How to use Brewers Friend

[PADave]

I've been trying to use Brewers Friend software my past couple brews, and today purchased it. Trying to figure out how to dial in my system. Obviously I enter the grains, hops, and amounts I used. When my actual gravity readings don't match what they should be, should I adjust my efficiency number? Not quite sure what I should be changing or how to get a recipe from here to work. Maybe I'm just being OCD at this point, but I'd like to get it to where I can hit the predicted numbers.

 

[Yooper]

I've been trying to use Brewers Friend software my past couple brews, and today purchased it. Trying to figure out how to dial in my system. Obviously I enter the grains, hops, and amounts I used. When my actual gravity readings don't match what they should be, should I adjust my efficiency number? Not quite sure what I should be changing or how to get a recipe from here to work. Maybe I'm just being OCD at this point, but I'd like to get it to where I can hit the predicted numbers.

If your water amounts, grain amounts, boil off, etc are all correct- yes it may be the efficiency set up. If your efficiency is different than the recipe writer's then it should be set to YOUR efficiency.

 

[Johow]

It took me several brews while adjusting my own equipment profile to actually have my brew follow prediction. Lots of variable in there grain absorption, boil off rates, dead space, etc. it's worth taking the time to play with. After about 25 brews, I really enjoy using it. Also when entering hops, you may need to change the AA% to match what you actually purchase because the Brewers friend numbers come from a data base while actual hops come from farms and they vary.

 

[Aristotelian]

I've been trying to use Brewers Friend software my past couple brews, and today purchased it. Trying to figure out how to dial in my system. Obviously I enter the grains, hops, and amounts I used. When my actual gravity readings don't match what they should be, should I adjust my efficiency number? Not quite sure what I should be changing or how to get a recipe from here to work. Maybe I'm just being OCD at this point, but I'd like to get it to where I can hit the predicted numbers.

Yes, if your actual gravity is consistently off by the same amount then you want to start calculating your efficiency and then adjusting recipes for the efficiency of your system.