I don't keep a log

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

when I brew, Kinda curious how many others brew their beer without recording their OG's, SG's, FG's and other readings. I used to keep some notes but I have not recorded anything in my log for the last half dozen or so brews. Not saying I know what I am doing, my beers are turning out good enough for me. Maybe the next brew I will take notes and maybe I won't.

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

if you like it, keep doin it!

 

[govner1]

I keep notes so I can reproduce beers consistently. Especially the ones that turn out great!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Quaffman]

I keep detailed notes, but i have no idea how many batches I've brewed. Somewhere around 35 i think.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

I'm very lazy, and sometimes drunk while brewing, so any notes are suspect. I used to print out my recipe and record temps, gravities, etc. right on the paper. A hole punch and three ring binder could keep them organized.

 

[RLinNH]

I'm OCD with my brewing. I have detailed notes from 93, on. I like to read them every now and then to see my progression from extract brewing, then to partial mash(2 brews), on to all grain. Sometimes I surprise myself whilke I am reading, and I brew a beer that was heaven to me way back when. And to this day, most of them are still heaven... It's home brewing. Notes, no notes, just brew.

 

[ChillWill]

Well, my career is as a brewer so note taking and measurements are kind of second nature to me, so I've got logs of all my recipes etc.

Most important really are figures for OG (and efficiency) and mash temps with FG so I can make sure I'm getting the right about of residual sugars / body on subsequent brews.

That saying, if you brew often and aren't particularly fussy then you can most likely go from memory.... depending on how many beers you drink when you brew lol.

 

[grathan]

Sometimes when drinking a beer I like to look at the brew notes. Its kinda funny the stuff I thought was once important in older recipe notes.

 

[50quidsoundboy]

i'm horrendously lazy in every aspect of my life but i've thoroughly documented every one of my brews from the first one two years ago - i've done 39 since then. i keep all my notes in Evernote and i love reading back through them, especially when i'm shirking at work. they're an invaluable technical resource for me, they tell a story, and every subsequent brew benefits from having them!

 

[fuelish]

I keep notes, but not OCD about the details....batch number, recipe, start date, OG, racking date(s), if any (mainly pertaining to my meads), FG, bottling date....just the basics

 

[Hello]

I keep notes, but not OCD about the details....batch number, recipe, start date, OG, racking date(s), if any (mainly pertaining to my meads), FG, bottling date....just the basics

This. I record the basics so I know where I came from and I can hopefully reproduce the beer if need be. SG and FG are important to me. Any brew day notes that are significant are as well.


You do you man. If that works.

 

[AnOldUR]

I have like three working brain cells left. Without a log I'd forget how to brew.

 

[motleybrew]

When I can actually do a full boil in one vessel; when I can control fermentation temperature; when I have a consistent grain crush, etc. Then I'll care enough to record data. Until then, I'm just making something that is drinkable.

 

[masonsjax]

I started out doing AG and haven't dramatically changed my process or equipment in all those years. I've brewed somewhere north of 300 five gallon batches. I stopped taking notes in my second year when I realized my process was exactly the same every batch and always hit the numbers right on, and more importantly, always turned out good beer. I haven't even used a hydrometer in I can't remember how many years. Notes are just not important to me.

 

[Yooper]

I have like three working brain cells left. Without a log I'd forget how to brew.

Me too! I'd forget to add some of the grain, or some of the hops, or to adjust the mash pH.

I don't have much in the way of notes, though. Just a printed recipe sheet, and I use that to go crush my grain. Then when I brew, I add the water adjustments from that sheet that I had previously calculated for the mash pH and flavor ions. No way would I remember "15 ml phosphoric acid, 10 grams gypsum, 3 grams CaCl2 in the mash" and "22 ml phosphoric acid in the sparge" or the amount of strike water needed for 22.75 pounds of grain. I just don't have the memory for that any more.

My efficiency is always 75% for my system, unless I do a decoction. So I don't even look at those numbers, except for make sure my OG is where I want it.

The actual brew steps are like riding a bicycle, though. At this point, I'm not so far gone that I've forgotten how to mash, sparge, and boil. Yet.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

I used to keep notes. but there were many times I forgot to take the OG reading, or the SG and the beer still turned out real good. I have had a couple of failures and my "mistake" never happened twice. I don't add all the "drugs" to their brew like Yooper does. Maybe if I learned how to use BeerSmith(which I have), my beer would be better?

 

[AnOldUR]

At this point, I'm not so far gone that I've forgotten how to mash, sparge, and boil.

Wait . . . I thought it was sparge, mash and boil. I'll have to check my notes.

 

[catdaddy66]

I just started taking detailed notes over my last 10 or so batches. One tool that has helped a lot is the app 'Brew Log'. I plug in style, fermentables, hop additions, gravity readings and yeast and it does the rest. Also use 'Brew Me' and 'Sparge Pal' apps... Man, I love my phone!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I've never kept a log. if I drop chocolate nut roll in the pool, I flush it down. but I do keep brewing notes. not very detailed ones. basically just beersmith with basic data filled in (ingredients & quantities, OG, FG) and in the notes, dates & SG before & at bottling and any misc info. please don't keep poop.

 

[messiah]

I keep recipes and log OG and FG so I can get the ABV at the very least. I am just now starting to really get into logging everything. I grabbed brewtarget (its free!), which looks like it will do nicely for this once I get my equipment dialed in just right. I also started doing bottling dates on the little tags I hang from my bottles because there was a time where I could not for the life of me remember when a beer I found was made.

 

[krackin]

I usually write my own recipe and print it out. I then note any changes I make on brew day which I very often do on the fly. I have a stack of recipes with comments as to how I liked them. I don't do meticulous record keeping, business records are tedious and keep me busy enough.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I design, log data and take notes all in Beersmith. I use the timer function on brew days, which also gives you access to the Brewing Session Log so I can enter quantities, gravities, pH, temps, etc as I go. It definitely comes in handy since I may go back later if I want to tweak the recipe for next time. All together I spend less time logging info than it took to type this response.

 

[day_trippr]

I track all brewery ops using MS Project because I have it, it works great for that, and it actually is a pleasure to use it for something outside of a *&#@%!! conference room Recipes and batch notes are handled by BS2 these days, but I still have a file full of hard copied Excel spreadsheet recipes. I've never not logged a batch in over a decade...

Cheers!

 

[seanybubbles]

I write down all my recipes and all the changes I made. I find this very important with ingredients. It's rare I can brew a recipe to the letter so I do a lot of substituting.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Calichusetts]

Beersmith plus a pretty intensive log book. Keeps me focused and I get repeatable results.

At the same time, my buddy just wings it and has produced some amazing beers. With that said. He did a brew demonstration at our LHBS for their grand opening. He was just winging it and I did the hop schedule for him. It turned out quite well but when I was down there today, the owner wanted to make his recipe. He had to ask me for the hop schedule which I hardly remembered.

There are pros and cons to each.

 

[sven11]

Originally I didn't keep notes until I accidentally brewed a batch that was really good and couldn't repeat it later. Now I keep detailed notes on the whole process so I can recreate the best batches if I want to.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I recently threw away all of my notes, but kept the recipes that stood out.

Keep moving forward...

 

[Brews]

I have a routine in which I set up everything I'm going to use including my recipe. Once I begin my initial strike, I start to measure out exactly what I'm going to use and line it up. I keep detailed notes on the entire process. I have found that by the time some of my neighbors figure out I'm brewing and decide to "help me" (4 tap keezer at hand), I need the notes just to remember the next time I brew this batch.

 

[JimEb]

Since I've only been brewing kits, I just record basic info. - kit name, batch #, days in primary, and anything else I think I might want to know that I think might have an effect of the end product.

Mostly it's reference because I write the batch# on the bottle caps. In case I find a dusty bottle in the back of my storage area with "12" on it I can reference what's in that bottle.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Haven't started a log book yet. I use Beersmith and should at least take some notes in it I suppose. Beers have turned out really well overall, so much so that I rarely drink commercial any more. I do generally take gravity readings (pre-boil, OG, and FG) for each brew, but don't document them for future use. I think part of me doesn't want additional tasks or to make this hobby less "fun", which note-taking seems to do for me. I may get into it (note-taking) more down the road.

 

[AnOldUR]

I don't keep a log

I do.

 

[beinert]

Never kept a note since the second or third batch. That was about twenty years ago. I keep all of the good recipes in my head.

 

[Chadwick]

I keep logs and records for some beers, not for others. If I'm experimenting and I have high expectations, I keep a log. If I'm experimenting but I have a general idea what I'm doing and it isn't anything other than a daily "evening beer", I don't keep a log. I have a pretty good idea what is going on.

I have a few brews that are works in progress. A great beer that is loved by me and my friends and family of which I'll make minor changes each batch. I keep very careful notes on these. Not just normal notes, but tasting differences vs. previous batches and so forth.

Some people brew like jazz, always improvising and allowing the moment to dictate the result. Some people brew like an orchestra, every note predefined and meant to be followed exactly. Some people brew like me (a retired rockstar); sometimes high, sometimes low, a little exact, a little lost, anyway the wind blows....nothing really matters to me:rockin:

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Never kept a note since the second or third batch. That was about twenty years ago. I keep all of the good recipes in my head.

I tried that about 15 years ago. my brain isn't wired for handling numbers as it is. then add alcohol, memory erase. about 14 years ago, I brewed a great chocolate raspberry stout and never took notes. never been able to come close since.