[donsmitty]

I just started all-grain brewing and my OG has been low in both batches.  I use BeerSmith2 and follow it to the T. Has anyone experienced issues with BeerSmith2?  The numbers look good from Design but after sparging my pre-boil numbers are off and they are off again after the boil.  What should I be concerned about when entering everything into BeerSmith2?   My equipment profile is:  10 gal orange cooler with 12" false bottom.  Sparge cooler is 10 gal orange cooler.  Boil kettle is a Blichmann 10 gal. 

Any suggestions?

[kramerog]

I use BeerSmith 1.  Unless something has changed drastically, BeerSmith2 estimates the OG based on efficiency.  The initial efficiency is just a guesstimate.  If you do not change your process, you should now "program" BeerSmith2 to match your process based on your prior runs, ie, replace guesstimated parameters with averaged data.

[Jimmy K]

Same story. I think the efficiency is preset at 75% and I had to lower it a little to get the OG's to come out right.

What I'd recommend is going back to the recipe's you've brewed and changing the efficiency until the predicted OG matches what you had. That should tell you where you are.

[repo]

I just started all-grain brewing and my OG has been low in both batches.  I use BeerSmith2 and follow it to the T. Has anyone experienced issues with BeerSmith2?  The numbers look good from Design but after sparging my pre-boil numbers are off and they are off again after the boil.  What should I be concerned about when entering everything into BeerSmith2?   My equipment profile is:  10 gal orange cooler with 12" false bottom.  Sparge cooler is 10 gal orange cooler.  Boil kettle is a Blichmann 10 gal. 

Any suggestions?

Beersmith is very confusing at first and does kooky things. You have made a couple batches and can now use that data to manipulate beersmith to fit your unique process. If your preboil gravity is off then your og should also be off by the same amount.

The main issue with beersmith is it has brewhouse efficiency and mash efficiency. As you change your brewhouse efficiency it will change the mash efficiency automatically.  Now when you formulate a recipe adjust that brewhouse efficiency number to what you hit with the other batches. You then should be right on if your process remained consistent. 

[factory]

I just started all-grain brewing and my OG has been low in both batches.  I use BeerSmith2 and follow it to the T. Has anyone experienced issues with BeerSmith2?  The numbers look good from Design but after sparging my pre-boil numbers are off and they are off again after the boil.  What should I be concerned about when entering everything into BeerSmith2?   My equipment profile is:  10 gal orange cooler with 12" false bottom.  Sparge cooler is 10 gal orange cooler.  Boil kettle is a Blichmann 10 gal. 

Any suggestions?

Beersmith is very confusing at first and does kooky things. You have made a couple batches and can now use that data to manipulate beersmith to fit your unique process. If your preboil gravity is off then your og should also be off by the same amount.

The main issue with beersmith is it has brewhouse efficiency and mash efficiency. As you change your brewhouse efficiency it will change the mash efficiency automatically.  Now when you formulate a recipe adjust that brewhouse efficiency number to what you hit with the other batches. You then should be right on if your process remained consistent.

+1
I had to mess around with the brewhouse efficiency numbers after I brewed about 4-5 batches.  I used the data I collected from those initial runs to dial it in.

[klickitat jim]

I think water can play into it. I started hitting 75-80% when I mash 90 min

"Freedom is temporary unless you are also Brave!" - Patriot

[duboman]

I have found BS to be a pretty accurate tool once everything is dialed in . Everything that the software does in terms of calculations is determined by the numbers entered in the equipment profile so that is the first thing to look at. If you have actual numbers for things like losses and dead space volumes then be sure they entered in properly as well as actual boil off.  Some of these values can be determined by simply running plain water through your set up.

Personally I have found it best to NOT check any boxes that tell BS to do the calculations for you like adjusting volumes or boil off rates as find them to screw everything up.

It is also important that as you enter ingredients you look at the default values as those in BS may differ from your actual ingredients and these can be changed using the ingredients tab, especially AA values in hops.

Once all these things are tweaked the software should do a pretty good job getting things right and the rest is up to you and the process. If you are consistently missing your OG then there could be issues with your crush, mash, pH, meeting the proper volumes, rate of boil off and volumes into primary.

BS will help you calculate both mash efficiency and total brewhouse efficiency to help you win down where in your process things are going astray.