Just bought beersmith, why isn't edworts recipe being calculated correctly?

[Tankard]

I put Edworts Haus Pale Ale into Beersmith but I'm getting different values. Here is my equipment setup.

I changed my equipment to the 7.5 gallon pot + 10 gallon cooler.

The Lauter Tun deadspace was 0.25 gallons, which was exactly how much I got based on my experiment (32 ounces).
Mash tun weight = 9 pounds
Mash tun material = plastic 0.300
Mash tun specific heat = 0.300 cal/gram
Top up water for kettle = 0.00
Evaporation rate = 11.0%
Lost to boil trub/chiller = 0.5 gallons
Final Volume = 5 gallons
Boil time = 60 mins
Boil off = 0.71 gallons
Cooling loss pct = 4.00%
Cooling loss vol = 0.21 gal
Hops Utilization = 100%

I'm not sure what to put as my "Mash profile" Single infusion - medium body? Single infusion - medium body no mash out? I'm not really sure what to put here.

I put the recipe in exactly, but I'm getting an OG of 1.052, an FG of 1.012, estimated color of 4.6, and IBUs of 33.9. These are all different from Edworts details. Is there something I'm leaving out here that would account for these differences? I'm really inexperienced with this program so any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Yooper]

I think you should change the efficiency calculation to something that you can acheive- that is why the OG and FG are different (I don't know why that would affect the SRM though).

In the recipe part, you can put it the brewhouse efficiency to match what you normally get. Also, I don't usually do a mash out, so I do "medium body, batch sparge, no mash out" usually. You can change it as needed, though

 

[Tankard]

I put the efficiency at 75% which is what I am going to shoot for. If I get more, great. 75% is what EdWorts' recipe calls for. I just don't see why my IBU's and the other results would be different.

I want to get the software dialed in before I do my first all grain because I really don't want it to give me bad calculations.

 

[Yooper]

Well, the IBUs are different maybe because of the AAUs of your hops. I adjust the hopping to get the IBUs I want. For example, in one recipe (Still Edworts APA)- see this:
View attachment Edwortsapa.bsm

Now, my efficiency is 70%, so my OG was a bit higher than what I wanted that time, so the next time, I made 6 gallons. Also, sometimes your hops vary in AAUs (as in these recipes), so now I have this:

View attachment edwortsapa1.bsm

My point is that there are some variables in brewing, depending on ingredients, efficiency, and the equipment. Until you know your equipment, the software only gives you a guideline. The IBUs change totally, based on the OG you end up with. Play with the software and see- just change the size of your boil. That changes the utilization. Change your efficiency- that changes the IBUs, too. That's why it's great once you dial in to your equipment- then you can adjust your recipes to give you the IBUs, color, etc. that you want.

 

[Tankard]

http://dl1u.savefile.com/a620bfb67fe385bb24db0f589b002188/edworts.bsm

There's mine. Does everything look alright there?

 

[Tankard]

There's a good question too, why is measured OG and measured FG so low? Measured OG is 1.010 and FG is 1.005. Do I put these in myself after I brew the recipe?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

The most likely culprits are:

For SG and SRM: Volume differences based on your inputs for losses.

Do you know your equipment well enough to input all those figures? If so, then you need to adjust the recipe accordingly. If not, brew with the grain bill exactly as written and take notes so you can adjust for next time.

For IBUs: Differences in hop AA%.

Do you know the AA% of the hops you'll be using? If not, find out, and adjust the recipe accordingly.

Regarding your last post, BeerSmith can't measure the OG and FG for you. You'll input those numbers when you do the measuring.

 

[Tankard]

That's the strange thing, I put those hop variables in exactly as Edwort described. 6.6% cascades at different boil intervals. I should have the same exact IBU rating that he does but I am about 6 points short.

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to do some adjustments.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Alright, then the bitterness difference must also be attributed to volume differences based on your equipment numbers.

 

[Yooper]

http://dl1u.savefile.com/a620bfb67fe385bb24db0f589b002188/edworts.bsm

There's mine. Does everything look alright there?

Yes. And your hops have different AAUs than mine, so you're at 33 IBUs while I was at 25 or so in my first recipe. I also have terrible efficiency (I don't have my own mill) and usually get 70%, so I added two more pounds of 2-row in mine. That's why ours look different.

And I think Yuri's right- you've inputed your expected losses, etc, which will be different than Edworts or mine. What I do is take the recipe and adjust it in Beersmith to the "correct" IBUs for my system and efficiency. That's part of the differences you see.

 

[Chad]

There are also three different bitterness formulas in Beersmith. Go to Tools-->Options-->Bitterness. Many calculations use the Ragar formula, but some use the Tinseth formula. Bitterness numbers seem to be a bit of a crap shoot. Anything ±10-15 points is going to be indistinguishable, as I understand it.

Chad