HELP with Brewing Spreadsheet (Excel)

[kingofpoland]

I just got back into brewing after a very long hiatus and made my first all-grain batch last week. I found/downloaded a great spreadsheet to help calculate the batches. However, either I am reading the sheet incorrectly or there is a formula that is incorrect. In the tabs on the bottom of the spreadsheet there are GRAIN BILL CALCS and HOPS CALCS tabs. Both of these tabs have formula issues.

I left the recipe for a saison that I am brewing on the sheet.
On the HOPS CALCS tab there are issues with the U and IBU columns.
On the GRAIN BILL CALCS there may be several columns that contribute to an incorrect S.G.

I would love to get this sheet working properly.
Thanks in advance!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pe1gfdzxg4moysp/Spring Saison.xlsx?dl=0

 

[MaltMaker]

Spreadsheets are the easy route to "software". Normally used by scientific and managerial types who can't be bothered to code full fledged interfaces with properly designed relational databases. They then use these for self promotion purposes.

Avoid spreadsheets. Bob, Sue, Mary, John, Jim, Jack have all made their own! "Hey, I know Excel and I can make my own spreadsheet to figure these things out, just plug in some formulas!" Good for you! We're so proud of you.

Use real software like ProMash, Brewers Friend, BeerSmith - even these have their downsides but they're certainly better than a homebrew spreadsheet that doesn't work.

 

[Big Monk]

Spreadsheets are the easy route to "software". Normally used by scientific and managerial types who can't be bothered to code full fledged interfaces with properly designed relational databases. They then use these for self promotion purposes.

Avoid spreadsheets. Bob, Sue, Mary, John, Jim, Jack have all made their own! "Hey, I know Excel and I can make my own spreadsheet to figure these things out, just plug in some formulas!" Good for you! We're so proud of you.

Use real software like ProMash, Brewers Friend, BeerSmith - even these have their downsides but they're certainly better than a homebrew spreadsheet that doesn't work.

Back to your actual question: What type of file is it? Excel? Are you attempting to open in an OpenOffice type application?

On a side note, real brewing softwares tend to be a big ball of compromises. Do what works for you. For me, it's spreadsheets all the way. I like control over my calculations.

 

[MaltMaker]

On a side note, real brewing softwares tend to be a big ball of compromises. Do what works for you. For me, it's spreadsheets all the way. I like control over my calculations.

Off the shelf software may not fit your view but custom software does allow control of calculations and beyond that it can be presented in a web page, or on the desktop. Besides, what non-standard brewing calculations have you got? Extract (PPG), hops (bittering), yeast (attentuation) are all standard calculations. Water salt additions are standard. pH calculations can vary.

Making spreadsheets is usually done to introduce some new concept and because it's easy, as long it's relatively simple, anybody can do it.

I can't tell you how many times I've developed real software from somebody's spreadsheet. They're grateful they don't have to maintain their lookup lists in the spreadsheet, hunt and replace formulas, figure out cell references, maintain atrocious embedded if statements, etc...

I can't see the advantage in yet another brewing spreadsheet.

 

[Big Monk]

Off the shelf software may not fit your view but custom software does allow control of calculations and beyond that it can be presented in a web page, or on the desktop. Besides, what non-standard brewing calculations have you got? Extract (PPG), hops (bittering), yeast (attentuation) are all standard calculations. Water salt additions are standard. pH calculations can vary.

Making spreadsheets is usually done to introduce some new concept and because it's easy, as long it's relatively simple, anybody can do it.

I can't tell you how many times I've developed real software from somebody's spreadsheet. They're grateful they don't have to maintain their lookup lists in the spreadsheet, hunt and replace formulas, figure out cell references, maintain atrocious embedded if statements, etc...

I can't see the advantage in yet another brewing spreadsheet.

I think the OP is just trying to get a spreadsheet he found, that he likes, to work. I don't think anyone is promoting a spreadsheet here.

As a side note, I am actually interested in the idea of having my spreadsheet properly developed and coded. Can I PM you about the details?

 

[Weezy]

Off the shelf software may not fit your view but custom software does allow control of calculations and beyond that it can be presented in a web page, or on the desktop. Besides, what non-standard brewing calculations have you got? Extract (PPG), hops (bittering), yeast (attentuation) are all standard calculations. Water salt additions are standard. pH calculations can vary.

Making spreadsheets is usually done to introduce some new concept and because it's easy, as long it's relatively simple, anybody can do it.

I can't tell you how many times I've developed real software from somebody's spreadsheet. They're grateful they don't have to maintain their lookup lists in the spreadsheet, hunt and replace formulas, figure out cell references, maintain atrocious embedded if statements, etc...

I can't see the advantage in yet another brewing spreadsheet.

You've said your piece. You've been heard. Let others help the guy with his question now. I've written a full featured, recipe development, brewing process, yeast pitch calc spreadsheet myself. I prefer using Brewmate for recipe development since it's light weight and fast and can run from a thumb drive, but I trimmed down the spreadsheet to calculate brewday stuff (temps, mash and sparge volumes, water additions, yeast and fermentation stuff)

Writing your own spreadsheet is a great way to learn and understand the brewing process even better.

I'll be glad to look at the spreadsheet tomorrow. I can't get to it from work and I'm going drinking tonight so.. But others might come along sooner than that.

 

[IslandLizard]

I don't want to talk you out of using your own spreadsheet, or fixing one of the many that are out there. But first take a look at BeerSmith (free 2-week trial) to get an idea of what's involved.

You'll see quickly that you don't have to reinvent a whole new wheel, but instead can spend your efforts on improvements to make it smoother, exactly how you want it. For example I wrote a spreadsheet to keep inventory of Grain, Hops and Yeast, among other things. Sure, by not keeping it in BS I have to repeat the entries for ingredients used, but the overview I get in return is priceless.

I'd rather spend the $20 on BS to quickly formulate, tweak, and store recipes, and use or make additional spreadsheets for where I want or need custom tailoring. For example Bru'nwater or EZwater spreadsheets are more in depth about water chemistry than BS. Same for making yeast starters, BrewUnited, Yeastcalc, and Mr.Malty.

 

[MaltMaker]

You've said your piece. You've been heard. Let others help the guy with his question now.

Writing me off like that just doesn't work. I *am* helping the OP with his question and perhaps offering him the best advice by telling him to look elsewhere.

The spreadsheet linked in the OP would require too much (free as in beer) work to "get working" properly. Perhaps someone here would be willing to dedicate their time to sorting it out.

As previously stated, I would advise the OP seek to download a different spreadsheet or use one of the many freely available brewing software calculators.

 

[Homercidal]

You've said your piece. You've been heard. Let others help the guy with his question now..

Writing me off like that just doesn't work. I *am* helping the OP with his question and perhaps offering him the best advice by telling him to look elsewhere.

Careful guys. Let's not get a real argument going. Both of you have made your opinions known and no more back and forth about it will be tolerated.

We have a member here who wants help with a very specific problem and he (probably, I don't know) deserves the help he is asking for, not a distracting bickering between others.

I have downloaded the spreadsheet and will have a look if that's what the OP wants. However, I do think the pre-canned software has a lot going for it and is worth looking at.

I know a guy who successfully created his own spreadsheet, but he's very versed in Excel and of course understands his file very well and it works great for him. Designing one is probably a very good way to learn the brewing process too.

 

[Homercidal]

The hops Calc formula is beyond me. It certainly look like something is not entered that should be, or there is an error in the formula.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

If I get bored today I'll take a look.

 

[Weezy]

The spreadsheet is locked down. And it has named cell ranges, so it's really hard to back trade equations in cells. It would be a lot of work to try to figure out what is doing, and then you can't make changes anyways.

 

[Big Monk]

The spreadsheet is locked down. And it has named cell ranges, so it's really hard to back trade equations in cells. It would be a lot of work to try to figure out what is doing, and then you can't make changes anyways.

I've always avoided 2 things in Excel Brewing sheets:

1.) Name ranges
2.) Macros

 

[IslandLizard]

It always irks me when everyone gets involved in fixing an issue while the OP seems to care less:

Last Activity:
04-18-2017 7:37 PM​

 

[kingofpoland]

Well, I guess I opened pandora's box on this thread.

I appreciate everyone's response. It's been a busy week and I'm just getting some down time to check this out. I now realize that fixing this sheet is up to me...which is fine. I guess the easiest thing to do would be to find out where I grabbed it from originally and talk to the author....however, it has vanished from the infernet. The best thing to do would be to find a sheet that works and just use it. That being said, I liked how the spreadsheet I was using was laid out and it was a good resource to have...now to just find one that works.

For those that tried to help I do appreciate your time. Now that I finally have a day off it's time to get some beer brewing. Cheers!

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I've always avoided 2 things in Excel Brewing sheets:

1.) Name ranges
2.) Macros

God I hate name ranges. My old boss thought he was good in excel and named everything...

 

[Homercidal]

Well, I guess I opened pandora's box on this thread.

I appreciate everyone's response. It's been a busy week and I'm just getting some down time to check this out. I now realize that fixing this sheet is up to me...which is fine. I guess the easiest thing to do would be to find out where I grabbed it from originally and talk to the author....however, it has vanished from the infernet. The best thing to do would be to find a sheet that works and just use it. That being said, I liked how the spreadsheet I was using was laid out and it was a good resource to have...now to just find one that works.

For those that tried to help I do appreciate your time. Now that I finally have a day off it's time to get some beer brewing. Cheers!

FWIW I think you should check out Beersmith or Brewer's Friend. There may be others, but those are kind of the big two as far as I know. I use Beersmith, but Brewer's Friend has been adding things and seems fairly full featured and pretty easy to use.

The nice thing about them is support is pretty decent. Lots of people here use beersmith and plenty can actually offer suggestions to your questions.