How do you keep your notes? Logs?

[bob1852]

I use this for hand written stuff, then I have an excell sheet for calculations.

 

[Wyrmwood]

I take hand written notes, usually on my recipe sheets, and enter them in my blog (on this site - check my sig).

I notice everyone on here just about is using Brewsmith. I downloaded it but am not sure where to start. Is there a tutorial or something?
EDIT: Doh! I downloaded brewtarget and it is very thorough - could also work as a brew log - has a notes section for each recipe.

 

[Chemiker]

I'm so accustomed to writing in a lab notebook that I prefer doing it by hand. Much faster than typing and I can draw diagrams and write in margins.

BUT, I start with a BeerSmith brew sheet. I get my recipe worked out, print it, and have it out for reference. As I brew, I use the brew sheet to prompt me for the next step/time/whatever, but all of the data I take goes into the notebook. I do put important learnings into the BeerSmith notes section, and definitely fill in the tasting notes section.

 

[starrfish]

I THINK I take WAY too many notes to use any standard template or software (which bums me out) and i've tried a couple of times to build something in Excel to track my notes and just have never gotten anything to work (damn Excel for Mac with no macros!!!)

I am constantly jotting down my temps in all three vessels, when I'm adding heat to where... I basically take a note every three or four minutes.

It may sound like insanity but i don't mind the work... I'm not doin' anything else and I have found it to be a HUGE help in adjusting my process here or there or tweaking recipes.

(damn Excel for Mac with no macros!!!) LOL I tried the free Neo-Office for the mac... I just hate spread sheets being a GD (graphic designer) I just use Quark or InDesign now I have things in both which is a real pima as I don't have quark at home. sucks being a mac user at times.

 

[Clann]

I keep a ratty old tablet of recipes to make sure I get the specialty grain and hops right. I like certain hop schedules. but other than that ita almost all grey matter.

 

[MX1]

(damn Excel for Mac with no macros!!!) LOL I tried the free Neo-Office for the mac... I just hate spread sheets being a GD (graphic designer) I just use Quark or InDesign now I have things in both which is a real pima as I don't have quark at home. sucks being a mac user at times.

I THINK I take WAY too many notes to use any standard template or software (which bums me out) and i've tried a couple of times to build something in Excel to track my notes and just have never gotten anything to work (damn Excel for Mac with no macros!!!)

I am constantly jotting down my temps in all three vessels, when I'm adding heat to where... I basically take a note every three or four minutes.

It may sound like insanity but i don't mind the work... I'm not doin' anything else and I have found it to be a HUGE help in adjusting my process here or there or tweaking recipes.

You 2 eer here of Numbers??? J/k

Open office might work, I have iWork 11 and Office for Mac 11, i can usually figure out something with those 2. Next I want to get a PDF creator so I can make the 2 sheets I brew Fillable.

Tim

 

[MalFet]

Beersmith. I don't understand what others mean by not being able to re brew though. Just increment the recipe name with a number added.

All of my brewing notes are inside Beersmith as well.

Of course that works, but what I like about how iBrewMaster and others do it is that recipes and batches are logically separate things. I've got tons of recipes that I've not yet brewed, and then other recipes that I've brewed many times. It's nice to be able to browse through my recipes without needing to sift through duplicates. Plus, sometimes I'll need to tweak a recipe because I don't have something or because I botch up a temperature. iBrewMaster lets me do that without changing the underlying recipe.

 

[CPooley4]

I use my Brew Chart (below in my signature). Allows me to recipe design, track brewday numbers, predict post boil numbers prior to boiling, know the exact beer I made after boiling (rather than just a good idea based upon the original recipe), track water profile/adjustments, calculate yeast pitch, priming amounts, etc..., and keep all my notes on the brew in one spot. That way everything I've done with that brew is saved in one spot. I created a Brewing folder with beer style sub-folders where I "save as" each beer I brew. Can always go back and see exactly what I did and it makes re-brewing quite easy. I got tired of having too many things floating around about each brew so I started working on it. Haven't stopped since, my wife thinks I'm addicted to it

 

[mlg5039]

I take hand written notes prior to, during, and after brewing. I also take notes regarding fermentation, hydro readings, and tastings. I also follow up with aging notes. I put all of my notes in a pretty flower covered journal I found in the attic cause I think it's hilarious.

 

[brewingkitty]

beersmith and good old fashioned paper.

 

[weirdboy]

I use iBrewMaster for the iPad. It's lovely. It does a nice job managing recipes and batches separately. I tried using BrewSmith for a while, but the fact that I couldn't get it to manage recipe rebrews easily (as others have mentioned) got annoying.

Huh? I rebrew all the time using Beersmith and they are all separate. You don't even have to rename recipes or anything as others have mentioned.

You have "My Recipes" and "Brew Log" by default. When you create a recipe, put it in "My Recipes".

When you brew it, copy it to "Brew Log" (there is a toolbar button to do just this) and then double click on the new entry in Brew Log and change the date to "Today". Then put whatever recipe changes, notes, etc. in that entry that are associated with that particular brew day. All your brews in the brew log can be sorted multiple ways, so it's easy to find a previous batch that is still in progress or that you're tasting a year or two later to add more notes, or record a competition score.


Now, if you make a significant change or refinement to a recipe in the brew log, that you want to go back to my base recipe, you can either copy it back to My Recipes and give it a version number (this is what I usually do) or you can simply replace the old recipe with the new one. As a reminder to yourself not to mess with a recipe, you can also lock the entry so you cannot make changes.

 

[HDChef]

I'm using a composition notebook, extra one from the kids, to record my data. I would like to go digital, but I can write faster than I can type