Home Brew Journal

[PatMac]

Do you keep a journal of all your brews? If so what do you document? How much detail do you go in to about each step? Do you ever look back and have particular brews stick out in your memory for particular reasons? What # brew are you on?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

BeerSmith.

Recipe, actual SG's, tasting notes, ferment notes, etc....

No.

45 & 2.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I use beersmith to print out my brew day sheet which contains all the recipe information, mash schedule, etc.. Then I write all the pertinent information I gathered during the brew day on the sheet as well. Stuff like:

1st Runnings SG (to measure mash efficiency)
Last 2g of runnings SG (to measure lautering efficiency)
Pre-boil Volume
Pre-boil SG
Final Batch Volume
OG
Any temperature variations in the mash (eg missed mash temp, sparge temp, etc.)
And of course gravity samples, with date taken, SG, and temp.

I then put all the sheets in order of when they were brewed in the BrewFolder, so I can take that with me to brew club meetings, group brew days, etc. It's fun to look back through what I've brewed, and gives me a great place to start when I want to improve my process or a recipe.

 

[user 29674]

I write mine in a small handmade leather journal that my wife got me for our 1st anniversary last year. Was finally glad to find a use for it because it was bothering her that I dont use it (I'm not a thought writer kind of person). Once I run out of paper in it (its all handmade recycled paper, handstitched with twine, so no refills...) I'll probably just use beersmith to keep track of it. I write down everything I think might be useful to know looking back comparing brews. Every grav reading, daily remperature variances, anything "odd" I see and want to remember to ask about on here as well as the answer I received, etc. Everything I do in the process, and a rough timeline (30 minutes to get to boil, 2 minutes to recover the boil after hop addition, etc.) As I gain experience I'll probably cut back on what I write down, but for now more information is better than not enough.

 

[user 29674]

Oh, and I also write tiny mini-reviews of commercial brews I try to help me when I eventually start to craft my own recipes, and I keep a list of recipes that I want to try brewing.

 

[BierMuncher]

I use Beersmith to formulate my recipes.

Then I transfer everything to Excel and add my hops/gravity chart and print.

Then I keep it on my clipboard to make notes on process and results.

 

[Lonnie Mac]

I keep mine in the note section of BT pro on my mac...

Typical note last weekend...


Vitals:
-------
Water used: 20 gallons filtered
Campden: 1 tablet
Treated water ph: (Citric): 5.9
Strike temp: 158
Sparge Water Temp: 175
Final volume: 11.0
SG in kettle brix: 7.2
OG in kettle brix: 8.5
-------
Starter: 4000 ML started 2/19/09. Yeast dead!
Added two new viles WLP028 2/21/09 to batch. Returned bad yeast viles to LHBS and proved to them that it was "pre hurricane IKE yeast". I should read the damn labels better.
Ran out a half gal to kettle and boiled for 15 minutes.
Sparged to 8 gallons and topped off to boil volume 12.5.
Informed Moonbeam that her favorite plant was really dead.
Saw neighbors dog in my yard again. I tried to kick it.
Great brew day! Cold!
Brew music: Eagles.

 

[A4J]

I'm all about moleskine notebooks and that's what I use for a homebrew journal.

I write down the recipe, OG, FG, ferment temps, brew date, primary dates, secondary dates (if I secondary), bottling/kegging date, and tasting notes.

 

[SumnerH]

Do you keep a journal of all your brews? If so what do you document? How much detail do you go in to about each step? Do you ever look back and have particular brews stick out in your memory for particular reasons? What # brew are you on?

Day -3:
Prepared 2l 1.038 OG starter wort, pitched yeast
Day -1:
Placed starter in fridge to flocculate yeast (fermentation done)
Brew day:
12:52pm Sanitize fermenter and lid, add 2 gallons water; aerate.
bring 3 gallons to 160 degrees +/10
1:12pm Steep grain in bag for 30 minutes
1:43pm Remove grain
2:15pm Add malt extract
2:26pm done adding. Wait for hot break
3:04pm Add Tradition hops
Boil 30 minutes
3:35pm Add 1/2 Hallertau hops
Boil 15 minutes
3:50pm Add 1 tsp Irish moss
Boil 10 minutes
Add remaining Hallertau and sugar
Boil 5 minutes
Cool to 65-78F (70 is ideal)
Pour vigorously into fermenter while keeping out as much hops and break as possible
Take OG reading and record it (target 1.084): 1.079
Aerate
5:00pm Pitched yeast (decanted first)
Used saran wrap over gasket to seal bucket; shake up to blend in the yeast
5:15pm Cap and airlock, adding a bit of sanitizer to the airlock (fill line?)

Day 2
9:00pm Boil 2 cups water + 15 oz corn sugar, chilled, and pitched at high krausen. Calculated OG now 1.085
Day 10
8:35am current gravity 1.022 (AA: 74.1%)
Day 11
8:30pm current gravity 1.020 (AA: 76.4%).
Day 15
10:00pm current gravity 1.014 (AA: 83.5%)



I have pictures at each step, too.

 

[Kaiser]

A few years ago I took the time and made 4 forms for a log book entry. I print them double sides on 2 pages and it covers recipe, brew day, fermentation and tasting. You can download them here: Keeping Log - German Brewing Techniques (the PDFs and not the images)

Kai

 

[Bob869007]

I use beerSmith. I keep track of what my mash temp was, how much water was needed to produce my boil volume and then it is pretty much what the OG and FG was. After that it is all about the taste. I have only brewed two different recipes with slight hop variations. I have brewed 14 AG batches so far. I have only had one that I dumped because it was to sweet. High mash temp!

Any advice on what I should keep notes on? I'm the note writin' organized type.

 

[mthompson]

A few years ago I took the time and made 4 forms for a log book entry. I print them double sides on 2 pages and it covers recipe, brew day, fermentation and tasting. You can download them here: Keeping Log - German Brewing Techniques (the PDFs and not the images)

Kai

Just thought I'd mention that for the PDF's you need to select one of the three links above the pictures. I clicked 'US units English version of the log book pages'.

Thanks for the link Kai,

MT

 

[Kaiser]

Any advice on what I should keep notes on? I'm the note writin' organized type.

Fermentation performance is nice: time to low kraeusen, gravity at day 7 for lagers and maybe at day 5 for ales. I use that to determine the average gravity drop during primary fermentation.

I found that if you have a pre printed diagram for fermentation you’ll take much more notes on temp and such as you simply have to make a dot after you checked on your beer which is something I do when I come home. At least during primary fermentation I keep track of the daily fermenter temp. If you keep track of ambient and fermenter, you can also see how intensive the fermentation is and when it is slowing down.

Fast Ferment Test results to give you feedback on mashing.

Kai

 

[Bob869007]

Fermentation performance is nice: time to low kraeusen, gravity at day 7 for lagers and maybe at day 5 for ales. I use that to determine the average gravity drop during primary fermentation.

I found that if you have a pre printed diagram for fermentation you’ll take much more notes on temp and such as you simply have to make a dot after you checked on your beer which is something I do when I come home. At least during primary fermentation I keep track of the daily fermenter temp. If you keep track of ambient and fermenter, you can also see how intensive the fermentation is and when it is slowing down.

Fast Ferment Test results to give you feedback on mashing.

Kai

Thanks Kai.

 

[jgln]

I use beerSmith. I keep track of what my mash temp was, how much water was needed to produce my boil volume and then it is pretty much what the OG and FG was. After that it is all about the taste. I have only brewed two different recipes with slight hop variations. I have brewed 14 AG batches so far. I have only had one that I dumped because it was to sweet. High mash temp!

Any advice on what I should keep notes on? I'm the note writin' organized type.

Ok, I guess I still don't understand everything. I am assuming you had to dump the finished product and I understand that. But how does a high mash temp result in too sweet a finished product?

 

[Bob869007]

Ok, I guess I still don't understand everything. I am assuming you had to dump the finished product and I understand that. But how does a high mash temp result in too sweet a finished product?

The mash temp is what causes the ratio between maltose and dextrine. Basically the ratio between fermentable and non-fermentable sugars. 152-154 dgrees is considered to be a well balanced range. A lower mash temp will result in a drier beer and a higher mash temp will create a sweeter beer. Higher mash temps will cause the enzymes to create less fermentable sugars. Lower mash temps will cause the enzymes to create more fermentable sugars. That's pretty much it in simple terms. If you want a more scientific explaination I'm sure someone will give you one if'n you ask. Btw, the mash temp I hit that day was 158. I tried my best to get it lowered. I ended up with a beer that was drinkable for me but not enjoyable. I should have bottled it and gave it to my friends. Oh well.

 

[wedward]

Thanks for the link Kai,

MT

+1 - these are great! Will take some time to learn all the sections, but it certainly jazzes me up to have a formal looking form like that (a leftover from the military I guess).

Love the water adjustment section especially.

 

[Kaiser]

+1 - these are great! Will take some time to learn all the sections, but it certainly jazzes me up to have a formal looking form like that (a leftover from the military I guess).

You're welcome. I had been inspried by all the forms that I had to fill out with the immigraion service

They keep evolving a little bit as I either find new things to record or rearrange things. For the water calculation I plan to add how much ions are actually supplied by the salts so you could do the calculations by hand (in a pinch) . For now it relies on you using a calculator to come up with the water profile and then you can use the Normograph to get the RA. I had been using an old Beersmith version which didn't calculate RA (I assume it does now) hence the normograph.

Kai

 

[DD2000GT]

I have an old flowery journal my wife had on my first brew on 9/24/94. It is the standard 8 1/2 X 11 pages that have lines she wasn't using. I put date, ingredients, amounts, additions, boiling racking notes, mashing notes, OG and FG, fermenting notes, initial tasting (from hydrometer), then dates and notes on tastings after aging so I can determine that beer's best drinking time.

I had a BAD run in with an off flavor (I call a "House" flavor) and I used these notes religously as I changes items, sanitation, water, boiling method, etc. to try to track down the culprit. It was invaluable because after 15 or so batches you tend to forget what you did. I also make those recipes again that I liked and "tweak" them with additions.

I have Beersmith and like the electronic records they provide - but find it nestalgic(sp) to look back over the handwritten recipes and read my notes on each brew. It has been 15 years, and I am still less than halfway through that journal.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I use beersmith but after 9 batches i think I'll start using a hand written journal for notes. Beersmith is great for recipe formulation and brew day planning, but brewing outside there is a huge glare on the screen, plus I use Beersmith on my laptop and my work PC to play with recipes and get the 2 mixed up and blah blah blah. I used a legal pad for my frist 3 brews before buying beersmith and I still have those notes to accurately look at. I tend to not take as many notes if doing it in beersmith.