Beer Tools Pro 1.5 released - Talk about it here!

[flyangler18]

did you try what I posted previously in this thread?

I did- but I can't get the proper amounts to show 'in stock'. For example, it's telling me that I need to purchase 12 lbs of 2-row when I have 55 lbs in stock under a single planned recipe.

 

[brewt00l]

I did- but I can't get the proper amounts to show 'in stock'. For example, it's telling me that I need to purchase 12 lbs of 2-row when I have 55 lbs in stock under a single planned recipe.

kooky..I haven't tried it with the full release yet but it worked with the last beta version.

 

[Bobby_M]

I did- but I can't get the proper amounts to show 'in stock'. For example, it's telling me that I need to purchase 12 lbs of 2-row when I have 55 lbs in stock under a single planned recipe.

Did you drag that two row out of your "my ingredients" list or from the general ingredients library? I had to get used to dipping in to the correct list when building or I had the same problem. The grain you're interested in will obviously show up in both sources but only those dragged directly from your inventory list will give you the results you're after.

 

[flyangler18]

I may have input something incorrectly/incompletely, so it may not be a flaw in this beta.

I'll have to tinker some more with it later.

 

[brewt00l]

I may have input something incorrectly/incompletely, so it may not be a flaw in this beta.

I'll have to tinker some more with it later.

Are you running the beta or the release? Which version#?

 

[flyangler18]

Are you running the beta or the release? Which version#?

Sorry, it's the release- 1.5.0.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Exactly what is it about BTP that is frustrating you?

Mostly the mash designer but, there are other things about it that don't add up.

I ran a recipe in BTP that I had originally designed and brewed from with BS. The beer came out in agreement with the numbers that BS generated. For example without being too specific I ran the IBU's. BS calculated IBU for the batch at 80 where BTP 1.5 returned 112 IBU for the batch every addition was the same and the algorithm choices were the same too (Tinseth). The actual beer is closer to the 80.

Other than that I keep getting red flags on the mash designer and haven't taken any more time to figure out why. I tried my typical scenario of heating strinke water in the MLT so I used the direct fire option for strike. When the mash is done I fly sparge and runoff.

As best as I can figure BTP1.5 is expecting me to drain the tun in a transfer step before I start to collect in the boiler.

I have tried different options here and so far nothing adds up.

In reality I collected 17 Gallons at 1.050 but BTP keeps trying to tell me I will have 100's at something like 1.030. When I try to adjust the volume collected to match the actual result everything else re-adjusts to unrealistic figures.

Sorry I can;t be more specific. I eventually scrapped the session in BTP. I imagine I will try again later but for now I'll stick to trusting the smithy.

 

[Jilaman]

I like that they finally have a demo version for 30-days. I am always a little leary when I cannot test out software before I pay for it. I've bought my share of software that "promises" stuff and then works like ****.

 

[flyangler18]

So I've been tinkering more with BTP and haven't yet come across one feature- batch logging. Is there a way to track the number of batches brewed?

 

[brewt00l]

So I've been tinkering more with BTP and haven't yet come across one feature- batch logging. Is there a way to track the number of batches brewed?

Can't say I have looked but I don't recall that feature. Haven't had a chance to look at the inventory either yet.

You'll prb find quicker answers over on the BTP forum:
The Hop Vine :: View Forum - BeerTools Pro Software

 

[flyangler18]

Haven't had a chance to look at the inventory either yet.

I'm getting the inventory deduction to work about 1/2 of the time- and I even went back and reentered recipes to make sure I was drawing ingredients from the 'My Ingredients' DB. Time to go scour the BTP forums.

 

[Bobby_M]

So I've been tinkering more with BTP and haven't yet come across one feature- batch logging. Is there a way to track the number of batches brewed?

As far as I can tell, all it has is the planned recipe designation that I only use for batches I absolutely know i'm going to brew. It doesn't have any numeric indicator or any cross-batch analysis output. It would be cool to easily extract data like:

Average, Low and High: OG, FG, Efficiency, Grain Bill, Hop use.

Most frequently used malt, hop, mash temp.

 

[CarlosM]

apparently they have 1.5.1 not to sure whats been updated but im dinking around with it currently

 

[WBC]

It looks like a slightly more complicated program......

I think it is way too complicated in the way that they have you move around to different functions. Beer smith makes this simple and you can see all your stuff on the one page where BTP has you switching between grain, hops, etc, etc. before you can add them to the list of ingredients. The list also gets mixed up as you add and remove items.


There are no brew sheets to print. Only 2 formats for export and only xml for import.

Things I do like are the ability to change units on the fly for volumes or weights, etc.

Visually it looks great although I can hardly see the numbers displayed for the percentages because it gets clobbered by the bar graphs and there is no way to make them appear bigger. The programer could keep the numbers to the right of the bars until the bar reaches to 50% point and then move them to the left to keep them easy to see.



It does a real nice job of itemizing the mash schedule and displaying it. This is one of the nicest features.

If they can clean up some of this Kludgyness I would consider buying it though.

 

[Bobby_M]

That was one of my complaints to the designers during the beta. I explained that if one wanted to have their screen resolution high enough, there would be plenty of space to include the ingredients and schedule on a single screen. No dice there. Once you're done working with the ingredients database, that upper space becomes useful to tweaking.

You do NOT have to go through hops/grain individually. If you click the ingredients database heading (instead of hops, grains, etc) the browser shows them all. You then use the filtering search box to find whatever you want.

I'm not sure what you mean by "no brewsheet". Hit print in the menu. I get this:

Sorry about the size of the second page, that's what I got when I saved the PDF as a JPG.

 

[flyangler18]

I've gotten to be pretty proficient with BTP 1.5.1 so far, but one thing does annoy me. When I was using Beer Alchemy, it had an option to carbonate according to style (and it adjusted dextrose and vols to that style accordingly).

Sure would be nice to have that in BTP...

 

[WBC]

Ok Bobby, I see what you mean, it does have all the data needed but I was referring to the way Beersmith had a recipe printout and a brewing printout. I guess BTP is evolving and I need to be patient.

 

[mZnthebend]

I just upgraded my BTP to the new version...looks slick. Does anyone have heat loss values, measurements, etc. for keggles or popular coolers posted anywhere?

 

[Shay]

I just upgraded my BTP to the new version...looks slick. Does anyone have heat loss values, measurements, etc. for keggles or popular coolers posted anywhere?

I got the values from here: The Hop Vine :: View topic - Database for equipment...

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

Yeah I calibrated my 10 gal rubbermaid. I just measured the inside measurments and did the heat loss routine. Does BTP adapt for heat loss of initial strike after you have entered this info? In other words do you still have to pre-heat the MLT?

It seems it would be hard because of amt of grain and grain temp variables. Anybody know?

 

[Bobby_M]

The idea is that once you calibrate your mash vessel, you don't need to preheat anymore. It will adjust based on grain amount and grain temp.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Yeah I calibrated my 10 gal rubbermaid. I just measured the inside measurments and did the heat loss routine. Does BTP adapt for heat loss of initial strike after you have entered this info? In other words do you still have to pre-heat the MLT?

I'm using the 10 gallon rubbermaid as well. What numbers did you come up with when you did the calibration?

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

The idea is that once you calibrate your mash vessel, you don't need to preheat anymore. It will adjust based on grain amount and grain temp.

How does it do that if it does not know your temp of grain?

I'm using the 10 gallon rubbermaid as well. What numbers did you come up with when you did the calibration?

I have the results saved on my other computer, but will post those up here soon. It was roughly 18.25 in height and 12.8 x 12.8 in L and W

It came up to 10.3 gal Which is weird, because the markings inside only go up to 10 gal.

Do you have measurements?

 

[Bobby_M]

There's a field for entry of your grain temp in the "mash in" detailed window. What I do is stick my thermo into the milled grain and read it. Then enter the value into BTP while I'm heating my strike water.

 

[Baron ken]

Have only done 2 AG batches now, but I seem to have different grain absorption constants for each recipe.
It seems BTP does not keep the grain absorption value with the recipe (it's an overall constant).

1st:
8.25 lbs grain x 1.25 qts/lb = 2.6 gal strike water, got 1.5 gal out (0.13 gal/lb absorption rate). This was a LHBS grain mill crush.

2nd:
12.3 lbs grain x 1.22 qts/lb = 3.75 gal strike water, got 1.75 gal out (0.16 gal/lb absorption rate). This was using my new BarleyCrusher at factory setting.

Does the crush affect grain absorption? And if so, shouldn't BTP keep the grain absorption constant as a recipe value and not general value?

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

I thought I calibrated my rubbermaid cooler properly, but I guess I screwed up somewhere. (dont know how) I wound up having to raise my mash temp to keep it anywhere close to 155. It was hovering around 153 way too early for a 90 minute rest.

I also did not get my first runnings that beertools said I would.

I had my deadspace calculated in the equipment settings, at .4 gal. (this liquid that is what is left in cooler after it runs out on level surface right?)

I had to add around 3 cups boiling water to the mash to raise it up to 155 at around 50 minutes, so this is a factor with extra water, but would not expect this much difference. Anyways I was supposed to get 1.75 gal and got 2.5gal.

I infused with 3.5 gal and knew that the grain would absorb some, but it seems like this is way off.

After that I got 2.7 on batch sparge #1, and 2.2 on batch sparge #2.

My wort missed its overal gravity by 10pts.

We will see what it tastes like later on. I just want to make sure I get this fixed before my next batch. (this was my first all grain)

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

Okay so I did my best to see where I screwed up with my temp and beer tools today. I went through the steps to re calibrate my mash tun to see what was going on.

I also wanted to see what temp beer tools recommended to strike with without using a specific piece of equipment, so I checked and it was 167.14 to achieve 155 degrees.

I went ahead and used 3.5 gal to recalibrate my mash tun at 167.14 and got this.

76.6 room temp in mash tun before water.

3.5 gal water at 167.14f infusion

Temp at 5 min 159.8f

Temp at 65 min 151.0f (actually lost track of time and checked at closer to 70m)

Temp at 90 min 148f (this is not a step for calibration, but wanted to see since I did a 90m mash this last time)

So after entering info into beertools and selecting my MLT under mash in, it dropped my temp from 167.14 (strike without preselected tun BTW) to 166.16. This baffles me because I missed the temp last time using the recommended temp for my vessel.

I mean at 65 min above it is at 151! That is not really close to 155, and this is without grains at all.

What the hell!

 

[olllllo]

Are you setting your grist temperature?

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

Are you setting your grist temperature?

Yeah when I brewed I did. I filled in everything under the mash in area. I just do not get why the program is telling me such a low temp even after calibration of my mash tun. It is like the program does not understand how much heat is lost in the tun. I know other have used the program, and there has to be some kind of answer.

 

[blacklab]

I really dislike the new interface. Having the ingredients up in that little window at the top is annoying, even when you expand it fully.

 

[Gumbys_Brew]

i have to say i like the software alot. only thing i'm having trouble with is that when i calibrate my mash tun and HLT the temperatures it says to strike at are much lower then what is actually needed to hit your mash temps. but other then that the program is a breeze and can't complain.

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

i have to say i like the software alot. only thing i'm having trouble with is that when i calibrate my mash tun and HLT the temperatures it says to strike at are much lower then what is actually needed to hit your mash temps. but other then that the program is a breeze and can't complain.

That is the same thing I am experiencing. Anybody else? I am new at all grain, and depended on this to help me hit temps. I like the program, just want it to be accurate.

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

took my problem directly to BTP forum. It seems that you have to add a heating vessel for some reason to get an accurate strike temp. Here is the link to my thread for those that are experiencing the same problem as me.The Hop Vine :: View topic - Ok another calibraition problem

 

[Gumbys_Brew]

took my problem directly to BTP forum. It seems that you have to add a heating vessel for some reason to get an accurate strike temp. Here is the link to my thread for those that are experiencing the same problem as me.The Hop Vine :: View topic - Ok another calibraition problem

thanks for the link. i would have never guessed to just add a heating vessel.

edit: worked for me will test out the requested temps this weekend when i brew an oatmeal stout

 

[Bobby_M]

I haven't read through the BTP forum but I'm going to guess that not specifying a heating vessel causes the software to think you're heating in the MLT. Which of course would take no heat out of the water because they are at equilibrium. I set my heating vessel to "mlt" anyway because that's what I heat my strike water in (actually I split the volume between the HLT and MLT for 10 gallon batches because it heats REALLY fast that way). My typical strike temp is 163 in this setup.

 

[Gumbys_Brew]

I haven't read through the BTP forum but I'm going to guess that not specifying a heating vessel causes the software to think you're heating in the MLT. Which of course would take no heat out of the water because they are at equilibrium. I set my heating vessel to "mlt" anyway because that's what I heat my strike water in (actually I split the volume between the HLT and MLT for 10 gallon batches because it heats REALLY fast that way). My typical strike temp is 163 in this setup.

now that makes since to why assign a heating vessel. thanks for the clearafication

 

[flowerysong]

I heard rumors of them working on BTP for Linux. Is that still on the horizon?

Hopefully. They haven't said they stopped.

I tried to get the demo working in wine this morning, but the licensing didn't work.

Indeed. Currently I run it in a Windows XP virtual machine under VirtualBox. Adds an overhead of around 5% CPU utilisation (on my AMD Sempron 3300+) when the VM is idle.

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

thanks for the link. i would have never guessed to just add a heating vessel.

edit: worked for me will test out the requested temps this weekend when i brew an oatmeal stout

Great it worked for me too. I am glad I am not the only one confused by this. There really needs to be notes on this in the program somewhere.

I haven't read through the BTP forum but I'm going to guess that not specifying a heating vessel causes the software to think you're heating in the MLT. Which of course would take no heat out of the water because they are at equilibrium. I set my heating vessel to "mlt" anyway because that's what I heat my strike water in (actually I split the volume between the HLT and MLT for 10 gallon batches because it heats REALLY fast that way). My typical strike temp is 163 in this setup.

Your 100% correct. I never would have assumed that being I am just a beginner. This program is being held back by lack of help/instruction within the program, to people like me. I would have never even really used it much had it not been for your vids honestly.

 

[Gumbys_Brew]

is there a way to convert your all grain recipe to an extract recipe or via versa?

 

[Bobby_M]

Conversion to extract recipe isn't really a software function exactly. For the most part, you could try swapping grain for extract and in ever replacement making sure your OG stays were it should be. For the most part, 2-row and light DME can be interchanged. When you get into Munich, Vienna, and other specialty bases you'll have to turn to liquid specialty extracts.