Does anybody know of software or links to better help calculate making small batch (1-2 gallon) brews? I’m finding it tough to enter small batch brews into beer smith apps in android.
Does anybody know a general rule of thumb to account for sediment loss?
Thanks for the help all. Have a great day.
Curtdogg
Accounting for losses in a small batch means accurately measuring your system the first few go rounds. I typically start with around 1.5 gallons and usually put 1 gallon into bottles.
What’s your issue with using software on your recipes?
The easiest way to scale recipes is to not scale them by weight but by percentage. Take a 5 gallon recipe, convert it to a percentage based recipe and use PPG to get your numbers right for 1 gallon. I use Excel for recipes but am converting over to ProMash. There’s really nothing to it.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I’ve been looking for a formula to convert to percentage.
Problems with caculators such as sparge water coming out in negative quantities or strike water needing to be 220 degrees f, just doesn’t seem right.
Also in some calculators or software small batches just aren’t an option in the drop down menus.
Can you recommend a PPG calculator you like?
Thanks for your help Scotty.
R,
Curtdogg
Percentage is just a matter of dividing the weight of an ingredient by the total weight of ALL ingredients. So:
2 lbs of Pilsner malt in a 3 lb. grist is 67% Pilsner malt. PM me and I’ll hook you up with my simple excel sheet.
Are you converting from larger batch size recipes? If so, its best to create an equipment profile for the larger batch and an equipment profile for your batch size. Then use the recipe scaling function to map from one to the other.
If you just don’t like the Beersmith user interface I can’t really help.
I use Brewer’s Friend for that all the time. The scale function works pretty well for both volumes and efficiency conversion.
It’s not going to be helpful for recipe formulation, as I don’t have it in place yet (working on it next week), but my mash calculator http://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc will do your water volumes, temps, and efficiency expectations which you can plug a recipe scaling tool of your choice.
I really appreciate everybody’s help and feedback.
I’ve used the BIAB calculators before, seems like I don’t have enough info to fill it out completely i.e.; efficiency rates, trub loss, mash thickness, gravity readings. I know the boil off rate and the size of the pot etc. I can’t even begin to guess efficiency rates and such they ask for. I only have a 2 gallon pot for now so until then I’ll keep trying different things until it clicks. Eventually I’ll get a larger pot and a burner.
So far I made a black IPA (all grain) bottle conditioning that turned out ok. I have an English brown (extract) fermenting now. With the IPA I boiled for one hour assuming that is the norm for all size batches so I boiled of more than I should have and ended up with less than a gallon.
I really enjoy the brewing process from start to finish. I know it’s going to take some time to get everything right.
Thanks again guys.
most of my inputs and outputs will have a mouse over description which might help.
Conversion Eff should be 90%+, I’d leave it at 92-95% for now until you determine your system.
Masthickness is usually described in the recipe, but it’s personal preference for a lot of brewers, you can either leave it at 0.00 for mine which will go by the custom sparge volume entry, or enter a mash thickness to override the sparge volume entry. I usually use 1.75-2 qt/lb for my biab, but I do batch sparge.
Trub loss for kettle is a matter of personal preference, I dump everything into the fermenter so mine is zero.
Truloss for fermenter is usually 6-10% of the batch size. So a 1 gallon batch would lose ~. 06-.1 gallon.
The gravity readings are used after the brew day, and are used to calculate some info regarding that brew day.
If equipment is in short supply you could go the Brooklyn Brew 1 gallon route mash in the pot and lauter with a strainer.
This has the advantage of using typical kitchen equipment until you get a BIAB bag or an MLT.
I suggest you purchase a five gallon kettle. They can be had at any of the big retailers for about $39. It will allow you to do a 1.5-2 gallon mash and full boil–or, you can do a five gallon batch, partial boil. It is a great value, and you won’t regret it.
Also, I think that the starting point for BIAB efficiency is more like 65%.
Common misconception, but typical is around ~72% mash efficiency. Ranges up to 80% depending on proxess, recipe, equipment etc.
I can’t get into BIAB. Something about opening a valve, vorlaufing, etc. just does it for me.
I’m at 82-84% preboil efficiency. Depends on how much bag squeezin’ you’re up for.
I’ve always read bag squeezing isn’t good. You could potentially get some unwanted flavors.
Another one of those often spouted myths that won’t die. Bag squeezing does not impart tannins, they’re a product of poor ph and temp.
In beersmith you will get much better results if you set up an equipment profile for your small batches. If you use the default five or ten gallon cooler/fryer set up then you’ll get all kinds of inaccurate results because it still makes all the assumptions for the larger equipment. I’m not sure if the app lets you build equipment profiles or lets you import them from another source. I would image it does.
You’ll need to dial in your system based on the results you get from it rather than borrow from somebody else especially for a smaller system. A few ounces of trub one way or the other can make a big difference in some of the profile’s assumptions. With BIAB so many factors in your process can give that result, e.g. porosity of the bag, the crush, whether you squeeze the bag, how much you squeeze, etc. I would start off with something in the 15% range for trub and adjust as you see from your results.
All great info guys. Thanks a million.
Much more research to do I have.
R,
Curtdogg
The bag squeezing myth refuses to die. Squeezing the hell out of the bag does no harm to your wort. The idea that a small increase in pressure imparted on wort soaked grains will induce tannin formation is bollocks.
I will add the caveat that it depends on your bag. Something with a coarse weave might pass some husk material through if you squeeze it excessively. But a fine mesh bag like a voile BIAB bag isn’t going to be an issue.