kanzimonson
Well-Known Member
I really wanted to like Beersmith but I just can't get past a few problems. The biggest is that I don't agree with the brewhouse efficiency numbers. I've been using an excel spreadsheet for my recipe for years, and I figure my efficiency for most batches is 70-75% depending on gravity. With Beersmith, I'm having to enter efficiency numbers far lower than expected. 68% seems to correlate with my 75%. But for higher gravity beers, I expect 65-70% with my excel sheet, but I'm having to go as low as 50-55% with Beersmith.
I realize that efficiency is just a number and what matters is hitting your targets, but 1) We all know that 50-55% is just not correct, so it makes me trust the software less and 2) I need reliability so that I can hit my targets.
The other major issue I'm having is all the equipment setup. I've watched the videos, and I have it setup correctly for a "normal" batch. But sometimes when I make DIPAs, I like to finish the boil with an extra 2-4 quarts so I can still fill the fermentor with clear wort in spite of all the hops.
Beersmith's batch sizes are defined by how much is going into the fermentor. So whether I'm ending with 6gal of mild ale or 7gal of DIPA, I'm still putting 5.5 in the fermentor.
To account for the 7gal of DIPA, I went to the Volume tab of the recipe and changed the Trub Loss from .5gal to 1.5gal. This should have changed the quantities of grain required to hit my numbers, after all, I'm making an extra gallon of wort. But the numbers went unchanged. WTF.
I realize that efficiency is just a number and what matters is hitting your targets, but 1) We all know that 50-55% is just not correct, so it makes me trust the software less and 2) I need reliability so that I can hit my targets.
The other major issue I'm having is all the equipment setup. I've watched the videos, and I have it setup correctly for a "normal" batch. But sometimes when I make DIPAs, I like to finish the boil with an extra 2-4 quarts so I can still fill the fermentor with clear wort in spite of all the hops.
Beersmith's batch sizes are defined by how much is going into the fermentor. So whether I'm ending with 6gal of mild ale or 7gal of DIPA, I'm still putting 5.5 in the fermentor.
To account for the 7gal of DIPA, I went to the Volume tab of the recipe and changed the Trub Loss from .5gal to 1.5gal. This should have changed the quantities of grain required to hit my numbers, after all, I'm making an extra gallon of wort. But the numbers went unchanged. WTF.