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Author Topic: Beersmith  (Read 3990 times)

Offline ckpash88

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Beersmith
« on: October 10, 2011, 10:04:50 pm »
So i purchased beersmith 2 the other day and i am trying to create recipes and figure out the mash and strike water temp. I got the program to help me decide on the strike water temps so i dont have to sit and do math.

The problem i am running into it that i know from experience that i have to have my strike temp atleast 20 degrees above target temp and beersmith says i should have it 12 degrees above. The only place i can find that changes anything is the specific heat area in equipment edit but i know from looking things up it should be set around .3 to .5 that does not change much.
I am trying to make a custom equipment set up.

I am using a coleman xtreme 72 quart cooler
batch sparging
water to grain ratio 1.25

I must not be looking in the right place bc i cant find anything.
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Offline tygo

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2011, 04:52:44 am »
I believe I've usually just bumped up the specific heat value in equipment setup by trial and error until it equals the temperature jump in strike water that I'm trying to achieve.  You can put values higher than 0.3-0.5 in that field.
Clint
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Offline Jimmy K

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2011, 07:03:56 am »
Is your grain refrigerated or in a cool room? It is assuming that your grain is 72F, but there is a place to change the grain temperature which will change the strike temperature.  Also, I believe that you have to choose to adjust for equip temperatures, it is not default. And if your equipment is cold, you'll want to enter those values too.
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Offline ckpash88

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2011, 04:11:45 pm »
I figured out that it wasnt set as the default but i changed it to be my default but it wont change any of the numbers or amounts not even when i change the specific heat of the mash tun from .3 to 30.
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Offline Pinski

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2011, 05:10:43 pm »
Somewhere there is a check box to select 'calculate boil volume using equip' or something very similar.  I'm not at home so I can
t find it for you at the moment.  Either on the recipe or water tab.
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Offline ckpash88

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2011, 05:43:26 pm »
So I selected adjust mash/boil check boxes for a custom equipment set up and and in my recipe it does have my equipment name in it but for some reason it wont change the strike water temperature even when i set the cal/g-deg C from .30 to 30,000 it says that my strike water should be 11 degrees above target at a ratio of 1.3 quarts and i know for a fact that does not workf or my equipment. All of my brew equipment has been room temp in the past. I am at a loss
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Offline tygo

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2011, 07:04:15 pm »
Just to confirm, you're checking the box in the recipe screen just above and to the right of the Mash Profile details that says, "Adjust Temp for Equipment", right?
Clint
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Offline ckpash88

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2011, 07:07:12 pm »
Oh yeah that's the first thingni did
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Offline tygo

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2011, 07:37:10 pm »
Hmm, just thinking through some things that have tripped me up in the past.  Are you re-selecting the equipment profile you're using in the recipe each time you change something?  Just changing it in the equipment profile does not automatically flow through to every recipe you have had that equipment selected before.
Clint
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Offline rjharper

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2011, 07:59:20 pm »
Hmm, just thinking through some things that have tripped me up in the past.  Are you re-selecting the equipment profile you're using in the recipe each time you change something?  Just changing it in the equipment profile does not automatically flow through to every recipe you have had that equipment selected before.
+1 If you update the equipment profile after you use it in a recipe, you have to reselect it in the recipe pop up menu to effect the changes, otherwise it recalls the old profile.

Offline Hokerer

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2011, 08:07:02 pm »
+1 If you update the equipment profile after you use it in a recipe, you have to reselect it in the recipe pop up menu to effect the changes, otherwise it recalls the old profile.

Or, if you're just experimenting, you can mess with the equipment profile for just the recipe you're working.  Just click on the check-mark-box-thingy immediately to the right of the equipment selection.  Any changes you make there take effect right away.

Oh, and if you change the 0.30 to 30.0, you should get an "infusion temp above boiling" (or something like that) error.
Joe

Offline ckpash88

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2011, 08:19:12 pm »
I just deleted my custom equipment and redid it and i entered 30 instead of .3 and got that error so i did a couple of other numbers and got changes in thestrike temp so i think i fixed it. So does anyone by chance know the cal/g-deg C for a coleman xtreme 72 quart cooler do they or know a way to calculate it?
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By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the Universe

Offline Hokerer

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Re: Beersmith
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2011, 08:24:39 pm »
I just deleted my custom equipment and redid it and i entered 30 instead of .3 and got that error so i did a couple of other numbers and got changes in thestrike temp so i think i fixed it. So does anyone by chance know the cal/g-deg C for a coleman xtreme 72 quart cooler do they or know a way to calculate it?

It's probably gonna be different for everybody so your best bet is just trial and error.  Try a larger and larger values until the strike temp it calculates is higher than what you know it should be.  Then start backing down litlle by little until your temps match up.

Also, keep records and take careful measurements when you brew next.  Adjust the program settings if they didn't work out.  After three or four brews, you'll probably have things dialed in pretty good.
Joe