Brew logs and recipe tracking

[Auger]

I sat down last night in an effort to organize my brew log (which was less log-ish and more stack-of-crinkly-papers-and-notes-and-drawings-stuffed-into-a-binder-ish). Part of the reason was that I finally printed out some competition results sheets and wanted to log those as well, but was working on how to correlate what batch or recipe the score sheets were for.

What I ended up doing was basically dumping everything out and sorting into rough BJCP categories in a tab-divided binder. I then serialized all my recipe sheets within those categories - e.g. in section 13 - Stouts, I have oatmeal stout recipes 13-C-001, 13-C-002, then RIS recipes 13-F-001, 13-F-002, etc etc. Many of these are variations on the same beer with minor tweaks. I then put the competition results sheets in the back of each associated section, marked the date, competition name (since these things, oddly, weren't on the sheets by default) and the serial number of the recipe entered. That way if, over time, I enter several different versions of the same recipe, I can easily see how each one was scored in competitions, as well as comparing my own notes between versions.

I'm just curious as to how others have organized brew logs, either hard copy or electronically, to effectively track changes or scores or whatever to be meaningful when reviewing them a year later and trying to remember how things went and what you would have changed at the time.

 

[Auger]

Bonus moment - I found my recipe and notes from my first-ever homebrew batch. Apparently I used 6 lbs dark LME, 2 oz hops (varietal unknown) some yeast (again, who knows), ended up with 6ish gallons of wort, fermented it for some unspecified period of time, and my tasting notes were "good beer".

 

[user 141939]

I started an excel spreadsheet. It does some neat stuff like predicts OG and bitterness based on pre-boil gravity/volume and post-boil volume. This way I can more easily make adjustments on the fly depending of my efficiency. I also add all my fermentation and tasting notes to this one.

I have a blank template so whenever I brew I just copy it and rename with the brew. I also have a brunwater spreadsheet for each brew, plus a beersmith file.

So three files for each beer! But it works for me. I'm still new so this is how my records have evolved so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[m00ps]

I'm in the same boat as you. Giant stack of crinkly beer-stained sheets. But I also have everything I've done on a giant chronological GoogleDocs along with the ideas and links that led me to each recipe. Works for me, but I should maybe toss some of the recipe sheets for the less than stellar brews. I've done over 60 batches this past year and its getting out of hand...

I admire that classification though. I have the same kinda thing with all my specialty malts, arranged from light to dark to help me find the right one quickly

 

[ulnpiper]

I have a folder on Google docs where I create a separate document for each brew with a sequence number at the beginning. So the first batch I made was Edwort's Haus PA followed by a Terrapin Rye PA clone, so the docs in the folder are:
1 - Edwort's Haus PA
2 - Terrapin Rye PA Clone
3 - ...etc

Inside each doc is the date and all the notes from brewing, which started as handwritten notes transposed to Google docs. I use Brewtarget and the past couple of brews have started capturing the notes in there as I'm brewing, then copy and paste from Brewtarget to Google docs.

I know it's double work to store the notes in two places, but just in case I ever switch brew software someday, I wanted to still have a sequential log of the brews I've done.

 

[JR_Brewer]

I've got an excel sheet to track my beers. Recipe, dates, tasting notes, pretty simple.

I'm terrible at keeping paper documents organized, I much prefer electronic records. I also like being able to see everything in one view without having to open multiple files on the computer.

I started an excel spreadsheet. It does some neat stuff like predicts OG and bitterness based on pre-boil gravity/volume and post-boil volume. This way I can more easily make adjustments on the fly depending of my efficiency. I also add all my fermentation and tasting notes to this one.

Very cool. The only calculation I'm doing is number of days in the fermenter.

 

[acidrain]

My three ring binder is full of recipes in order from newest in front, to oldest in back, with an index of brews in the back.
I print out a recipe and it goes to the front of the binder. I print out a simple check list/ fill-in-the-blanks sheet that goes just behind the recipe.
I brew from the recipe, and fill-in-the-blanks as I go, then when I'm done, I add it to the index. The index also includes brew date, keg date, and taste notes.
I can go to the index and look up specific brews, which I can find by date.

 

[fimpster]

Bonus moment - I found my recipe and notes from my first-ever homebrew batch. Apparently I used 6 lbs dark LME, 2 oz hops (varietal unknown) some yeast (again, who knows), ended up with 6ish gallons of wort, fermented it for some unspecified period of time, and my tasting notes were "good beer".

Just a couple of weeks ago I found my first ever brew log, too. First brew was Dec 25, 1999. It was an APA kit from the LHBS brewed with my new homebrew kit (also from the LHBS) that was a gift from my girlfriend (now wife). Cooper's LME, bag of grains, Nugget, Cascade, and ale yeast. My notes say "very smooth flavor, but a little chill haze".

Since 2006 I store all of my logs in BeerSmith. I used to just use Word docs. After finding all of my old docs, I now have logs of every singe brew I have done. I will be entering in all of those old logs into BeerSmith, eventually.

A few things I find lacking in BS, are fields for things like homebrew competition entries and related info, bottling info like how many bottles of what size rather than just a generic volume size, mash temp records like hitting or missing temp and by how much and what temp did you hit, and how much water of what temp did you add to bring it to temp, and how long did it sit at the higher/lower temp before being corrected. There are calculators in some brew software to calculate all kinds of these things for you, but no way to save it in a brew log. Plus things like labels, pictures, or other file attachments, etc. I think homebrew software could do a better job at record keeping for all these little details besides just the recipe, steps, and stats. For now I just input all that data in the notes field of BS. I've tried Brewers Friend which does a few things BS doesn't, but it lacks in some areas that BS excels at.

 

[Auger]

I use Beersmith as well, but not to its full advantage. Right now I'm basically using it for recipe formulation. Then I print out the brew steps, mark it up as I go, then put it in the binder. I guess for all that other stuff such as bottle # and size, competition results etc, could all go in the notes section of the recipe in lieu of having specific fields for it.

 

[72hw]

I work in a lab so it was reflex for me to start a bound and indexed handwritten notebook. This quickly was augmented through the use of Brewers Friend, which I really like a lot. Not yet up to thinking about competitions, etc. though so I can't commet on that.

Once a recipe is created in BF, I then copy it into my notebook and vice versa for brew day notes, etc. It's labor intensive, but the repetition has saved at least one batch so far - when it came time to add the hops my notebook, which is less expensive than my iPad so SWMBO deemed it Kitchen Safe, just didn't sound right to me. And it wasn't - somehow I mixed up the times, so having two copies of the recipe saved me some time.

I'm pretty new to the whole thing with only 10 batches of extract under my belt, so learning about others record keeping is really helpful!

 

[ZeMadMonkey]

(which was less log-ish and more stack-of-crinkly-papers-and-notes-and-drawings-stuffed-into-a-binder-ish).

YES! Ha!

I have a binder at the moment with all brew related things in it.

The first section is all the different brewing formulas, I like to do thing long-hand.

The second section is a brew journal, where I keep ideas, thoughts, drawing on rig improvements, and suggestions about brewing but not recipe specific.

The third section is all my brews, oldest to newest, newest being in back. I created a WordDoc that has a overall format that I like. I used to use the sample logs from Randy Mosher but then created this WordDoc more tailored to me. For each brew, I calculate it by hand and then fill out this WordDoc with all the information and save it off under the current recipe name. I have a WordDoc for each recipe I have brewed. I build my water from distilled so I also have an accompanying BrunWater spreadsheet with each recipe, this information, mainly the salt additions and overall water profile, are included in my WordDoc version of the recipe. I do have blanks for variable things like Alpha Acid % of the hops I bought, so I can calculate on the fly how much I use to hit my IBU target and so I can brew it again when next year's crop of hops change Alpha Acid %. I have a section for Comments, Improvements, etc. I always include a blank page or two after that to give myself more writing room. In this section I usually review my brewday, log how my brew does from pitching to drinking, tasting notes, add my thoughts on how I would improve it next time, and just general thoughts about the recipe and the beer I brewed in general.

 

[bstacy1974]

Keeping a brew log is something I've wanted to do for a long time. I have less than 20 brew sessions experience, so I'm still learning every brewday and fermentation cycle.
I like BeerSmith for recipe formulation, but I don't want to drag out the laptop to enter notes or log fermentation temperatures. The responses within this topic have encouraged me to create a Beer section in my Google Drive. That way, I can enter info through my phone or tablet anytime I want.
I've brewed some of my recipes 2 or 3 times now, but each time, I've changed something. A little more of one hop or using dark Munich rather than light Munich, cause that's all the LHBS had, small things that should be logged.
Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[beergolf]

My three ring binder is full of recipes in order from newest in front, to oldest in back, with an index of brews in the back.
I print out a recipe and it goes to the front of the binder. I print out a simple check list/ fill-in-the-blanks sheet that goes just behind the recipe.
I brew from the recipe, and fill-in-the-blanks as I go, then when I'm done, I add it to the index. The index also includes brew date, keg date, and taste notes.
I can go to the index and look up specific brews, which I can find by date.

That is exactly the same way I do it. I am on my third three ring binder and still have a printed out recipe for every brew I have ever done.

 

[ineedit]

A few months ago I started using Evernote. Since my brewing software allows me to email a copy of the recipe, when I finish for the day I just send that to my Evernote account. From there I add addition notes like water profile, things that went right, or in more cases things that went wrong. Later on I add tasting notes and even a photo on the beer itself. Evernote lets me tag it pretty much anyway I want so find it later. It has really helped me keep much better and more organized records of my brew day.

 

[tracyk]

I have created a template that I use for all my brew recipes. I kind of like having a hard copy of everything that I brew. I have put them in a 3 ring binder inside sheet protectors and have separated them into different categories such Pale Ale, Belgian, Wheat, Seasonal, etc. I have a section on my template for tasting noted and another section for additional notes and what was the cost of the brew. I also have a section for hops and what the alpha and beta % were, as those have a tendency to change slightly from crop to crop. That way it is easy to find a recipe when I am ready to brew. I also use BeerSmith to log all of my recipe.

 

[Oginme]

I use Beersmith as well, but not to its full advantage. Right now I'm basically using it for recipe formulation. Then I print out the brew steps, mark it up as I go, then put it in the binder. I guess for all that other stuff such as bottle # and size, competition results etc, could all go in the notes section of the recipe in lieu of having specific fields for it.

Pretty much what I do, except that I do manage to transfer the notes and salient figures back into beersmith during the waiting time of the brew day. I find that the sheets give me a good look back at how I arrived at the final numbers and help with tweaking the recipe for the next time. It's also easier to line them up and look back over the evolution of a recipe.


PS: SWHS graduating class of '79

 

[Auger]

Yeah I'm still working on getting information back into Beersmith but getting better at it.

PS: SWHS graduating class of '79

Very cool! I've only lived in SW for about a year and a half, but you are well ahead of me anyway...NFA class of '00.

 

[max384]

I use an Excel file with all my brews (well all of them since I've been keeping track) on it. It contains basic information (name, style, size, grain bill, hops, other additions, mash temp, mash eff., brewhouse eff., primary, secondary, kegging dates, OG, FG, and a large area for notes).

I've been thinking of revamping it with different sheets within the same file that have detailed brew information beyond what can fit into a page-wide multiple-beer list.

The nerdy detailed side of my brain FVCKING LOVES making Excel files! I always add as many formulas that will automatically determine as much stuff as possible. My SWMBO always laughs at my Excel files, which I keep for everything.

 

[mdh384]

i use the spreadsheets in google docs. first sheet is a cost tracker and tasting notes/tweaks for each brew. each recipe gets its own sheet... now that i think about it, the tasting notes should probably be going on the recipe sheets.