Decoction mashing BeerSmith and Franklin calc. questions?

[JBOGAN]

I plan on doing a couple of decoction mashed beers in a few weeks and have been doing tons of research and you tube lurking. I have plugged my numbers in to beer smith for a double decoction and have also done the same with the franklin decotion calculator. What do you guys plug in for thermal factor and mash tun mass on Franklin, what i see is completely different numbers when i do a simple search. How accurate is Beer smith on additions for sach and protein rest? This really is all about YMMV but i want to at least be in the ballpark on brew day. Calling upon all the decotion masters.

 

[JBOGAN]

Forgot to mention my MLT is a 10 gallon round igloo cooler

 

[Yooper]

I never used anything except Beersmith for calculating decoctions, and step infusions, and it worked great for me. I always pulled a bit more than it called for, and added back what it called for and checked the temperature before seeing if I needed the whole decoction back in there right away. I hope that makes sense- I was unsure if I'd go over the next step, or under, so I pulled more just in case I was under. It turned out that Beersmith was pretty close for me, using the 10 gallon round cooler as my MLT and doing the decoctions on the stovetop.

 

[GrogNerd]

if you haven't read Brau Kaiser's decoction wiki, do so now. good stuff to know

there will be a quiz later

 

[JBOGAN]

That does help. I was actually debating on pulling more to account for loss in temp in my tun. Franklin looks like a good tool but i would rather just hit my beer smith timer.

 

[JBOGAN]

if you haven't read Brau Kaiser's decoction wiki, do so now. good stuff to know

there will be a quiz later

Think I have read that at least ten times now

 

[Yooper]

That does help. I was actually debating on pulling more to account for loss in temp in my tun. Franklin looks like a good tool but i would rather just hit my beer smith timer.

There really isn't any disadvantage to pulling more- if you don't need it, it can cool in the pot and you can add it back when it's the right temperature.

It's easier to pull more, than to not have enough and miss your temperature too low.

 

[stpug]

I find a pretty good correspondance from Beersmith to Franklin when testing with my numbers. Franklin reports in pints while beersmith generally reports in quarts, so you'll need to make sure you're comparing equivalent volumes.

As far as thermal factor for a plastic cooler, I would go with 0.3 and then the weight of the cooler when empty.

BeerSmith has always been pretty accurate for me. Of course, it's only as accurate as the numbers you give it . I have found rounding UP with BeerSmith's infusion/decoction volumes works the best for me. It's a little balancing act but as long as I have a little more infusion/decoction volume then I can always reach my intended goal.

Kaisers decoction wiki is an awesome resource to have and I would also highly recommend you read through it. Lots of useful details pointed out there.

 

[JBOGAN]

I find a pretty good correspondance from Beersmith to Franklin when testing with my numbers. Franklin reports in pints while beersmith generally reports in quarts, so you'll need to make sure you're comparing equivalent volumes.

As far as thermal factor for a plastic cooler, I would go with 0.3 and then the weight of the cooler when empty.

BeerSmith has always been pretty accurate for me. Of course, it's only as accurate as the numbers you give it . I have found rounding UP with BeerSmith's infusion/decoction volumes works the best for me. It's a little balancing act but as long as I have a little more infusion/decoction volume then I can always reach my intended goal.

Kaisers decoction wiki is an awesome resource to have and I would also highly recommend you read through it. Lots of useful details pointed out there.

weight of the cooler when empty thats what i was looking for. He/she stated using a 1/2 bbl or keggle saying 20 pounds and i know my keggle weighs alot more than that.