post boil

[hb771]

What do you think of increasing the boil time just to get to your target volume????
Beersmith gave me a wrong number and I have had an extra 1/4 gallon after 60 min.
Its true that the cooling reduces the volume some and the trub takes up room too so you need some extra but do you think its a good idea to just boil till you feel its right?? 1 gallon batch.

 

[kh54s10]

It depends on whether you are at the gravity you want. If you are low you can boil longer. But this will have an affect on the bitterness from the hops.

I think that heat expansion of water from room temperature to boiling is about 4% so if it hasn't been cooled when you say you have 1/4 gallon too much it will be less when cooled. You will also lose some beer in the trub.

What sized batch? I do 5 gallon batches and collect 5.25 to 5.5 gallons to hope to end up with 5 gallons of beer.

 

[laredo7mm]

What do you think of increasing the boil time just to get to your target volume????
Beersmith gave me a wrong number and I have had an extra 1/4 gallon after 60 min.
Its true that the cooling reduces the volume some and the trub takes up room too so you need some extra but do you think its a good idea to just boil till you feel its right??

Yes it is true that cooling reduces the volume, and yes the trub takes up volume, but Beersmith has inputs for trub and chiller loss, fermenter loss, shrinkage %, and evaporation rate.

You have to know your system for brewsmith to give you good estimates, so it is kind of hard to believe that the program gave you a "wrong" number.

Crap in = crap out.

 

[hb771]

I would rather have a recipe calculator that was less cumbersome than BeerSmith. It is like a lot of programs overdone.

 

[Oginme]

I would rather have a recipe calculator that was less cumbersome than BeerSmith. It is like a lot of programs overdone.

There are a number of other options available other than BeerSmith.


However, be advised that as they simplify things, they also make assumptions which can lead to other errors (or the same as you experienced). In my experience, BS2 can be amazingly accurate IF you are consistent in your process and use accurate values to improve your profiles.

 

[TexasWine]

I would rather have a recipe calculator that was less cumbersome than BeerSmith. It is like a lot of programs overdone.

That's why I landed on Brewers Friend. I started out with Beersmith but found the user friendliness to be lacking. It reminded me of picking up someone else's spreadsheet at work that they had used to do calculations for the past 10 years. Things hidden here and there. Nothing laid out logically. But the person that created it has no problems using it because they know where all the bones are buried.

As far as I can tell and have heard, Brewers Friend has all the features of Beersmith, but it's very logical and easy to understand. It also has a very good yeast starter calculator and water profile/pH predictor.

Beersmith is a great product, it serves many people's needs just fine and dandy, and I'm sure if you sat down with it for a few hours it'd become easier. But if you're like me, you don't have a few hours to spare and need something you can just pick up and use.

Hope this helps.

 

[jmcquesten]

That's why I landed on Brewers Friend. I started out with Beersmith but found the user friendliness to be lacking. It reminded me of picking up someone else's spreadsheet at work that they had used to do calculations for the past 10 years. Things hidden here and there. Nothing laid out logically. But the person that created it has no problems using it because they know where all the bones are buried.

As far as I can tell and have heard, Brewers Friend has all the features of Beersmith, but it's very logical and easy to understand. It also has a very good yeast starter calculator and water profile/pH predictor.

Beersmith is a great product, it serves many people's needs just fine and dandy, and I'm sure if you sat down with it for a few hours it'd become easier. But if you're like me, you don't have a few hours to spare and need something you can just pick up and use.

Hope this helps.

I second Brewer's Friend. I had beersmith but really didn't care for it. I like that brewer's friend is web based, so I can work on a recipe on any computer/tablet/phone, and have that recipe accessible whenever I need it (at the homebrew store). I'm not sure if this is now possible with beersmith or not. Brewersfriend.com has a more user friendly interface and is constantly updated with new ingredients. I've started using just brewersfriend.com calculators to stay somewhat consistent just in case the other calculators give different values. Another new feature on brewersfriend.com is the "buy recipe" button. I'm not sure what online homebrew supplier it links to, but it allows you to buy the ingredients for the recipe you've created. I probably won't use it because I buy bulk grain locally, but it's cool for someone that doesn't.

I have had the paid membership for about a year now.