OG of 1.086, brewr is telling me the OG will be 1.104. Batch size is set to 20 ltrs, boil size 25ltrs, and Efficiency 75%. Not sure what else I can check/change?

 

[pivovar]

Just installed brewr on a new device. It's giving me very high OG figures for new 'all grain' recipes. I turned on the sync feature to copy recipes across from my old device, and they all seem fine. EG. With a dopplebock recipe that should have a OG of 1.086, brewr is telling me the OG will be 1.104. Batch size is set to 20 ltrs, boil size 25ltrs, and Efficiency 75%. Not sure what else I can check/change?

Can you post the entire recipe? Specifically, the ingredients affecting the OG: all the malts/grains/sugars. Make sure that the gravity value of each ingredient matches that of the actual ingredient specified in the recipe. Also, in practice efficiency of 75% for big recipes like this one is rather hard to achieve.

 

[nzgrover]

Dopplebock Pg 88 BCS

Recipe specifics:

Style: Doppelbock
Batch size: 20.0 l
Boil volume: 25.0 l
OG: 1.104
FG: 1.026
Bitterness (IBU): 18.4
Color (SRM): 22.0
ABV: 10.3%

Grain/Sugars:

6.35 kg Munich (German), 70.1%
1.81 kg Pilsener (German), 20.0%
0.90 kg CaraMunich, 9.9%

Hops:

43.00 g Hallertauer (AA 4.0%, Pellet) 60 min, 14.7 IBU
14.00 g Hallertauer (AA 4.0%, Pellet) 30 min, 3.7 IBU

Yeast/Misc:

Lager yeast, 3.0 unit(s), Yeast 32 grams

Recipe Notes:

Mash at 67
90 minute boil


-----

 

[pivovar]

The numbers you got from the app look correct: OG 1.104 / FG 1.026. Like I said though I don't believe 75% efficiency is realistic with such a big beer. Try 65% instead and you will see a more reasonable 1.090/1.023.

To prove that the app is not lying you can enter your numbers at tastybrew.com and should get the same result (I did):
http://tastybrew.com/calculators/recipe.html

 

[nzgrover]

Ok, interesting, I guess the 'lower efficiency when using more grains' is really going to kick in. I have got around 80% with 6kg of malt. It also makes a big difference if I select 'Munich (US)' vs 'Munich (German)'. How do you calculate the 'Gravity' that is list against each malt in Brewr? Most of my malt comes from these guys: http://www.gladfieldmalt.co.nz/the-malt/ I guess I'll need to enter their malts into Brewr and calculate this figure.

 

[pivovar]

Looks like they list "extract" of the malt at 79% which corresponds to ~1.036 ppg. So you can adjust the value under Gravity of the malt and that should give you a more accurate estimate for your specific malt.

The values that come stock preloaded with BrewR are for convenience only. They represent typical values for malts available to homebrewers in the US. It is best to always adjust them per your specific malts and the app allows you to save them as custom entries in the database, available to use in other recipes.

 

[nzgrover]

Reading 'How to Brew" Pg 190: 'So, if we know that sugar will yield 100% of its weight as soluble sugar and that it raises the gravity of the wort by 46 ppg, then the maximum increase in gravity we can expect from pilsner base malt, at 80% solubility, is 80% of 46 or 37 ppg.'
This is the calculation you are doing? 79 percent of 46 is 36.34 giving ~1.036 ppg

 

[pivovar]

Reading 'How to Brew" Pg 190: 'So, if we know that sugar will yield 100% of its weight as soluble sugar and that it raises the gravity of the wort by 46 ppg, then the maximum increase in gravity we can expect from pilsner base malt, at 80% solubility, is 80% of 46 or 37 ppg.'
This is the calculation you are doing? 79 percent of 46 is 36.34 giving ~1.036 ppg

That is correct!