How important are AA% amounts in Beersmith?

[Yesfan]

Some recipes I have list a hop's AA% and some don't. I'm not very fluent in Beersmith, but I can go in and match up the hop additions to where the IBUs are the correct amount for a given addition (ex: Chinook in Beersmith shown to be at 13AA% vs my Chinook hops being at 11.2AA%).

If I don't know the hops AA%, then what I've done is (after choosing the style I'm brewing) see if the BU:GU ratio is ok and/or see if the IBU graph hasn't went into the red. If it has, then adjust accordingly.

Is that the correct way or is there a better/easier way to do it when using Beersmith?

 

[iijakii]

The recipes you use don't have an overall IBU listed? You input your hops' AA and adjust the qty up/down to hit that. Really just tailor it to your tastes and let that influence how much you use.

 

[Eucrid]

2 ways to do this.

First one is in your recipe double click a hop addition and change the AA. Its there in your recipe then. You have to do it for every addition though.

The other way you can change the AA% of hops is in the ingredients panel. Just go in, double click the hop you have and it'll allow you to change different values including AA%. Now whenever you add hops they'll have the new values. I find this better if you've bought half a pound or more of a certain hop.

 

[Yesfan]

The recipes you use don't have an overall IBU listed? You input your hops' AA and adjust the qty up/down to hit that. Really just tailor it to your tastes and let that influence how much you use.

Some of them do. Most have the AA% listing at each addition (ex: recipes listed here). Some others, from the major vendors, may just have the hop, ounce amount of that hop listed, and what time to add it in the boil and that's it.

2 ways to do this.

First one is in your recipe double click a hop addition and change the AA. Its there in your recipe then. You have to do it for every addition though.

The other way you can change the AA% of hops is in the ingredients panel. Just go in, double click the hop you have and it'll allow you to change different values including AA%. Now whenever you add hops they'll have the new values. I find this better if you've bought half a pound or more of a certain hop.

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I know how to change the AA% in Beersmith. I did not know you could change the default if you're buying hops in bulk. That would be easier! Thanks!



Maybe I'm just overlooking/overthinking but I did a Zombie Dust clone last weekend. The hop additions listed in the recipe (1oz amounts) I found were twice that of what Beersmith recommended once I plugged those numbers in. Needless to say, I followed what Beersmith suggested. Since the overall beer has half the hop amounts than what the recipe called for, I'm wondering how this beer will turn out.

I guess the short of it is, who do you trust in this situation? What Beersmith tells you or what the recipe you downloaded tells you?

 

[jmark]

The other neat thing you can do is copy and paste hops (or any other ingredient for that matter) and have multiple entries for the same variety if you happen to have different batches with different AAs. I buy in bulk each year and I find this useful to mark the harvest year in the description... allows me to keep inventory and use older hops first.

 

[Stillraining]

Maybe I'm just overlooking/overthinking but I did a Zombie Dust clone last weekend. The hop additions listed in the recipe (1oz amounts) I found were twice that of what Beersmith recommended once I plugged those numbers in. Needless to say, I followed what Beersmith suggested. Since the overall beer has half the hop amounts than what the recipe called for, I'm wondering how this beer will turn out.

I guess the short of it is, who do you trust in this situation? What Beersmith tells you or what the recipe you downloaded tells you?

Were you looking at the total AA's or the sliding scale in Beersmith to come to your final conclusion? That sliding scale is just Style guidelines. ( You did have the right style picked right? American IPA. I only asked because this has triped me up once before. )

 

[Yesfan]

Were you looking at the total AA's or the sliding scale in Beersmith to come to your final conclusion? That sliding scale is just Style guidelines. ( You did have the right style picked right? American IPA. I only asked because this has triped me up once before. )

Mostly the sliding scale. When adding the hops, I look to see what the IBUs are (after I have adjusted for my hops) and see what the total bitterness listed. I make sure to pick the right style too. As you've mentioned, it has caught me off guard in the past. I've looked at the bitterness ratio in the lower right (OG/IBU) to see if it's within range.

For most of the beers I have brewed, I've tried to keep the arrows in the scales (OG, IBUs, SRM, est ABV) close to one another, but more emphasis on the OG and IBUs.

 

[Stillraining]

That recipe you were copying then was just out of the so called style guidelines then that Brad has followed and implemented in his program as close to the standards as he could get them . You probably saved yourself a pucker face brew..
We have about 1 oz hops per gallon in most our IPA's and none of them are in your face. So the 1oz increment figure you quoted is not out of line however depending on how it is added.

Also I would not worry about the arrows lining up closely.. Mine are all over the place ..some falling out of range even, either high or low slightly in different styles bent to my taste preferences ...people still drink it..

 

[govner1]

2 ways to do this.

First one is in your recipe double click a hop addition and change the AA. Its there in your recipe then. You have to do it for every addition though.

The other way you can change the AA% of hops is in the ingredients panel. Just go in, double click the hop you have and it'll allow you to change different values including AA%. Now whenever you add hops they'll have the new values. I find this better if you've bought half a pound or more of a certain hop.

If you adjust your AA's when you do an addition and don't exit you can add the other additions of the same hop without changing the AA's and just entering the amount and time.

 

[Yesfan]

That recipe you were copying then was just out of the so called style guidelines then that Brad has followed and implemented in his program as close to the standards as he could get them . You probably saved yourself a pucker face brew..
We have about 1 oz hops per gallon in most our IPA's and none of them are in your face. So the 1oz increment figure you quoted is not out of line however depending on how it is added.

Also I would not worry about the arrows lining up closely.. Mine are all over the place ..some falling out of range even, either high or low slightly in different styles bent to my taste preferences ...people still drink it..

You mentioned pucker face, I had that at one time. The West Coast Radical Red kit I bought one time from NB was an awesome brew. That was an extract kit I tried years back. Loved it. About a year ago I decided to brew the all grain version of that kit as I had the ingredients in bulk on hand. I downloaded the recipe, plugged in the numbers, but went with the recipe's suggested hop amounts and not the changes Beersmith suggested. Pucker face indeed.

I've learned a lot more about Beersmith since then. Since I've went with Beersmith's suggestion this go around on the Zombie Dust clone, I'm curious to see how this beer is going to turn out. I dry hopped with 3oz of Citra this morning.

Can't wait to taste the results.

 

[Stillraining]

LOL..
The guys I have gotten into brewing were WC Battery Acid lovers..They liked those needles buried in the red!
They can barley choke one down now after drinking and learning to brew in my opinion and now theirs a much better beer. All their neighbors want it now too, and kegs disappear quickly we kicked one at a gathering last night. There is great satisfaction in providing such a well received brew. We might have another brew partner wanting to join our ranks as he says he cant find beer to buy like ours at the store, actually quite a few people have said this now. I'm sure they are wrong and they are out there, I cant tell you for certain because I'm not an IPA guy..I have never bought one in my life.

Carry on

 

[Phyre]

I've been confused on how to use this feature correctly.
I build the recipe in beersmith with that AA's the recipe calls for.
How Do I get BS to adjust the addition amount based on my actually hop AA value?

 

[Stillraining]

I've been confused on how to use this feature correctly.
I build the recipe in beersmith with that AA's the recipe calls for.
How Do I get BS to adjust the addition amount based on my actually hop AA value?

Beersmith IS using the aa value you have your hop listed at for its IBU calculation automatically. Even so far as to their continued impact while whirl-pooling/seeping if desired, and of course rather early or late additions.
Change the aa percentage of your hop and it changes the IBU's for the same increment across the board of that usage rather that's weight needed or time of use.
You will have to adjust the amount of usage of those 3 parameters of that hop manually to your targeted total AAU's desired as Beersmith has no way of knowing what that desired value is.( Its just making Style guide line suggestions) You will also have to play with times and addition parameters to suit your desired end games to what you want those AA's adding to your final beer.. IE..Bitter or Aroma. And those should be listed in your recipe as well.

 

[Oginme]

I've been confused on how to use this feature correctly.
I build the recipe in beersmith with that AA's the recipe calls for.
How Do I get BS to adjust the addition amount based on my actually hop AA value?

The way that I go about this is to add the recipe at published %AA. Then for each addition, I note the IBU contribution, 'substitute' that hop for the correct %AA of the lot that I have in inventory and adjust the amount to get to approximately the same IBU contribution.

 

[Phyre]

I did a quick google search and found an answer too. I appreciate the reply!
I am a little bit disappointed that you can't build the recipe 'as is' and have target AA values, then you can build your inventory of your hop's AA values and have BS adjust accordingly (so using the shopping cart feature would call for correct purchase amounts)

I did however notice if you goto "hop IBU's" and write down all those units, then adjust your hops AA value in the recipe, you go back into "Hop IBU" and adjust each addition back to the percentage of your target, it will adjust the amount of the addition needed.

Its a nice feature, just not very streamlined.

I am brewing up a IPA today, and I wanted to make sure I had the correct additions. This will be my second brew of the year.

 

[Stillraining]

I did a quick google search and found an answer too. I appreciate the reply!
I am a little bit disappointed that you can't build the recipe 'as is' and have target AA values, then you can build your inventory of your hop's AA values and have BS adjust accordingly (so using the shopping cart feature would call for correct purchase amounts)

I did however notice if you goto "hop IBU's" and write down all those units, then adjust your hops AA value in the recipe, you go back into "Hop IBU" and adjust each addition back to the percentage of your target, it will adjust the amount of the addition needed.

Its a nice feature, just not very streamlined.

I am brewing up a IPA today, and I wanted to make sure I had the correct additions. This will be my second brew of the year.

Brad is very open to suggestions for future updates to his program...Shoot him an email..He'd love hearing from you and he is a great guy.