Brewing Software Ingredient Profile Differences

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by rfgetz, Jan 15, 2015.

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  1. rfgetz

    rfgetz Pooh-Bah (2,609) Nov 14, 2008 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Hello all,

    I have recently begun exploring new options for home brewing software. As a test, I run the same recipe through various packages and calculators in order to analyze the features and functions. I have noticed a significant variation in the way multiple packages calculate OG and FG from the inputs. One single recipe returned final ABV of anywhere from 6.6% to 7.5% across the various packages I have tested. Although the same ingredient profile is being entered in each package, it appears each software package is assigning different values for SG of particular malts as well as different yeast attenuation percentages.

    I ask of you, is this normal? When i brew, I am never overly concerned when i miss OG or SG, but if I was designing a recipe, I would feel very mislead if the ABV ended up off by almost a whole percentage point. Are there any software packages you would classify as more accurate or more inaccurate than others?

    Thanks for the assistance!
     
    #1 rfgetz, Jan 15, 2015
  2. JohnSnowNW

    JohnSnowNW Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2013 Minnesota

    It's difficult to answer without more information. What programs were the outliers...as I assume most of them came back with fairly similar results. What programs did you use? Are you sure you input all the parameters the same, such as volumes and mash temps/times?

    That said, I've used two main brewing programs, BeerSmith and Brewcipher. I have found both to work well, but Brewcipher to be more accurate...and it's free!
     
    #2 JohnSnowNW, Jan 15, 2015
  3. rfgetz

    rfgetz Pooh-Bah (2,609) Nov 14, 2008 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Thanks... my main focus was packages or sites that were tablet friendly... BeerSmith, Brewer's Friend, iBrewMaster, TastyBrew.com, etc.... the outlier on the OG/FG calculations was Brewer's Friend coming in at the ABV closer to 7.5%, with most of the others in the 6.6%-7.0% range. 6.65% was the most consistent result among 3-4 different packages and calculators.
     
    #3 rfgetz, Jan 15, 2015
  4. rfgetz

    rfgetz Pooh-Bah (2,609) Nov 14, 2008 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Dug into this a little bit more... most software packages are hitting with preboil OG within a comfortable, verified range (~1.045). They are varying wildly on the OG, FG and ABV readings.

    I just tried BrewCipher with the same recipe... I hit a comfortable preboil OG of 1.045, but the OG is significantly higher, its FG is significantly lower, thus its ABV is off the charts at 8.2%, compared to the previous outlier of 7.5%.
     
    #4 rfgetz, Jan 15, 2015
  5. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    FG seems to be hard to calculate since so many variable go into it. For example, mash temp matters. I also seem to remember someone (@VikeMan?) talking about how one of the common programs assumes the same level of fermentabilty for everything, so corn sugar was treated the same as 2-row in the amount that would be fermented and therefore the FG was completely wrong if any sugar was added to the boil.
     
    #5 wspscott, Jan 15, 2015
  6. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    They are all just estimates...take good notes and adjust efficiencies on the next batch...any and all will work just fine if the homebrewer doesn't fall asleep at the wheel.
     
    #6 GreenKrusty101, Jan 15, 2015
  7. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    I've found Tastybrew.com to be the worst calculator, giving numbers that are very inflated compared to my measurements and expectations. I have been using the phone app "Wort" (on an Android phone, not sure about other platforms) because it has correctly hit the OG I've measured in the last handful of batches I've done and feel confident with its numbers...although it does calculate IBU's a little differently/off ,compared to what I'd expect, when the ABV rises. I'll start looking at Brewcipher if others think its the better calculator to use.
     
    #7 DrMindbender, Jan 15, 2015
  8. rfgetz

    rfgetz Pooh-Bah (2,609) Nov 14, 2008 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Thanks for the quick replies... so just like every other issue in home brewing, try not to worry too much about the software variances, hitting specific OG's, FG's and ABV's and just enjoy my brew wherever it lands.
     
    #8 rfgetz, Jan 15, 2015
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  9. FeDUBBELFIST

    FeDUBBELFIST Pooh-Bah (1,765) Oct 31, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    With swings like that, I would assume that there are some brewing system inputs that aren't matching up from software to software.

    You really need to spend the time to measure all of the variables that are specific to YOUR system. Mash tun dead space, kettle loss, evaporation, loss to hoses, grain crush, etc. How are you measuring your water? Are you going by the ticks on your kettle or your buckets? Have you ever confirmed that they are accurate?

    You hear people mentioning 'dialing in your system' all the time. This is what they mean. It's a process. It will take some time but the best thing to do is lock in the constants, zero-in on the variables and take good notes.
     
    #9 FeDUBBELFIST, Jan 16, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2015
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