whenithitsyourlips
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- Aug 31, 2012
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Hey guys, new user here. I actually posted this over at Beersmith but I though I would also post here to, since homebrewtalk is my go-to forum. I noticed that maybe some of the other threads reference this, but as I feel somewhat strongly about it I will not hesitate to re-post and bring attention to something. Original thread on BS:
Hey everyone, new member here. I have about 10 AG batches under my belt now, the last two of those I have used BS. I will preface this by saying I think BS is a great piece of software and will be a very valuable tool going forward, but it seems like there may be a very blatant flaw that should be brought to the attention of new users like myself.
This may be common knowledge, like I said I am new here, but it seems that using a certain aspect of the software as it was intended to be used will give the user less than desirable results. Before I first used BS, I felt like a had a very good understanding of my brewing system, I know that I get right at about 80% mash efficiency, boil off 1.5 gal/hr... etc., so it was easy for me to input this information into the software and dial my system in as accurately as possible. I saw the calibration field "Loss to Trub and Chiller" and read the description "The volume of WORT lost due to trub and chiller deadspace". I knew that this was actual wort being basically left behind and not transferred to the carboy. So, I put in a value of 1 gallon (I get a crap ton of cold break due to Whirlfloc) and went about my business.
So my first brew day with BS rolls around and when I go to take my OG reading I am 12 points low!!! I was horrified. For a 5.5 gallon batch I was shooting for 1.077 and actually ended up with 1.065. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I did to get such a low mash efficiency. Everything for this brew went exactly as planned so it was very frustrating thinking that something I did was the culprit. Well later on I was messing with the software creating an updated recipe with my new horrendous efficiency numbers (well mash efficiency is calculated, but I updated BH eff). I also increased the "Loss to Trub and Chiller" filed from 1 gallon to 1.25 gallon (had a little more than usual) and I noticed something. No mater how much I changed the trub loss field, the recipe stayed exactly the same. The only thing that changed was the amount of water I fly sparged with and ultimately gathered for my boil. I thought, no way can I increase the amount of water and not increase the amount of grains. It is clear that the trub loss is described as the WORT left behind (which is not just water!). So it was obvious that I was diluting my wort by 1 gallon. No wonder I had such a low OG!
Well I didn't want to jump to conclusions right away, so I said F* it, I'll brew it again, same day. So this time I set the trub loss field to 0 and just scaled my recipe up by a gallon. This way I am getting an extra gallon of wort and not just water. What do you know, I nailed 1.077. My confidence had returned and I was king home brew yet again.
So, while this is a very simple work around, that I absolutely don't mind doing... I think it should be something that new users are aware of. Yes over time they will just assume that have a sh*t efficiency and adjust the grains according to that, but that should not be the answer. I was ready to completely abandon by fly sparging set up, adjust my grain crush and search high and low on ways to improve my eff, even though in reality it was great. Sorry for the long post and I appreciate any who reads it and responds constructively. Like I said, maybe I just completely missed something and am using the software in the wrong way, but based on the instructions, videos, and field descriptions it is very misleading.
Hey everyone, new member here. I have about 10 AG batches under my belt now, the last two of those I have used BS. I will preface this by saying I think BS is a great piece of software and will be a very valuable tool going forward, but it seems like there may be a very blatant flaw that should be brought to the attention of new users like myself.
This may be common knowledge, like I said I am new here, but it seems that using a certain aspect of the software as it was intended to be used will give the user less than desirable results. Before I first used BS, I felt like a had a very good understanding of my brewing system, I know that I get right at about 80% mash efficiency, boil off 1.5 gal/hr... etc., so it was easy for me to input this information into the software and dial my system in as accurately as possible. I saw the calibration field "Loss to Trub and Chiller" and read the description "The volume of WORT lost due to trub and chiller deadspace". I knew that this was actual wort being basically left behind and not transferred to the carboy. So, I put in a value of 1 gallon (I get a crap ton of cold break due to Whirlfloc) and went about my business.
So my first brew day with BS rolls around and when I go to take my OG reading I am 12 points low!!! I was horrified. For a 5.5 gallon batch I was shooting for 1.077 and actually ended up with 1.065. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I did to get such a low mash efficiency. Everything for this brew went exactly as planned so it was very frustrating thinking that something I did was the culprit. Well later on I was messing with the software creating an updated recipe with my new horrendous efficiency numbers (well mash efficiency is calculated, but I updated BH eff). I also increased the "Loss to Trub and Chiller" filed from 1 gallon to 1.25 gallon (had a little more than usual) and I noticed something. No mater how much I changed the trub loss field, the recipe stayed exactly the same. The only thing that changed was the amount of water I fly sparged with and ultimately gathered for my boil. I thought, no way can I increase the amount of water and not increase the amount of grains. It is clear that the trub loss is described as the WORT left behind (which is not just water!). So it was obvious that I was diluting my wort by 1 gallon. No wonder I had such a low OG!
Well I didn't want to jump to conclusions right away, so I said F* it, I'll brew it again, same day. So this time I set the trub loss field to 0 and just scaled my recipe up by a gallon. This way I am getting an extra gallon of wort and not just water. What do you know, I nailed 1.077. My confidence had returned and I was king home brew yet again.
So, while this is a very simple work around, that I absolutely don't mind doing... I think it should be something that new users are aware of. Yes over time they will just assume that have a sh*t efficiency and adjust the grains according to that, but that should not be the answer. I was ready to completely abandon by fly sparging set up, adjust my grain crush and search high and low on ways to improve my eff, even though in reality it was great. Sorry for the long post and I appreciate any who reads it and responds constructively. Like I said, maybe I just completely missed something and am using the software in the wrong way, but based on the instructions, videos, and field descriptions it is very misleading.