Your Brew Diary

[Sir Humpsalot]

Hey folks. I've been keeping a brew diary.

I print off a few pages, fold them in half, and then have a spot for 4 recipes on each sheet of paper. I keep this brew diary by my carboys. This serves a couple of purposes. First, I can keep track of my fermentation schedules without having to fire up the computer every time I rack/bottle/etc. Second, the info is right there by my beer. Third, it's kind of cool to have a tangible book that you can reference.

I also use Brewsmith and keep my recipes stored in there, but when it comes time to imagineer a new recipe, I always start by looking at my Brew Diary first for inspiration.

Of course, other people have other methods. What's Yours?

Also, if anybody is interested, I'd be happy to email a copy of my blank brew diary so you can check it out and try it for yourself.... It's kinda handy...

 

[nikkimac1027]

what a good idea.
i have tryed to start this myself, but alas, i am a bit lazy on that end. I havnt been keeping up with it, but i think this is an excellent idea. Do you have columns and/or rows with readings/color/IBUs/notes? i thought about making a book myself (as i have looked for a "brew journal") that would allow me not only to keep recipes, notes, reviews of my homebrew, reviews from others on my homebrew, but critque commercial beers as well.....

 

[Torchiest]

I keep everything in BeerSmith. I have a folder of all my official World Domination Beer recipes, a folder with the actual brew log, where the recipes are numbered, and another folder with miscellaneous or non-official recipes. I keep pretty good notes in the sections for each recipe, including brew date, bottling date, starter notes, lag time, and all tasting notes. It's been working pretty well for me over fifteen brews.

 

[david_42]

I just have a little pocket notebook. Recipes go on the right pages, fermentation, tasting & conditioning info on the left. There's also a binder I put printed recipes in, but that's just for reference; if I make it, it's in the little book.

 

[homebrewer_99]

1. I use a single sheet of paper to record all of my notes (hand written).

2. Transcribe (type) them into Recipator.

3. Cut and paste it into a Word.doc.

4. Edit/update as the beer matures and add tasting notes.

5. Print out and place in a document protector in a binder.

6. Enter notes as needed in Word. Print out new doc and replace old one in document protector in binder.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I have a notebook where I keep all my recipes and notes for each brew. I do use ProMash to design my beers and track vital statistics, but my notebook is really where the info is.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Here's my format.. this is a half of one page... For stuff like IBU's and SRM, I figure you can just use some software... this is my cookbook, not a science book...



BEER NAME __________________________________________
Style: ____________________________________________________

Brew Date _____________ Secondary Date _____________
Bottling Date ___________
Special Handling: ___________________________________

INGREDIENTS
_______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________

Yeast________________________________

METHODS AND EQUIPMENT
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

O.G./F.G. _______ / _______ ABV________%

Brewer’s Tasting Comments: _________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
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Other Taster’s Comments: